Fun, Friends, & Focus!

March was a busy month for us! It was a heavy bday month for sure! First we had Lily's, then Blaine's, then my Mom's, then St. Patty's day...then Skylar's! So we had a good number of birthday parties to attend...And my baby turned 3 on March 27th!! Although, she said it was her birthday everyday in March and everyday so far after March 27th she wanted it to be her birthday....but she knew March 27th was her special day. We celebrated Skylar's birthday with her friends the weekend before at Marbles Museum. She loves that place....and so do we. There's so much for kids to learn and do there...just awesome! On her actual birthday she spent the day with me :-) We had her pictures made at and went to lunch at one of her favorite places...Chic fil'a....and our then took our traditional visit to Toys r us....That evening we all went to dinner at Outback with Joe, Kate, & baby Lily to celebrate more! It was a fantastic month! One of the parties Skylar went to was a princess dress-up party...right up her alley....she dressed like a princess and had her "make-up" and nails done, took a "carriage ride"....she had a ball..as you can see from the pic...Soooo Skylar's been busy being Skylar :-) She's in a dress phase right now....wants to wear tights and a dress EVERY..YES EVERY....SINGLE DAY!! She gets quite upset if she has to wear pants and a shirt b/c she says "It's not a princess outfit!" "It's not a princess!" And well...OF COURSE...we all know you're not a princess without the right dress.....uh huh....So...mornings are fun in our house if for some reason......we can't locate the appropriate attire and matching tights and shoes. Thank God for Tuesdays! She goes to "tap and tumble" on Tuesdays at school. It's a little gymnastics class....so those days she'll wear appropriate play clothes for tumbling....ok well most days..there was one Tuesday when I had to send her in her cheerleader outfit and leggings. She insisted on a dress....so mommy had to get creative....thankfully she was satisfied that it would suffice as the "special dress" for the day. Skylar seems to be growing more independent everyday...if that's possible. "I can do it all by myself mommy!" I wish I had a penny for every time I heard that each day! But I guess I should be thankful she has the desire and ability to lead and do things on her own! Let's see...well...Skylar now knows all her letter sounds. (Like A says AAAA and a' and b says BBBB and bah!) you get the picture. She's starting to recognize letters in words when we read or do flash cards and will say.. that's a T!! And T says Tah...like teddy and tiger.....You get where I'm going here right? If not , go back to phonics 101! :-) Sooo while she's known her letters for quite a long time now, it's fun to see her make the connection of what the letters sound like when we look at words on the pages etc.

Well...we are still going to soccer and Skylar loves it. "Coach Mark" is her buddy and she has even introduced him to the famous Moo Moo....you know she likes you if she shows you moo moo...her pink cow...that is really a giraffe but we thought it was a cow when she got it .....anyway..beside the point..Moo moo is her stuffed animal she's slept with since she was baby. Ok back to soccer...her favorite part of the clinic so far is when they get to stack up blocks and knock them over by kicking the soccer ball at them...I think I mentioned that previously...well it hasn't changed..........and the kid has pretty good aim too, I must say! :-)

It's hard to believe we are already in April!

Skylar moved up to her new small group class at church on Sunday. So she's in with the 3 year olds now and has a new small group leader. Skylar really enjoys going to Hope and we do too. We learn a lot and just love our worship time there. In September our church will be launching multi-sites (b/c we've gotten so large).....We'll have a site in Fuquay/Holly Springs and a site in Morresville. We'll still be "one" church but each church will have it's own campus pastor and all the staff /kid city/ and worship team like we have at the Cary campus....but we'll all see the same message each week. For example if you're at the fuquay site you'll still see Mike preaching...you'll just see it via projection screen. It's a "Hope where you are" kind of mission. Our Cary location now has 4 services and we're busting at the seams. Isn't God awesome! So with the multi sites, we can continue to be one church family with same beliefs and mission, but people will be able to attend at a site closer to their home / community location. I'm still learning about all this but we're really excited to see what God's doing through all of this! Wow....I got off on a tad of tangent didnt' I?? :-)

Well...to start April off with a bang..I had 4 wisdom teeth taken out..........less than fun...but not horrible...Six days later...and I can manage to eat something other than yogurt and mashed potatoes now...thank goodness. All in that weekend I had my teeth out, we had my brother in law's bday celebration, soccer Sat. morning, a birthday party Sat. afternoon, church Sunday and neighborhood Easter egg hunt and cookout Sunday afternoon. I wasn't able to actively participate in much, but I was at least "present" at all the functions...lol...Well this one's a long one so I'll cut it here and post more later! For those without a home church, I invite you to visit us for a Good Friday service at Hope and then an awesome Easter service at either a Saturday time or a Sunday time. Here's the link!! http://www.gethope.net/GoodFridayEaster2009.htm Have a fantastic week! Oh one more thing....my child confirmed I have ADD tendencies last night....We were talking at bedtime and I don't remember what I was saying...but she said "Mommy...FOCUS....You've GOT to FOCUS Mommy...!!" I cracked up but had to hide the laughter from her...and my mouth still hurts to laugh anyway...but REALLY??? MY 3 YEAR OLD ..telling me to Focus?? Ok I'm done....I have to go "focus" on other stuff now!

