TGIF

Man, Friday did not get here quick enough! It's been a busy and l-o-n-g week. I honestly do not have anything to say on here. I can tell you an Aimee funny.

Pappow: Aimee, do you like school?
Aimee: Yes
Pappow: Do you like your teacher?
Aimee: Yes
Pappow: Do you think you will learn a lot?
Aimee: Not really

She is such a hoot. She is still adjusting to school but we are making it. I am thinking that if she stays on green (which is a warning) then we are doing good.

No big plans for the weekend. We might go to the gym and go swimming. I have started swimming laps at the pool. Man, that is HARD. It does give me a break from the jogging time at the gym.

I also have to go grocery shopping at some point this weekend. What an exciting weekend for being an adult. I wish we could go somewhere but anywhere we go, we will have to fight the crowds and I am not wanting to do that. If we had a boat we could go to the lake. There is no where to ride 4 wheelers around our house. So, I guess we are just going to the Smackover football game tonight. Go BUCKS!!!

Swimming

I went swimming today and it was HARD! I swam for 30 minutes and did 10 laps across the pool. I loved leaving the pool thinking, "I did it". I did have to use a pool noodle to help me because that's a lot of swimming. The last time I did it without a noodle, I only went across 1 time so today was an improvement.

Food is doing ok. I just had a snack and I am still a little hungry but I think that is because I counted 4 exercise points for my swimming. I was sweating even though I was in the water. OK praying for you to do well today!

Bolcanos

Aimee is learing about Bolcanos (volcanos) and laba (lava) at school. She said that she loves school and appears to be having fun. She did ok today at school. She had to change her color from blue to green but we are ok with that. What she did today was not come to line up when her class was called back from recess. If that is all it was, it's really ok. We will keep on working on it but I am pleased with her progress.

I am back on my weight loss efforts. We are going on a cruise in December and I want to be 20 pounds lighter. It's going to take some work but I think I can do it.

Random stuff

These are some random pictures that I have been meaning to upload.

There is a picture of Darrell's new grill. We had a smaller one but we decided to get a new one after the burner went out on the old one. It had already been replaced and this one was on the end of summer clearance. It has 3 burners for grilling and a burner for boiling. Man, I see a fish fry coming on.....or some boiled shrimp since I don't really like fish.

There is a picture of Darrell and Greg and Ashley and I along with a picture of Brittany and I. Ashley is in the pink shirt. These are all students that we have in our youth group and they are so great. We just enjoy hanging out with them.

The picture of Aimee and Lexi was taken when we went to Hot Springs and toured the museum. They really liked running around and looking at all the old stuff there. It was hard to get them to stop to take a picture but they are so cute. There is exactly 6 months in between them and they get along so well. Aimee is blessed to have a friend like Lexi and I am blessed that Lexi's mom is my friend. God has been good to send us sweet friends here!

OK, I have killed enough time and it's about time to go home for the weekend.

Such a klutz........

This is going to be a whiney post:

I have been sick with a sinus infection since last Friday. It was worse on Sunday and getting better on Wed. Thursday due to the sinus infection and just life, I developed a migrane. Even with the medicine that I took, it would not go away. So today, still with the headache, I decided to take one of my pain pills. That worked very well and the headache was gone pretty quick.

I head outside to kill some wasp nests and I stepped off the concrete where I skinned my leg all the way from my knee to my ankle and 1/2 way down my arm to my elbow.

Can we say...........KLUTZY?????

So, I have felt bad for the past week. Whine, whine, whine.....maybe tomorrow will be a better day or I won't injure myself putting clothes in the dryer.....

I Trust You'll Treat Her Well

Author: Victor Buono

Dear World:I bequeath to you today one little girl...in a crispy dress...with two brown eyes...and a happy laugh that ripples all day long.. and a flash of light brown hair that bounces in the sun when she runs.I trust you'll treat her well.

She's slipping out of the backyard of my heart this morning...and skipping off down the street to her first day of school. And never again will she be completely mine.Prim and proud she'll wave her young and independent hand this morning and say "Goodbye" and walk with little lady steps to the schoolhouse.

Now she'll learn to stand in lines...and wait by the alphabet for her name to be called. She'll learn to tune her ears for the sounds of school-bells...and deadlines...and she'll learn to giggle...and gossip...and look at the ceiling in a disinterested way when the little boy 'cross the aisle sticks out his tongue at her. And now she'll learn to be jealous. And now she'll learn how it is to feel hurt inside. And now she'll learn how not to cry.

