Our Graduate

Well, just like that, another school year has come and gone and my girls are another year older. Why is it that when they get in school, the years seem to speed up and go faster than ever before?

Last night, Maddie had her Kindergarten Celebration/Graduation at Beard Elementary. She has had a wonderful first year of school! Her teacher - I couldn't have handpicked a better one for her! She was the perfect fit for Maddie's little personality. And Maddie excelled in her class. She's reading, writing and doing math on a level above where she even needed to be at the end of this year. She has made us so proud this year. She's a great student and a good role model in her class.

Congratulations, Maddie! Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you! You did all that we expected and more and we know that you'll do just as well at your new school next year and make us proud again! But, you can slow down on the growing - I fear that I'll turn around and be posting a blog about your H.S. graduation. And, momma is not ready for that. At all!

First Day of Kindergarten

Kindergarten Graduation

Mother's Day 2012

Yesterday was a great day! I got to celebrate Mother's Day with my 3 girls and Mike. We got up and got ready for church and had a wonderful service. We were challenged to be a Proverbs 31 woman and what a challenge that chapter of the Bible is for all ladies! I don't know about you, but I have a lot of work to do. But, I'm thankful that flaws, sin and all, God loves me and saw fit to bless me with three of the sweetest girls to love and to raise. It's a huge job. One I don't take lightly. One I constantly feel like I mess up. One I pray that even though I mess up, that these girls will understand that God loves them, just the way they are and that they will serve Him all their days. I love these little faces!

Sunday was great, and so was the rest of the weekend. Friday night, our church had Parent's Date night. We dropped the girls off at the church and then met some friends for dinner and games. It was a great time - always nice to have adult time and also know that the girls are having fun and being well taken care of. Saturday, we did stuff around the house and that night I went to a Women's event with a friend of mine at her church. It was a blast! Mike stayed home and played with the girls and got them into bed and I enjoyed a yummy meal and some much needed girl time. It was a full weekend - but also relaxing and fun. The only thing that could have made it better is to have been able to spend Mother's Day not only with Mike and our girls, but with my mom and Mike's mom. Being away from family sure makes me appreciate the time that we get to spend with them, which isn't much. And Mother's Day is one of those days that kind of makes a girl just miss "home". Sometimes talking on the phone just doesn't cut it. But, at least we have that, so many don't and would have given anything to just talk to their mom yesterday. Thankful for our moms and the awesome women they both are - both of them TRUE Proverbs 31 women! Mike and I are very blessed! I hope all of you had a wonderful Mother's Day and got to enjoy a day just relaxing with your family!

Here, fishy fishy!!

It's no secret that I'm not much on animals. Our sweet Golden Retriever, Libby, was a great dog, but last week we decided that it was time to give her away. Since moving, we don't have a fenced in yard and the poor girl was either in her crate or attached to a leash all day and night. Just not fair to her and so we gave her to a friend's mom, who is the ultimate animal caretaker. I joke that Libby is like Joseph (yes, from the Bible) - she went from the pit to the palace. I'm so happy to know that she's in a wonderful home and being loved on daily! So, yesterday, I was putting away laundry in Macie's room and glanced up at her betta fish bowl only to notice that the water was really cloudy and needed to be changed. Probably 2 weeks ago, but whatev. I decided that while I had a little time to spare before getting the girls from school, I'd do the dreaded job of cleaning out that nasty bowl. Now, if you've never owned a fish and never had to clean out their bowl, you wouldn't know that it is straight up disgusting. I kid you not, the smell that comes out of those little rocks when you are rinsing them off is enough to make you want to puke. I'm not exaggerating. My method has been the same every time I clean it. Pour out the majority of the old water, then with a small amount of water left, dump the fish out into a separate cup to hang out while I clean the rocks and the bowl. So, the fish is doing his thing in the plastic cup and I'm cleaning away, all the while thinking that this fish could die off any day and I'd be perfectly fine with that. (Go back to my first sentence and stop judging me). I finish up cleaning the bowl and add the rocks back in, fresh water, and 8 drops of Betta Safe and then I grab the plastic cup. If you are a PETA member, please stop reading right NOW. It gets really ugly from here out. I grab the strainer/lid thing that goes on top of the fish bowl and carefully (or so I think) pour out the remaining old water in the plastic cup so that I can dump the fish into the clean water. And then it happens. The dreaded thing. The stinking fish somehow slides between the cup and the strainer thing and flops into the kitchen sink. Oh my gosh. I'm screaming. The fish is flopping and flops right down the kitchen sink drain. Still screaming and now kind of gagging, I am baffled as to what to do. There's no way in this world that I'm reaching my hand down in that sink to try and retrieve him. The thought of touching a fish is enough to freak me out. But, he's down in there and my only thought is the brutal death he's about to suffer. There's a garbage disposal in there, ya know?! I call my friend in a panic and her advice is to turn on the water for a while in the hopes to "flush" him down the drain. So, I do that. Then I call Mike. Always the voice of reason in my life. His advice: "Reach your hand in there and see if you can grab him." Mike, have we just met? I'm Chrissy, your wife of 11 years, you should know by now THAT will never happen. Then he tells me to go grab a Goldfish cracker and stick it in the tank like Eddie. You only got that if you watch Friends. He's obviously no help in this situation, so we get off the phone. After the water runs for a little bit, I turn it off and avoid the kitchen at all cost. I don't know what I thought would happen, but there was no good that could come from it, I was sure of that. In all the confusion, I asked Mike if he'd get the girls from school for me and told him to tell Macie that I not only gave away their dog, but that I now killed the fish. They get home and Macie goes, "I heard about my fish - GREAT MOMMA, now we have NO pets!" Thank goodness they aren't too attached to animals either or the past week and a half could have been really traumatizing. So, I tell Mike to go in the kitchen and do the deed. The garbage disposal had to be turned on at some point. He goes in and turns it on for a minute or two and at that point, I'm just hoping the little dude had made his way to the Greenwood sewage system in one piece, as opposed to multiple pieces. I think my pet owning days are officially over. I'm no good at it. But, I promise that while I'm a terrible pet owner, I do take great care of my children. You know, other that killing their pets. Goodbye, Snipe. May you rest in "pieces".