Welcome to March!

Happy March! My FAVORITE month...well other than December I suppose...(St. Patrick's Day and SKYLAR'S BDAY! ) And to start out the month with a nice little snow...twas fun, but I'm ready for sun, sand, and yes...flip-flops! Ok so it's not summer....but you never know what the weather will be like in the spring around here. I'm good with 70's minus pollen and humidity :-)

Skylar really enjoyed the snow again this time. We all built a mimi-me version of a snowman, well Randy did the hard work...I mostly took pics and Skylar packed on some snow here and there and decorated him. She LOVED her little snowman and hugged and kissed him everyday until he melted down to a tiny pile. She was a little sad, but decided we could pack up his "stuff" and save it for when he could come back again next winter....let's hope he comes back next winter! At least once!

Anyhow...Skylar has now started in her first soccer clinic w/ XL Soccer World. She LOVES it. And I must say, I've been impressed so far with the age-appropriate tasks and the "coach." At least the coach we have is great....from what I've seen. We are really....or I should say Mommy is hoping she continues to love it and will play outdoor fall soccer but one class at a time...one class at a time... :-) All week she's been showing me her "red light" aka foot on top of ball to stop a pass....and showing of her passing. In her class last week she loved the "aim" drill where they stacked up blocks and kicked the ball at them to knock them over. (yes that's me with her...her personal block-stacker...lol) Skylar also enjoyed scoring on goal, but would kick the ball down the field a bit....pick it up and run close to the goal...put it down right in front...kick it and score! She was determined that ball was going in that goal one way or another! It was really cute. Last weekend after soccer / ice cream / lunch and nap...and YES in that order....we got to go visit with the Crocker's and had a great dinner and such a fun visit! Sunday we went to church then home for a lazy rainy Sunday afternoon!

This week has been busy as usual and the weekend won't be any different! Today is Lily (our neighbor's) 1st birthday and tomorrow is Blaine's 8th bday...So happy birthday to the both of them!! And so we have 2 parties, soccer, and church to make for a fun-filled weekend!!

Well..I'm off to dreamland...in my St. Patty's pj's ;-)

and again....

I've missed 2 months of updating....and I must say those were some jam packed months! But...I'm back...Did you miss me?? (Don't answer that...)
Well here we are at mid-February...the love month...the month of the year where on one day...the 14th...we remind our family and friends how much we love them. We should all do that daily more often...or weekly at least...but we often don't. Interested in the history of Valentine's day....before the greeting card industry helped to commercialize it?? Well it's pretty interesting....so google it! :-) And yes I know Valentines day is over....but it's still Valentine's MONTH!

Speaking of love....I love my little girl more and more everyday..if that's even possible. She's such a gift and I thank God for her everyday! Skylar is growing up way too fast....she sounds more and more like a "big gurl" as she says...than she does a 2 1/2 year old...Her latest fascinations are Tinkerbell, throwing out some Spanish words here and there just to catch us off guard, being a "princess," beating her daddy in basketball, tap shoes, her upcoming birthday..which she reminds us daily "IS MARCH 27TH," jewelery, and more Tinkerbell. Conversations with her crack me up all the time...she'll say "Hey Mommy....Soooo..What's going on??" (in her best chilln' voice) ...or she'll taste a new food...proceed to spit it out..and say.."Now THAT'S DISGUSTING!"....LOL...She also reminds us that she "is a princess, and her Daddy is the Prince," or decides that she's the "teacher"....and boy is she a bossy teacher! New things...umm...well not so new..but new to you I suppose since I haven't blogged in a while...She knows the days of the week...in order...and song that goes with it...she's learning the months of the year but I don't think she will say them all in order just yet.

She's very good at remembering EVERYTHING...and I mean everything! Oh and she has and endless fascination with glue and scissors...and crafting...fun stuff there.

