Change---not as scary as I thought

At the end of the school year I found out that my principal was making some changes in the building.  I had a beautiful classroom inside the building, and was going to move to a portable classroom (double wide trailer cut in half).  I was sad, upset, nervous, etc.  I don't like change.  I loved how I set my room up and it was finally the way I wanted it.  So, I boxed up all of my things and left wondering what it would be like to teach in a trailer.  I had always had a classroom inside the building.  All summer, I was thinking of ideas to maximize space since the classroom I was going into was a good bit smaller.  Thank goodness for Pinterest!

Last Monday, I dropped Georgia off for her first day of daycare. I cried like a baby, but that's another blog writing session all together.  :)  And Lily and I set off to Copper Ridge to get started.   I set out unpacking boxes, sorting through things, and making piles.  I arranged desks, tables, and computers.  It was starting to look like my room again.  Finally on Friday, Lily and I dropped Georgia off at daycare again, which by the way she had an awesome week,  and rearranged the tables, desks, and computers one more time.

Walking in on Monday

My room is smaller, so I had to get rid of my teacher desk.  I never sat at mine so I figured it would be good just to get rid of it.  I am using my small group table as a 'desk'.  I organized my desk supplies into a shoe organizer and I love the change.   I love the blue walls in my classroom and the fact that there is a bathroom in the trailer is the best thing ever.  I decided to change my classroom theme too.  New room, new theme.  I had a bumblebee theme before, and now am changing to a dog theme.  I think it will look great and the kids will enjoy it.  Although I did enjoy calling myself the Queen Bee at times! As I closed the door on Friday, I realized that change isn't always so bad...if you have a positive attitude and try to make the best out of your situation.

Desk Supplies

Small group area/ teacher "desk"

How are we made?

Lily has turned into a super curious girl.  She needs answers and wants answers to everything.  It seemed to start when I was pregnant and has progressively gotten more intense.

Here are just a handful of her questions over the past few months...
-How did the baby get in there?
-How does the baby eat everything you eat?
-How is the baby going to get out?
-Is the Dr going to put an apple on a string and put it down your throat and the baby will grab it and come out that way?
-What happens when we die?
-Did God dig up dinosaur bones and collect them to make Adam and Eve?
-Exactly how did he make Adam and Eve?
-How do bees make honey?
-Why did you marry daddy?
-Do I have to get married?
-Can I marry Daddy?
-Did God paint round rocks like eyes and put them in our head?
-Where does the sun go at night?
-How come the moon and sun are out at the same time sometimes?

Lily keeps me on my toes for sure.  She continued to question how we are made over and over and I would tell her that God made people.  She wasn't satisfied with that answer because she wanted to know exactly how did God make us.  I read from Genesis one morning and then told her the Bible doesn't exactly say how He made us and that God is just that awesome that He created everything.

Today, we made a creation book.  Each page tells what God created up until the last day when he rested.  Lily had so much fun picking through my stash of scrapbook paper, cutting things out, and gluing them down.  Then we put the book together and read it.

I'm sure the book we made won't stop her from asking questions about all sorts of things!  How fun it must be to be five.

The Summer Jar

The Summer Jars

Summer's Here! 


Being the mother of a newborn, I was ready for Georgia to settle into a routine by week 1.  This was not the case, as I remembered, that newborns eat all of the time no matter if the clock says 8:00 pm or 3:30 am.  (By the way, 3:30 am is a time where no one should be awake in my opinion!)  By week 9, Georgia was settling into a routine.  Enter the Hallelujah chorus....
Georgia started sleeping 5-6 hours at a clip at night, then would wake, eat, we'd play, then she'd go down again until lunch time.  Yes...I love routine.

Georgia Drew napping

Friday was Lily's last day of preschool.  As Monday crept closer, I started to think about how I needed a routine for Lily as well.  She can turn into a major grumpus if she doesn't know what's happening next, or isn't motivated by a schedule or routine.  Hmmm~ wonder who she gets that from?!   If it was left up to Lily, she would watch TV from sun up to sun down.  Not happening!!!  I want her to remember all that she learned in preschool too, so each morning, we have "lesson time" after breakfast.  We practice sightwords, work on simple math, and usually play a game.  Then she can watch two shows of her choice, then lunch, and nap time.  Ahh...routine in place and one happy preschooler and one happy mommy.

I love, love, love, Pinterest.  I saw this idea and realized this was just what we needed.  The Summer Jars.  Two jars with labels "Do" and "Did" to keep track of what you want to do over the summer and what adventures you did over the summer.  Each day, you pull a stick out of the "Do" jar and that is the adventure of the day.  When I say adventure...I use that term loosely.  Going to the mall, painting, and baking cookies are all adventures to my sweet Lily.  So yesterday, we created the jars and brainstormed what adventures we wanted to do.  We put a few in there to do with Daddy too, so he wouldn't feel left out.  Right before bedtime, Lily pulls a stick out of the jar and we see what we are going to do the next day.  Last night, she pulled the stick that says "Go to the mall"...she jumped up and down and clapped her hands together when I read it to her.  She loves to shop and look in all of the stores...hmm wonder who she gets that from?

Lily working during lesson time.

