Good Habits

These past two weeks Caroline has learned so many new things!  It really is amazing.  She has learned to fold her hands and pray with us before dinner.  She has also learned the sign language for please, thank you, eat, drink, more and help.  I am one happy mama considering the fact that we have been doing these signs with her since she was 6 months old!  She can also point to her hair, head, ears, eyes, nose, mouth and tongue.  She brings us her shoes because she always wants them on.  She takes treats to Sophie before we leave to go out.  She likes to climb in her little rocking chair and rock and rock.  The list could go on and on.  It's exciting to see her learning all of these new things!

Vacation!

We arrived home a couple of weeks ago from a family vacation to Orlando!  Grinny and Grand-dude bought a timeshare down there for themselves the kiddies to enjoy!  People keep asking what we did on vacation in Orlando...

There was a lot of relaxing and snuggling with the girls!

A whole lot of swimming.  Both girls are fish! 

It took Caroline a bit of time to feel comfortable but she ended up loving it!

A little bit of playing.

 

Poor girl! I need to teach her how to be a lady and keep her leg closed - too bad she doesn't have a better role model! :-) 

On a more serious note, I am "surprised" at how much I do need to model for her.  She is a very cautious girl with everything.  This was her first time touching sand and she was not too happy about it!  I kept having to tell her that she was just fine.

The timeshare had multiple pools, playgrounds, shuffleboards and more.  We all had a grea time playing!

Of course when people asked what we did in Orlando, they really wanted to know if we went to Disney.  Nope!  We didn't do any amusement parks which was really just fine with us.  The cost is outrageous and I would rather go when Caroline will enjoy it and remember the next day that she just met her favorite princess.

The closest we got to Disney was going to "Downtown Disney" and walking around.  We even got a family picture with a pumpkin Mickey.  :-)

We all had a great time together and look forward to many more vacations in Orlando with the family.

It's just hard to believe that the girls are growing up so fast.  The picture below is from our last family vacation a year ago!

Thank you Grinny and Grand-dude for a great vacation!  We can't wait until next year!

Value

Sometimes I write just so I can remember later or remind myself that the subject matter is important.  I once read that if you write down your goals they have a much higher percentage chance of happening.  The act of writing seals the deal. 

My new goal is to pare down my schedule and to value my time with God and my time at home.  For a couple of years now I have been dealing with continuous job changes.  My most recent change went from working 10 hours a week to 20 hours a week.  The work is not hard and I am committed to doing it (at this point) but I have realized that being committed to 20 hours a week somewhere means 20 hours less of time with Caroline.  The problem is not only work though.  The other commitments that I have regularly and the stuff that I add in at the last minute make my weekly calendar feel like its busting at the seams. 

Why do I constantly say yes to things that I can't fit into my schedule and leave me feeling insane?  Mark and I were talking last night and I like to think that I'm doing my best to follow God in all of my extra calendar filling.  Of course, God reminded me this morning once again that it's not really about works or a full calendar at all.  I was reading My Utmost for His Highest and my good buddy Oswald was reminding us that Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world..."  The world is full of busyness and schedules.  We try to make our calendars as full as possible but Jesus did not call us to enter into this rat race.  Jesus calls us to enter into a deeper relationship with Him. 

I'm sure I have written about this subject before and I'm sure this won't be the last time.  I was struck last night with how much I was missing peace and quiet with God, peace in my home and time with those I treasure the most.  Here's to making a renewed effort to know God more and to not fill my life with busyness!

Walking

I'm starting to really walk!



Caroline has taken a few steps over the past couple of weeks but it's been very sporadic!  Tonight we encouraged her with some ice cream and she took off like she's been walking for weeks.  I am constantly surprised by what she can do and by her little personality.  It's clear that she could have walked weeks/months ago but chose not to.  I'm sure she is going to keep me on my toes the older that she gets.

It's about time.

Mark has been out of town since Wednesday and it's now Saturday - yuck!.  I've been working at church a bunch this week, getting the house cleaned, loving our sweet girl and preparing for vacation!!  Thankfully, vacations always seem to come at the most needed times.  I'm ready!

Since Caroline and I had been working so hard this week, I decided to fill Saturday with a little fun.  We needed to get out of the house and enjoy the gorgeous fall weather.  An old friend from Young Life, Les, put together the Marietta Grassroots Music Festival for it's 2nd year.  Mark, Caroline and I all went last year and really enjoyed it so I wanted to go again.  I was thankful that Lindsay and Kelsey tagged along too for some extra company.  The weather was perfect and the music was great.  We really enjoyed our time outside.  By the time we got home, Caroline was exhausted and ready for bed.  I was exhausted too.  It takes everything out of me to be on constant guard for days at a time.  I really don't know how single moms or military families make it work for such long periods of time! We will be thankful when Mark is home safe and sound!

