Back to school

As many of you know, I have been teaching Emma at home through Georgia Cyber Academy.  She has been at home with me, for half of K and all of 1st grade. Over the summer Ike and I started to talk about when we thought we should send Emma back to regular school.  For a while, things are home were getting pretty rough with Emma, and it was starting to make the mother/daughter relationship feel very strained, since she was having trouble distinguishing between my role as her teacher and my role as her mom. We debated back and forth all summer about what to do, and we just couldn't seem to make a decision. Finally, with about 2 weeks until the start of our local public school, we decided to talk to Emma and see what she wanted to do. She really wanted to go back to regular school, so we decided to give it a try.  So, on Friday, August 6th, Emma started 2nd grade at the brand new Pine Grove Elementary.  I was really nervous for her, but she did great.  She wouldn't even let me walk her in once we got to school. She said that she would be fine, and walked in all by herself.  We were really proud of her. She came home after school on the bus, and said she had a good day, and that she liked her teacher.  So, only time will tell, but we are hoping for a great year.

Here are some pictures of her on her 1st day.

Some of you may notice that she only has one earring in.  I would like to say that I was a super observant parent, and didn't let my child go to school on the 1st day with only 1 earring in, but....I did.  I didn't even notice it until after she was already at school and I was back home downloading the pictures off the camera.  Uggh. Maybe nobody noticed. Ha!

Long Time No Blog

Well, summer has come to an end, and it went by really fast. Last weekend we celebrated the end of summer by heading to Destin to visit some family and to celebrate my cousin's little boy Devan's 7th birthday. Here are some pictures from that weekend.

Me and my cousin April at the bowling ally.

Me, and my cousins April and Stephanie at the bowling ally.

Check out Emma's bowling form. Ha! She had a great time.

The birthday boy Devan, and his sister Laila.

After the party, the kids had some fun in the sprinkler and the hose.  Even Madeline got in on the action.

We had a great time visiting with our family!

Happy 7th Birthday Emma!

Seven years ago today, I gave birth to a 6lb 7oz beautiful little girl. I really can't believe that it has been 7 years.  Emma is still just as cute, if not cuter than she was then, and is still just as hard to handle.  She is the most stubborn and persistent child that I have even come in contact with, but I really hope that those personality traits will serve her well in life.  Sadly though, she is so much like me, that I can barely believe it.  So, here's to you baby girl!  I love you!

Here are some pictures from her party that we had on Friday night.  we had pasta for dinner and cupcake and ice cream for dessert.  Thanks for my sister Erin for all her help with the party.  She had a great time, and I really appreciate everyone who was able to come and celebrate with her.

I apologize for the quality of these photos.  Our house is terrible for taking pictures at night, and during present time, it was almost impossible to get a picture without someone walking into the shot.  Thanks to my hubby for taking these pics though, he really tried his best.

Schools Out for Summer!

Emma hit a milestone this week, that I wanted to share.  She finished the 1st Grade over the weekend!  She was super excited to be done with school for the year, and she worked really hard over the holiday weekend to get finished up.  Our last day is officially Friday the 4th, but once you have all the days and hours accounted for, and all the lessons complete, then you are done for the year. 

Here is a picture of her online school screen, showing that she completed all the subjects.

We also got Emma's CRCT scores from her teacher last week, and she "met" the state standard in Math and in Language Arts, and she "exceeded" the state standard in Reading.  We were really proud of her!  Her attention issues make concentration hard for her at times, and she has some anxiety issues as well, so for her to be able to concentrate on the questions and push her anxiety aside to complete the tests and do well, was an accomplishment!

9 Years and Counting

Yesterday Ike and I celebrated our 9 yr wedding anniversary. I wanted to post something yesterday, but just didn't find the time. So, here it is. Happy Anniversary baby! I love you! Here are a few pictures from our wedding day.  I hope you enjoy them! We got married at the same church my parents were married in.  It was small, but it had great sentimental value to us.

This is right before we saw each other for the first time.

Don't we look so happy?

I told all of the guys to make sure to wear black socks.  This was their idea of a joke. :-)

Leaving the church through a bunch of bubbles.

I loved these outdoor pics underneath the magnolia trees.

Me with all of the bridesmaids.

The whole wedding party.  We had such a fun day with all of them.

You may kiss the bride....as everyone watches, and then laughs.  Our photographer told us to hold the kiss a little long to make sure they got the shot.  So, we did....and everyone laughed.

Cutting the yummy cake, that we are the top of on our 1st anniversary, and it was still yummy.  I couldn't believe it.

About to pull away from the church in Ike's green mustang.  He still misses that car.

I promise I'm still alive!

Hey everyone! I know I haven't posted in a while but I am promise I am still alive and kicking. Things have been super hectic in our house lately, not to mention the sickness that has had me in bed for 2 days with an almost unbreakable fever. I'm feeling marginally better today, so I figured I could take a few minutes while the girls are napping to check in.

So, look for me to be back soon and on track with my Project Life posts. Also, I'm hoping that since school will be done for us in the next few weeks, I will have more time to share some things from our life with you that aren't just pictures.

Thanks to all of you who read my blog and keep up with what's going on with us. I really appreciate it! "See" y'all soon

Plan B by Pete Wilson: A Review

I recently became a member of a website called Book Sneeze.  It is a Thomas Nelson website that provides bloggers with complimentary copies of book, in exchange for honest book reviews.  I have been following a Nashville Pastor, Pete Wilson, on twitter for a while, and he had a book called Plan B coming out.  It sounded like it was gonna be a great read, so I was super excited when I saw that I could get the book for free, and all I had to do was write a review once I was done reading it.  So, here goes:

Plan B by Pete Wilson is a book about what happens in the Plan B's of life.  Plan B's are situations in our lives when God seemingly doesn't show up the way we though he would.  Pete offers example after example of real life people who have been in Plan B situations in their life and how they have been able to continue to trust God despite the seemingly hopeless situations they were faced with.  I particularly related to a situation that Pete and his wife dealt with as they suffered a miscarriage.  I had been in that place where I was wondering where God was, and why he wasn't coming to my rescue like I thought he should. 

Pete offers practical wisdom through the use of real life, and biblical stories to show that sometimes our Plan B's are God's Plan A for our lives.  His conversational style makes his advice relevant, believable, and so easy to read and relate to.  I wasn't even through the first chapter and I had already thought of a friend that could really benefit from reading this book.  I would recommend it to anyone who has had a time in their life when they thought things were hopeless and God was nowhere to be found. 

"The truth is that God is most powerfully present when he seems most apparently absent. - Pete Wilson


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”