Mystery Plant

After winter creeped away and spring set in, I cleaned out our raised veggie beds and started to think about what to plant in the next few months. A few weeks after cleaning the beds out and going to Lowes to pick out new veggie plants with Matt and Lily, we brought everything down to the beds to get started. I saw a teeny tiny sprout of something from last year...but I didn't know what it was. I scooped it out and just couldn't throw it into the woods behind our garden. Something about that little plant's seed being down in the soil all winter in the cold, and then sprouting all of a sudden made me want to save it. Lily dug a hole under the stairs of our deck and we stuck it in the hole and watered it. Lily wanted to know what kind of veggie would come out and I told her I didn't know...so we began calling it "The Mystery Plant". Each day after school Lily would ask to go see the mystery plant and we would walk down to check it out. And to use her exact words, "it grew and it grew and it grew until a flower came out!" She was so excited when she saw the yellow orange bloom spread its petals reaching for more sunlight. She continued to ask me "What is it Mommy?" and I still didn't really know. I figured it was either a pumpkin, squash, or zuchinni. Lily called my mom to tell her all about it...all of the time! She loved descibing it to her Mimi and I loved hearing her talk about nurturing this plant and the excitement in her voice when she told Mimi that it was a mystery plant.

One day Lily and I took Zeke out into our backyard for some sunshine and Lily yelled "OH MY GOODNESS!!! THE MYSTERY PLANT ISN'T A MYSTERY ANYMORE!!!!" And there it was...a yellow squash laying on the ground that was about 3 inches long. She was so excited. I love the innocence of childhood and being with my daughter as she discovers things around her. Something so simple to me, is amazing to her. I've got to remember that in the rush of life, especially when school starts back. We get so busy that sometimes we do not take the time to smell the roses...or in this case, take the time to watch the mystery plant!

The eve of summertime

I can feel it...the excitement I get when I start counting down the last days of school before I break through the finish line and have the entire summer to do whatever I want. Wind in my hair, sunshine on my back, adventures to begin!

I can't wait for my mother to come next week. It will be a week of girl time---all three generations making memories. I remember when my mother took me to visit my Granny. We didn't do anything fancy, but we shared milkshakes, drank lemonade on her front porch, and helped in her garden. We went antiquing, hunted for fossils, and went on nature walks. I loved every minute of it and if I close my eyes and get really quiet, I can almost smell the milkweed pods growing in the corner of her garden. I hope Lily has memories like this of my mother. I love my mother so much sometimes I just ache to see her and hug her. When things aren't going my way or when I am feeling pitiful I wish she was here with me to tell me that it's not a tragedy and that everything will work out. I call her on the phone all of the time, but there are times where I just need her here to hug.

Last night, Lily was trying out her slip and slide. She would wiggle her way down the plastic, stand up, and yell AGAIN!! Fun times until someone gets hurt. Lily scraped her toe and started to cry. As we walked inside the house for a bandaid, Lily started crying harder and looked up at me and said, "I just want my Mimi". Mimi can make anything better in her eyes, and in my eyes too.

This week I will not only be counting down for school to be out, but for my mom's visit! And that's more exciting than 3 months of no school anyday. 10 more days and a wake up!

We did it....sigh

I think it's important to chronicle the past year into words. Thinking back to our lives last year on November 30th, we were a family who had a home, good jobs, a great love for each other. We were put to the test over the past year. Our faith was tested, we found who our true friends were, and realized that blood is thicker than water. And now looking forward, we have a home, good jobs, and a great love for each other...we're just in Knoxville instead of Rock Hill.

It all started when Matt accepted a job in Knoxville. Such bittersweet feelings followed me daily. We were going to be "back together" in the sense of words, but that also meant cutting parts of my life away, sacrificing the comfort of my simple life, and going into uncharted territory.

It started with our house. Toys were put away, family pictures put into storage, making our HOME look like a sterile environment so that other families could picture what their lives would be like in OUR home.

Next was my job. I filled out the resignation form as if it were no big deal, but held on to it until the last possible minute. I don't know why. And then I realized it, I would have to start over. Start over...those words hung over my head like thick fog that I didn't want to acknowledge.

It was time to go. July came faster than a Monday after a long weekend. Inside I was torn. I was excited about the change finally, but scared to death. We packed what we would need in our 800 square foot apartment and left the house "picture perfect"....well for someone else. I silently said a prayer in Lily's nursery, lifting everything up to God. Letting Him bear the weight of all of my deep and scary thoughts.

Once we moved to Knoxville, things slowly started to get back to normal. After months of searching, I found a job nearby in a third grade classroom. I started the year rushed, unfamiliar with procedures, TN state standards, and such, but it's working for me now. So many nights I have listened to Lily and Matt play in her room while I listen in from the living room. I thought to myself, "All of this is worth it...to be together, to share our love again, to grow as a family".

Then it happened. We sold our house in SC. Finally...the phone call we were waiting for. Amen, praise was lifted to God thanking Him for all He has done. Realizing, it is not always our plan, and the way we want it, but His plan and the way HE wants it. As we packed everything and moved it out of the house, our home looked like an empty shell, cold and open. Memory Lane was just going to be a memory for us. I felt like we needed to have some sort of ceremony. Our house was part of us...where our story started together. We stood there and talked about our favorite memories and told Lily that it was someone else's turn to live in our house.

Recently we found a new house and I am sure we will create many memories in this house as well. But for now, it's still just a house. When our pictures hang on the walls, Lily's toys are carelessly scattered about, and we are snuggled up on the couch together, then it will be our home! :)

We move in on Friday and we're counting down the days until we move in. We can't wait to start our new story together in Knoxville in our new home.