Skylar loves to make up songs...her newest creation the other morning was..."I'mmmmm going to be a pppprrrriinnceesss...ohhh yeahhh...and onnnnnn myyyy birrrthhhdayyy........on Marrchhhhh twentyyyy sevenththth...I'mmm gooooinngg tooo my parrtyyyy!!!" ....and the song went on.....and on....and on.. all while dancing and twirling in the middle of the living room...nice when you never have to leave the comfort of your home for quality entertainment!

This week she's been sick unfortunately....but seems to be better now. No more fever and seems to be getting back to being Skylar. I tell you, I'd rather be sick myself 10 times over than for her to be sick at all. It's so tough to see them not feeling well. Especially at at her age!

Well weekend before last we got to go see Blaine play basketball and spend the morning through lunchtime with Blaine, Shelby and Ken&Dawn. Was a great time! They always love spending together when we get the chance!

Last weekend we had a great time at one of her friend's (Meredith) bday parties at Gymboree. Awesome kid, has to be with a name like Meredith ;-) Skylar really enjoyed herself and we did too. Thursday night (last night) she had dance. She did a fabulous job with both the tap and ballet segments and seems to continue to enjoy her time there. This weekend..MOMMY is very excited b/c Skylar will start a mini-soccer clinic. It's just 3 weeks, 3 classes, but it should be fun and we'll see how she likes it. So far she enjoys kicking around with me in the back yard and trying to score goals....but we may have a future keeper on our hands...she does so love to pick up the ball and throw it...lol...so I've told her to pretend it's 'hot' and she can only touch it with her feet. We'll see how that goes!

Well I hope to post more updates soon and time permitting, I'll be better at blogging again! But for now, life is good, and I'm thanking God everyday for all the blessings in our lives!

The weekend......

So this past weekend we had a Thanksgiving celebration with some friends. Joining the party were The Urban's, Riffle's, Mamo's, Eshelman's, Prince's, 2 of the Byzek fam, and the Sperry's for a brief visit. Of course, Randy, Skylar, myself, and Caffrey as well :-) So needless to say we had lots of kiddos (and a crazy puppy who we had to eventually gate in on the deck) running around. (ages 3 1/2 down to 7 months). Randy fried a turkey and grilled a pork loin. Everyone else brought the yummy side dishes and desserts. Kim R and I had planned some craft time for the kids......but...the weather was beautiful so the kids played outside and on the swing set until dark...figured we'd let them run out some excess energy....after our insanely wonderful dinner....I brought out the markers, crayons, stickers, and paper bags for the kids to decorate their "Indian vests"....you remember those from your younger years right??? You know you do...and those odd pilgrim and Indian hats we all made in school every year. Well...our attempt at the vests turned into the kids just having fun decorating the bags...(and themselves in some cases!) They had a great time....Kim R also brought a fun craft..she printed out turkeys and the kids were going to use their fingerprints (with washable finger paint of course) to make the feathers....but unfortunately it was getting late and we didn't get to it....so she sent them home with the kids and their parents to do! Skylar was sad to see everyone leave...and as usual wouldn't tell them bye until they were out the door...(she doesn't like to tell people bye if she doesn't want them to leave)....and she sure was enjoying the time with her friends! Everyone seemed to have a fantastic time, I know we did...and we're so thankful for our wonderful friends....Sunday morning we were up and out the door headed to church by 8:45....then we came home and had the Sperry's over for lunch with all our pork loin and turkey leftovers!! After naptime, Skylar and I played and Randy decided to cook some fresh collards for dinner...I sent him outside for that task...b/c I HATE the smell of them cooking :-) He was happy to cook outside and built an awesome fire for us to sit around while he was cooking. The Sperry's and Stewart joined us that evening...Skylar loved the "campfire"....and as I mentioned we needed some marshmallows to roast..Skylar pipes in with "Yes!! and I want to eat them!" I don't know that my child has ever even had marshmallows....so that was pretty funny to me. We had some playtime with Lily and another nice dinner that evening. After that we were all ready for bed!! Such a fun weekend and we were ready to get some rest!

Soooo...the holidays are approaching and I get extremely excited this time of year...I love every bit of the chaos...more post to come on upcoming events...but Skylar is getting excited too....about all the sales papers! LOL...She loves looking at all the Christmas stuff in the papers and she says she's "reading a story." She'll even bring the sales magazines to me so that I can read her the "story"...which MUST START WITH "Once Upon a Time...." and MUST end with "The End".....apparently that's a new reading requirement I've just been informed about...per Skylar......well have you ever tried to make a story out of pics in newspaper..magazine..or catalog...give it a shot....it's quite entertaining. And every person in the pictures has to have a name....another Skylar requirement....And......she must find Santa in every paper..just to make sure he's ok..and not sneaking up on her....She's not a Santa fan...by any means...but likes to find him in books and on paper...and she's ok with him there. Should be interesting shopping this year!! She loves the decor, the lights, etc...but you can scratch the big blow up Santa's....and that's ok with me...I'm good with the fact that she likes her little manger scene most of all.....and she likes any noisy decorations that are smaller than she is...the bigger ones..not so much. So anyway.....we are looking forward to seeing family and friends over the next two months and catching up, enjoying some time together, eating yummy food....and remembering all that we have to be thankful for!

