Graduation

Last night, Aiva officially graduated from Kindergarten. Her last day at Big Walnut Elementary was on Wednesday and then we had Graduation at church. She had so much fun. You can see that she almost felt like she was an adult getting all this attention for graduating! Here she is 6 but she was walking and talking like she were 16. Not in a regular 16, don't mess with me, I'm too good for you sort of way. Just an older, sophisticated, more grown up sort of way! We had dinner and then the "commencement" started. The graduated came in and filed up on stage then Ms. Becky gave the address to the graduates. It was great...she told the students that they needed to ABC...Always Be Christ. Whenever they were close to having a bad attitude and talking not so nice to others that they needed to think ABC...Always Be Christ. She even gave the graduates ABS silly bands. Aiva thought they were so very cool! Once Ms. Becky was done, she passed out the diplomas and then there was a slide show with all the kids pictures. It was quite moving. It was so great to see all these kids and to think that these are the kids that Aiva is grow older with. These are the kids that she's going to go to camp with...the kids who she's going to go to football games with...the kids who she's going to grow closer to Jesus with. I was so proud of her last night. I was so proud of the girl that she has grown to be and so proud that she's my daughter. I love you Aiva!

Sunrise

Today was a sad day for Aiva & Ana. Their good friend Sunrise moved. We knew the day was going to come but we didn't know it would be so soon. When Sunrise came over today and said today was the day and they were loading up their stuff you could just see Aiva's shoulders sink. I felt so sorry for both my girls! Their friend who they loved hanging out with and laughing with was going away. It took me back to when I was 6 and we moved from Grove City to Westerville. I left behind my friend Michelle. She was my best friend...we swam in our pool, had sleepovers, played with Barbies...everything. I remember sitting backwards in our old green Hornet staring out the back window as Michelle waved goodbye and she began to get smaller and smaller the further away we drove. Aiva had that same feeling today and all that came to mind was, "Its gonna be OK". I had the radio on and both girls loved to sing but today there were no songs coming from the backseat...only muffled cries and little sniffs. We had high hopes for Sunrise. My girls were teaching her about God and I could really see them growing as they talked about Jesus to Sunrise. We prayed today that Sunrise would remember their talks and that she would want to be more like Jesus too. Even though it was a rough day, a smile was brought to my lips as I can see how much all three girls have grown.

Debt

I just read an amazing article on debt by one of my favorite fellow bloggers. You have got to take a look at this. Click here to get to it. She talks about taking extreme measures to stay out of debt. her family did it while her husband was in law school and they lived on around $12,000 for the year. She gives 28 ways that helped them stay out of debt and get by. Very inspiring! Hope it touches you as much as it touched me. Thanks Money Saving Mom for sharing!

Aiva

Today is my baby's last day of school. She is officially in 1st grade! I can't believe it. Time goes way too quick. It seems like just yesterday that we were putting her on the bus and watching her ride off. She is so excited to move up, but at the same time sad to leave Ms. Mayer and all her friends. She's had a great year and has learned so much. We are so proud of the girl that she is becoming and are anxious to see her blossom into a lovely young lady.

Remembering

I've just spent the past two hours going through the entire list of those that have died in this war that we are currently in. Yesterday marked the day that there have been 1000 fatalities just in this war. I've looked at all the names...seen where they were from...seen how old they were. I'm so saddened at all the loss but so grateful that they sacrificed their life for mine...for ours. I'm at a loss of words of what to say to these brave men and women. Thank you just doesn't seem like enough. They've left behind families, friends, jobs, churches, memories, the list goes on. Nate and I saw a movie recently and it opened my eyes up just a little bit to what these men and women experience both in battle and when they return home. If it touched me the way that it did, what has it done to their hearts, souls and minds. The things that they have seen and had to do are unlike anything that we will ever have to do in our lifetime. Thank you, fallen ones, who have stepped up to the plate and fought for our freedom. Who have left loved ones and life, as we know it, to fight and fight hard. I pray for the families and friends who you've left behind. I pray that they would continue to be comforted and that they would have peace that you died doing what is noble and right. Thank you to those who are still serving. May God protect you and bless you for what you are doing. I thank you for doing this so I can be free. Thank you for wanting to change the world and to hopefully make it a safer and better. May the day that we celebrate tomorrow not be about garage sales, cook-outs or just another day off work. May it be a day that we reflect on you - those who have fought hard for the USA. For the lives that have been lost and for those who are currently on the battle field. Thanks for serving!

