Mother's Day Tea

Here's a quick update of our garden. We even have some tiny green tomatoes growing out there! Another view of the garden.
Green beans, okra, cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, and peppers.


Today was the "Mother's Day Tea" for Josiah's 3 year old Mother's Day Out class.

When I arrived, Josiah was sitting at his table with two pieces of paper made especially for me!

Here's Josiah and his best buddy, Kameron. These boys are just a little over 2 months apart. As hard as it is to believe, Josiah will be 4 years old on May 24!

Here's Josiah with his WONDERFUL teacher, Mrs. Missi. She has done an amazing job of setting a positive tone for Josiah's whole educational career! We love Mrs. Missi!

Sweet pic of Josiah and Mrs. Missi.

Here is one of the two papers Josiah made for me. You may have to click on the picture to make it big enough to read. It is priceless!!! They were told to draw a picture of their mom. The one in the middle is me as a baby. The one on the left is me as a little girl. The one on the right is me all grown up! That's how Josiah explained the picture to me today. I love it!!!

Above is a hand print flower of Josiah's hand with a sweet poem, too. My favorite part is that I now have a laminated copy of Josiah's signature! He's been writing his own name, all by himself, for quite some time now (at least since last semester). Pretty impressive for a little guy who's still 3 (for a few more weeks)!

I loved the interview so much that I typed up one with Mackenzie after school today. The above sheet of paper is hers. Her answers were precious, and you can see her signature and her drawing of me, too!

This is a picture that Mrs. Missi had saved from August 2009. Josiah drew it himself. He told her that it was him with his soccer ball. (The assignment was to draw a self portrait.) Well done! He was 3 yr 3 mo at the time!

This picture (above) is of Josiah "all growed up." He drew this self portrait this week (May 2010)! Kids are hilarious and totally priceless. I have had a wonderful Mother's Day already!!! I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day, too! :)

School Day!

Update: The day went very well. Mackenzie loved school. She says her favorite part was lunch. She says she has a new friend named Emilia. She liked the slides at recess, though she mostly played by herself as she has not met many other children yet. The teachers said she did not ask for us at all. No tears were shed. They said she jumped right in and did fine. She is excited about going back to school on Wednesday. Her bedtime prayer tonight was, "Dear God, Please help us to have a good day at school. Amen." I thought that was pretty cute. When I asked her what she did at school today, she said, "I learned a memory verse and I even got to hold the Bible, Mommy!" Needless to say, I feel VERY GOOD about the school she attends. What a blessing and answered prayer that the day went well for everyone!!! Thanks for your prayers and support and encouragement. Mackenzie at home before her first day of preschool.
Mackenzie and Trinity

I am again typing through teary eyes. I held up just fine through the whole morning until now. Josiah and I are home; Mackenzie is at school. I did have to wake her up this morning about an hour earlier than she usually wakes up. She woke up excited and ready to go. I took a few pics here at home and a few at school before leaving her there.



Her questions on the way to school:

"Mommy, who will take care of me today?"

"What does Mrs. Rachel look like?"

"Is Josiah coming with me?"



Once we arrived at school, she insisted on carrying her lunchbox by herself. We went inside and she put her things in her locker. After that, she just kinda stood there taking it all in and watching the other kids play. One little girl, Trinity, was quick to talk to Mackenzie. She is in a picture with Mackenzie who was just not too sure about everything. Mackenzie found her seat with her name tag. She seemed happy to be there. Never cried. Never asked to leave. Never asked me to stay. Just looked a little unsusre. Perhaps she will quickly figure out the routine and meet the other children.

Mackenzie's First Day

I am typing this through red, tear-filled, blurry eyes. I just tucked Mackenzie into bed as usual. David rocked Josiah and tucked him into his crib. Nothing is too out-of-the-ordinary, except that Mackenzie's first day of preschool is tomorrow. She has begged to go for months now. All her friends go to school. She is ready. I am not. I want to keep my baby close forever. I cannot. She will grow. She has grown. She is growing. I must let go and trust that the Lord will watch over her and what goes into her mind to form who she is each day. I must trust that He is in control over the influences that will enter her world. I must know that His plan for "my" child is much greater and more perfect than mine. After all, she is His child first, and only entrusted to me for a short time. I pray that He will use me as an instrument in her life. May I be instrumental in guiding her to Him by living a life in service to Him.

She fell asleep before I even left her room tonight. I scratched her back as usual. I tried to leave before she fell asleep. She said, "Mom, stay with me just a little while longer." Within seconds, she fell completely asleep. I do not usually sit and watch her while she sleeps. I did tonight and left her room with tears streaming down my face. My heart is so full of emtions. I am sad, excited, anxious, and proud. I know she will be just fine and I will too, but I am still flooded with emotions.

My little girl is 3 1/2 years old today. I never intended to send her to school any sooner than Kindergarten (age 5). That would be 1 1/2 years from now...not now. The more we learned about full day Kindergarten, five days a week, the more we decided she really would benefit from a two day a week Mother's Day Out program to prepare her for the mandatory routine that starts in Kindergarten. In order to secure a spot for her to begin the Mother's Day Out of our choice starting in August, we began making phone calls earlier this week. Mackenzie, Josiah, and I went to visit the school on Friday. Mackenzie loved it. She does not want to wait until August. She has been asking, "Is it August yet?" and "Am I four yet?" until I finally asked the program director if there are any available spots in the 3's class. The answer: yes, there is one available spot that just opened up this past week. Coincidence? No, more likely Providence. That vacancy would fill quickly by someone. I am thankful that it is Mackenzie who will have that spot. I drop her off at 9:00am for her very first day of school...a year and a half earlier than I intended. I believe she is ready. I really think I am ready, too. But, she is my firstborn. I am her momma. I love my baby girl. It is so hard to trust and let go. So, I end the day today with very mixed emotions.

I have packed her a little pink backpack and a princess lunch box, which we picked out together yesterday. We have her clothes laid out and ready for the morning. She usually does not wake up until 9am or later...I will probably have to wake her up. That, too, will be hard for me. I have the camera ready and plan to get a picture of her in the morning. Pray that I will hold together and that she will have a wonderful first day. I will update you all later!

To complicate things...I work tomorrow afternoon. That means I won't even get to talk to her teacher at the end of the day! David is picking her up and he is looking forward to getting to see her classroom, too. Mackenzie is a Daddy's Girl. He will ask questions; everything will be fine.

Poor Josiah won't know what to do without his sister by his side tomorrow. I hope he does not seem completely lost without her. He turned 21 months old today. He, too, is growing up too fast. Perhaps he and I will do something special before I go to work. I love them both dearly. I want what is best for them. I hope we all make the transition smoothly! Kinda silly transition, but for me it seems huge right now. :)

On a lighter note...David's quote for the day, "I think I caught most of it," referring to the chocolate milk vomit in his hands. What a day!