Already Gone?

Reesi's teacher has all the children dress up in adult's clothing and take a class picture. She has them hanging all over her room from all the years she has been teaching. I can't wait to pull that class picture out when Reesi and all her friends are graduating. They were so cute.

Last Day of Kindergarten

First Day of Kindergarten

I cannot believe that I officially am the mother of a first grader! This year has flown by and I feel like Reesi is such a big kid. When they enter kindergarten they are still in that preschool stage, but there is something about kindergarten that changes them into a big throughout the year. I could not have asked for a better kindergarten year. Reesi absolutely loved her teacher, school, and class. Friday night we were on our way home from Larry's baseball grill out. It was late and Reesi was tired. She cried the whole way home about how much she will miss her teacher and her friends. She said, "I just wish it was the first day of kindergarten again." She then went on to cry about her friend Caleb who is going to a different school next year. A school where they can't pray in their classroom with their teacher and friends. Nothing I said could make any of it better so she just cried real tears the whole way home. I think she got it all out because I haven't seen anymore tears or talk of missing school. I think the fun, staying up late, Memorial Weekend made it a little bit easier. I am so glad that she loves school and I hope she always feels that way and will one day graduate with the majority of her kindergarten friends.

13 Months

This is a picture of just how cuddly you are. I love it when you do this!!

Elye, at 13 months you . . .

-are a handful!! You want to walk everywhere, but can't walk on your own yet. That means I am bending over holding your hand while you explore. You do not like to be contained or sit still.

-are a lap baby. I know that's the opposite of what I said above, but when we are home and you are playing on the floor you like to have Mama on the floor with you. You crawl in and out of my lap playing with different toys. It is so sweet, but makes it quite difficult to get anything done.

-are throwing fits when you don't get what you want. If you can't go where you want to go or do what you want to do you throw your head back and scream and cry. Fun, Fun, Fun!

-are mimicking everything. You will blow kisses now, do patty cake, and you still clap all the time.

-are talking up a storm and some of that talking are actual English words. Some of the words you say are Mama, Dada, hi, bye, uh-oh, eye. You say eye, eye, eye, anytime you see an eye on one of your toys or in a book. It sounds just like those seagulls from Finding Nemo. There are lots of other words that you say, but they don't really sound like the actual word. You said Sissy today, but it sounded more like te-ta.

-are still dairy-free. You refused to drink the soy milk, but I have finally got you to drink Hemp Milk. I was so excited to be free of formula. Until I realized the Hemp Milk was $3.99 for 32 ounces. I don't think I was saving much money.

-are still drinking two bottles a day. I broke down and bought more formula because you love your bottles. I cut Reesi off hard core, but the second time around it doesn't really seem like such a big deal anymore. I just keep your formula/milk consumption within the recommended ounces for the day. You just love your bottles to much. As soon as you see one you break down crying until it gets in your mouth. You also won't hold your bottle unless you are forced to. You like to sit back, relax, and let someone do all the work for you.

-are so close to walking. Over the past few days your 5 or 6 steps have turned into 10-12 steps. You are still so wobbly. Aunt Jenny says it looks like you have been drinking!

-are back to 2 naps a day. Yeah! Aunt Jenny kept you this week and figured out that if we lay you down early (9:00-9:30) you will take a afternoon nap as long as we get you back down by 2:00-2:30. This wasn't possible before with Reesi's car rider line at 3:00, but now that school is over I am hoping with can stick with 2 naps for a few more months because you are a much easier baby when you've had two naps.

-like to throw your food on the floor, which makes Mama a little mad.

-have the sweetest, most kissable head and your cheeks are pretty kissable too.

-are cuddly. You will lay your head on our chest to cuddle and even stop in the middle of a crawl to lay on the floor for me to scratch your back.

