Our week (so far) without Daddy

Sweet Hubby left on Friday for a mission trip to Haiti!  So it's just been me and the girls this week. I have felt SO blessed by my sweet friends and family who have called to check on us, come to visit, invited us over for meals, brought food, and told us about fun things to do.  We've really had a great week so far. I know it's not a coincidence either - I have many people praying for us and William as he is away telling those in Haiti about the love of Jesus!


Hugging daddy good-bye on Friday!


"Take me with you!"

It helps that the girls and I have stayed pretty busy! Here are some photos of our activities!


picking blueberries



playing with toys

Having fun at our church cook out! Cora was standing in line for the "slip and slide" (more like walk and fall down!)






Sweet Charlotte did so well being up past her bedtime so big sister could have fun!  (Ignore the left over carrots under her nose!!)


Sweet play date with Meredith and Berkley!  Love how the girls are looking at each other, like they are sharing a joke!


Cora picking out a sticker after obeying her sleep rules!



Trying to start crawling!

Yesterday, we even got a surprise card from daddy in the mail!  It brought tears to my eyes to read my man's message to each of us!  We haven't talked since he left, just a text message, so reading his words just reminded me how lucky I am to be his wife and also best friend.








Sweet sisters in matching strawberry shirts! (Thanks Casey Kiker for sending those!)




So we are hanging in there.  The girls are behaving so well and sleeping at night so that is a praise!  It helps that a friend mentioned to us about a vacation Bible school going on this week and I signed Cora up to go! She LOVES it!  Today they learned about "Noah's Ark" complete with a petting zoo.  I was told that Cora said she saw a goat! 

Sunday Watermelon Dress

We had to post a picture of Cora looking "Oh so adorable" in her new watermelon dress!  Thanks Aunt Jennifer for the new outfit!  She loved wearing it!

Water Play Day!

Our church had a "Water Play Day" and we had a great time! Playing in the water was the perfect activity for today as it was super hot and humid. I only wish I could have sat in one of the baby pools. Well I guess I could have but I may have gotten a few funny looks.




Cora enjoyed watching everyone more than she enjoyed sitting in the pools. I was able to get a few of her playing in the water.




Like this one - looking really cute playing with Alina!




I'm just glad she didn't want to go play in the mud pit!  They had a great time but it looked so gross!

Playing "Drip, Drip, Drop!"  (similar to Duck, Duck, Goose!)  I was so surprised. Cora actually sat in the circle with all the kids but she looked mighty confused every time someone dripped water on her head!

 

 

Bunny at Breakfast, Small Group Cookout at Dinner

Weird title, right? Take a look at the pictures and it will make sense!




This morning, while eating breakfast, I spotted a little bunny nibbling on some of our weeds right outside our kitchen window. Once I told Cora she had to hop down from the table and check out the rabbit for herself! It stayed around for just a minute and then hopped away - probably to the neighbors delicious garden.





After all the bunny excitement, we were off to church and then back home for a MUCH needed nap. Well, Cora and I napped. William was productive and mowed grass. We woke up in time to head to our small groups cookout. it was our last "hurrah" before the summer started. We meet at our leaders house, The Fields, and enjoyed hamburgers, hot dogs and all the fixing's. It was so wonderful. The kids played outside and all the grownups just sat around the table laughing and chatting. It has been on the hot side, weather wise, this weekend. Sure sign that summer is here!



Mr. Press helping Cora hit the ball.  She was quite hilarious as she would run in the opposite direction, instead of to the bases.  But she enjoyed it so much!  The whole way home she was saying "Catch, Catch!"


Cora sitting on the deck after a good dinner of a hot dog, grapes, strawberries, chips and a chocolate cupcake.



Lazy days of summer - good food, good friends, and lots of laughter! 


We've so enjoyed our small group and are looking forward to getting back together again once temperatures cool down and fall is near!