One more thing..

Mike's sermon last Sunday......

http://gethope-ministries.net/podcasts/mp3s/hcc-sermons-20081102-lee.mp3

The Verdict is IN.......

WEll well well....we have a Democratic President, and the Dems have the majority in the House and the Senate....It's a scary day in history isn't it. So what are we in for? Well...that remains to be seen. I would tell you that the continuation of extreme liberal thinking (and taking God out of everything) in America has gotten us...ohhhhh...a higher crime rate, more teen pregnancy and un-wed mothers, more innocent babies killed at the hands of abortionists, a generation of young adults and children who don't know the true history of America, gangs galore, illegal immigrants, split families, abuse of horrific natures, more poverty, more people depending on government hand outs....I could go on and on and on......but I'll stop there. It is what it is. And if you are a believer, a Christ-follower, then you know God has a plan and He never said we'd understand it. But know that He is in control. It's hard to swallow, I know...it's an everyday struggle for me too. But what we can't do is let evil and corruption disrupt us in our service for God and love for our families. (Granted I do have some relatives whom I SURE were adopted....lol...kidding..sort of.) This election was very different from others. It has divided friends, families, states, and our country to an extent. That's Satan at work. Soooo,....what must we do...We must NOT let politics run our lives or ruin relationships. We must agree to disagree and pray for those that don't share our beliefs in faith and family. As much as I disagree with Obama and his view on politics (ie.socialism) and life in general, I can still pray that God will change his heart in so many ways for the good of our nation. For those of you on the right side of the fence with me, it's our responsibility to make the real difference in the lives of others. Sure..I'm ticked with the election results....and how blind our nation is....but what kind of example would we set as Christians if we turn our backs on those that don't hold our views. We should embrace the challenge, pray for them, let God grab their heart through something in their own daily lives. It's not our job save the world, it is our job to be the hands and feet of God...stand up for our beliefs and be His workers on earth. The changes in Government will affect all of us in some way or another. But changing the life of a human being through compassion, giving of your time, donating to worthy causes, and ultimately serving God is way more important and serves a heavenly purpose...not an earthly one....Living in a country where we can worship God, is something we can be thankful for. (Though it's getting tougher and tougher with all the "pc" bull, but we are still free to worship as we see fit.) That said, I would encourage you to check your political hats at the coat room and enter into this holiday season giving Thanks for our blessings, find a way to serve God by making a difference in someones life, and being humbled by the fact that you are in good health and have a family (however crazy it may be) and a home where memories can be made. I know too many people going through far worse circumstances than I ever care to imagine....and I personally feel blessed to have the life that I do. And I know what I do with my own life and for others....is more important than anything any politician will ever do. We as Christians are the true change makers....I agree with Gandhi on this..." You must be the change you wish to see in the world" -M.G.

Catching up......

Has it really been so long since I last posted!??? Wow...time flys...and once again, we've been on the go. Since I last posted....we've.......celebrated my brother's birthday, celebrated my birthday, took a trip to Hillridge farm with friends, visited with my parents, brother, and grandparents in Henderson, (where I must add...Randy, Skylar and myself made our first apple pie....it was a family effort...and quite tastey!!...(AND..MADE with splenda...)spent some time with friends, visited with Randy's parents and his grandmother.......(all this over several different days and weekends of course)....ummm....attended and continue to attend Skylar's tap/ballet class weekly....spent some more time with some other friends.....did some trick or treating......had a party at Skylar's school.....(where she had treats so tasty she didn't want to leave any on her mouth as you can see in the pic)..did some trick or treating....or..."trick o treatttyyy" as Skylar would say.........went to church.....oh and worked...I guess I should count that too....afterall...Randy & I both spend (thankfully of course) 8-9 hours a day (or more) working M-F........

