Coming Soon!

I forgot about my blog for a few months! Ooops! I have alot of pictures to post and a Mac that is periodically crashing, making it hard to upload pics. Hopefully, I'll have them up soon. It's been a great summer and I look forward to sharing the highlights with you!

What's Happening in April

April has been an eventful month, beginning with Easter and the start of our Gospel Meeting April 4th. Gary Henry preached a wonderful series of lessons that challenged my way of thinking and inspired me to make some changes in my attitude about life on this earth and reaching toward Heaven. If you hear he's in your area preaching, I recommend you make time to go and hear him. You'll be glad you did!

This year, Annalise loved hunting Easter eggs. The little boys I babysit had been hunting Easter eggs for a month before Easter so we got plenty of practice. :) And kudos to the Target dollar bins for great basket stuffers! My mom had us over for a delicious BBQ lunch and then Annalise looked through her basket and hunted for eggs. It was a really nice day. I'm thankful my family is close for these kinds of occasions. We were especially happy Grandmother joined us (and brought her famous potato salad!).

Sugar rush from the Easter candy and subsequent sugar crash! :)

The Monday following our Gospel Meeting, we started potty training. I'll have to say that Monday was pretty tough. At one point, she didn't want to even be in the same room as the potty. But tears, turned into cheers when she finally did it! And it has gotten progressively better each day. It's Thursday night now and she stayed clean and dry all day!

We also bought a quilt for her big girl bed tonight. I'm not in a hurry to convert her room to a big girl room, but we'll probably try and do that in the next few months. It's both exciting and a little sad that's she's becoming such a big girl. I thank the Lord for every single minute I've had with her.

Princess Phase

Do you think we've begun the "princess phase?" :) (Those are Cinderella jammies she's wearing, by the way.)

I guess even princesses get bed head now and then!

The next day was Sunday and she thought her dress looked like a princess dress. Do you see what she's holding in her left hand?

I'm happy to be entering this phase of imaginary play. She still loves Thomas the Train but that's lost a little fervor lately. Her DVD's of choice right now are Veggie Tales. I love them, too. They are so creative, funny, and effective in teaching good lessons. It sure is fun having a two year old!

February Fun!

February has been a busy and fun month, even though we missed Daddy for two and a half weeks of it. He was in Norway and Portugal preaching and teaching. He had a great trip and we're glad he's home! I included several pictures from this month. They are out of order so I'll give a little explanation under each picture. Hope you enjoy!

Bryan sent Annalise several video messages. She loved them and asked for "Daddy movies" frequently. At first, she was a little confused by them and tried to talk to Daddy. She didn't understand why he didn't talk back. One night she got so frustrated, stretched out her arms and said, "Hold you, Daddy! Hold you!" That just broke my heart and I almost didn't show her the videos anymore. But after several viewings, she finally "got it" and just enjoyed their entertainment value. :)

While Bryan was gone, we spent some time with my family. My sweet mom made delicious Valentine's cookies!

One of Annalise's favorite games!

We celebrated Daddy's homecoming by going to Chuck E. Cheese!

Daddy brought Annalise an airplane from the airport. She loves airplanes! Often when we saw one on TV or in person, she'd say "Daddy hairplane!"

Playing dress-up with some hand-me-downs from Aunt Julie. She's saying, "arrggh!" here.

We spent several days with Aaron, Courtney, and Caroline which was a blast! The girls are second cousins and born on the exact same day. They get along really well together. They were so excited to see each other! Bath time was one of their favorite activities.

I wonder if they'll love Target as much as their mommas!? :)

Annalise has a buddy at church, Logan. They love playing together after church. This was their game of choice last Sunday.

Valentine's Day with Logan.

Annalise enjoying her Valentine's sucker!

We were at Mom and Dad's when the snow came. Annalise loved it but was kind of scared of it, too. I held her most of the time. She didn't want to play in it, but she didn't want to go inside either. We did manage to get some cute pics, though. After I made this snowman, she insisted I put a nose on him.

I'm thankful for all the great memories we made in February, but I'm also hoping March is a little less busy. I tried to keep us busy so we wouldn't miss Daddy so much. I think it worked but I am one tired mommy now. Hopefully, we'll all catch up on our sleep in the next few days. Hope you all have had a wonderful month, too!