Life at Warp Speed

I just looked at my blog and realized it's been a month and a half since our last post. And that's not because there's been a lack of things to blog about, but because for the past few weeks our lives have been nothing short of a whirlwind! Several times I've wanted to sit down and just collect my thoughts, but either I haven't had the time or I haven't had the motivation to do so.

Long story, very short - we bought a new home!! We found this house several months ago online just doing our normal "looking to see what's out there". Mike actually found it, drove out one day on his lunch hour to check it out and came home telling me about it. Then that weekend, we just decided to hop in the car for a little joy ride and go take another look. We peeked in windows and I just loved it. Problem was, we had a house to sell first, so we kind of just put it on the back burner. Well, God had other plans for us and here we are - in our new home! We feel so incredibly blessed and excited to have a bigger house. We've been needing the extra space for a while and love that the girls all have their own bedroom again. They love it, too! They now have space in their bedrooms for all their "junk" - and our living room isn't cluttered with toys - which is so very nice!

But, because all of that happened over such a short amount of time, we have been meeting ourselves coming and going it seems. We packed up our old house and moved into the new one in just a couple of weeks. And if you've ever moved, you know how much work that is and how exhausting it can be. But, moving with 3 kids is just plain wild! I always prided myself on being clean and uncluttered. HA! Have you ever started pulling things out of closets and bathrooms and drawers after living somewhere for 7+ years? I got to a point where I was like, "Oh yes, throw away that special sentimental thing, because if I have to pack one more thing I'm going to go postal!" I'm pretty certain I threw away several things that in years to come I'll be sad about. But, for right now, it was one less thing I had to pack/unpack and I am totally ok with it. :)

It was so tiring that one night after we got moved, I went in to take a hot bath and when I got out of the tub, I thought, "I'll just lay down for a minute to cool off" - I woke up sometime in the middle of the night with my makeup still on and contacts still in my eyes. I think I fell asleep as soon as I laid on the bed.

We are starting to get settled in and really loving the new house. I don't have much up on the walls yet, mainly because I need to buy more pictures and just haven't had the time to go look around and figure out what I want. The girls LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this neighborhood! There are about 4 little girls all around their ages across the street and they are all precious. They get home from school and go outside to play until I force them to come in for dinner and bath time. I love that they are already making good friends. It will make the transition to a new school next year so much easier.

Here's a picture of the new house! So blessed!!!

I'm hoping to get better about blogging now that I feel like I can breathe again. I'll start posting some updates as we get things added to the house and get things up on the walls. It's been a wild month, to say the least, but it's also been awesome. We've prayed about this decision for about 3 years now and we feel like this whole situation was an answer to those prayers. We have learned that patience and waiting on God's timing is always for the best! We look forward to opening our home to friends and family and creating many wonderful memories here - just like we had at the old house. That home will always hold a special place in our hearts - we brought 2 of our 3 girls home from the hospital to that house, hosted countless get-togethers with friends there, had family visit, and shared lots and lots of laughter and love in that home. We will always be grateful for our very first home and all the memories that it holds inside those walls!

Things I'm Loving

My mom brought to my attention that I haven't blogged or updated my facebook much the past week and I told her that I just haven't had many interesting or creative thoughts here lately that I felt were worthy to share. :) But, that got me thinking and I've come up with some things that I'm seriously loving right now.

First, as most of you know, our church is working hard toward building an orphanage in Haiti. Hope Rising Children's Home is no longer just a dream, but quickly becoming a reality! Praise God! We have officially secured the deed on the land in Leogane, Haiti and it's so exciting to think that we will be able to move forward with this process and provide a safe, clean, happy home for these children. And more than that, they are going to hear and learn about Jesus and how he loves them and is a Father to the fatherless - a Father for them, and me, and you. Awesome stuff! You can check out the website for Hope Rising HERE! And add it to your bookmarks because very soon we will be able to sponsor children and buy cool stuff - and all proceeds will go right to the children!

