Day O' SayJ!

Yesterday our sweet little girl turned TWO! I can not believe it. We had a great day! She has school and while she thought it was a cruel joke that I send her to school on her birthday (lots of tears)...she got to have cupcakes with her friends and I got to see her in her little classroom. After school we went to buildabear. Thank you coupons! SadieJane made a bear and a bunny. We had lunch and then naps. While Bubba was at choir SayJ and I went to ChuckECheese by ourselves. It was awesome. We finished up with dinner at Longhorns! It was a great day for her and I am so proud. And on a day when I am not sleep deprived I will hopefully go over a little more about her at this age. Love my sweet SadieJaner and can't wait to celebrate with her at her party!!

The First of Many??

Micah has been loving some school, church, choir, teamkid, and Momma working time. All of these just so happen to be held at our very own "six flags over Jesus" aka 1st Baptist church. We are starting to be those "everytime the door is open people". All this to say, Micah sometimes isn't sure which class he should go in, but he doesn't really care. He likes them ALL. Crazy to think you go to a place because your four year old loves it, I mean we like it, but he loves it. Ok, yeah, back to where I was. You can see why I haven't posted lately, TOO TOO much on the brain. Ugh. So in the last two weeks I've had the following stories told to me about my sweet bird:

~ While Micah does choir and church on Wednesday nights SayJ and I work in the penguin class. While I was in there another Mom comes in and says your son is quite the stud. He was just walking around the playground holding hands with a blonde and a brunette.

~ A mom from Micah's class says that her daughter is praying for Micah at night. That she "wont give up on him, and will keep praying he stops being so rough and boyish". I said, me too, girlfriend, me too! Love that!

~ While at a party another mom informs me that her daughter thinks Micah is so cute "with his glasses" and since they both were recently upset in choir, she said he came and checked on her the next week in class.

~ Another little girl from his turtle class saw me at the mall. She wanted to come tell Micah hello and again made mention of how cute he was "with the glasses".

~Lastly, the pictures you see above were made in teamkid at church. Each child made his/her own, but one girl insisted on giving Micah HER picture. Her mom tried to take it home and she insisted it go home with him. He made little mention of what I thought was a pretty big deal. I will also make mention this same sweet girl saw us coming into Sunday School on sunday and came to the door to make sure she said hey to my bird. By the way, I could do a whole post on the differences of those two pictures. I mean Tyla's is so detailed and pretty and then there is Micah's...slap some stuff on here so I can go play.

Now while I hope you know this isn't a aww, my son is so great post or a I'm trying to push the boy girl thing. I know it is all very innocent and that he has very little idea about the differences with girls, I just think that it is funny how much girl interest we are getting. But possibly because Micah has a very sensitive Momma so he picks up on that with the ladies....hahaha.

Oh, and last thing to note, the ladies LOVE the glasses.

Ok, ok, all of this is totally in fun. So that one day I can read this to Micah and embarrass him. Who knows, maybe he and Tyla will work things out in the Waaaaay future! I know he is not a complete stud. I know he isn't the handsomest thing in the world. Frankly I don't even want him to be:) If you ask him, he isn't getting married and he is living with his Momma til he is 35. Now, that my friend is every girls dream.

Party of EIGHT!

My best friend from birth delivered her second baby boy on Wednesday, Sept. 21st. Parker Brentley weighed in at 7lbs 3ounces and was such the sweet boy. Amy sported a double doozy by going into labor and THEN having a planned c-section. She knows how to have fun! We have gone from being a party of eight back in the day when both our families would go somewhere when we were children, to the two of us, then came marriage and there were four, then we had our firsts and there were six and on and on til now we are back to that party of EIGHT in another generation!!(we can't even get both generations at one table now:) hee hee.) Love it!

It All Comes Down to This.

Things lately have been crazy. But I'm sure you are sitting there thinking "I got your crazy over here". I mean don't we all? We all seem to be running around this time of year (ok, all year)...and with me starting my life over with new jobs and growing babies, I could get close to loosing my mind, or a child at least. But God has been so good. I have my days where I wanna get frustrated and I know there are days where that frustration (ie satan's) gonna get his. BUT, so far God has been gracious to constantly remind me "what it all comes down to" and that is loving Jesus, and loving people. Allowing myself to live and enjoy what He is doing, no matter what I "feel". It goes without saying that I have less time with friends, with my babies and definitely with Mick, but I am trying to focus on what is good about our current circumstance...instead of my usual pity party blog post about what isn't. I am sure I'll have one of those soon. (I hope not, but let's not get carried away with my positivity) I absolutely LOVE teaching again and I LOVE the little ones in my class. I also started my working at the "chicken apartment" at the CFA at the mall and I really like the people there and just pray I can accomplish all I need to in that job as well. Although typing some of this out I get a little anxious I know that even though I am tempted to feel that way the truth and key is to rest in Him. Every time I go into these situations God gives me peace and contentment helping me to know, He has me where He wants me. All the while all this transition is going on, Mick is busy working away at everything he can. Most time consuming right now is softball. But again the kiddos are loving being apart of the game and I am finally able to again be apart of things without a baby in my belly or on my boob. It is so much easier when we all get to be apart of Mick's ministry together and really gives us a sense of unified purpose. Even though Mick has all the pressure of actually winning the games. The pictures above are from the last weekends tournaments. We've been hanging out in dugouts alot lately and like every year Micah and now SadieJane's favorite part of the game is when they get to go on the field to pray with Daddy. Now, Micah doesn't even stand with Mick, he goes to find one of his "girlfriends". And even though they are winning (yippee) it doesn't come down to winning...it all comes down to this...praying and making a difference in our little ones lives as well as the people Mick coaches. I am grateful for the opportunities and the memories we are making right now.