While at the festival Caroline got her face painted for the first time.  She was such a sweetie and sat so still!

The finished product ended up a little blurred but pretty good for her face painting.  Plus, it was done by a little 10 year old girl.  :-)

Kelsey got a "G" on her arm for Georgia.  Her dad was pretty happy when she got home.  He was especially glad since the dawgs won today.

It's about time...time for a Georgia win and time for VACATION!

Fall Photo Shoot

"Let me see if I can pick this pumpkin up."

"It's pretty heavy but I think I can do it with one hand!"

"I am woman.  Hear me roar whimper... ok can I set it down now?"

I'm Learning (the hard way)

So I've been running for a few months. When I started running with Nicole, I couldn't run a half-mile stretch of road without stopping. I didn't know how to push myself and didn't think I could do it. Nicole taught me how to view pain and discomfort. I found that if I ran through the initial pains I was feeling, that they would go away. I had always feared that if I continued to run, the pain would be exponentially greater and that I should just quit before it got started. I was scared.

So I've learned that I can push myself. I can set a goal and I can accomplish that. The last three runs have been here in Gulfport, MS. I don't know what it is about the runs here, but my lower legs hurt more than they ever have. I'm running less miles (hard to believe I typed that) and am running slower. I don't like this trend. Monday, I ran 48 minutes and felt great. My longest ever. Wednesday, after driving to Gulfport, I struggled to get 35 minutes. I don't understand it. Nicole thinks I need new shoes. I think she may be right (who would turn down new shoes?). I hope I get past this pain soon. I'm excited about where my runs will take me!

Softball...

I have a love/hate relationship with softball.  I love to compete.  I love to be on a team.  I love to be outside.  I love to play.  I hate making mistakes...and lately I've been making a lot of them!  In softball there is rarely a chance to redeem yourself after a mistake and it just makes me feel like I'm going crazy. 

I have been playing in the co-ed softball league at church for the past couple of months.  After the first few games I came home and whined to Mark that the boys kept cutting me off and not letting me play.  If girls get to play on the team then you have to treat them like teammates and back them up.  There is no need to cut them off just because you think they can't handle the ball.  I was discouraged to say the least. 

Then it happened...two weeks ago a fly ball was coming to me.  I was all set...ready to catch it.  My first catch of the season.  I was playing right field after all!  I position myself, put my glove up and out of center field my good buddy comes running over yelling "I've got it."  NO WAY - this is my ball.  I told him so and tried to focus on the ball but it was too late - I missed it!  I went home devastated and discouraged again but the problem was I could not let it go.  I replayed it over and over in my head.  How could I have missed the ball?  I mean I was in the perfect spot!  I was distracted but I was so close to catching it.  The ball hit my glove for goodness sake! The frustration that I felt over making a mistake was eating me up!! 

A few days later I went to Sunday School - tada!  If course, God would be trying to teach me something.  We talked about pride.  I had been processing my thoughts and feelings since the game but as soon as I heard the word "pride" I knew that's what I was dealing with!   I was so prideful about my softball skills (or lack thereof) and was offended that these boys wanted to cut me off.  Then my pride was hurt when I didn't catch the ball.  That was my chance to prove to the world that I could play, that I was the real deal and I failed. 

After acknowledging my little pride issue I prayed about it and asked God for a new attitude.  I can honestly say that I have gone into the last two games with a cheerful heart.  I have been grateful for time with other adults and have looked forward to playing.  In the back of my head I kind of thought that since my attitude had changed that maybe God would give me another opportunity to prove myself and He has... but again ...fail!  I missed another fly ball tonight and missed a throw to home plate while I was playing catcher.  The crazy thing is that all three balls touched my glove and I should have/could have caught all three... but I didn't.  After missing the balls tonight I was reminded that even though I'm ready to tell God that I have learned a lesson and that we can move on that he still may not be finished with me.  There may still be some pride issues to work out.  :-) 

I'm also wondering if there may be some other reasons to play softball.  After getting home at 10:30 from our late game, I spent the next hour talking with our babysitter.  She was having a hard time and needed a listening ear.  If it wasn't for these silly softball games we wouldn't have the opportunity to talk.

I'm going to try and focus on the "love it" part of the game for the next few weeks.  I am thankful for these lessons that I'm learning even if it means that my ego may have to suffer a bit.  I know deep down that I really can play!  :-) 

Cleaning Lady

I hired a new cleaning lady.

She's not afriad to get on her hands and knees to get the floor clean. 

She pays attention to detail and doesn't miss a spot. 

And she's pretty cute!

Cousins

Chilling in the cozy chair...

Cousin Kelsey creeping into the cozy chair...

Conforming.