Happy Anniversary

Twelve years ago today, Craig and I became Mr. & Mrs.

During that time, we have been on quite a trip, filled with ups and downs and lots of memories. We have shared our journey with lots of amazing friends and are thankful for their encouragement, support and examples. We have learned what works for us (and what doesn't). We have served together, cried together, laughed together, travelled together and have made it through all!

Happy 12th anniversary, honey!

Thanks for leading our family!

I love you and am looking forward to so many more years together!!

School, Fruit & Play

Well, the verdict is slowly coming in. Overall, Trinity loves school. I pray that her love of it will only grow with time and advancement. She said that she really likes having her own desk (unlike sitting at a table with other students last year) and her favorite part is playing outside. The first day, I asked what she did at school. Her answer - they talked about what would be happening during the week and the colored the front of their journals. That was it.

We had a bit of drama as on the way to school on Tuesday. We were sitting at the bus stop, on the bench the Craig built last year as we saw the bus coming down the street. It stopped at the stop before us and then came our way. We did hugs and walked Trinity out to the edge of the street. Then we all waved as the bus drove right by us. Yep, apparently the new driver forgot that our street was a stop (it is on the opposite side of the road). We tried to catch up to the bus at the next stop, but we didn't make it. So, for the first time I got to take Trinity to school via carpool. It caused quite the excitement for the morning and the driver did apologize as he dropped her off in the afternoon. And yes, he did stop for us this morning.

Monday afternoon, Craig was out walking around the yard and noticed that many of our fruit plants were being very . . . well, fruitful. So, we grabbed some containers and all headed out for some fruit picking. The kids had a blast picking fresh fruit right off the trees and bushes, not to mention eating a bit as we went along. This is probably the first year that we've had this much fruit. We were able to get quite a load.

Apples - Craig planted this tree when Trinity was born

Pears

Figs

Blueberries

Yummy, yummy fresh fruit!!!

Tuesday, it was a fairly overcast day, so I decided to take Kalyn and Xander to Kidztock playground. Since it's out in the sun, it can get pretty hot pretty quickly. However with the cloud cover, it was perfect. They had a blast running around. Kalyn found the cooling misting sprays and had so much fun running through them. Of course, shortly thereafter, Xander was following right behind her. Xander even went down one of the twisty enclosed slides by himself (after going once down with me). Everything he saw Kalyn doing, he wanted to do as well. Nothing's going to slow him down!

She's Off

It's finally official. We have a first-grader in the house. This morning, we started our day a bit earlier than we did a few days ago and kicked off Trinity's new school year. As I was passing the bathroom after Trinity had brushed her teeth, I noticed she was talking, quite animatedly, to the mirror while holding her toothpaste up and explaining how to work the toothpaste. I asked her who she was talking to. She responded, without taking her eyes away from the mirror and spoke out of the corner of her mouth (so those in the mirror couldn't tell) "Mom, I'm pretending to be on the commercial." Yep, this is my life. This is what I am up against in my house.

Last week, we had the opportunity to meet her teacher and I loved her. Her teacher looks like she will be great!! She really encourages a sense of community in the classroom, by starting the day with a class meeting time, where every student greets another student and pays them a compliment. I am anxious and excited to hear about her first day in her new class with a bunch of new friends.

So how did Kalyn and Xander fair without their third partner around? Pretty well. We tried to make this day more fun than anything. I folded some laundry, which turned into creating capes out of fitted sheets.

Kalyn and Xander climbed all over me - until I had to cry uncle.

We played puzzles, to try and work on teaching Kalyn some letters before preschool starts in a few weeks.

We payed hide-and-go-seek, which turned into "Kalyn-grab-something-she's-not-supposed-to-have-and-hide-with-it-until-she's-found".

After Xander laid down after lunch, Kalyn and I got to play with her (and Trinity's) Cabbage Patch Kids and then closed it out with a good story before nap.

It was a full morning. Kalyn did say that she missed Trinity (and Daddy). Tonight I think we're going to do a special night out to celebrate the first day! I'll let you know how the first day turned out!

