4 Years Ago

4 years ago today yesterday, I married my sweetheart. Yes, yesterday was our anniversary, and I forgot to blog about it. Ooops! In my defense, though, it was just an ordinary day with pizza for supper, Vacation Bible School, baths, sandwich-making, and bed time. I must admit, though, that Jacin DID drive through McDonalds and bring me home a sundae on his way home from work. :) I love those sundaes (and him, of course!!).  So shame on me for forgetting. Sorry.

So 4 years ago yesterday...

Jace -
I love you! You are my best friend, and I'm thankful God is allowing us to build a family together.

The WHY

In preparing for my new adventure as a stay-at-home mom, a wise friend suggested that I take time to write a list of reasons WHY I am choosing to stay home. On tough days, I'll have something to give me encouragement and remind me of purpose.

This week I've taken her advice, and during my quiet times I've tried to ask myself WHY Jacin and I made the decision for me to stay home. There are many reasons, and it's hard to put a calling into words, but here is what I have so far:

1. Jesus tells us to lay up for ourselves treasures in Heaven, not on Earth. Having this mindset, I must evaluate things based on their eternal worth. Investing in my child, showing him the gospel and teaching him by example to love Jesus and others is worth so much more than making money or teaching literature.

2. Because I cannot serve both God and money, I choose to invest my time and energy in my family instead of in financial gain. I will trust God to provide for us. He tells us to "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added."

3. By spending more time at home, I will be able to better attend to the needs of my family and our household. I want to make our home a peaceful and stress-free place where we can give and receive the love of Christ with each other instead of worrying about getting everything done before bedtime. Things like taking time to clean, cook dinner, make Jacin's lunch, and come up with new meals for Jackson are all important to enable our family to focus on what's important.  As the proverb says, "By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches" (24:3-4). I want this to be a description of our home.

I know that God wants me to become more like Jesus, and that's what I want for Jackson, too.  My prayer is that my life would be a living example of the incredible love of Jesus for my son to follow and emulate.

And finally, THIS is why I'm staying at home....

Peanut butter ... a new favorite!

Summer time!

So we've done a few fun little things this week.

1. We've discovered a new favorite treat - chocolate covered graham crackers! Yes, please!!!

2. Each night this week, I'm helping with VBS at Oostanaula Baptist. My title is "crowd control" in the three-year-old class. "Whew!" is all I can say about that.

3. Bird and I have run a few errands this week where he has behaved well enough to get out of the buggy and walk beside me. At Target with Mandy, he even pushed the cart!

4. Today we tried out our new $8 plastic wading pool. God bless it!!! What a wonderful invention, good for hours of fun! I'll post pics later this week.

Meltdowns and Cantaloupe

This morning I was brave (or stupid). I took Bird with me to the gym, thinking I would let him play in the childcare room while I went to a 60 minute workout class. 30 minutes into the class, a gym employee came in to get me. Apparently, Jackson had been crying the entire time. I walked in to get him, and it was pitiful. He was having a major meltdown. His little eyes were red, he had 3 of his fingers in his mouth, and he was crying so hard I though he might hyperventilate. The minute I picked him up, though, it all stopped. The waterworks turned off and the cries turned to little sniffles. He patted me on the shoulder, smiled, and said "Momma." Everything was right with the world. I love my Bird, and I love that he loves me, but can't a woman get 60 minutes to work out?

Tonight at dinner, I offered Bird a new food. We do this daily, but he usually refuses to try it, throws it off his tray, or gags on it. He's not super excited about table food, yet. Anyway, tonight we started by adding a bit of peanut butter to the Nilla Wafers he already loves. He gagged and threw up, so we took his shirt off. Refusing to be discouraged, we moved on to something else. We offered a small chunk of cheddar cheese, but Bird promptly "shared" it with Rascal. Next we gave him some cantaloupe. He wasn't a fan of biting the flesh, so he sucked the juice out of his bite, then rubbed it on his bare chest. I laughed so hard I thought MY cantaloupe was going to come back up!

Can you see the cantaloupe juice on his chest?

