First Day of School and Finally Fall!!

Grace had her first day of Kindergarten this year! Her teacher is Mrs. Whitaker, and we just love her! Grace acted like an pro on the first day. She was well past ready! It's been 5 weeks now, and she still wakes up everyday ready to go! I know these days will soon pass too quickly! Everyday she walks down to my classroom like a big girl, and announces what "color" she landed on today. Most days it's blue- up the chart- and not down!

I'm sitting outside on my backporch watching, and listening to, a summer storm come in. It's beautiful. It makes me think about when daddy came to the house for the first time and said, "this is a good backyard..you'll be able to spot a tornado comin' for sure." Great!! I couldn't be happier! Thankfully, after almost a complete year of living here, we've had no tornados!

We actually just got back from a little vacation of visiting family. We stayed at Jodie's a few days and went down to the beach. Grace and Ryan LOVE the beach! But I think next year we may try to drive down to South Padre Island to see some clear ocean water! We also saw our newest little nephew, James. He is so darn cute! We also spent a couple of days with Nanny and Paw Paw and went swimming with them. What a great time!

Grace had a ballet recital back in May, but has decided since then to go back to gymnastics. She will start back in about two weeks. I really think she has the determination to stick with it and perhaps go into competition. She also just received her new manogrammed backpack and lunchbox for Kindergarten next year. She is going to be one little awesome student!

We are in the process of potty training Ryan. What a job! We're doing away with all pull-ups starting on Monday! I think he'll do well. He already has a good grasp on the whole concept. Mostly we haven't been as consistant as he's needed with all the traveling and VBS.

We are working on some updates on the house as well. We're refacing the cabinets in the kitchen and I'm going to attempt to put up a backsplash. We'll see! I'll post pictures of the end results....maybe!

4th of July is around the corner and hopefully we'll see some great fireworks and cook some hotdogs out on the grill!

It's raining cats and dogs now-thank goodness! I was so worried about our little tree outfront, and was about to run the hose out to water it, but God took care of the thirsty little thing for me! He has a way doing things like that!

Well, this is just embarressing....

I decided to click on my own blog address just to see what was going on, and now, frankly, I'm quite embarressed! I can't believe I haven't posted anything in almost a year! So, I'm just going to sum it up and move on!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. Ryan really got into saying, "ho-ho-ho! erry ismas!!" So cute! He is quite the little happy toddler, running around and laughing most of the time. He's had to learn not to bite, hit, say no, and throw fits all within a few months! He has also learned to say/sing his ABC's count a little and can pretty much identify most shapes and colors-when he wants to! He's a bit stubborn like his Pop! He's starting to look a lot more like Rick, except for the blonde hair and blue eyes! Ryan turned two on January 31st. We had a modest party at our house. Can't believe he hardly fits in my lap to rock at night. My baby's growing up.

Grace impresses me everyday! Before she was born, or even conceived, we prayed that God would use her to make a difference for Him. I can't tell you how many times God has already used her in the lives of others. So many people tell me about her love and kindness she shows to everyone. She is touching lives for Him! She says she wants to be a missionary when she grows up, and I certainly don't put it past her! She's amazingly beautiful and sees the world as her own little rescue mission. She is sooo ready for Kindergarten! I may try and teach her to read this summer. She's certainly ready. She turns 5 on March 25th. What a milestone!

Both kids got to experience their first real snowday!! We were all overly excited and took lots of pictures! Who would have ever thought when Grace prayed for snow, God would send 8 inches!

Rick's basketball season was, how should I put this, challenging?? This is a great school with great kiddos, but they haven't had a basketball coach stick around in quite a few years. Needless to say, Rick has his work cut out for him! We're here to stay, though, so hopefully in a couple of years we'll see a winning season!

My job in Mt. Pleasant as a Science teacher is going well. My team is great and the kids I have are good. I'm still praying for a position in Mt. Vernon to come open for next year. I really need to be at the school where the rest of my family goes! My heart is already here, now I just need to get my body here as well!

I'll be back on to post pictures soon!