I guess I'll take that as a complement!

I think being a mom and feeling unappreciated at times just go hand in hand. And that's really ok with me. I don't think a person can truly grasp the depths of their parents' love until they are parents themselves.

Well yesterday the neighbor girls were over (T, age 9 and A, age 8). Carly and T were putting a puzzle together in the living room and I was sitting on the couch sorting through tubs of fall clothes for the boys. The girls were trying to find a specific puzzle piece and they thought it must be missing. I remembered that when we moved out of our house in SC, I gathered up stray game and puzzle pieces, put them into a little plastic baggy and put the baggy in the tub that stores the quiet time activities. So I brought that tub into the living room and started looking through the baggy.

When Carly and T saw that I was looking for their missing puzzle piece, Carly said, "You are a different kind of mom." I said, "What do you mean?" Carly said, "You hang around." I laughed and said, "Do you want me to leave?" They both said, "Nooooooo" and then Carly added, "A lot of moms just leave their kids to be by themselves but you don't."

I don't think she knew that that would mean a lot to me... but it did. And Carly, it's just like they say at Chick-Fila, "My pleasure."

It looks like we're going to the beach!

A conversation during dinner tonight...

Greyson- Can we go to the beach tomorrow?
Mommy- I wish we could but we live too far away from the beach now.
Greyson- Well we can drive there.
Mommy- It will take a really long time to drive there.
Greyson- If we drive a racecar, we can get there really fast.
Mommy- Do you have a racecar?
Greyson- No, but we can get one.
Mommy- Do you have money to buy one?
Greyson- We can use the ice cream truck money.
Mommy- I'm not sure the ice cream truck money jar has enough money to buy a racecar.
Anneka- I know how we can get more money... we can go to Cash For Gold. They have lots of money!
Mommy and Daddy look at each other and say, "What in the world?"
Carolina- She saw that on a commercial!


Ooooh, silly me! Why didn't I think of that?! Better start packing for the beach!

Henry (the Octopus)

Thanks to the Wiggles, everytime I hear Henry's name, I think, "the Octopus" after it. Hey, I wanted to name him Samson! I thought it was fitting because Goldens have long hair. :)

We've had him for two weeks now and he's grown quite a bit! Too quickly, just as it is with babies. He's a very sweet little pup. Josh is enjoying training him and he (Henry, not Josh, haha) will sit, lay, touch and allllllmost shake.

Henry's first day with us...

Henry today...

Daddy teaching Henry some tricks...

Proud of her

Carly has been attending FAA (Fine Arts Academy) camp this week at the church we have been visiting here. She chose to practice piano and violin and, in addition, had classes with the orff (new one to me!), bells/chimes, movement, music and Bible.

She has a history of being too nervous to perform in front of audiences. I'll never forget how pitiful she looked sitting alone in the pew at a Spring musical one year... with her little, yellow bunny ears on... because she was afraid to get on stage. But she slowly started to overcome her fears as she grew more comfortable with her friends and adults at our church in SC.

Well last night, she was having tummy troubles. She told me that she thinks a friend from camp that was sick breathed on her (haha!) and that she wouldn't be able to go to camp in the morning. Of course my Mommy instinct told me that she was just feeling nervous about it. So I told her we'd see how she felt in the morning. Morning came and she still thought that she should stay home. I told her that I understood if she was too nervous to do the performances at the end of the day but that she did need to go to the last day of camp. The waterworks started. :( I prayed with her and walked her to the car. Daddy dropped her off and she ran to a corner to cry so he told one of the adult helpers what was going on and she went right over to Carly.

The time came for the performances and we didn't know if she'd participate but just in case, I had my camera in hand. What a great surprise it was to see her up there with her class! She sang with all the grade levels, then all the 2nd graders showed what they learned on the piano and in movement class.

On the first day of camp she was excited yet uneasy because she didn't know anybody. But she allowed herself to open up, meet new friends, learn new things, and then, the biggest hurdle for her, get up on that stage and perform at the end of the week. Go, Carly!



Here she is... in an orange top and pink bottoms. (Don't forget to scroll all the way down and pause the playlist!)

Loving this song

We are doing okay here in Texas but have really been missing home... family, friends, and everything else we love about SC. Josh came across this song by Eric Church a little while ago and it became an instant favorite... and what a great voice he has to boot!

Pause the playlist at the bottom of the page and give this a listen!

Let's see how this goes...

I've thought that it would be fun to have a blog... a great way to keep a record of our lives. I've never started because it just seems like doing it well will take more time than I have to give it! But like I always tell the kids... you'll never know unless you try. Right? Right.

Josh is in Colorado taking care of business, Trent is on my lap, Carly is at music camp, Grey and Annie are watching Donald Duck, Henry is napping and Alex is MIA, as usual. So here I go, taking a free minute to figure this out. :)