First Day of K-4

Today Sophie started school and she was so excited! She woke up and got dressed without incident (it usually takes her a little while to wake up), and when we pulled up to the school, she said, "THERE'S MY SCHOOL!" She talked the entire way into the building, to herself and anyone else she passed. She also got to use her umbrella for the first time, and that might have been more exciting than her first day. Once we got into the classroom, all of the children were sitting on the floor quietly, and Sophie was still talking. And kept talking. Who knows if she was able to stop once I left the class. When I picked her up, the first thing she said is, "Mama! I missed you!" Love that girl.

Sophie's Special Day 8-25-08

Late Sunday night while my family was sleeping, I thought about how Sophie only had 3 more days before she started school and I wanted to doing something special with her. So, before Brian went to work the next morning, I told him I wanted to take Sophie out to eat and to Build-A-Bear. Yes, I know it's expensive but that is what credit cards are for! He wisely didn't question me, and I think he must have known I needed a little stress release myself.

Sophie was very excited about her "special day." I took her to Gattitown (as a surprise) and she was having fun until we went to play games. You see, she didn't want to play. And didn't want me to play either. So, she started crying about how she was ready to leave, and even though I was looking forward to spending my $5 game card on useless video games, we left.

The day was not going exactly how I had planned, so I asked her if she wanted to go to the mall. She said, "Yes, and I want to get a cookie!" I've trained her well. Doesn't everyone buy a cookie from the Great American Cookie Company at the mall?

The miracle part of the day is that she actually wanted a build-a-bear. You see, I have tried to talk into getting one several times, but she would always say, "No, I don't need one" which equals no fun. But this time when I asked her if she would like to have one, she said yes. She chose a brown puppy dog, and picked out a green Tinkerbell fairy outfit with Hello Kitty panties. And the name? Sydney, of course (just like our dog)! When they gave her the box, she dragged it all around the mall, bumping into everything because she wouldn't let me carry it. It turned out to be a good day.

FYI, she chose to get ice cream instead of a cookie. Thank goodness because the lady at the GACC counter was not giving out good customer service that day and she stayed on the phone thereby not helping customers.

Brian's birthday 8-6-08

For Brian's birthday, Sophie and I threw him a pirate birthday party. Why? Well, there's a story there (of course!).

In May, Brian started playing up my birthday to Sophie by saying, "Sophie, you know who's birthday is coming up? Mama's!" Well, she latched onto that like white on rice and started saying, "YEAH! Mama's going to have a Hello Kitty party!" Now, I had never said anything about a HK party, but I guess since she had one at Mimi's house for her birthday, she thought I needed one too. Well, Daddy and Sophie did throw me a Hello Kitty party and it was great!

So, when Brian's birthday was coming up, we asked her what kind of party we needed to throw for Daddy. She said, "Hmmmm. Daddy, would you like to have a pirate birthday party?" Brian said that was a great idea, so that's what we planned for. Sophie enjoyed helping me buy the decorations and presents, and here are the pictures to prove it. Aarrrggg matey!

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Ashley & Ryan's Wedding 8-2-08

Okay. I knew I was a little behind in updating my blog, but didn't realize I hadn't told you about Ashley & Ryan's wedding. Sophie was a flower girl and even though I had been nervous for about a year in anticipation of this day, everything went really well. Everyone kept telling me that Sophie would do fine, but in my mind, I envisioned her falling down the aisle, starting to cry, and then throwing one of her dramatic tantrums and screaming, "Ooooohhhhhh noooooooo, I fell down!" (think America's Funniest Home Videos). But, by the grace of God and with many prayers, she did great!