Our New Endeavor

Today, Craig and I were looking forward into diving into a new arena. When we joined Crabapple FBC almost 12 years ago, we told each other that we would set the Sunday school hour as a time to learn and fellowship together. Over the years, occasional obligations may have pulled us away for a brief time, but for the most part, we stuck to that. Well, after quite a bit of conversation and prayer, we decided to alter that. This year, we are jumping into the Sunday school teacher role. With all the time, we've spent with the youth, this is our first experience with the Sunday school aspect. This morning marked our first Sunday as teachers of the Junior class.

We are really excited about this new endeavor. We are looking forward to really investing in this group of very special students. I'm looking forward to getting to know the students who are more active on Sunday mornings than Sunday nights. I am looking forward to taking Scripture and pouring into these students in a way that allows them to apply it to their lives. I've got that new, fresh optimism of a new teacher. I can't wait to look back eleven months from now and see what impact the year has made on these students! So much is on the horizon.

During the next year, we would appreciate your prayers. First of all, for us as we lead these students, as we prepare for each week's lessons and as we minister both in and out of the classroom. Secondly (and probably) more importantly for these students. The verse that we are praying over them is Ephesians 1:17, "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better." We hope that above all, they will strengthen their relationship with Him. We'll keep you updated as we travel through this year with them. Thanks for your prayer support.

USA USA!!

Friday night, 08/08/08 was the kick off to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. We gathered everyone together, let the girls stay up a bit and turned on the opening ceremonies. I'm sure most everyone had the opportunity to see them and our family joined in the collective "WOW!" Not only was it an amazing sceptical, but it (and the games following) has provided some great learning and encouragement moments. We've been able to teach Trinity about the President (and what he looks like), country pride, geography (a little bit) and team camaraderie. Each day (at least once) she asks if she can watch the sports. She's learned a bit about diving - and was amazed by the synchronicity of the synchronized diving. She's also excited about watching the swimming - probably because we try to work on her own swimming skills each time we are in the pool. It is quite sweet to watch the excitement in her eyes as she watches these trained athletes.

Silence is Truly Golden (in a house with three kids)

Shhhhhhhhhhhh.

The time is 2:34 on Friday afternoon and the house is completely silent. The only sound I hear is the clicking of the computer keys as I type this quick blog. Wow. Now we are a strong proponent of rest time in our house and around 2 pm everyone lies down for some relaxation (and to give me a semi-chance to gather myself back together and try to make it through the rest of the day). Usually, I hear Trinity tossing and turning until her clock reaches whatever time I told her she could read or Kalyn singing or talking herself to sleep or Xander hitting the edge of his crib and he rolls around in his sleep. But today, nothing. I truly can't remember the last time the house was THIS quiet. I'm going to go enjoy the silence.

Family Day

Monday was a very special day in our home. That morning, Craig decided to take a day off and set it as a family day. It took a little bit to figure out what we were going to do, but soon decided to take it easy with a simple trip to the park and picnic lunch. We headed to Roswell Area Park, a great park just a few miles from our house. This is also the park where Trinity has taken swim lessons over the past two years, and Kalyn took this year. It's a great park because most of it is shaded (a huge plus in this heat) and it's fairly spread out. We had such a fun time. They had added a huge play structure, on which the girls had a blast. We even ran into some friends who used to go to our church and it was great to catch up with Mike and his kids. We took some time out for a picnic, which was also attended by a number of flies - fun!

We got home and laid everyone down for some rest. Afterwards, we had jumped in the pool for some cooling off. Xander loves his new setup and even learned how to lean back and kick around. Trinity is getting better and better at her swimming and we are really excited about that. The day finished out with a fun movie night of Dumbo. It was such a nice change to have nothing on the schedule and enjoy a day with the family!

