7 Months Down!

I can't believe Harper is now 7 months old!!  Absolutely everything she gets her hands on goes straight to her mouth!  She loves sitting up playing with her toys.  She babbles ALL the time.  She is always smiling.  I could go on and on.
  She is going to MDO now twice a week and doing pretty well.  She is the youngest one and not quite on their schedule yet.  But she gets plenty of loving:)  She is pretty easy going and thankfully can go with the flow. 
  She is mostly wearing 12 month clothes and size 3 diapers.  Today at her check up she weighed 19.1 pounds.  She has lots of rolls to love!  She loves her baby food and gobbles everything up.  we are about to start adding meat to her diet.  Pureed ground beef sounds gross but it is on my list of things to make this week.
  She hadnt been sleeping as well the past few weeks, but the past two nights have been better.  We started putting her in a sleep sack and she seems to really like it.  She also still loves her lovey and chewing on her paci.  She is one rotten baby and we are enjoying every minute!

Frog Hollar Party!

Tonight we went to the Arwood/Shaeffer annual fall party.  Let me start by saying I am realizing what a selfish picture taker I am!!  From my pictures you would my family had a little get together when actually we were with about 50 other people.   I must do better!
  We love going to Kelly's and had a great time.  The kids fished with their daddy, went on a hayride with me, and colored pumpkins.  It was fun, and it was cold!!  I am a freak about cold weather and always worry they are going to get sick.  Kelly made fun of me and I pray I don't prove her wrong:)  Thankful for my friend of 18 YEARS and her family.  Hate I didn't get a picture of us tonight.  Always fun hanging out at Frog Hollar!

Important Birthdays Missed!

Last month Kevin celebrated his birthday and Mimi celebrated hers at the beginning of the month.  Kevin's fell on a Wednesday which is a busy day for all of us.  The kids made him a ton a decorations and set them around the house.  We made a banner, a birthday hat, and a bunch of pictures.  Maddie wrote him the sweetest card.  That night I took him out for sushi.  I didn't take a single picture!!  We love him more than the sky and tried to make his day special though.
  For Mimi's birthday we went to lunch after church with the whole family.  On her birthday the kids and I baked her cookies and took them to her.  We are blessed with two sets of great grandparents and hope she enjoyed her special day.  She is a pretty great mom too:) 
  In two weeks we will celebrate the 7th birthday of a pretty special girl.  Pretty sure I won't slack in the picture department for that one!

Fall Break!

I am back tracking a bit.  We actually ended Fall Break with a trip to Priddy Farms.  When we got home the kids painted their small pumpkins.  Even Harper:)  We haven't gotten around to carving the big ones yet...soon!
  Daddy took the big kids to see Turbo that Monday and they enjoyed it.  Tuesday Maddie and Turner to the dentist and they both got a great report.  Praise the Lord.  That doesn't always happen.  We switched dentists at the beginning of the year and they love going!!  I am so glad.  We had a bad experience with the first one.
  After they were done daddy took the big kids to meet Nonna.  They spent a few days in Savannah and we had some one on one time with Harper.  Everyone had a great time.  We all needed a break from a school/work and it was a great week!!

Priddy Farms!

We took the kids to Priddy Farms yesterday afternoon.  It was a fun family outing.  We went on a family hayride, Turner went on a train ride, and the kids jumped in the moon bounce.  We also came home with a bunch a pumpkins:)  They had the cutest background for pictures.  Harper was not having it.  She always smiles for the camera....not yesterday!!!  I still managed to get some cute pics though.  Next is the fun of painting amd carving.

We Just Love Them More!

