Refuge

I had a few things I thought of yesterday that I wanted to blog about, but I only remembered one. And I think it's probably the most important one.

I have no idea why this little moment hit me the way it did, but yesterday, as I was sitting on the couch folding laundry, Julia and Lily were playing together. It wasn't long before I heard a thump. Lily had hit her head on the wall. She instantly came running and crying to me.

To me. The first thing she thinks to do when she gets hurt is to come to me for consolation. I know, this is nothing profound. But as I was holding and hugging her, tears welled up in my eyes. It feels really, really nice to be needed like that. I hope that my girls will always come to me like that when they hurt, or when they're happy, or anytime they feel anything. But more importantly, I pray that they will always go to Jesus first, to seek Him first. I've been reading a lot lately about how Jesus is our refuge. I know--but I don't quite understand how--He loves them way more than I do, and He wants them (and me!) to always come to Him with everything that's on their hearts and minds. He is their Father, after all. And He loves us all with an unconditional, unimaginable, indescribable love that will never fade.

Come to think of it, maybe that's why the moment hit me the way it did. Maybe Jesus gave me a glimpse of what it's like when we come to Him.

Valentine's Day! and more!

Valentine's Day went great at our house this year. And we may have pulled it off with a little less candy than usual, since Ti and I are both watching what we eat lately. Ti fixed the girls pink chocolate chip pancakes and pink (strawberry) milk for a special Valentine's Day breakfast. They were tickled pink. (Sorry. That was cheesy.)

I wish Valentine's Day would always fall on a Saturday. That way, you could do some morning festivities without feeling rushed because of work/school, etc.

Julia had a party at school, of course, and I wasn't even planning on going, but at the last minute, I decided to go. (I think that sentence might have too many commas.) And I'm glad I did. Nothing special or out of the ordinary was supposed to happen, this was just going to be her last V-day party at her school. (No, I didn't cry.) Lily was also glad I decided to go, because that meant she would get to go too, which meant that she would get to taste all the yummy party food.

For our Valentine's supper, all four of us went to Chick-fil-A (fancy, I know!). We were planning on going to Krispy Kreme for dessert, but the line was unbelievably long, so we went to Dunkin' Donuts instead.

Just for the record, Dunkin' Donuts does not hold a candle to Krispy Kreme. Period. When we were ordering at DD, the cashier said that they were out of a lot of their normal selection of donuts, but in about an hour or two, some more would be thawed out. Thawed out!!?? All I could think about was that long line of hot...fresh...warm glazed doughnuts from Krispy Kreme...Okay. Enough about the doughnuts.

That was the extent of our Valentine's day.

On a completely different subject, Lily and Julia love to play games on our Mac. I have a list of websites on my share site they can click over to, and PBSkids.org is one of them. I don't know why this is so funny to me, but all Lily wants to do is go to the Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood page and watch the episodes and "field trip" videos. Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood! I still don't understand the fascination that most kids have, or have had, with that show. (Yes, I loved it as a kid!) At least it's not Sponge Bob. I hate Sponge Bob.

Also, Julia got a much-needed haircut last night. I loved her long hair, but it was just too long and stringy for me. Now it's in a cute little shoulder-length bob. I think she was more excited about her new look than I was. (And I guess that's the way it should be!)

And last, but certainly not least, I booked a flight to see my best friend yesterday! Sad note-I think that might've been the first flight I've ever booked entirely on my own. Anyway, I can hardly wait! I miss her so much!

It Won't Be Long...

Pretty soon, I'll be in Hawaiian paradise (again!).

Yep, it's only a few more months until Ti and I get to breathe in that ocean air, soak in that Hawaiian sun, and take in all the beautiful sights of God's magnificent creation. (I'm actually smiling as I type this.) And...(drumroll) we get to experience it all with our absolute best friends! (Wahoo!) I haven't traveled to too many places here on earth, but of all the places I have been, I promise Hawaii is the most beautiful of them all. But I didn't need to tell you that, right? You've seen pictures. But, oh, the pictures don't do it justice. Sometime in your life, if you haven't already, you need to go to Hawaii. It will change. your. life.

Back to cloudy (but also pretty in it's own way!) North Carolina:

Lily says her friend Skyler's name about a million times, it seems, in one hour. Maybe sometime I'll get out the video camera and post a clip of her saying "Skyler, Skyler, Skyler" with her little lisp. It really is cute. Maybe annoying to Skyler, but cute to me.

And as I'm praying for direction and wisdom in the school situation, look what God tells me this morning: "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go, I will counsel you and watch over you." (Psalm 32:8) Just what I need. Clear direction. Speak, Lord. I'm listening.

To Homeschool or Not To Homeschool?

Next Monday, we'll turn in the registration form and deposit for Lily to start attending preschool in the fall. I'm so ready for her to get to go and experience the things that Julia has experienced, but I'm also so sad because she's my baby. And she's going to be starting school. My eyes are really starting to water right now thinking about it. We would've started Lily last year (This was the same age we started Julia out at her school.), but we weren't exactly at a place where we could afford to send them both. So Julia got to go because this is her kindergarten year and I really didn't want to change her over to a public school.

Which leads me to what my title is all about. Julia's school only goes up through kindergarten, so now we're faced with the decision of where to send her in the fall. I know there are some great public school options out there, but for our own personal reasons, we don't want to send Julia to a public school. Period. So the only other two options are Christian private school or homeschool. What further narrows the choice down is the ever-present financial card. It would be a BIG s-t-r-e-t-c-h for us to send Julia to a Christian school here in town and send Lily to preschool.

So what's our final decision? We don't know. We're praying. And waiting on God to give us the thumbs up or down either way. I've heard some really encouraging things about homeschooling lately and have heard other mothers I know talk about it and how they're going to do it, but I'm still scared of it. (I know that sounds stupid. But I am.) So if you're out there reading this, please pray for us as we seek God's will in this situation.

This Week

It's been pretty eventful week already, and it's only Tuesday night!

We got to experience the awesome Great Wolf Lodge again on Sunday and Monday, and I can't believe it, but this is one of only 3 pictures that I took! ONLY THREE! I'm ashamed of myself. But we did have a great time, despite the lack of photographic proof. The girls had been talking (and praying!) about this trip for weeks and weeks now, and they weren't disappointed. They slid down slides, swam in the lazy river, swam (is swam even the past tense verb for swim?) in the wave pool and slid down more slides. Julia even got to play some without her life jacket on this time, since she knows how to swim a little better now. When I asked Lily what her favorite part of the trip was, she said, "going down the blue slide with you!" :) Many, MANY thanks to our wonderful friends, the Askews, for inviting us to come along on their vacation!

Thursday is Julia's 100th day of kindergarten, and they were all asked to come up with a special project marking the event. Ever since we've been given this assignment, Julia's had this idea of drawing 100 raindrops on a piece of paper and turning that in as her project. I have no idea why she came up with that idea. She even drew the drops on a piece of paper the size of a notecard and wanted to turn it in. I thought it should be a little fancier than that, so I went to Michael's today and picked up a few crafting supplies. She was SO excited when I showed her the raindrop stickers I bought! That girls loves to make art!! Anyway, this is the finished product, and she is so proud!

And lastly, tonight, we met with a bunch of our friends for ice cream at Chick-fil-A and to work together on a special little surprise for a sweet little girl's birthday tomorrow!