Fourth of July

We recently had Bill's sister & niece, Shirley and Micayla, visit us for part of the summer. We always enjoy them staying with us. We packed our gear and headed to Bartlett's Annual Fireworks to celebrate the 4th of July. PawPaw, Mimi, Aunt Janet, and Amy joined us. What a night!

Micayla, Ellie, and Amelia

Amy and the girls watching fireworks

Summer Days!

The girls started Summer Camp at Harding Academy. This provides a fun 'relaxed' learning environment. As a result, our mornings have also been 'relaxed'. I always say summer is meant to be causal and enjoyed. We have had a few splashes in our "kiddie" pool. Isabelle loves the water! The temperatures here have been extremely hot. Makes we wonder what August weather will be like.

Isabelle is 9 1/2 months & crawling. She pulls up on most anything in efforts to get a better view. She is definitely a "Mama's girl".

Isabelle and Aunt Janet

Look at that face!

Jacob at 11 months

Happy 4th Birthday, Amelia

Amelia turned 4! By special request, she had a Princess Party. Pink & Purple! We celebrated last Saturday with family. We have been talking about this and reciting our birthday date, June 30th. When queued she would eagerly look at you and say, "I'm turning four!"

We bought her a "scooter". Amelia enjoys outdoor play so much, this was a great present for her. In spite of the heat, she immediately had to go out and make her first ride, of course. I'll have to get some pictures of her on the scooter; helmet and all.

Tuesday evening, we went to Aunt Janet's house for a dinner celebration honoring our mother's birthday. She and Amelia share the same date just 60 years difference. Happy Birthday, Mimi!

Trip to Chattanooga

Bill & I took time off work, packed our bags, left all three girls with family, and headed to Chattanooga to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. This was a big adventure since it would be just the two of us! Bill had preplanned our 4 day get-away. We stayed at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Chattanooga, a beautiful city. This also happened to be the weekend of "RiverBend" a large music festival. Tonight we will go see fireworks! http://www.riverbendfestival.com/

Bill rented a 18ft Magnum ski-boat. We spent all day Friday out on Lake Chickamauga, and went up 72 miles on the Tennessee River! This was so much fun, in spite of getting sunburned. Today we went to the IMAX theater, along with the Tennessee Aquarium (which is a must see attraction). We kept telling each other the girls would love all the fish and sea life in the aquarium.

The girls would like this picture of me with "Happy Feet".

The weather has been perfect for all our outdoor activities. Here we are at Toni's Pasta restaurant. We have walked all over the downtown area and eaten at some of the finest.

Girl's Slumber Party

Aunt Janet, now settled in at Yorkhill, invited the girls over for a slumber party. Ellie & Amelia were looking forward to this all week. Can one bed fit that many girls?

Happy Graduation

Amelia officially graduated from the Early Childhood program at Harding Academy. She will be starting Jr. Kindergarten in the Fall. Each class presented a musical program for the parents in the school gymnasium. The students then paraded across the stage in cap & gown and were handed a miniature diploma. As I gazed from the crowd, I tried hard not to imagine Amelia in a few years. I don't want this to happen too fast. I said very little as I soaked up the moment. Mimi and I then made our way to Amelia's classroom. She spotted me among the sea of parents and ran to embrace me. "I did it, Mama".

8 Months old

Where did the month of May go? School is out & summer is here. The past few weeks have been a flurry of events. We celebrated our first Mother's Day with Isabelle. She turned 8 months back on May 12th. She is now "pulling up" on things by herself and "inching" around. Any day now she is going to start crawling, then look out!

Happy 8 months!

Sweet baby girls

Being Busy

Our family has been busy over the past few weeks. I finally 'reworked' all our closets with warmer temperatures & summer on its way. Bill 'worked' the flower beds outside and planted over 30 plants! He also managed to participate in Youth Villages' 5K. The girls have been wrapping up their school year with only a few more weeks to go. Ellie scored extremely high on her 1st grade readiness test. She also finished her 100 Books Club! Amelia has been learning to write her letters. "A" of course is her favorite. Amelia's imagination is also growing. One morning while in the tub full of suds, she had made herself a bubble beard. She exclaimed, "Look Mama! I'm Santa Claus!" (still thinking of Santa in May).

Aunt Janet bought her first home and has officially moved in "Yorkhill". The girls are eager to have a sleep over. What fun setting up house. I think we need a yard sale.

Harding Academy had their annual Mother's Day luncheon. So I went yesterday to join Ellie and spend some time with her. All the children presented their mothers with a small gift and sang a Mother's Day song. It was sweet.

Looking foward to Mother's Day of three wonderful girls.

Easter Sunday

Easter Eggs

Our day was full of activity both indoor and out. We dyed our Easter eggs with the help of PawPaw, Mimi, and Aunt Janet. This was lots of fun! The girl's baskets are full with bright colored eggs... 25 to be exact! The hunt is on.

Good Friday

With one clap of thunder all five of us were in bed together. I inched over to find a 'better' spot; it was 5 am. Somewhere in between going in & out of sleep, Amelia asked her typical morning question, "Where's Daddy?" I gave my usual response, "He's at work". Today the girls and I are home in honor of Good Friday.

Ellie & Amelia were thrilled to pull out their Easter baskets; goodies from previous years tucked away in the attic. "Oh, remember this Mama?" Ellie held up a pink fuzzy bunny with floppy ears. I knew we were making memories. Little did she know this particular bunny was a gift when she was a newborn in the hospital. Has it already been six years? I sat there in the floor with them immersed in my own memories, giggling in the background.

The girls decided to take their adventures outside and hide Easter eggs. I watched undetected from the window as they took turns counting & hunting. After some time I came back to the window again, only to find both sitting on blankets of Isabelle's spread out across the patio!

I've boiled eggs in anticipation of dying & decorating them for tomorrow. This is a project that requires PawPaw & Aunt Janet. All three girls are down for a nap now. How did I manage that? Some quiet time to retreat to myself.

Lost

I came home last night after Isabelle & I had been shopping and told Bill of a little boy who was lost in the store.

I was looking through the little girl clothes, Isabelle grinning from the stroller, when I heard several repeated shouts of a little boy’s name, “Anthony... Anthony?” I paid little attention as I moved to the next rack of clothes. This father was persistent as his cries became louder, “Anthony?” Then the store intercom came on with an announcement, “We have a Code Adam…” I looked up to find this father pacing the aisles in search of the little boy. Other shoppers were alerted now and begin to look around, others just continued to shop. You could feel the sense of panic in the air. Where could this little one have gone? Several minutes went by, which takes you into the unthinkable. As a parent, I could empathize with the father. His cries were getting desperate – “Anthony!” Under my breath, I asked the Lord to step in and send an angel to find this child who was lost. I was sincere in this urgent request. I quietly moved into the next section of mommy clothes, Isabelle still watching me. Shortly afterwards the intercom voice returned, “Code Adam has been cleared”. The little boy was found! I was relieved. I whispered a thank you to the Lord.

I never did see the missing boy, or the reuniting of his father… but I had notion of what that was like. God chose to respond to this young father’s pleas --- and in this I was reminded of how much the Lord does care and does “get involved”.

I Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Janet once shared with me the Hebrew word for “casting” is epiriptō. Its translation means “to throw upon, place upon” (a verb, therefore requiring action). That particular morning in my reading time, I let it sink in and find its place… and then I began throwing all my cares, all my anxieties, & worries to the Lord. So thankful I know a God who cares, who responds to our cries, who finds the lost.