The past few months have been a whirlwind.  I posted before about deciding to quit keeping Aubry and going to work at our MDO program at church.  It originally was going to be for 4 days a week.  For different reasons, it ended up being for only 3.  While I have LOVED being at home that extra day, our money situation just isn't improving.  About 2 weeks after I started, a coworker mentioned a part time social work position that was open at the Tennessee Baptist Children's Home.  I couldn't believe it.  Hearing part time and social work together was like music to my ears.  The only downside-it was in Millington.  I decided to call anyway and would spend the next several weeks meeting with them and speaking with them over the phone.
  Let me just say this ministry is amazing and I would have been so blessed to be a part of their team.  They were so kind and like me, praying for who should fill this position.  I wanted it too.  I love social work and really enjoyed the little time I spent doing it.  I always thought the car business would be a very temporary job until I could get back in my field.  Never in a million years did I think I would stay there 9 years.  The more I spoke with the people at the Ranch, the more excited I became....and a little more hesitant all at the same time.  It was a part time position....only 19 hours a week which happened to be mostly while my kids were out of school.  The money was double what I am making now....until you pay a sitter to keep Harper for the week and pay extra for the gas to get you to and from Millington everyday.
  We live paycheck to paycheck and most of the time still dip into savings.  Eventually, that money will run out.  I felt like I needed to take the job for my family and to help more with our bills.  I kept asking for everyone's advice and opinion, but no one could tell me what to do.  The thought of being away from my kids was heartbreaking.  We are so busy at nights, oftentimes those few hours in the afternoons are all we have.  Mimi was going to have to pitch in with the older kids until football season ended.  I was so confused and was supposed to head back to Millington in a few days to fill out more paperwork.  It was one heck of a process!!
  In the middle of all of this a teacher decided to quit at church.  I was asked if I wanted her class which would have me working the full four days.  They said I could go ahead and start bringing Harper with me two days and my mom is helping with the other two until after Christmas.  I couldn't believe the timing.  I don't make very much money at church, but Turner and now Harper are with me half the time, I can still get everyone to and from school, and I am only five minutes from the house.  It was becoming real clear that money can only factor so much into my decision.  I want to be with my kids.  I want to be available to them and here whenever they might need me.  I love social work....but I love them so much more.
  I had been praying and praying and was waiting for God to yell out what I should do.  I wanted it to be so clear and I wanted to be in his will.  Our Children's Director, also my boss, made it very clear to me.  He said that as long as you are living in holiness, obeying the clear principles from the scriptures, growing in Christlikeness, and still wonder what to do, just do what you want to do.  If God is my delight, then my desires will be pleasing to him, and doing any of them will be ok!!!  I don't think there was a right or wrong answer.  I think I can do social work and bring him glory, or I can teach at MDO and bring him glory.  But if I am at MDO, I can also have more quality time with my kids and instill in them these values as well.  So that is what I am doing.

  We will still be living paycheck to paycheck, and the money still will probably run out one day.  But I have watched God bless us over and over again throughout these past few years and I have complete faith that we will be ok.  These three kiddos are growing up so fast and for this short season I need to be home with them as much as I can.  So for now social work is again put on the back burner, and I am ok with that!!:)

AR Tests for Maddie!

Maddie is doing well in First Grade.  She had all A's on her interim report.  We have a bit of a perfectionist on our hands.  She doesn't want to make anything besides a 100.  I have no idea where she gets thay from...seriously!!!  A perfectionist I am definitely not.
  She is taking AR tests this year and hopes to have 25 points by December to go to an ice cream party.  She loves to read!!  We have started buying her chapter books and she read an 87 page book in two days.  We were worried that even though she read it, she might not totally understand what she was reading.  Last Friday she took an AR test on the book and made a 100!!  So proud of her!  She is enjoying Judy B Jones books and Adam Joshua books.
  I pray that they both continue to do well in school and enjoy it.  It is so fun watching them learn new things and joining in their excitement when they master something new.

F is For Firetruck:)

A few weeks ago a few firemen came to Church School and brought their firetruck.  I think Turner enjoyed listening to them and getting in the truck.  I love having him with me at work.  Between both his schools, he is so ready for Kindergarten.  I love peeking in on him throughout the day. 
  A lot has happened over the past two months and I am hoping to get it all documented soon.