Enjoy the montage!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

New Excitement

I am so excited! It came last night. I saw this item a couple of months ago and was completely taken aback by it. I did some research, compared it with others like it. Bought one, changed my mind and returned it. Did some more research. Decided to go back to my first instinct. Shopped online and then found a better deal. Ordered it and waited. Wednesday it came. (We saw the UPS truck pulling onto our street as we were leaving for something else.) When we returned home, I had so much fun figuring out all the nuances of it.

What is it, you ask?

It's my new camera and I am (again) so excited about it. It's the Olympus 1030 SW and the amazing features that caught my attention are that it is:

waterproof (down to 33 ft)

shockproof (can be dropped from 6.6 ft)

freezeproof (down to 14 degrees)

crushproof (up to 220 lbs of pressure)

dustproof

If those don't sound like wonderful things for my family, I'm not sure what does. I can't wait to take it on a "test run" with my family. It's smaller than our other camera and has a higher megapixel. I can't wait to show you some of the results - probably coming soon!!

They Think They're Growing Up

Last Friday, we had Trinity's 6 year check-up (okay only 6 months late). She was super excited not to have any shots, but did have quite some issues with the finger prick to check her iron level (which turned out to be fine). My favorite comment that our pediatrician usually says at the end of any of the kids' check-ups is, "Well, they are proportionate." Translation, they're small, but they're small all over. (I'll give all of you a chance to pick yourself up off the floor, since I know you are so surprised by that revelation.) Here are her stats:

height: 43.5 in (7th percentile)
weight: 38 lbs (5th percentile)



She is so excited about her new class. Her grade is huge - there are NINE first grade teachers. Each class has less than 20 students (I think last year they tried to keep the class sizes under 18 students), which is a good thing. It was pretty amazing to see that she only has one other student in her class from last year, but with so many students, it shouldn't be surprising. We'll going to meet her teacher, see her class and hear the curriculum presentation this week.


Don't try and tell Xander he's little. He thinks he can do just as much as everyone (especially his older sisters) can. As we were heading out of the house on Monday, he tried to help us pick up the picnic basket (which he was successful in moving across the kitchen floor)

and he thought he could open his own door to the car. So close.

Almost Caught Up

Hopefully this will be my last multi-day, catch-everyone-up post. I'm almost caught up with what we've been doing. I'm hoping that once school starts for Trinity (next Monday) and especially once Kalyn starts (after Labor Day) I'll be able to carve out some blogging time while Xander has some "play alone" time. We'll see if that really happens, though.

One day last week (it may have been the week before, actually), we got an evening to spend in the pool. Kalyn is such a swimmer - she loves to grab a swim noodle and kick all around the pool. I had just picked up a new swimsuit for Xander that day at Wal-Mart and we got to try it out. It was one that has floats built into the suit. We put it on and he was so excited to be able to move around on his own. The pool is the perfect depth for him, especially, which allows him to touch the bottom without going under (ideally speaking). His biggest problem was that he continually wanted to run, which caused his feet to lose grip. His feet would fly up, and his head out fall back and he would end up on his back just looking at the sky wondering how he got in that position. So, Craig grabbed an inflatable ring and stuck it around him. It kept him amazingly balanced and gave his way more freedom to walk around.

Craig went on his final event as one of the interim youth pastors. It was the Back-2-School retreat up to Ocoee, Tennessee. I've seen some pictures and they look like they had a blast! I have really missed the opportunities to be a part of all the youth events - someone's got to stay with the kids - but I do enjoy my time with the kids. They did tubing, rappelling, a low-ropes course and rock wall climbing. This event is the last one for recently-graduated seniors and the first one for upcoming sixth graders. This is also usually the shortest retreat - they left Wednesday morning and returned Thursday evening. Our friend Cacee's husband was also on the trip so she and I met for dinner (with the four kids in tow) and then hung out and caught up on all going on in our lives. It's always nice to have some quiet time after the kids go down to found out what's the latest happenings.

Friday night, we got to go enjoy the Braves game with our friends, Marc & Teri. We had great seats (thanks Chris & Jenn) and even though the Braves lost horribly, it was a great night with friends. We talked about everything under the sun, laughed a lot and occasionally looked out on the field. An added bonus - Friday night games mean Friday night fireworks. It was a great display and a great way to end the night (however a win would have been nice).