Hunt at the Millsap's

One Easter egg hunt isn't enough! We had to go to our annual church egg hunt as well! The Millsap family (who lives close by, luckily!) host a hunt for the kids every year at their home. They have a great yard to hide alot of eggs. Over 1000 eggs! Cora did pretty well. She got around 5 of the 1000. The other kids were skilled. They must have been practicing all year round. Next year we will train Cora, ha ha!



William is getting better with Cora's hair! Cute pigtails!

CBS Christmas Program

Cora and I are involved with a great ministry here in Greenville called "CBS" or "Community Bible Study". Last year was our first year of involvement and we loved it. I was in the "Lambs" group with Cora so she stayed with me while we did our study on Genesis. This year, we are studying Acts. Cora is in her own class - the one year olds! Her teachers are Patsy and Elaine and they have been so wonderful to Cora. She is learning all about the Bible. Today was our last meeting for the year and the kids had prepared a program of all that they had learned. I was overjoyed seeing Cora sitting up there! She did great and sat still with her group. I remember going to this same event last year, seeing all the parents and grandparents there with their video cameras and picture cameras, thinking "This will be me next year" and here it is!



They gave the kids stars to hold onto - probably a great idea!



As you can see, there are alot of kids involved.






I was worried about getting right in front of Cora, thinking she would get upset if she saw me.. but it was almost like she didn't even know who I was. She stared right at me and didn't make any movement at all. They must have worked with them well!

Celebrating Advent - Candle of Peace

Today we had the honor (?) of leading our church in celebrating advent. I say this as I was a little worried how our toddler would do! But she did fine and we were able to read about "The Candle of Peace". This marks the 2nd week as we anticipate the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. I've always striven to remember the true reason of why we celebrate Christmas - it's not all about presents and eating cookies. It's taking time to reflect on that night when Jesus was born and what that truly means. So I love that we got to do this for our church. This is what we read, if you are interested!

“Today is the second Sunday of Advent. The word ‘Advent’ comes from the Latin word 'adventus' meaning 'The Coming' or ‘The Arrival’. It is the season whereby we celebrate the coming of Christ to earth. Last Sunday we lit the first candle in our Advent wreath. It reminded us of the hope we have in Christ. Today we light the second candle of Advent, the candle of peace. The prophets of old spoke of the coming of a King who would save his people. This King would be unlike any king who ever ruled. Nearly every earthly king who has ruled has done so by acquiring wealth and power. And nearly every king who acquired wealth and power took it from the backs of those under them. Not this King. He is the kind of King who gives, not takes. He would be born in humility and would give His life as a ransom for us. This is why the prophet Isaiah calls Him the “Prince of Peace". The very heart of the Christmas message is how this Messiah brought peace between us and God.

“We believe that Christ has come into our world. The apostle Paul describes this peace as being beyond our understanding. How true that is!We believe that this peace is complete and total. We believe that our restless hearts cannot find true peace unless it anchors in Him. And we believe that this peace will find its ultimate completion when He returns bringing us a new life. This is what we look forward to as we reflect upon this great King. We light this candle to remind us that Jesus is the Prince of Peace our hearts have been longing for and that only through Him true peace is found.”

Family photo- if we had done Christmas cards, this one would have been it.


The candles of Advent


Cora would have done a great job lighting the candles.

I just couldn't resist adding a photo of our cute Cora in her Christmas dress!

WIC Christmas Party!

What is WIC? WIC stands for "Women in the Church"! It is a ministry at our church, Christ Presbyterian, that brings our women together in fun and fellowship and tonight we had our Christmas Party! One of my reasons for highlighting this on the blog is that this particular ministry is one I'm helping with this year. I've been wanting to do more at church and one way I feel that the Lord has spirtually gifted me is love for service and others - especially women. I just love being around women and if I can encourage them in their walk with the Lord, even better! We really had a great turnout - we enjoy the yummy snacks, singing Christmas carols (with a real flute and keyboards) and we got to hear wonderful testimony by Ruthie Bagnal. I love hearing from others how the Lord has worked in their lives. Hearing from Ruthie was so refreshing as she really put into words some of my current struggles as a wife and mother and how her faith in God got her through it. We ended the night with a gift card exchange. All in all, I'd say the evening was a success!