No longer will she have time to sit on the front porch on a summer day and watch an ant scurry across the crack in the sidewalk. Nor will she have time to pop out of bed with the dawn and kiss lilac blooms in the morning dew. No, now she'll worry about those important things...like grades and which dress to wear and whose best friends is whose. And the magic of books and learning will replace the magic of her blocks and dolls. And now she'll find new heroes.

For five full years now I've been her sage and Santa Claus and pal and playmate and mother and friend. Now she'll learn to share her worship with her teachers ...which is only right. But no longer will I be the smartest woman in the whole world. Today when that school bell rings for the first time...she'll learn what it means to be a member of the group...with all its privileges and its disadvantages too.

She'll learn in time that proper young ladies do not laugh out loud...or kiss dogs...or keep frogs in pickle jars in bedrooms...or even watch ants scurry across cracks in sidewalks in the summer.Today she'll learn for the first time that all who smile at her are not her friends. And I'll stand on the front porch and watch her start out on the long, lonely journey to becoming a woman.So, world, I bequeath to you today one little girl...in a crispy dress...with two brown eyes...and a flash of light brown hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs.
I trust you'll treat her well.

This has been a hard week for Momma. Dropping Aimee off today was the hardest day so far. The children area adjusting to their schedules. In the mornings they sit criss cross applesauce in the hallway and are actually quiet. I gave Aimee a hug and she was a little more clingy that she has been all the days so far. She knows that she has to stay but for just a few more minutes, instead of being that big girl, she wants to be my baby. I kiss that sweet little cheek, tell her to have a great day and then slip out. My tears slip out too. It's hard to let her go to school. Even though it's like daycare, it's different.

I am ready for the weekend.....

Our revival tonight

Well, first of all let me say that today at school was a much better day. We still covet your prayers but her teacher said that we are making an effort. Whoo-hoo for Aimee!

This is a picture of her with her new hair cut. The umbrella was a present from her great grandmother from Canada and the big flower in her hair was given to her by her after school teacher (who gave all the girls a flower for their hair). Of course, I could not convince her to take it out of her hair for a picture so we are "picking our battles" hence, the flower stayed in her hair.

The second picture is a picture of our revival that we had tonight. We had over 200 teenagers there and it was amazing. Several of our students made commitments or recommitments and it was neat to see God move so strongly in the lives of students all over our community tonight. Have I mentioned how much I love our church? I just love our students!! They are so great and God has blessed us so much here. There isn't a lot of food places or a real mall, but we do have real students that want to follow God's will.

Have a great night!

Strong Willed Children

Once again, I have been reminded very quickly that our child is a SWC (which is short for Strong Willed Child). I have always said that Aimee is "high maintenance" and you know, she is. Little things become battles, obedience is asked for over and over and then is given with a bad attitude.

Last night was a hard night emotionally for me and I am being very honest here. I thought that maybe I didn't deserve Aimee and that is why it took us so long to get pregnant. I thought that maybe I am a bad mother. I had lots of thoughts like that last night.

Today I read this on another blog:

There is nothing wrong with a SW child. Strong Willed is a personality trait, that’s all. A SW child is not abnormal. The parent's job is to train that child and help him in controlling his will. If you have a strong willed child, it’s because God knew that you could handle it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 is clear. You’re not given more than you can handle.

God says that He will not give me more than I can handle. Now, sometimes I think God trusts me more than I trust myself because sometimes parenting seems to be an uphill battle. I do know that God loves this little girl more that I could love her and I love her to the depths of my soul.

So, we are going to get through this. Here is how you can help if you are reading our blog (and this assusmes that you are family or friends):

1. Pray for us first and foremost. Pray that we will lead our daughter by example and that we will be in tune with her needs. Pray that God will give us the STRENGTH to parent her as He parents us.

2. Pray for Aimee and that she will obey because she loves Jesus and her parents. Pray that she will not obey us because of a "spirit of fear" but a "spirit of love". Pray for her actions and her body.

3. Pray for her teachers at school and at church, for endurance and strength. Pray that they will be firm but not lose patience with her.

4. Please be firm with her if you are babysitting her for us. Do NOT let her "get one over on you" because in the long run, it makes it harder on her. Be firm with your expectations. Do what you tell her you are going to do even if it breaks her heart (and yours).

5. Praise her! She loves to have positive praise and craves this. A hug is a great thing for her!


This is my new prayer:

“Lord, You know my inadequacies. You know my weaknesses, not only in parenting, but in every area of my life. I’m doing the best I can to raise my child properly, but it may not be good enough. As You provided the fish and the loaves to feed the five thousand hungry people, now take my meager effort and use it to bless my family. Make up for the things I do wrong. Satisfy the needs that I have not met. Compensate for my blunders and mistakes. Wrap Your great arms around my child, and draw her close to You. And be there when she stands at the great crossroads between right and wrong. All I can give them is my best, and I will continue to do that. I submit her to You now and rededicate myself to the task You have placed before me. The outcome rests securely in Your hands.”