Saturday rounded out our week of birthday parties! Happy 6th birthday, Owen! Another party, another time to hang out with friends! However, just when I think I haven't quite lost all of my mind, something happens to remind me that's not the case. I remember getting the invitation and had 1-3 set in my mind as the party time (I'm sure you can see where this is going). So we pull up and were surprised to be the first ones there. Come to find out (as soon as we walked in the door and met Erica) we were first because the party actually didn't start until 2. Oops. Luckily, we've known this family for 10+ years, so we just asked what we could do to help and finished them getting ready for the rest of the guests to show up.

Saturday night, we had another great fellowship night. We got to hang out with Amy and Michael and their son Bryce. More accurately, we all met at Chick-Fil-A for dinner and then Amy and I got to put the kids to bed and talk while Michael and Craig went to play ultimate. Since we are both bloggers, I'm surprised one of us didn't get any pictures, but we didn't. It was a great chance to just sit, relax and chat. Most of our friends are pretty laid back and real - we can be who we are without having to put on a facade. I love this about our friends.

Party People (Not In The House)

In my previous blog, I mentioned that Craig and I had to miss Trinity's SSSF performance on Friday night. We were very sad to miss it, but we were glad we got to see the dress rehearsal, we know this will probably not be the last performance she's in and we are getting a copy of the show. What took precedence over the SSSF show? It was the wedding of one of our former youth, John Lax. A few months ago, Craig was honored to be asked to be a groomsman in his wedding and we were so excited to be a part of this very special day. We headed out to Birmingham early Friday afternoon, in order to have time to check-in to the hotel, pick up Craig's tux and dress for the rehearsal and dinner. We had a truly wonderful time getting to know Katie just a bit better and spending time with Sheila, John (Sr.), Julie and John (Jr.).

The special couple at the rehearsal dinner - at a true Tea House

Cutting the cake - Air Force style

Lieutenant and Mrs. John Lax

We just love the entire Lax family and we had an amazing weekend with them! John and Sheila have reared three amazing kids - now adults. We can only pray that ours will turn out as theirs did. A few years ago, they moved away (to Ohio and then to Virginia) and we have missed them greatly. Hopefully, we'll be planning a visit up to them next year for an educational trip around DC.

Over the past few months, we celebrated weddings, anniversaries and graduations, all fairly monumental events in the life of a family, especially parents. One thing that God has reinforced each time I attend one is how quickly that time will come for us. I keep thinking, I'm sure that these parents who are watching their child walk across the stage or down the isle or hold his own child for the first time is thinking that child was just Trinity's age - where did the time go? I'm trying not to slow time down, but to try and treasure the moments. I think that's one of the reasons I starting this blog. To catch those cute moments. To help me remember the innocence that will too quickly disappear. To share the daily events that I forget to mention to out of town family.

Hey, the title is "Party People" so, where's the other party? Well, it was at Chuck E. Cheese's (or Chuck E Cheese-It's - as Trinity like to call it). We celebrated Trinity's friend, Davis' 6th birthday. This party kicked off our week of three parties in one week. Happy Birthdays all around! Trinity and Kalyn had fun playing the games and Xander had fun sitting in the animated cars - while they were off (start them up and he got a little freaked out). It was exciting to watch Trinity help Kalyn out and Kalyn cheering on Trinity.

Happy Birthday, Davis!!

Our second party was for the girls' friend, Sam's, 4th birthday. This party was held at Monkey Joe's - an amazingly fun indoor jumpee house extravaganza. It's a great place to let kids run around and wear themselves out. The girls had such a blast! Kalyn was trying to do everything Trinity was doing - and was succeeding greatly! She is very much our little climber.

What's a party without cake and ice cream?

Xander on an alligator - just for you, Ashley (or is that a crocodile?)

Kalyn bounced herself off the dinosaur and loved every minute of it!