First grade field trip!

Ella's class went to a local farm and I got to chaperone! It was a farm I'd never been to and it was really beautiful. The kids got to do and see a lot!

We fed goats

Most of "my" group :-) they were really respectful and well behaved!

Hayride that went through the creek!

The "snake tree" really had a huge black snake hanging in it when we ride by!

The kids got to learn all about seeds and plant their own plants to take home. Really fun trip :-)

First Day of KINDERGARTEN!

The time has come!  After almost 6 years of spending most every day with me, Ella has started school!  Preschool was good preparation but 2 1/2 hrs a day is a far cry from her new schedule-an almost 8 hour day!  We've heard great things about her school from people in the neighborhood which is encouraging.  Her teacher seems sweet and sent home 2 pictures of Ella from during the day along with classwork she did on the first day! I LOVE having the pictures and being able to see what she was doing during the day!

 

I definitely cried when the bus drove away in the morning and was overcome with a feeling of being irresponsible-is it really right to put a 5 year old on a bus and walk away?  It felt so wrong!  In a brief moment of panic I stopped Chris on the walk back to our house and said "We just put a little 5 year old on a bus!  Is that ok?? Is this really allowed?"

Thankfully the day passed quickly with attending my brother-in-law's dad's funeral and stocking up for the hurricane at Costco but I was ANXIOUSLY waiting for the bus in the afternoon.  I looked at the clock every 5 minutes for well over an hour and every time I heard a noise outside I ran to the window to see if it was her bus.  Then I ended up standing outside for 20 minutes at the bus stop because I didn't want to miss it!  I was SO relieved to see her smiling and walking off the bus.  She had a great first day and can't wait to go back next Tuesday.

The worst moment of the day was probably when I was in Costco and my phone rang with Ella's school on the called ID.  My heart stopped as my brain simultaneously went into counselor mode (a soothing voice saying "choose to be calm, everything will be fine, deep breaths, accept things as they come...") and freaked out mom mode (high pitched fast fast voice scrolling through all the horrific possibilities of what could have happened to Ella).  So I pick up the phone and....it's a robocall saying there's a hurricane coming.  Great.  Thanks.

I still feel like there are a lot of unknowns but excited for that "first day" hurdle to be over and to see what this new season will bring! Go Ella go!!

Luau 2011

A few weeks ago I received an invitation that looked like a Hawaiian shirt and asked me to please join Ella's Pre-school class for the Mother's Day Luau!  This is an annual tradition at her pre-school so this is our 3rd luau :-) I happily got a babysitter to come take Sadie, borrowed a Hawaiian Sarong from a pre-school mom-friend and off to school we went!

The kids sang for us and then each child gave their mom one of the leis they were wearing

Then we feasted on fruit kabobs and brownies the kids had put together

Ella and her best buddy, Sophie

Sophie and her mom Liz, a great friend of mine :-)

The silly side of the girls doesn't take long to emerge :-)

Limbo!

Not sure which kid knew about congo lines but this went on for quite a while

 

 

Ella's buddies Sophie and Carly

 

 

 

Back to school Night!

Ella is back at a nearby preschool for the 3rd year!  She loves it there and is now going for 2 1/2 hrs 5 days a week!  We've worked our way up from 2 days and this year is preparation for full day kindergarten next year. I was nervous about every day but we've gotten into the routine pretty easily and I love having the mornings with Sadie and to see friends and run errands.  Ella has some really good friends at school, loves all the projects and loves Ms.Amy and Ms. Terry, her new teachers. She is always excited to go to school!  Here are a few back to school night pics from the tour she gave us of her classroom.

Of all 18 caterpillars on the wall, Ella's was the only one that had any writing on it "Ella to:Sadie"  SO cute!!

Counting Hours...

I just emailed this to just about everyone I know but wanted to give God more props here too so here's my God story of the day!!

Oh My Gosh.

You all know how much pressure there’s been for me to complete the required hours for my clinical internship. I need 2000 total hours but the real kicker is 260 face-to-face client hours. This is tough because I have little control over how many clients I get and if they show up or not! In December Chris and I rearranged my whole schedule and prayed like crazy when we realized how much I HAD to make up this spring to finish in time. God started to bring more clients and my #s soared which has been exhausting but amazing! We knew I was getting within striking distance of the total # but hadn’t added up the hours in a while so last night, a client cancelled and I decided to go through my final #s and add everything together just to see if I was over yet or needed a few more hours.

