Dear Noah,

Today is your second birthday!

I am so very thankful that God has chosen to loan you to me for a little while! You have brought so much happiness and joy into my life! You seemed to be my little miracle baby! After your brother died, Mommy wasn’t sure she would ever be able to have another healthy baby. And yet, two years later, God sent you to us!

I have loved watching you grow. I have loved hearing every word you have learned! I am amazed by all you are able to say! I love watching you run! I love your hugs and your sweet little kisses! I love how you adore your big sissy! I love your big brown black eyes and your sweet little smile.

I love your little big boy voice. I love listening to you call out, “Mommy, ‘STOOL’ BUS!! ‘STOOL’ BUS, Mommy!!!” when we drop Hannah off at school every morning.

I love how you get up when you are supposed to be in bed and say “rock, Mommy, rock.” And we rock and often fall asleep together in Mommy’s chair.

I love how you run and hop everywhere you go! Just thinking of you makes me smile!

I want you to know that Mommy loves you ALWAYS! No matter what happens in your life and mine ~ Mommy loves you! I am so proud of you!

May you grow up to be a kind and gentle man. I pray for you, that you will come to realize how much God loves you and that you will accept His forgiveness for your sins and become a man that loves God and wants to be like Jesus. May you grow up in Him and worship Him in spirit and in truth!

May God bless you little one, as He has blessed us so richly when He gave us our “Little Buddy.”

With lots of love and tons of hugs,

Mommy.

Who needs the Olympics - when I have an almost 5 year old doing “floor routines” and cartwheels galore, and an almost 2 year old running right behind her, falling on the floor and landing hard on his bottom, in his desperate attempt at doing a cartwheel?!

Wish you all could see them! I give them a perfect 10!

So today was Hannah’s very first day of school! And we survived!

My whole family has been anxiously awaiting this day for quite some time. They have all pitched in - buying notebooks, pencils, lunchboxes - two to be exact, hairbows, crayons, and even a hat! They have called and emailed and even today there were calls from family just to check up and see how it went!

Her Dad met us at the house bright and early this morning for a brief photo-op and then rode with us to take Hannah to school. My parents met us there and were able to take pictures of Hannah, and pray with her, and watch as she headed to class for the first time! What a special memory! And what a special day it was for Hannah!

Thanks to all of you who prayed for Hannah today, and for Noah and me! God heard your prayers! Amazingly enough, I did not need to utilize the invitation from the school to visit their “sip and sob” time in the cafeteria after dropping her off in her classroom! Though the juice and snacks WERE awfully tempting!

When we picked her up this afternoon, I was trying to get as much information from her as possible! And even though she was on information overload, I’m sure, she was able to tell me the following facts.

1. We talked about rules.

2. We went to the cafeteria two times!

3. There is a bathroom in our classroom and there is a green sign and a red sign. If the sign is green, you can go in. If it is red, you can’t.

4. We played outside and we talked about rules out there, too. (i.e. - Don’t walk up the slide. Use the stairs and go down the slide.)

5. We colored and talked about rules, but that is WORK!

6. And something about bees and honey-pots, and having pretend money taken away if they are naughty.

7. She didn’t give her teacher a hug today, “because she was too busy, or maybe I was too scared.”

So from now on we are the family of an official student. Our lives are forever changed by car-lines and backpacks, pencils and crayons, lunch-boxes and heart-shaped sandwiches! And I think we are going to enjoy it just fine.

Enjoy the pictures.

Hugs and kisses before sending off our big girl!

So glad her Daddy could come see her off to school!

“Big Stuff” outside of her school!

Proud Paw-Paw taking pictures!

With her teacher, Mrs. Ingram.

Her new living room - a.k.a. her classroom!

On our way home a couple of weeks ago from a trip to NC, we took our time and stopped as we wanted to.

Our first stop was to check out the Asheville Farmers’ Market! Yum! They had all kinds of fresh produce and it all looked so good! We settled for a big bag of SC free-stone peaches, green beans, pickling cucumbers, and some big fat tomatoes!

Our second stop was in Hendersonville, NC. We had never stopped there before and really enjoyed checking out the downtown area - that is once we FINALLY found a parking spot! We ate lunch there and roamed up and down the main street - checking out lots of different little shops. We even stopped at Mast General Store for a Black Cherry Soda, a Stewart’s Root Beer and some candy. We enjoyed sitting on a bench in the shade and chatting with others who were perusing the shops, and meeting some dogs that were along for the fun…

One thing the kids really enjoyed was checking out the different “statues” we came across. There were statues of goats and bears. Here are two pictures we took while we were there.

How can it be August already?!

Almost two weeks ago we were able to take a trip to the mountains of North Carolina to spend some time with family. We had a great time!

We enjoyed dinners outside on the wrap-around porch, over-looking some beautiful country-side. We ate fresh vegetables out of the garden - including asparagus! The kids enjoyed a long and exciting ride in a trailer - pulled behind a riding lawn mower - all around the gardens and up the side of the mountain. And I enjoyed late night chats with adults!!

While we were up there, we made a trip to Johnson City, Tennessee, to visit the Hands On Children’s Museum. The kids had a wonderful time exploring everything there! And I really enjoyed having the opportunity to take them! Seeing them have so much fun was priceless!! I was especially thankful for the help of my cousin, Vicki, and our Uncle Glen! I couldn’t have done it without them!!

Here are a “few” pictures from the museum…

(click on the thumbnails to enlarge)

~ Learning about gears ~

~ Checking out different instruments from around the world ~

~ Dancing on the stage! ~

~My Little Pony ~

“How, Dude.”

~ Driving the tractor with Uncle Glen and Vicki ~

~ Flying an Airplane!! ~

~ Working the ole 9-5 at the Bank ~

~Processing Mommy’s Loan! ~

~ Learning about weights and pulleys ~

Such happy kids.

All I can think to say is “Where are the pitch-forks?”

I am finally getting my camera to work! (My rechargeable batteries had enough and finally kicked the bucket, so I had to buy some more.)

I am going to be posting some pictures in the next week, or so.

Here’s the first installment.

On the Fourth of July our friend, Russell, helped us set-off some fireworks at my parents’ house and then went with us to see the local fireworks display. Noah was sick that night, so I was especially thankful for his help, so Hannah could have some fun with the fireworks we bought. It was her first time with sparklers! She was SO excited all that week and could not wait to see the fireworks!!

While reading through the book of Joshua a couple of months ago, I was struck by how encouraging it was!

Over the next several days, or weeks, I would like to share little tidbits with you, that were really encouraging to me…

Here’s the first one -

    Joshua 1:8-9

Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

17 For the Lord your God is living among you.
He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
With his love, he will calm all your fears.
He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.

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Just a verse that was used in church today. It struck me as amazing that God loves me and that He will calm all of my fears BECAUSE He loves me! Some days that is a really big task!

I just finished writing out my testimony for my membership application for Grace Church. I hope to turn in the membership application tomorrow at church!

I am both nervous and excited! This is a huge step for me and I do not take it lightly! I am so excited to get plugged in and to place myself under spiritual authority and leadership! And I am excited to be able to call it my church HOME soon!

P.S. I am planning on typing up my testimony and sharing it on here, also… This will be something new for me - I haven’t shared it a whole lot. I have shared bits and pieces, but not in whole.