First Day of School!

Harper started back at Jubilee Junction today, and she could not have been more excited! She will be going 2 days a week again this year. I don't think it phased her one bit that I wasn't working there this year. She ran right in, and hardly said bye! But that's the way I prefer for it to be. Her teacher, the fabulous Ms. Gigi, said she had a great day. I was thankful to see her in the same outfit I dropped her off in....no potty accidents! She never has any trouble, but I was worried she would get too into playing to remember to tell her teacher... but she did a great job! I took a few pictures of her this morning, and I can't believe how grown up she looks!!!

Giving her "cheeeeese" smile...that really doesn't look like a smile!

That smile is a little better!

This is the treat I sent with her to give to Ms. Gigi.

I had a mom do fun things like this for me last year, and I loved it!

So I thought I would try to do the same for Gigi.

I found this idea on eighteen25.blogspot.com,

and just made some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies to put in the mason jar.

It was so easy and cheap too!!!

Divine Interruption

It took me a while to get to the point with the Lord that I thought His foster care idea was a good one. Now that we are in the midst of it, I absolutely agree with Him. A few months ago, I got Priscilla Shirer's Bible Study on Jonah. I started it immediately, but stupid excuses kept me from continuing. Basically, me and discipline do not get along! So, I got it out again today, and even though I'm still on the first session, I really have loved it! It's about the divine interruptions that the Lord places in your life, and how they will change you for the better, if you let them. I loved one of the paragraphs today. It was about letting your feelings towards something the Lord is calling you to do persuade you to disobedience.... Priscilla says it much better!!!

"God's plans for us are so overwhelmingly beyond anything that we could ever imagine that our feelings or ability to reason His directives cannot be the determining factor for choosing obedience. Making sense of what God has asked or feeling compelled to cooperate cannot be the prerequisite for choosing obedience. His Word must be enough." Priscilla Shirer

This hit me hard! What if I had let my feelings toward foster care keep me from obeying? What if I let others opinions persuade me??? I can't even imagine all that I would've missed out on! I'm so thankful the Lord didn't give up on me, since it did take a while for us to say "yes" to His calling!

Birthdays and Tears

Life got in the way of blogging. In the last week and a half, I turned 29, my sister turned 32, our sweet foster son went to live with a relative, and I've lost a lot of sleep. I've also broken out on my forehead like a kid going through puberty. The stress of foster care does not look good on me! Thankfully it's calmed down a bit... just in time for Corby's 10 year high school reunion. Tomorrow is our 6th wedding anniversary, so you can assume I'm really excited that I get to spend it with a bunch of people I don't know. But seriously, I'm looking forward to meeting a few people I've heard about and then working hard not to share with other people the stuff I do know about them... thanks to all of the stories I get when I'm with Corby's friends (Shout out to Warren and Chris!). So there you have it... lots of birthday celebrations and a lot of tears when baby M left. But we're doing well, and most importantly, Harper hasn't missed a beat!

Cheese!

Our little guy was headed to a parent visit this afternoon, so I was taking a few pictures of him in his outfit. When I was finished, Harper said, "Take one of me!" And then she gave me the cheesiest smile I've ever seen! I love the head tilt she does now... it really adds to the cheesiness!

Our first placement!

While I was at our agency's office on Friday morning to turn in some more paperwork, my phone started ringing! I quickly answered, was told about the child that needed a home, and then after letting this lady know where I was, she told me to come back to her office! It was so random for me to be there, since it's not really close to us! It's still crazy when I think about that whole scenario. After hearing about this little guy, I immediately said yes! Now, that didn't guarantee that he was ours. CPS sends out an email, and then they look at the responses and choose a family. So around noon, I got a call that he was ours. He ended up being dropped off about 6, and after going through all of the paperwork, we were a family of 4, for the time being.

Due to privacy policies, I can't really give out much information. But he is a really great baby! He sleeps well, eats well, spits up fantastically (horrible reflux!), and smiles some. We have no idea how long we will have him, so for the time being, we will love him as well as we can.

And don't worry... Harper is doing well! She went through a bit of "that's mine" (things she hasn't used since she was a baby!) when he first got here, but now she's used to him. She regularly asks where his momma and dadda are, so we just tell her that we're helping them out by taking care of their son. We appreciate your prayers since we don't really know what the future holds!

