Notes from Daddy

Miss M,
When I look at you my heart melts. I get lost in your little blue eyes. I am so proud of you and your confidence in life. I hope your first grade year is full of wonder and happiness. I love you.
Daddy

Miss A,
Wow K4 already! You are my little supergirl. You believe you can do anything and I agree. I love your hugs, your kisses, and to tickle you like a spider. I hope you enjoy your first year at LCS with your big sis. Most of all I hope you learn how much Jesus loves you. I love you AS.
Daddy

Preschool!

Miss A had her first day at her new preschool this week! Our school just added a new preschool program that she will be attending three mornings a week. She’s been so excited about going to the same school as Miss M and just as excited about being able to wear an “LCS shirt”. Our school doesn’t have uniforms, per se, but does have a dress code that requires all students to wear a school tee or polo shirt. Miss A was so excited about being able to wear an LCS shirt like big sister that she asked to sleep in the one we laid out for her first day. While it might have helped us to get out of the door a few minutes sooner, we convinced her wait until she got up. At about 5 a.m., she came to our room and climbed in bed with us. She got cozy and was starting to drift back to sleep when she realized it was going to be her first day of preschool. Then she got excited and giddy and there was no going back to sleep. She couldn’t wait any longer to put on her school shirt and backpack! We could tell she was feeling 10 feet tall as we made our way across campus to the preschool classrooms.

We found her cubby and backpack hook. Then took a few minutes to explore the activities available within the classroom and burn off some excess energy on the playground.

Why can't they just STAY LITTLE?!?!?!

Finally, Mama and Daddy kissed her goodbye and she joined her teacher to learn about letters, numbers, colors, and JESUS!

First Day of First Grade!

Are the long, lazy days of summer really gone? Has it really been a year since Miss M started kindergarten? Do we really have a first grader in the house? Yes, yes, yes--and I can hardly believe it! Miss M has been spending more time at the barn in recent weeks, drawing lots of horse pictures, and watching the movie Spirit probably every other day (she told me she wants to move to New Mexico when she grows up and live where wild horses roam in her backyard). Reminds me of a little girl I used to know. We looked for a backpack with horses on it but were unsuccessful. Last weekend, she told me remembered an “antique backpack” we had that she wanted to use. She went to her room and dug around in her closet a bit and came back with a My Little Pony backpack we purchased for her to take on vacation 2 or 3 years ago. A real antique—haha! It even has a compartment for the treasured horseshoe she found out in the pasture the other day! Miss M LOVES school (another thing that reminds me of that other little girl) and has been so excited about being a FIRST GRADER! First grade is the real deal, y'all! It was adorable to watch her reconnect with her little girlfriends after summer break. Miss M was beaming! They were all running up to each other and hugging each other and skipping around the playground. We love our school and all of the great teachers, precious families and sweet friends that help make it so special! Then the bell rang and the children lined up to enter their classrooms for a day of fun and learning!

A Little Getaway!

The man that I love + our three precious little girls + old friends + the ocean + sandcastles + sunshine + palm trees + good food + Adirondack chairs + pool + an unbelievably great deal on a room at the Ritz = a perfect weekend in lovely Naples! We got off to a bit of a late start as our poor little Miss A spent half of the night before we left getting her chin stitched up in the E.R.! For the third time in the past 15 months! She got her first "blue whiskers" in May 2009 and a second set in November 2009. (Miss M's our "broken bone girl", Miss A's our "stitched up chiny- chin girl", we're hoping Miss K's our "E.R.-Free girl"!). Once Miss A and Mr. B returned home from the hospital, we got a few hours of sleep and were on our way! We spent the weekend lounging around the beautiful hotel grounds: Visiting good friends:

B and T are friends from undergrad and law school. They had us over for breakfast and a playdate with their son N on Saturday morning. I've been friends with E since third grade! She's currently waiting on travel dates to bring home her baby girl from South Korea!

Soaking up some sun and splashing in the surf:

Miss A put on my hat and sunglasses and told us to ask "Who is this Mystery Girl?!?!"

Ordering Room Service!

Now THIS is the Life! Coffee, a snuggly baby and the Sunday Times for Mama, room service breakfast for the big girls and some sort of classic car auction on T.V. for Daddy! Bliss!

Window shopping down Fifth Avenue:

I'll take that one, Daddy!

Walking to the end of the pier: And we even got dressed up for a nice dinner out! If only we could have stayed longer! We enjoyed having a couple of days away from routine and distractions of everyday life to focus on one another and make some memories together. I'm thinking we need to make our Naples weekend an annual tradition!

3 Years.

3 years ago, Mr. B and I were celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary in Kenya.

3 years ago, a trip to Africa meant a luxury, no-expense-spared trip, complete with five-star lodging, private drivers, land rovers, chartered planes and hot air balloons (ahh . . . life before the real estate crash!)

3 years ago, we talked about how blessed we were to have our 2 little girls. We daydreamed about having a bigger family and talked about how we'd always pictured ourselves adopting several children also.

 

Over the course of that trip, we began to realize that Africa would be more than just another push-pin in our map of world travels. While we were aware of poverty the need for partnership and assistance, our love was rooted not in pity but in our awe of Africa's beauty and our appreciation of culture. We were inspired by the pride of our Kenyan friends in their land and its people and their optimism for the future of their country. We've been all over the world, but no destination has had as great an impact on our lives as East Africa. Mr. B says we got our "Africa shot" on that trip--by the time we left for home, we knew Africa would forever be a part of us and that we would return.

Over the next 3 years, our love for Africa and passion for its people would grow in us a desire to see and do more. To see not just the beauty, but the hard stuff too. To partner financially with people and organizations making a difference there. And to invest more of our hearts by focusing our trips on bigger purposes than rest and relaxation.

In the next 3 years, the Lord would use our hope for more children and our plan to adopt to lead us to daughter number 3 . . . from Ethiopia.

Mr. B, the most dramatic and unexpected part of our story this far has been the path our lives have begun to take in the last 3 years. So excited to see where it leads. There's no one I'd rather be on this adventure with than YOU!