Monday, August 24, 2009

Empty Nest (sort of)


Our last child has now officially entered kindergarten! It feels so weird for all of them to be in the same school at the same time. Matthew Ray had a great first day of school. When I picked him up he said, "That was the best day of my life EVER!" Hmmm...how should I take that?:) His teacher said that he was so good and that he was such a great helper. He also has taken up getting his and his sisters lunches and water bottles ready each day...he is a "tasker" and loves to serve..his sisters love to be served! :)
Madison was sure to show him the ropes of the school since she is a veteran now. I have to record this cute dialogue between me and Madison the night before the first day of school. I don't want to forget it!

Stacey: Madison, now remember...you have to listen to your teacher. You have to listen to directions. Make sure you REALLY pay attention.

Madison: I know...but Mom..you see, I don't always understand all of the words. For instance, if my teacher says, "are you allergic to something?" and I don't know what the word "allergic" is...now mom, I KNOW the word allergic but this is just an example...then I don't know all she is saying cause I am stuck on that one word.

Stacey: So, then that's when you should raise your hand and ask, "Mrs. S I don't know what the word "allergic" means."

Madison: MOM! I told you! I know what the word allergic means!!!!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Finally....the Party!


Meredith's birthday always falls right before school starts..which means people are just getting back into our city. This makes for difficult party planning so this year we decided to wait until everyone was back in town. So, tonight we headed to Johnny Rockets, goofy times at the mall and a sleepover. I love 13!!!! These girls were so much fun to hang out with tonight and it was BY FAR the easiest party to plan and have! At the moment all of the girls are back in Meredith's room hanging out and I can't even hear them...weird! :)



Sunday, August 16, 2009

We didn't dream big enough...

The day Meredith was born was filled with excitement and joy but mostly those feelings were overshadowed by the unknown...what do we do now?...how do we change these diapers?...when do we feed her?...how often?...what do we do if she gets sick?...how were we to raise this gift God had given us?...what was she going to turn out like? We had many dreams, many ideas of how it would all turn out but I guess we just don't dream big enough sometimes...we never dreamed she:

would be a child born in Memphis, TN and eventually live near the real Memphis...
would be the most obeidient child we had ever met...
would bring complete joy to our family just by her presence...
would make our hearts literally warm up to see her smile...
would struggle with her decision to follow Christ but then come to a joyful ending of giving her all to HIM...
would be baptized in a hotel bathtub over skype with her home church...
would be considered "a peace maker and a friend to all"...
would be a HUGE social butterfly...
would be the best big sister ever...so patient, responsible and kind...
would be so aware and appreciative of her life and the opportunities she has...
would "fit" a piece of the puzzle for our ministry as a family...
would be able to adjust smoothly to moving a lot...
would live in Africa, 30 minutes from the pyramids...
would speak Arabic...
would wake up on her 13th birthday on the Mediterranean Sea...








We didn't dream big enough...but God knew the whole time. He knew her before she was even thought of...He knows her now more than we do....and we are dreaming of BIG, BIG plans HE has for her future!

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Egypt's Extreme Make-over....DONE!

In May we started a room make-over project for the kid's rooms. We moved Matthew Ray to his own room and put the girls together. We had some amazing friends from FSU come and visit and they helped us tackle our project!!

This is how it all began....
The finished product: