Inspiration

Isn't it amazing the things from which people can draw inspiration? Maybe it's someone's great achievement, or a majestic sight, or witnessing an act of kindness . . . . I have had the good fortune to be inspired by the unfaltering faith of some of my friends. When it seems so easy to blame God or question why the awful things we see on the evening news are transpiring, there are some people who can be dealt some of life's hardest blows and continue to have amazing faith. I am blessed to know two such people. One friend being diagnosed with cancer and having to change her plans for starting family, and another who had to watch, love, and care for her first young child live with, fight, and eventually die from cancer. These people are INSPIRING to me because I think if there was ever a time to lose faith, these are certainly instances of it. People deal with sorrow and adversity in a miriad of ways, but I continue to be amazed by these two people, who I am proud to call my friends.

I'm Lame

Just remember that I started this blog by saying that I would not be an utterly faithful blogger. I console myself by checking other's blogs and noticing that I am not the only one. (You know who you are.)

Life here has been a little crazy. Both kids have been sick. It's surprising because my daughter has always been "healthy as an ox." Now she's been ill twice in 3 weeks, which has caused her to miss school for a total of 3 out of 11 days so far. I know her teacher must think that either I am overprotective or crazy, or that my daughter's sickly. What a great way to start the year!!

Now, my son starts his little morning preschool tomorrow. I am planning to camp outside, so that when the teacher gets frustrated from his inconsolable crying, she can easily find me. Let's just pray that I'm not the one bawling my eyes out.

Also, on the home front - the joys of home ownership. Unbeknownst to us, our refrigerator had a blown washer which caused an undetected water leak. The way it was discovered was my noticing the wood floor in the kitchen buckled up at 5:00am on Sunday morning. After my hubbie shut off the water, we have turned on the fans trying to dry out the flooring. Luckily he was able to make the repair to the frig pretty easily, but the floor is another thing. I see demo in our near future - argh!

First Week of Kindergarten

Well, we survived the first week of Kindergarten. And yes, I mean "we." After all, we all had to adapt to a new schedule. Luckily, my daughter had a great week (not counting the throwing up part). She really likes her teachers and has already made some new friends. Each day I picked her up she was eager to tell me about her day. After her absence for her stomach virus I offered to walk her in, but she told me I could just drop her off - and in she trotted! (My baby is growing up so fast.)
I must also say that I really like her teacher as well. Of course I had already heard great things about her, and I did request her. She made a point of calling to check in when my princess was home sick, and called again Friday afternoon to share a moment she had with her at school. This teacher not only has her act together, but is very kind as well. It sure does make letting my baby go a tad bit easier.
Tomorrow is going to be another trial at church. My son cries the whole time he's left there. Last week I stayed with him the whole time; tomorrow I'm planning to stay only part of the time. Here's hoping!

So yesterday was my daughter's first day of Kindergarten. Neither one of us cried, although her little brother did. (I think he realized that I'm not nearly as fun as his sister.) She did great! She got into the car smiling and proceeded to tell us about all the cool things they did in her class. I am so glad that her first day experience was a good one.
Today, however, was a different story. There was no problem with her going, but about 10:30 this morning I got a call from the school nurse telling me she had thrown up. Poor baby: (
So, I brought her home, and she won't go back until at least Thursday. (the 24 hour rule and all)
Anyhow, she was a trooper. She told the teacher she thought she was going to be sick and almost made it to the restroom, but only got half-way down the hall. I am so glad the teacher heeded her warning. The experience we all dread happened to my precious angel on the second day of kindergarten. I love that girl so much!

How Hot Will It Get?

I know we're all feeling the same way, but come on! Is there any relief in sight? My poor children are like hostages in the house. We have gone to the pool a couple times this week however. It's the only thing that makes being outdoors bearable! Even our basement is feeling warm, and that never happens. Oh well, just thought I'd vent. I guess in January this won't seem so bad.

Professional Photo Day

All I need to say is how do families with more that 2 kids do it? We could barely get both of them to sit and look the right way, much less smile at the same time. Of course, the 2 year old was less cooperative, but our 5 year old acted like she was made to model!

Tourists in Our Own Town

So today we decided to take in some of the attractions Atlanta has to offer. We began our day by meeting my friend Kathy and her son at the new World of Coca-Cola. It's a nice new tourist trap. The highlights were definitely the 4D movie, the tasting experience, and of course, hugging the Coca-Cola polar bear. We then went over to the CNN Center to dine in their food court. We rounded off our tourist experience by letting the kids play in the Olympic rings fountains at Centennial Olympic Park. (Of course it was so hot that the kids were not the only ones dripping by the time we left.) I guess that is why we're not supposed to go out on an extremely hot, code red smog alert day.
We have a fun and busy day - and all of this was before nap time!!

Day two and I'm back on. I don't expect this will keep up. Anyhow, today was another day of domestic bliss - church, grocery shopping, cleaning, board games, pet maintenance, etc. My morning started with a heartbreak when my darling 2 year old boy cried the entire time he was in the nursery. It just killed me to see him so distraught. I know he'll survive, but will I??
Thankfully my 5 year old enjoyed her Sunday School class and actually came home and reenacted the story of "Jonah and the Whale" with a slew of stuffed animals (Bella Bunny starred in the role of God). Now that she'll be entering the public school system I want to make sure she still has a good biblical, moral foundation. I know she'll be shocked when they don't say grace before lunch each day. I guess we'll have to get in a few extra prayers here.

Welcome!

Well, this is it - my initial blog. My hubbie and I were speaking about this today, and here I am online tonight "creating a monster." One thing I have to say from the get-go is that I am NOT a blog addict, nor do I pledge to update this blog with a daily happening. If I have nothing to say, there will be nothing said. However, I thought I could put this sight to good use by posting things that I think people might actually use, such as: good links to activities, vendors, etc. Please bear with me since I am a blog amateur. Hopefully you'll see vast improvement as time passes.

For now, thanks for stopping by.

R