So, I got out a calculator and my old paperwork from previous semesters and started adding. 48+50+68+93…it added up to 260 EXACTLY. I literally dropped the calculator like it was a hot coal! “Are you serious God??? You really gave me two hundred and sixty hours exactly??” I was shaking as I picked up the calculator again to double check. It took me a couple tries because my hands were shaking! Yup. 260. And that is without working this summer. Though I had NO idea, when I turned in my official paperwork at the end of the Spring Semester, I had exactly enough hours to be finished! God does not go half way!! He is precise and on time and I can honestly say I have never seen his perfection highlighted in such an extravagant way before in my life. It drives home for me the fact that every single minute, hour, session, person I counseled over the last 2 years was meant to be. He ordained every single moment, down to hour 260. Every cancellation was on purpose, every “no show” was His plan, every minute we went over time because a client was in tears was divine. I am in awe of how perfectly God has shown up.

So, I share this just to say Our God is a phenomenally personal, loving, wise, perfect God. I am so grateful!

Update...

So, my life is insane right now so blog posts might be rare for a while. I have about 85 client contact hours to accumulate over the next few months in order to finish my 2nd (and final!) year of clinical work as a therapist. 85 hours is A LOT considering how many people with mental health issues don't show up or cancel appointments (not shocking, they are in crisis after all). So, in order to get all these hours I've had to add a 2nd clinical site, a 3rd day of work, and extend my hours at my original site. Add in 2 20 page papers and 2 2hour presentations over the next 6 weeks and I'm a tad overwhelmed. I'm trying to spend every other waking moment with Ella and Chris. So, if I seem MIA, that's why. Still here, just busier than normal.

God's been teaching me a lot that is really sustaining me through this time. For instance, He's been using the analogy of labor pains a lot to assure me that this challenging process is simply the "labor" before something amazing and new is "born" in me. There are things I'm learning and ways I'm growing and skills I'm acquiring through this process that could not be birthed in any other way. So the pain is worth it, as it always is with a baby.

Another thing God's been saying is through a verse Chris shared with me. It's in 2 Samuel 24:24 where David is talking to a guy named Araunah. Araunah offers to give King David some animals to sacrifice. But David insists that he "will not offer to the Lord something that cost [him] nothing." This really struck me. Do I want to offer God things that cost me nothing? Absolutely not. He is worthy of the best I can give. Counseling is a calling I feel He has clearly put on my life ("to preach good news to the poor...to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release the prisoners from darkness..." Isaiah 61:1). So as I offer this calling back to God as a ministry to hurting people, how much is that offering worth if it costs me nothing? If it was easy? If I could get it "cheap"? So, the sacrifices I'm making now are worth it if I'm able to offer God something with value in the end. When the cost feels great this verse reminds me that I would not want to offer anything less.

So, that's the update. Chris is uber-supportive and reminds me this is worth it when I forget :-) Thankfully my time away from Ella has only increased by one afternoon and she's spending that time with her cousins (thanks Amy!!) which she LOVES. This time will pass (by May God-willing!) but until then, trying to stay focused on truth and push through the "labor pains" and see what God has for us on the other side!

Ella at 3

Since there are only two weeks left that Ella is 3 I wanted to post this little book she made at school about herself! It's pretty self explanatory and the poem on the last page gets me choked up every time!

September so far...

Here's a little of what we've been up to lately...

A LONG Crab feast at my Aunt and Uncle's Bay house-SO tasty

We took Ella to a "Paint your own Pottery" place and she LOVED it! She now has her own self-designed hot chocolate mug for the winter :-)

Ella started school! This was her first moment in the classroom (I snuck in) finding a seat with her buddies from last year. I totally cried once I got in the car-SO hard to watch her grow up and become independent.

Ella and her buddy entranced in the circus

The tight wire guys were incredible.

And of course, elephants :-)

And here's a crazy video of the motorcycle guys who started off the show. Enjoy!

First Day of Preschool!!!!!

Tuesday was Ella's first day of school! She's only going two mornings a week but that doesn't mean I didn't cry Monday night and Tuesday morning. What a big milestone to put a backpack on your child and send them off, homework in hand (she really had homework!), to SCHOOL! I can't believe it. Ella is the ideal candidate for preschool though. She's so independent, so social, and SO ready to learn. I'm excited about this new environment for her to get some input that is different from what she gets at home. She did great on her first day. She was so excited to finally go to school-she's been talking about it since january so it was awesome to see her "dreams" fulfilled. She hardly hesitated at all when it was time to leave me and follow the line leader upstairs (exactly what I expected). Both of her teachers said she was "a joy" when I picked her up so I hope that continues. I think it'll be a good year!


All dressed and ready to go

VERY excited

Raleigh got in on the big walk to the car (Ella beaming, Chris taking pictures, me just being anxious)

Lining up with all the other kids. That's her teacher in red. She and Ella have the same hair!

My last glimpse of her as they went up the stairs to their classrooms. Yay Ella!