Second, and in line with the first thing I'm loving, is my friend's hand-stamped jewelry that she's making to raise money for those sweet kids. I bought a necklace and it's SO cute! She has several options available and can even customize it to your specifications. She's going to even start making hand-stamped jewelry for mothers/grandmothers! And they are VERY reasonable! If you've ever priced the hand-stamped jewelry, you know how expensive it can get - her stuff is so pretty and affordable for everyone! Go to facebook and "Like" her page! Just search "Hand Stamped Jewelry for Hope Rising Children's Home" or click HERE to link right to it!

The third thing I'm loving is my new workout program! I joined Crossfit a couple of weeks ago and it's been great! Mike has been doing Crossfit for 6 weeks now and would come home every night talking about how great it was and I just had to try it our for myself. I'm so glad I did! It's perfect for me - it's a tough (and by tough, I mean brutal) workout each day, but the environment is just what I love. People are encouraging and friendly. You don't feel like you are in a meat market, there are no mirrors on the walls, the girls are actually dressed and don't come waltzing in wearing full makeup and skin tight clothes - and I've already made some great, new friends. The owners are a wonderful Christian couple that Mike and I have both really enjoyed getting to know. Check out their website if you want some info - Crossfit413

And the last thing I'm loving is this glorious weather we've had the past couple of days! I'm beyond ready for spring and when the weather forecast today said a high of 77, I slapped on my t-shirt and flip flops, opened my windows and just enjoyed every moment of it! When I had to run some errands, you better believe my windows were down! My hair looked wild, but I don't care. It's worth it! I'm so excited that it's finally March! I love spring and watching everything turn green again and start to bloom. Hopefully we'll get to enjoy a nice long few months of spring this year and not jump too quickly into the blazing heat of summer - because if anyone recalls - last summer was awful. But let's not think about that right now - let's just enjoy the wonderful 70 degree temps and be thankful!

So, there you have it - just a few things that I'm really digging. Yeah, that's right. I said digging. Cause I'm cool like that. :)

Anniversary Get-Away

Last night, Mike and I headed to Rogers for a night away to celebrate our anniversary. We celebrated 11 years on February 10th and our sweet friends kept our girls for us so we could enjoy an evening together. We don't get to do that very often - and by not very often, I mean this is the first night away from our kids in nearly 2 years - so it was much needed and so fun!

We had a great dinner and did some shopping that night. Then this morning, we got up, had breakfast and did some more shopping, had lunch and then headed back home. It was such a nice time to just enjoy being together! We have been so blessed with a wonderful marriage and 3 happy, healthy girls and for that we are thankful. It's always nice to just slow down though and have time alone - away from the busyness of kids and life in general and take some time for each other.

Hopefully we don't wait another 2 years to do something like this - wonder if we could convince the grandparents to just move here?! HAHA! We are very thankful for friends that we can leave our kids with and know that they are being loved on and cared for just like they would be at home. We truly enjoyed our night and didn't worry about them one bit. And they had a ball, too! I think it's just as good for them to have time away from us - Macie was calling me her precious angel tonight - too funny!! :)

Us with our free dessert - and yes, it was as good as it looks!

Maddie's 6th Birthday

I don't know how it happened so quickly, but on Monday, February 20th, Maddie turned 6 years old! We had a great day celebrating her! My sister and niece flew in a couple days before her birthday for a visit and that was an extra special treat. Her birthday landed on President's Day so she was out of school and we spent the day doing fun girl stuff. We went shopping and let her spend some of her birthday money, grabbed lunch at Maid Rite, and then came home and played outside for a while. That afternoon, we gave her a new bike, which she's been wanting for a while, so she got to enjoy playing on it before dinner.

For nearly a year, she's been telling us that for her next birthday, she wanted to go to Olive Garden for dinner and Goody's for dessert. And that's just what we did! We had a great meal and then walked next door and loaded up on Frozen Yogurt. It was a great day!

No words could explain how much we love and adore her. She is just the sweetest thing. Her personality is so cute. She can be very shy, and then she can be the most talkative and funny thing you've ever met. My mom and dad call her Chatty Cathy - because anytime they call her, she will talk and talk and talk. Telling them everything her little mind can think of. And don't try to interrupt her - she'll have no part of it. :) She comes up with some of the funniest things. Never a dull moment with her around.

She loves school and adores her teacher. She is a rule follower and wants to do the right thing at all times. I pray this character attribute follows her through her whole life.

She can work up tears like no other. Can seriously cry at the drop of a hat. I'm not sure where she gets that. :)

She loves to do crafts, color, cut things up, play outside, play school with Macie, bug her little sister, talk on the phone, go to church, watch Food Network - HA. I just love her so much - as my dad always says, she's a real treat. And that she is.

Happy 6th Birthday, Maddie! Mommy and daddy love you and pray that you will grow to be a young lady who loves and serves the Lord, strives to do the best in whatever you are doing, and keeps that sweet little personality that people just love.