Courtney was a big help that day and watched over Sophie for us. I left her with the girls (bridemaids & Ashley) about 30 minutes before the ceremony started so I could go find a seat. (Actually, I was anxious and needed to sit down!) So when it came time to walk down the aisle with her little basket filled with rose petals..... she didn't throw a single one. I think the wedding coordinator told her to go and find her Mommy, so she did. She walked down the aisle with her hands out saying, "Where is my Mama? Where is my Daddy? I can't find them anywhere. Daddy? Mama? I don't know where they went." Or something like that. I couldn't see or hear her but that's what I have been told. Then she saw her Daddy sitting at the front and she started running to him, but ran into Ms. Kim instead (who is the mother of the bride). Ms. Kim pointed at me across the aisle, and Sophie started running towards me and said, "Mama! I missed you!" It was so sweet! Everyone said it was precious, and it truly was. After she sat down, she looked behind me and said, "Mama, look. There's our friends. Hey, Ms. Angie! (waving)". Then she saw Houston on the stage and said, "Hey Houston! (waving)" Isn't she a trip! She wiggled a little bit during the ceremony, but at the end, I walked her to the aisle and said, "Okay, Sophie. Walk back up the aisle and go find Ashley" and she did. She held up her little dress and trotted off. It was so cute! We were very proud of her. Ashley and Ryan have some adorable photos of her from the wedding pictures that we are going to make copies of from their disk. And even when the bridal party was introduced at the reception, she made her entrance and ran to us. She did amazing!

Oh yeah, and did I mention that Ashley look BEAUTIFUL....like a princess and Ryan was as handsome as ever? It was a good day.

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Kung Fu Panda

Have you seen this movie? It's AWESOME! I saw it in June when it first came out, then saw it again Friday night with my friends for Girl's Night Out. I L-O-V-E-D it! (No, I'm not kidding.) For some reason, I haven't ran into anyone over the age of 12 who likes it as much as me. Now that I think about it, even the kids I have talked to haven't liked it as much as me either. I wonder what that says about my personality... Who cares! I can't wait to buy it when it comes out on DVD!

Let's see....

What has been going on in my life? A lot that is not blog worthy, that's for sure! Things that should never be posted on the Internet for others to see and things that need prayer! So, if you think about it, throw out an unspoken prayer request for Brian and I, okay?

Here's a few updates to keep you in the loop:

- Sophie starts K-4 on Thursday. She is very excited, and will be going to a brand new school. I think she will enjoy going 5 days a week (for 3 hours a day).

- I bought tickets for Brian's birthday to the Alan Jackson/Trace Adkins concert coming in October. He was thrilled and we are looking forward to it.

- Also, I bought tickets for the Steven Curtis Chapman/Michael W. Smith concert coming to Spartanburg in October. With everything that has been going on with the Chapman family, how could we not go and show our support?

- 25 days 'til Disney, and counting...

- Brian and I have been dieting for three weeks. He has lost 10 lbs.; I have lost 4 lbs., and holding... bummer.

- We've have been staying up way too late watching the Olympics. How could you not with Michael Phelps winning 8 gold medals? We will probably not see anything like this again in our lifetime, so we can handle being a little tired the next day.

- How's church? No comment. See the first line...

- I love Girl's Night Out. I am now going with a group from Upward and a group from church, so twice a month. Thank you, God.

- Sophie's favorite song right now is "Before He Cheats" by Carrie Underwood. Um, I didn't realize she was actually listening to the song when I played it in the car. But she is and always says, "Turn it up loud, Mama" at the beginning, and "Mama, that was a good song" at the end. Yeah, I'm Mother of the Year.

- I love my friends. I have the B-E-S-T friends in the whole world - I'm sure of it.

- God is good. Even when we don't understand...

Running from the Law - Lisa Scottoline

I enjoyed this book even though the language was HORRIBLE! (I try to just skim past it the best I can.) From what I have read, I believe that Lisa used really heavy language in her first few books (this was her third), and it tapered off after that. But the story line was interesting, as well as the characters. By this book, her writing was moving from good to great!

Final Appeal - Lisa Scottoline

I thought this book was okay. I believe this was only the second book Lisa wrote, so I didn't enjoy it as much as others I have read from her. Boy, was the language heavy in this one! I would give it a 3 stars.

Daddy's Girl - Lisa Scottoline

I enjoyed this book. It was weird reading one of Lisa's books that didn't center around one of the "Rosato & Associates" characters, but I did like it. I thought the plot was interesting.

For Women Only - Shaunti Feldhan

This book was alright. We read it this summer for our Ladies Bible Study and it made some good points. It wasn't as biblically based as I thought it would be, but there was practical information in it about the inner thoughts of men. Several people I know said they enjoyed it too.