An Instagram Halloween

Trick or Treats

Hayride

Pumpkin Picking

Elephant Hats Optional

Joy Comes in the Morning

A year ago this week Charli turned 5 in the hospital, two hours from home. She had 18 balloons, a mountain of gifts, and the undivided attention of her family and a whole floor of nurses. But let's face it, a birthday in the hospital stinks.

This weekend we celebrated her 6th birthday at HOME. She planned her luau themed party herself, and we followed her instructions to the letter. It was the least we could do, seeing as she had to wait two years to have a proper birthday party. The party was wildly fun and exhausting and deserves a post all its own.

Then the little booger surprised us with this.

Yes, that's a page of braille she's reading. I've been teaching children to read for a decade now, but nothing compares to the wonder of hearing my own children read. Conner has been reading for almost a year. Charli declared that she too would read when she turned six. I secretly wondered if it would take her longer to learn in braille. She showed me!

Happy Birthday sweet girl. 

I know you are going to continue to amaze us.

"You changed my sorrow into dancing.
       You took away my clothes of sadness,
       and clothed me in happiness." Psalm 30:11

Fun with Brown Bear

CG had the honor of babysitting Brown Bear for her kindergarten class this weekend. The assignment is to take Brown Bear along and write a journal entry about his adventures. This is quite the big deal for our girl. Brown Bear hasn't left her side. Because her mom is a teacher, CG's photo captions all included a little manners lesson. Brown Bear is a role model you know.

Brown Bear uses good manners in a restaurant.

Brown Bear takes turns on the slide.

 
Brown Bear is quiet in the library.

As you can see it was a whirlwind weekend. Thanks for stopping by Brown Bear!

Back to School

We are three weeks into the school year and I've finally found time to sit down and blog about it. Chad and I started off the year with a system wide meeting. Don't we look cute in our rival school t-shirts?

The kids started a week later. They are both doing really well and love their teachers. I can say without hesitation that we made the right choice putting Charli in our local school. She is thriving.

The week before school started I broke my middle toe. Pretty huh? The nurse at the Urgent Care said, "Oh my!" when she saw the x-ray. I used much stronger language when the break happened... Who knew one little broken toe could hurt SO BADLY?

So I spent the first two weeks of school wearing this lovely shoe. I was in so much pain when the nurse brought it that I didn't care what it looked like. I can finally walk without it, but I'm afraid I'm going to be stuck with a funky looking, sore middle toe for the rest of my life.




It has been a month since Chad's dad passed away. Strange how it feels like so much longer. It gets a little easier with the passing days, but then the sadness sneaks up when we least expect it. I was filling out a paper for the school about who would be attending Grandparent's Day with the kids, when suddenly the tears came. Mom's name just didn't look right without his beside it. Little things like that seem to be the hardest.

Maybe broken hearts are a little like broken toes... They heal but are never quite the same as before.


The Lord is close to those whose hearts have been broken. He saves those whose spirits have been crushed. Psalm 34:17-19

Goodbye Buddy

Chad's dad died Wednesday. His health had been failing over the last few months and while it wasn't unexpected it still hurts so badly. In the 16 years that Chad and I have been together Dad always treated me as his very own daughter. We joked that I was his fourth child. He loved Conner and Charli Grace (his namesake) dearly. He especially loved their shenanigans and chuckled at Chad and I pulling our hair out. (We call that 'paying for your raising' here in the south.) He bought the loudest, most obnoxious birthday and Christmas gifts and made sure they went home with us rather than stay in the toy box at his house. There were always hot-wheels cars in his desk for the kids. We even found some there the day he died... just waiting for the kids' next visit.

He was a meticulous planner and organizer. One binder contained everything needed for his arrangements. All Mom had to do was sign a few papers and everything was ready. He approached his spiritual life in the same careful way. Chad found his Bible filled with notes, family records, and records of blessings and answered prayers. Dad loved his God, his wife, his family, his work and friends. He built his house on the rock and we are all so much the better for it.

Goodbye Buddy. The wait is going to be hard, but we will see you again someday.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:24-27

An Impromptu Trip

My bestie, Lisa, called this weekend and invited us along for an impromptu trip to Lake Winnepesaukah. Chad was at camp with our youth group, and I was a little nervous about driving so far with the kids by myself, but we loaded up the car anyway and followed the caravan north.

The adventure was totally worth the interstate driving and heat rash. (It was only like 100 degrees.) There were only a few rides the kids were too short to ride and they rode their favorites over and over.   Thanks Lisa and Jarrod for inviting us along and helping seize the day!

Charli and Reagan stuck together like glue.

We rode the 95 year old carousel several times.

I checked "ride a ferris wheel" off my bucket list.

Go out and have an adventure!