A week at the beach does the body good!

After Maggie's wedding, we all packed up and headed to the beach for a week! It was so nice to just relax and have no where to be all week long. We surprised my mom with a trip for her 60th birthday, and we knew she would love nothing more than to be in Florida. Growing up, we went to Destin every summer, but we decided to stay in a house in Seagrove, which is near Seaside.

A trip to the beach is much different when you have a child. I think I spent more time in the ocean than I have all of our other trips combined! I'm not the biggest fan of the little fish that nibble on your ankle, so I hope Harper comes to appreciate my sacrifice! We spent most of the day on the beach, and then late afternoon we would head to the house to get ready for dinner. We ate at some of our favorites... Red Bar, the Back Porch, Captain Dave's, Pompano Joe's, and of course we had to get a few key lime pies from the Donut Hole! Mom chose Back Porch for her birthday, and when we walked up, I thought we would have an extremely long wait. There were people everywhere, but they had a large table, and I guess we were the biggest group, so we got right in! It was crazy!!! We enjoyed shopping at the outlets, Baytowne Wharf (NEVER eat at the Village Door!!!), Destin Commons, and the shops in Seaside. Thanks to my mom spending her mornings with Harper and so much time in the water with her, we were able to have a really relaxing week!!!

It really doesn't get any better!

Checking out the ocean... she actually loved all of it!

Some days she didn't nap, but when she did, it was the perfect set up!

Leah and Sir-Corbs-a-lot (Chris made that one up, and it still makes me laugh!)

Opening her birthday scrapbook that we made for her!

The rest of her birthday celebration

Blowing out the candles that were on her key lime pie!

No potty training regression for us!

It was quite hilarious!!!

Harper and Uncle Mike

Oh, these two! They are like brother and sister!

Tia and Eliana

Yes, Corby knew I was taking a picture...

this was his pose!

I love Harper's smirk!

Morning time was spent watching a movie

After bath was spent the same way...

I think I can quote all of "Finding Nemo"!

Not bad for a self timer picture!

When December rolls around,

pretend you haven't seen this if you get Kay's Christmas card!

We definitely LOVE Destin!

Watching Tangled at the Baytown Wharf

I caught her doing her cookie dance!

She does this when she really likes what she's eating!

The boys...

Corby got pretty burned the first day, so he bought that shirt...

He got a large so it wouldn't be too tight...HA!

I've never seen something so snug!

I loved getting to spend time with my Harper girl!

The Wheelers

The Jacobs

A great time was had by all!!!

Maggie and Blake are married!

Last weekend, sweet Maggie (my sister's best friend) got married, and it was QUITE the celebration! It was one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever been to, and every detail was absolutely perfect! Maggie and her mom are both extremely creative and did almost everything themselves. I was part of the work crew that assembled and hung the lanterns (it took a REALLY long time!)... I also did a few of the bridesmaids bouquets! Maggie has always loved everything Kate Spade, so there were many of her touches throughout the evening! Each bridesmaid was in a different Kate Spade dress, but they were from the same line, so they all went together. It was so beautiful! Not that I'm partial or anything, but I liked my sister's dress the best! Her going away dress was also Kate Spade, and it was just gorgeous! The reception was so much fun... we even got Gran-D on the dance floor (a really big deal if you know her!). Probably my favorite part of it all was seeing the Riggan family filled with so much joy. As they deal with the pain and grief of losing their son unexpectedly, this was some much needed time of celebration!!!

The entrance of PV

2 of the house party girls passing out Izze drinks...

the wedding was outside, under a tent,

so these were quite refreshing!

The hallway leading to the tent, filled with lanterns!

Words to "Here comes the Sun" were all along the wall...

Maggie painted these herself!

Cupcakes to take home, along with her bridal portraits

The reception... everything was orange and pink!

Her aunt painted most of the canvases around the room

One of the bridesmaids did the paintings on the mantel

The food room... everything was delicious!

Gran-D and her favorite granddaughter

My BEAUTIFUL mom and sister!!!

Me and the Corbster

Maggie and Blake dancing!

Heading off for their honeymoon!

Congrats, Maggie and Blake! We are so excited for y'all and

praying the Lord's many blessings on your marriage!