Part-Time Nanny

I just wanted to post about the boys I babysit. I keep two little boys about 4 days a month while their momma works as a physical therapist.

First, a little background. Since my surgery last Spring wasn't covered by insurance, I really needed to make a little money to replenish that savings account. I just prayed that the Lord would provide something that would be good for our family and good for His work. And, that prayer was answered in a wonderful way! In July, I had 3 job offers! I decided that this one family would be the best option. They have two little boys, Aaron (22 months) and Conrad (3 years old). They came to our congregation about the time Annalise was born. I had been wanting to get closer to them - especially since the mother, Christine was just baptized in May.

They had been searching for a good babysitting solution. Their previous babysitter was just not working out. The kids were unhappy with her. And, though it wasn't the babysitter's fault, the youngest boy sustained a skull fracture at only 4 months old while under her watch. That caused a lot of anxiety for the parents. Grandma was driving all the way from Mobile to babysit and that was just not optimal. So, they did a test run in August with me and everything went great! The 3 year old cried when I left! It's been going great ever since. It's really fulfilling because Christine says she can now go to work worry free which is something she thought she'd never be able to do. It's great for me because Annalise comes with me and she has two more friends (3 if you include their dog, Sierra). It's been fun going to each other's birthday parties, and just talking and being more connected in general. Don't get me wrong, it is hard work! But, I don't think I could have found a more ideal situation.

So, now for the cute stuff. Let me just share with you one conversation we had yesterday:

Conrad: (talking to his toys) "Just suck it up!"
Me: (laughing) "Did you just say, 'suck it up?' What does that mean? Does that mean 'be tough?'"
Conrad: "umm hmmm"
Me: "Does your Daddy tell you to 'suck it up?'"
Conrad: "No, he tells me to be tough."
Me: "Is your Daddy tough?"
Conrad: "YES!"
Me: "You have a good Daddy. And, you have a good Mama. Don't you?"
Conrad: "Ummm hmm, I do. And, I have a good Ms Stephanie, too."

Aww! Is that not the sweetest thing? I do have to make one correction, though. He doesn't call me Ms. Stephanie. He calls me Ms. Steph-a-na-ree. :)

The kids wanted to play some music yesterday. They all started running around (that's how they dance). The boys put baskets on their heads and I was just cracking up. Annalise settled for a train conductor's hat, which she wore backwards. I took pictures with Christine's camera but wished I had brought mine.

It's been so wonderful seeing them learn how to share and interact sweetly. The other day, Conrad was sleeping on the couch. Annalise gingerly leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. It was the sweetest thing. Christine said that Aaron talks about Annalise all the time. He only says he loves 4 people - Daddy, Momma, Conrad, and Annalise. Thanks to those boys, Annalise had developed a passion for Thomas the Train. She knows how to play with trucks, cars, shovels and dirt, too. They came over here one day last week and Conrad was pumped to play with Annalise's babydoll stuff - particularly the stroller which he converts into a bumper car.

I'm so thankful the Lord provided for both our families in this way. We serve a loving and compassionate Father, do we not?

Here are a few more pictures...

Conrad and Annalise after playing in our pool last summer!

Conrad eating Ramen noodles for breakfast. This just really cracked me up for some reason.

Sweet Aaron eating his pancakes.

The Simple Things

I spend too much time on the internet as it is. So, why am I starting a new blog? Well, I find that journaling causes me to notice things around me more. It causes me to be more introspective. It makes me think deeper. Afterall, I would only want to write something worth reading.

And, my best friend of 25 years created a blog. So, that just means I have to, too! :)

I'm appreciating the simple things today:

• A bowl of warm grits on a cold day
• The smell of coffee as I stumble bleary eyed downstairs every morning (thanks to my sweet husband!)
• An unsolicited hug and kiss from my 2 year old
• Warm slippers
• Sunshine
• Medicine that cures an ear ache
• A cup of tea
• A warm house
• A soft bed
• Flannel PJ's
• Beanie-weenies (yes, I actually love this dish - especially when the thought of even opening the refrigerator to make a turkey sandwich, makes me feel even colder!)
• A sweet daughter who has learned to say, "Happy to see you, Mommy!"

Thank you Lord, for blessing me with the "simple things" that make life so sweet!