Still Not Normal

It is amazing how quickly life goes back to normal for everyone after a natural disaster. The biggest obstacle I am facing due to the flood is the fact that Sneed Road is still closed and I have to take Vaughn to get to Elye's daycare. That little detour takes me right by Warner Park and this view reminds me that life if far from normal for so many people. I still have so many friends and co-workers whose lives have been turned upside down. It's easy for the rest of us to forget and pick up where we left off. The pile is getting smaller as truck after truck hauls loads away to a landfill, but even when the pile is gone I know that the after effects of this flood will still linger with so many. So here's your reminder to keep praying and doing what you can for all those who are still struggling to survive the flood of 2010.

B. Burkey Photography

This is just a sneak peek of some of the pictures Brittany of B. Burkey Photography took for us on Saturday. Elye was supposed to have a smash cake session, but the cake only made her cry. Of course, today when Reesi was eating some of it she was suddenly ready to dig in. Sorry, Elye, you missed your shot, stinkpot!! However, Brittany still got some amazing shots and I can't wait to see the rest of the pics. Thanks Brittany.

Beady Eyes and Antennae

The beady eyes and the antennae. . . those were the things that I could not think about when I was cracking open these craw fish to eat. Oh, and the poop and eggs that were waiting inside the shell. If I just ignored all those factors, then these little things weren't half bad. And these little things were the life of the party that Phillip, Carmen, Jonathan, and Amy hosted, but not for long, because what better reason to come to White House than for a craw fish boil!!

The craw fish weren't a hit with most of the ladies. I ate a few. Reesi and Audie ate a bunch. The other ladies couldn't be convinced to dig in. Nick and Larry humored Phillip and ate a handful, but Casey, Phillip, and Jonathan were responsible for the majority of the craw fish consumption. I did hang around and pull all the meat out so that I could enjoy the amazing pasta dish that Phillip will make one day using the craw fish meat. It was a great party, except Lofton's pet craw fish went "missing." I have a feeling he will never be found. I guess Lofton will have to wait around to replace him until the next craw fish boil.

Two Big Pans!!

Just like the mailmen, rain nor sleet nor snow will stop this chef from doing his job.

Nick "trying" to enjoy his crawfish.

They liked them!

So did she. She had several rounds of craw fish.

But she only liked them peeled.

I captured just a small portion of the kids that were running around.

Time for Some Practice!

Elye isn't walking yet, but we have been doing plenty of practice sessions.

She is so proud of herself!

Granny's Pimento Cheese, Anyone?

Several teachers and students at my school are dealing with a total loss due to the floods. I was blessed enough to have two days without children so that I could go help the secretary at our school. It was gut wrenching to see street after street of destruction. Their houses were stripped, gutted, and most of their belonging were laying on their lawn waiting for the claw truck to come take it away. I felt helpless at times thinking I can help and give what I can, but it doesn't even make a dent in the enormous job and expenses that lay before them. But every little bit helps so we got the girls involved over the weekend. We volunteered with our church to send in lunches for the volunteers that were being sent out. We stuffed the bags with Granny's homemade pimento cheese sandwiches and brownies, chips, fruit roll ups, almonds, and monster cookies the girls made. We missed the email with the change in time for dropping off the lunches at the church and the crews were already gone. So we hit up the neighborhood where my teacher friends live and just started walking. It didn't take long to get rid of our food and I hope it was a good experience for the girls. I want them to grow up with a heart that puts others first and a desire to help. While this flood was horrible, it was so encouraging to see our town unite and pitch in to help. It made me so happy to live where we do.

Cabin Fever!

Flood=Cabin Fever=Multiple Blog Posts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Flood Damage

Larry took the camera to take pictures of the flood damage on his baseball field.

Catastrophic, huh!

I don't mean to laugh.

I am sure if you are a baseball guy and you spend every waking hour working on your field that this is bad.

However, in perspective, I am sure he is thankful.

Today, he is loading up the bus with his baseball boys and going out to help the people in the community clean up. I am sure it will be a rewarding experience.

I Don't Like Soy Milk

But I will eat dog food any day!