Mom

For Mother's Day, Ana's teacher sent home the answer's of some Mother's Day questions that she asked the kids. Here are Ana's answers:

My favorite thing to do with my mom is....planting flowers with her.

I like it when my mom cooks...eggs and cinnamon rolls

My mom likes to...go to work.

My mom likes it when I...play jokes.

My mom is __ years old? 20

My mom smells like...peanut butter and jelly.

My little girl cracks me up! All you have to do is look at her and you crack up! Thanks Ana for lovin on me and for calling me mama!

Hiatus

So it's been awhile! Sorry for my almost two month hiatus...it's been a whirl wind of a few months but I think I can finally say that I'm back! Yeah! I sure missed blogging but it was somewhat refreshing and somewhat eye opening at the same time. Makes me almost feel like God does with us when we don't talk to Him! Things have been great and are just beginning to start back up again.



I've been picking up the slack in the office for a couple of gals being on maternity leave so it's been a little hairy at work but I've survived! They're both coming back next week and the week after so I'll be back to normal in the next few days. Makes me appreciate them all the more ;). My small group just got done with the book "Crazy Love" and it made me want to change my thinking on a few things.

I've always thought of God as being more reverent and holy but I want to try to think of Him more as Abba, Father, Daddy. A little different for me to wrap my head around but I want that personal side to my relationship with Him. It's a great book so if you haven't read it, pick it up and give it a go. We're starting a study of the book of James so I'm really excited about jumping into that next. I've also been trying to plan out activities for the kids and Nate to do during the week for the summer. I'm so jealous that I won't be able to join them! There's a lot of fun stuff planned from the summer movie series at Cinemark to free bowling to gymnastics camp! It's gonna be a good one! I've also been trying to work on a few projects that are getting up off the ground rather slowly but I'll kick it in gear soon. I've also been keeping up with menu planning and coupon saving so that's been exciting! Along with all that, I've been planning Nate's and my trip to Chicago in November for our 10th anniversary. I can't wait for a vacation! We're not really going away this summer (other than camping) so this will be our vacation for the year. It's gonna be great!

Nate has been doing well. Still adjusting to being a stay at home dad! By the time he gets adjusted, both girls will both be in school. I think he's looking forward to the summer and being more active instead of being cooped up in this little house! He's started tournament fishing which he loves so that's been great for him to get out with other men. He seems to be doing pretty good too! He would love to get a boat one of these days so I told him to start saving pennies and one day we'll get there! He's looking forward to camping, fishing, and heading to Nashville this summer.

Aiva is doing great in school. She loves math and spelling and she's just plain a smarty pants! She is so helpful with Ana but on the other hands they love to fight like cats and dogs. She has a new friend next door and her name is Sunrise. She wants to do everything with this girl! Sunrise doesn't come from the best home environment so we're trying to be good examples while hopefully not scaring our own kids! Aiva's looking forward to gymnastics camp, Round Lake camp, and soccer for this summer. She's still trying to find her niche with what she wants to do so we're still exploring our options. She's very smart and crafty but I'm not sure she's real athletic! We're still working with her though!

Ana is just plain ornery! Nate and I crack up all the time at how witty she is. She always has a smile and a joke that she readily hands out! She loves preschool and will tell you if you ask who the trouble maker is in school. She loves Ms. Mindy and can't wait for her spring show where she gets to sing a few songs that they've learned in class. She's in gymnastics at church and LOVES it. She's the oldest of the class but that doesn't bother her...she knows what she's doing and is adamant that she wants to do things on her own while in class! She will be in the 4's/5's class in preschool next year and we're hoping that Ms. Mindy will be in her class but we'll have to see! She can't wait to be in class for 3 days instead of 2 days! She loves writing her name and will watch Mulan (the Disney movie) all day if you let her.

I think that should catch you up on a few things until next time! I'll enjoy getting back into blogging again so stay tuned for what's on the horizon with me. I've enjoyed staying up with all my pals blogs so thanks to you all for keeping up while I took a break! Hope you're looking forward to summer! See you around!