Second day at school.....

and we already have the letter coming from the teacher about behaviors.

So, because I don't feel good and I am sick and losing my voice, I am going to just put it all here and you guys can read it. Ms. Thing (aka our daughter) has decided that she does not want to do what her teacher wants her to do. She has been telling her teacher "no" and will not keep her hands to herself.

Yes, I know that these are bad behaviors. No, I don't know what to do about them. We did something pretty radical today and that was D and I took her books out of her room. That is going to be hard for her and she cried and cried about that. She loves to read (and so do I) but taking things away that she doesn't care about doesnt' bother her.

We have two rules to follow tomorrow:
1. always obey your teacher
2. pratice nice things with your body (ie no hitting, yelling, etc...)

Hopefully this will work. Now, I am off to compose the first "I am sorry for her behaviors" letter.

First day of school

WOW! The first day of

school is officially here! Aimee did so well when we dropped her off. She was a little nervous when she first woke up but once she got to school, she saw a friend from preschool across the hall and perked up. Her teacher promised me that she would take good care of her so that made me feel better.

I have a lot of sad feelings about her starting school. She is offically a big girl and that is hard for my momma heart. It's bittersweet to see this little baby who was so helpless the first time I held her, take her backpack and walk into the hall of school.

Something every parents does.....

I had to do something that every parent has to do when their child is around 5 or 6 years old. We had to take Aimee to meet her Kindergarten teacher last night. It was so hard for momma. Aimee's teacher has been teaching for 24 years and is a well seasoned teacher. I guess that is going to be a good thing.

We bought a shirt and I joined the PTA! Definately a K thing because I am not sure how involved PTA is but I will be involved.

I am so nervous....Aimee appears to be fine about this but I am not sure I am ready to let my baby go. I have to drop her off and leave her all day. That is scary to me. I do it now but we are the ones that is able to control what daycare she attends and if in the past, it was not a good fit, we could look for another one. Now, we can't do that.

I know it's not a big deal for a child to start school but for me, as Aimee's mom, it IS a big deal. What if she gets scared or can't open her milk? What if she doesn't make any friends? What about all those unknowns? This is one of those times where it is hard to trust God. I am going to trust in Him though because I know Heloves this little girl even more that I possibly can (although that's hard to grasp because I love that baby like none other). I am just going to rest in Him and constantly remind myself that he will take care of her.

I know though that I am going to be crying all day on Monday. I actually told them I would be in later because I want some time to grieve for my baby when I have to drop her off. I will pick her up later on that day as a big girl.

Our fun weekend...

I haven't updated because we don't have a laptop at home anymore. Darrell was paying a bill a week or so ago and the "h" key fell off. We had to ship the thing off for repair and it won't be back until Wednesday.

I was out of town on Wednesday - Friday for a conference in Hot Springs. Boy, was it HOT! (Pun intended). The conference was good on Wednesday but I had a migrane from getting car sick. My friend from work, DeAnna drove and she took good care of me. We went to Outback with her family and a coworker that night and then the mall. It's so nice to go to a mall and shop. I hit Bath and Body Works and got some stuff for the house and a tote bag. It's so nice and PINK!!!!

Thursday was a LONG day at the conference but then DeAnna and I hit Magic Springs and that was a blast. It was not crowded at all and we did the water slides and lazy river before hitting the amusement park. I actually rode the rum runner which is basically the pirate ship. It made me sick when I rode it about 8 years ago and since my carsickness has gotten worse as I age, I haven't been on it since. We did it though and it was ok, I didn't get sick. We also rode some scary rollercoaster that I can't believe I actually got on. Have I ever said how scared rollercoaster's make me? I still get on them though.

Darrell and Aimee picked me up on Friday and we ate lunch with DeAnna and Lexi (her daughter). Aimee and Lexi had fun at the aquarium and walking in the old restored bath house and then we hit the Traveler's game in Little Rock. Can I say that this was the WORSE idea ever???? It was about 104 degrees with NO breeze! We didnt' last that long.

Saturday, my goal was to stay at home all day and I made it! I didn't get out of the house other than to go to the church and get the hamburger meat to cook for the lunch on Sunday. Techinally I live on church property so I never left my house and it was GREAT! Goal Accomplished!!!!