Phew!

Where it all began...here is me heading off to my first day at the Early Learning Center at the Baptist Church in Dville.

...and here I am with my two on the FIRST day of all of us being at the ELC Preschool!

Micah with Mrs. Giles!

Our flashdance photo shoot!! Micah and SJ matched.

Take me with you Bubba!

The signature pose started by Jenny. Why outside of the car? Why holding folders? I don't know, but the tradition continues:)

We all survived for the three people with true concern. Haha. I mean I know you were all sitting by your computers wondering when I'd get the kids by the car photos posted. Hee hee. Today was a whirlwind. Although I did my best to plan ahead I forgot that I would need to be both a momma and a teacher at the same time. Too much for this Momma to be on time and get everything done. But we all had a great day. SadieJane did not cry the whole day! Hallelujah. Her teacher's are awesome!! So I am so thankful she sees that. I LOVE my class and am excited about all that we are going to do this year. Well Micah as we know just loves school and his teachers. Ahhh...so thankful for this time in our little bubble. Next year will be a rude awakening for Micah and I both. But for now, we will enjoy our time with our friends that are like family!!

Water Logged.

Sneaky, sneaky faces.

That jacket fits just right SayJ.

What a fabulous picture of all three of us. You know when Jenny is looking the best in a picture things are bad. Haha. Sorry, Jenny but you know you are the worst at taking pictures.

Handsome Haydee!

We have taken every opportunity up until the monsoon of the last few days to enjoy the last few days of summer for us. Goodness knows Mick's summer ended a long time ago but we have still been hitting up the pool, tub, or lake! All the business starts tomorrow. Ugh, I am both excited and moreso extremely nervous/anxious. I wish I weren't this way, and I am working on scripture memory to ease all this "stress" but it is definitely a work in progress, and of course I'm gonna be brutally honest in my realness, I can not even put on a mask and pretend that isn't who I am, it just is, for now. Hopefully not forever. Anyways, SadieJane, Micah and I will head off to school in the morning. Micah is so excited and I have not a fear or concern for him. He loves his teachers, loves school and loves seeing his friends. I am excited about having a class of my own (or sharing it with Mrs. Mann) and being around fellow Christians. It is my little mini-me, my shadow, my prinsin(princess), my tee-teeing machine, my sweet SadieJane that I am way concerned about. ..and therefore myself in the process, because if she isn't ok, then neither. am. I. Again, I am not sure if it should be that way, but that is the way it is. My sweet girl is chatting it up lately, one word style. So today we had some uninterrupted time just us before Micah got up and since I am not working elsewhere for today I didn't have to sit her in front of the tv while I worked on the computer. (Ahh, if only it could stay like that. I know, I know, get over it.) SayJ and I talked and talked about her class, which I thought would be a great idea. Until she started crying anytime I mentioned it and begging me to hold her. Of course stating, one word style..."leaving"...."Momma"..."NO!!!" A mild case of what I usually see when I drop her off. I have been praying, praying, praying for this sweet girl. I truly feel that this time away will be good for both of us. IF she isn't screaming the whole stinkin' day. If she does, it will make it very hard fro me to feel like this is the right thing to do. Micah started a year later than SayJ is and you might remember that we both completely lost it on our second day. Since I'll be teaching a class full of kiddos who might be having the same separation anxiety I can't very well go in there in tears. So please pray that we all hold it together and that God grants us peace that passes all understanding. I know, it isn't a huge issue in the grand scheme of things, but in the Harper House it will be huge these next few hours. I already can't wait til the lazy days of summer again!

it's the end of an era

I knew this day was coming. But still didn't think I'd be quite as sad or sentimental. I know none of you are surprised. This week ends my short career at the local chicken house. I have worked for a friend of the family doing marketing for I think almost 7 years. I went into the job while having fertility problems and am leaving the job after having two babies while working there. I loved my job. I worked from home after I had babies and with Micah he has basically grown up there. He doesn't know that people wait at the counter to get food or that you can't just walk in to the kitchen and tell someone you want some stick chicken(the grilled kind for salad). I haven't paid for my Large Coca Cola Classic in a looong time. I am sad that my time at the chicken house is over but I am so thankful that I had the time there that I did. I was given a great opportunity to do something I liked to do while never having to leave my children for very long. Even moreso they were part of working as well. They got to know the people there and loved them like I did. I am praying that I can move on gracefully and not hold onto the past. I tend to do that. Bad. But there is so much going on that it will be hard to keep thinking about what might have been, for too too long. I will miss the sweet people and the great chicken most I do believe. BUT, it doesn't seem that I can completely separate from the chicken house, because along with my teaching position I have an opportunity to work at the chicken apartment (the mall Chick-fil-a) in our town. It will be a totally different type of experience but I am hopeful and trusting God that we can make it work in our lives. More on that as I figure it out...