Jenny's, my sister's, house has been experiencing some water damage so their family and their dog have been staying at our house. Elye loves to chase their dog, Rebel, around. In about a split second, Elye had climbed the stairs and chowed down on some Science Diet Prescription Formula Diet dog food. She loved it. Maybe I should check the nutritional label. It may be a good addition to her diet!!

I Quit

The Market Skirt that never will be!

Sorry, Target, not the best pictures, but still super cute.

I would love to be one of those moms that makes the cutest children's clothes, takes the most artist pictures, and posts the healthiest organic recipes. However, I am none of the above. Especially, the first. I have made a few dresses and they have been worn only few times, even though I spent hours picking out the fabric, understanding the directions, fixing the mistakes, and creating the masterpieces. My latest masterpiece is pictured above.

Granted, it doesn't look so bad in the picture. I never even put the elastic in or added the pockets, but I am actually tempted to finished it. Unfortunately, my expectations are extremely low and I am the opposite of a perfectionist, so I know that it is really beyond recovery. It was supposed to be one of these and I was supposed to be one of these moms.

Nevertheless, I have come to the conclusion, after many hours wasted, that I am just the average, normal mom that buys her kids' clothes at Target for $15 for an entire outfit. No monogram, no initial, no $60 name brand tag, no trunk show or tempting website, just a cute skirt and a tank.

While this may be shocking to some, after six years of motherhood, I am done trying to become the mother of the cutest dressed, healthiest feed, most educated child. I am happy being a fun, relaxed (sometimes impatient, but praying about that), teaching by example mother that is trying to focus on the things that really matter in life.

In my goal to read 12 non-fiction books this year I am on book #3, (I know I am behind), Revolutionary Parenting, which is all about raising a spiritual champion. A few things it doesn't mention are cute children's clothes, artist pictures, and healthy organic recipes. Surprised? I am sure you are not, since the Bible also leaves those out. Surprisingly, those are the things that I tend to spend my time worrying about. It is hard to keep life focused on the things that really matter. Yet, I know if I don't quit everything else, I won't succeed on the most important things of all. So I am trying, not totally succeeding yet, but trying. I hope you try to stop being the perfect mom too.

P.S. If you decide to make the market skirt on your own, I would love to buy one from you for $15! It is a really cute skirt. The problem is that if you make if yourself it is worth waaayyy more than that!!!!

Looks Like Rain

Who knew this was coming? When it started raining early Saturday morning I just thought it was just a lucky day that Larry would be home since the baseball games would be canceled. Reesi and I went to my school's carnival that morning and were home by lunch. By 3:30 it was still raining, pouring down raining. Reesi and I headed out to Trader Joe's for a quick shopping trip. That's when I realized this was kind of bad. Berry's Chapel Road was closed and Grassland Middle's softball field's and entire front lawn was covered. We made it home from our trip and I told Larry that it was pretty bad out there. Then I got on Facebook and saw the portable floating down I-24. What?!

That night around 8:30 Jenny calls to tell me she needs to move her cars to my house because her street is flooding! By morning, everybody to the right had water up to their doors. I thought she would be fine, but around 4:00 today the fire department began boating people from their homes to evacuate them. At this point the water is up to their porch and they are planning on turning off the electricity and staying here tonight. Not what any of us would have predicted. The girls don't quite understand the gravity of this situation and think it's just this big, grand adventure. They loved walking and exploring the floods. I asked Grace if she was worried about her house tonight. Her response: "No, because that means we will get to live here! We would all be sisters!" One big happy family! It is a stressful and sad situation, but we are all safe and together. Pray the water stops for everyone!

Sunday at 12:00 PM

Sunday 12:00PM - I was telling Jenny, "It's not going to make it up to your house."

Sunday 5:00 PM

Looks like no mail tomorrow!

Reesi said she loved the "glorious puddles."

Checking out the worms and Reesi grieving for not the houses, but the poor flowers.

Off to explore

Reminds me of this picture.