Have a good one and I will post pictures when I get my computer back!!!

What a weekend....

Darrell's parents came up this weekend to watch Aimee for us when we went to Magic Springs with our youth group. His parents are so good to us! Thanks Mom and Dad!

We got to Magic Springs and we waited FOREVER in lines. 2 hours JUST to get into the parking lot, 1 hour to get tickets, 2 hours for food and this girl tried to fight me for a table, 1.5 hours to get food for another student, and so on and on....it was CRAZY.

We did get to hang out a long time with our students though. This is the best group of students that we have ever worked with. They are just so much fun and desire our friendship and that means a lot to us. They ROCK!

Sunday was this last Super Summer of Fellowship which is where we get together for church and eat. We also invited the Fire Dept and Sherriff's dept and gave them an offering that they can use for bullet proof vests or whatever they desire. Then it was the last softball game of the season, adults verses youth. Our youth showed INCREDIABLE integrity. When it was the last hit of the game and they were down by two, they still allowed one of the students who is not a good player to bat even though they knew it would cost them the game. Can I say how great these students are????

Then Aimee and I came home. My cell phone was on top of some papers that got wet when her waterbottle turned over. Now I am going to have to replace my cell. I hate having to spend that money on a phone. UGH.

It's been a L-O-N-G weekend!

My sweet sister....

Here is a picture of my sister and my niece or nephew. I am so excited for them. I love you Carol! She is 17 weeks pregnant in this picture.

I caved....

and bought a cute pink binder from Wal-Mart. Do you know how hard it was to make a decision???? I had about 3 to pick from but at almost $4 a binder, I really only could justify purchasing 1 for my social work exam prep. Speaking of that, I paid $175 today to take an exam to complete my licenseure as a Arkansas Social Worker. I am going to have to continue to study for this thing because I can only take it one time for that price. If I fail, I have to pay another $175 so I just can't afford to fail.

Kudos to my wonderful husband who brought me a Cherry Vanilla Diet DP today from Sonic. I love Diet DP and it brightened my day. I am so thankful for a husband like Darrell who spoils me because he loves me. He's my everything!

Now....I just need to find some more things to go into binders. I shall keep working on it!

Summer days

It's hard to believe that summer is almost over. We have enjoyed our summer here with our students. I think overall, that this is the best group of students as a whole, that we have ever worked with. We have been pretty busy with them this summer because we spend a lot of time hanging out with them.

We go to Magic Springs a lot also! This picture is one of my most favorite pictures of the summer. It was taken on our way into Magic Springs. Aimee grabbed Darrell's hand and I snapped it quickly! Then later on she wanted to make some funny faces for me. She is such a little kidder. I can't believe that she starts school in 20 days! Pretty soon she will be ready for makeup and dating....Which will SO NOT happen. She's not dating until she is out of High School!

We are praying for Aimee to have a good year at school. Sometimes we are a little concerned because she has the natural curosity of Darrell and her mother's childhood energy. We are praying that she will have a strong Christian teacher that can channel her energy into postive behaviors and challenge her academically. We had considered putting her in private school but in the end, we are going to send her to the Math and Science school. We attempted to enroll her in the Drama and Arts school (which would have been a good fit for our little Drama Queen) but we were unable to get her into this school. Most of her friends from preschool will be attending that particular school which will be good for her.

Now, let's see if Mommy and Daddy can do as well as she does!

Some news

Some of this will be old new to some of you but some of you will not know this.
I have finally decided to come out of the closet about something that women do NOT want to talk about. Are you ready????

I have lost 40 pounds! I am really excited about this. I actually hit the 40 pound mark about a month ago but I am just now posting about it. I actually have at least another 20 pounds to go but right now, I am just trying to get there day by day.

I have a good friend, Erin, who challenges me and loses weight with me. She lives in North Carolina so all of our challenges have been online and/or Yahoo Messenger. We give each other prizes when we meet our mini goals and so she supports my journal and frilly shopping habit!

It's neat to see how things have changed in my life since I have lost weight. People actually notice me now or I am more aware of people noticing me. I guess for so long I have put the "I am not pretty enough" tag on, that it's hard to get out of it if you know what I mean. It's amazing to see people who haven't seen me in years and remark on my weight loss. With me being so short, it's very noticable but for me, I don't really notice it and I guess that is because I see myself every day.

Now, don't ask me what I weigh because I will NOT post it. I will also not show pictures of what I used to look like 40 pounds ago until I have lost all the weight that I need to lose. If you do want to send me gift cards to support my journal habit though, I WILL give you my address....