Lady of Leisure

Last Thursday was my last day working at Ashworth Middle School. Since then, I've taken a few days for myself. Jackson has spent this week as his last in daycare, and I've had some time to be a lady of leisure. I've been able to sleep in (7:30ish) work out every morning, go to the pool once, get my "toes did" with a friend, and get LOTS of little stuff done (laundry, cleaning, cooking, baking, running errands, and completing some Pampered Chef training).  Tomorrow's my last day of leisure. And Jackson and I are looking forward to going camping at Lake Lanier this weekend with Meme and Big Daddy.

Since Bird got tubes in his ears last week, he's been happier. And though he still holds his hands up and whimpers to be picked up every time I walk by, he's getting better at playing by himself.

Aunt Sarah, hope this makes you proud!

One of his new favorite things is turning through a book and chattering like he's reading. It's pretty cute. And every time he sees anything that slightly resembles a cow, he mooooos.
When he's hungry, he points to his high-chair and says, "Mmmmmm!"
Bird also loves walking - anywhere and everywhere. He was pretty steady before getting tubes, and then after the tubes his balance was thrown off. He's slowly gaining it back, though.

Here he comes!

And he also loves playing with gadgets - cell phones, remotes, and... cameras (as evidenced in the photo below).

SOMEONE has highjacked Moma's camera!

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Back from Jekyll Island

Wednesday of this week, I woke at 4am to prepare to leave for the Jekyll Island 4H Center with a bunch of 7th graders. We returned last night (Friday) at 8:30 pm. It was L O N G and super busy, but fun! I learned so much Science stuff (which usually isn't my thing at all), and I really enjoyed being with the kids outside of the classroom.

While I was gone, Bird was such a good boy for his Daddy. Today, however, he's a bit fussy. I'm sure his ears hurt. Good thing he's having tubes put in this Wednesday. I'm having to miss the last day of school, so I wont' get to say bye to my kids, but that's probably a good thing. This will reduce the crying.

I have mixed emotions about finishing up my last year teaching and getting ready to stay at home full time. I know staying at home is what I am called to do, and I am so excited to be with my little JBird. At the same time, though, I will definitely miss teaching, interacting with the students, and having "adult time" each day. On the other hand, my Pampered Chef business is going really well, so between that and Bird, I know I'll stay pretty busy. Like I said - mixed emotions.

For now, I AM looking forward to field day on Monday. I am NOT looking forward to packing up my classroom.

Can't Catch Up

Life has been a bit crazy - crazier than usual - the last few weeks. Since I've started Pampered Chef, I feel like I have 3 full time jobs - teacher, mom, and PC consultant - and I'm not doing any of them particularly well. I'm so ready for things to slow down!

Last Friday I went on a field trip to Six Flags with our gifted students. It was fun, but exhausting. It made me feel pretty old when Mandy, my friend, and I got off the Scream Machine and immediately dug for the Tylenol in our purses. Geez, I'm getting old.

This weekend we went to Gwinnett to celebrate my birthday and Mothers Day. It's always good to see my family, but it also makes the weekend a whirlwind. Time goes by too fast! Then we came back Sunday night to eat with Jacin's family.

Tomorrow, I'm missing work to take Bird to the ENT. I think his ear infection is back (again), so this appointment is right on time. I also have an appointment with the Cardiologist tomorrow. Maybe we can figure out why I'm feeling so crummy.

At 4am Wednesday, I leave to take 60 7th graders to the 4H Center at Jekyll Island for 3 days. Should be fun, but, again, exhausting. I know I'm going to miss my boys, too.

Whew! All that to say that I am completely overwhelmed. The house is a mess, I'm behind on Pampered Chef stuff, the fridge is pretty empty, JBird is feeling yucky, and I have probably 5 loads of laundry heaped on my bedroom floor (which is also covered in dog hair). I feel like, no matter how hard I work, I'm never going to catch up.

Maybe things will slow down after May 19th when I quit work (or, when I quit getting paid - I'll never quit work. I'm just switching jobs). Counting down the days!!!