:-) (Actually we're always working...on something......but the 40-50 hrs I'm speaking of...we get paid to work..lol) Don't get me wrong...if I ever hit the lottery.....I'll gladly let someone else do my job...but until then, I'm thankful I am employed! AND...b/c I don't have hours of free time to explain all our adventures, I'll promise to be better at posting from now on.....now that I've caught you all up to date :-) Sooooo........tomorrow is the big election day........I must say...I'm ready for it to be over. If you don't know by now....I support the following....McCrory, Dole, McCain/Palin. And hopefully you do too. That's all I'm going to say about that. I've got more interesting things to talk about....like my sweet little girl! :-) Who by the way....will tell you "Jesus loves you.." when you are telling her to stop jumping on the bed, or correcting her behavior....how's that for a new take on back-talk!

So Skylar is growing more and more each day. Way too fast for our liking! We're beginning to wonder if she has a photographic memory (kidding........sort of..)....which would be really cool....or scary...not sure which....She at least has an amazing memory....I hear other toddlers do as well...but it still shocks me day after day the things she recalls.....Skylar wore a necklace to church yesterday that Randy's grandmother "great granny" gave her...Welll....she looks down at the necklace and says..."OHHH It's beautiful...just like Grandma's!" She was referring to the necklace my grandmother Pulley had on last weekend when we visited. We didn't even know that she had noticed Grandma's necklace!! The other day she told us "I need to see Katelyn in the blue shirt..." "Katelyn that went to the pumpkin farm".....This was a couple weeks after we all went to Hillridge with friends and Katelyn did indeed wear a blue jacket that day!! I can't remember what I wore yesterday...much less what someone else wore weeks ago! Kids are so much smarter than I think we all realize sometimes....that's why it's so important for us to be the best parents we can be and be a Christ-centered family. We'll never be perfect...but if we keep in our minds a song a friend of mine sang once...."Lord I wanna be just like You....cause She wants to be just like me...Make me a holy example for her little eyes to see...." it sure can be a good reminder to walk the walk if you're gonna talk the talk.....and so we try......and sometimes we fail...but you just pray the successes are many and failures are few. And pray for patience...I'm thankful God gave me a heart for children....and the patience that's needed to raise the miracle he blessed us with....Because my child suurrreee does test my patience!! She's got a mind of her own...strong-willed...I know that's characteristic of a strong leader....but gracious...some days I could do with a little less testing! :-) She makes me laugh so hard my tummy hurts some days because in trying to get her to do what I want her to do sometimes, she does the exact opposite...and with flair....and comes up with the funniest things to distract me...( I know I know...easily distracted...so what...) AND..It doesn't help matters when Randy just laughs and says "what a Little Meredith...now you know what you did to your mom!".... blah blah blah....notttttttt funny! :-p Don't get me wrong...she's the sweetest, cuddling, loving child...but she IS 2 1/2....going on 5 1/2 ...or so she thinks. Soooo..what's new with Skylar....well...she can count to 20 something now....in English....and a variation of 1-10 in Spanish....She'll say a few Spanish phrases....like a few weeks ago...She hands Randy something to open and says "Daddy..open this POR FAVOR!"...yes....our mouths dropped open and our eyes were saucers....cracked us up....anyhow...she's known her abc's/colors for quite sometime...she still loves sign language...and she love to sing/ perform...when she's in the mood...on her terms of course, and ALWAYS with a microphone! She seems to know a lot of her letters (as in if you show her a flash card...she'll tell you the letter...says A for Apple....H for horse...stuff like that.) Skylar seems to be gravitating to the world of Wolfpack mania...I'm trying to pull her to the UNC side....but she just throws up the Wolf sign with a "WHOOOOOOO!"....Oh well...at least she'll still be a Cowboy's fan! She's defnitely a sports fan...(Thank you God!) She's pretty much addicted to wearing flip-flops...loves dressing up....uses her manners most days....and let's not forget...loves to create masterpieces....artwork that is....and will happily take it to the fridge...(if she put it on actual paper and not herself, the wall, carpet or sidewalks)...and will put the paper on the fridge to display her work of art! There's never a dull moment with Skylar around we absolutely LOVE every minute...even through the tough "I'm not napping today" days...at some point...she makes us smile and melts our hearts.

As she was saying her prayers the other night....she thanked God for the following "spiders, mosquitoes, snakes, ants, ....and ladybugs...." I had to think for a minute...is she really THANKING God for these things I detest!!...(aside from ladybugs..they're ok)....she sure did....and ended with a loud AMEN!....I don't know why in the world she chose those....(b/c I prefer to squish and stomp those critters) but seeing life through the eyes of a child sure reminded me......Ecclesiastes 3:1 "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven"-----Go read for yourself....a great passage to think about, especially right now.......with our country and our leaders being in need of prayer......Toddlers sure are good teachers aren't they!