May Already?

I’ve been avoiding blogging lately, in case you haven’t noticed. Circumstances around here have been tough…not the happy “everything’s hunky-dory” sort of image I like to record via my blog. It’s been enormously difficult to rise above the emotional pain and stay focused on God. I am doing my best to set small goals though and just do “the next right thing.”

I know this is somewhat similar to an “unspoken” prayer request…you know, the kind that middle school girls give—“I have 3 unspokens” which triggers everyone else to start imagining the awful, wicked things that she might be referencing! It’s not that I’m hiding from shame--If I were chatting face to face, I’d probably be much more likely to provide details…I just don’t want to broadcast “my pain” over the internet. Additionally, sometimes in the explanation of “what’s going on” I’ve found that my focus gets stuck on what’s wrong rather than on what’s RIGHT (God, His provision and trustworthiness, etc.). THUS, I will set my eyes on things above and record how we’ve been lavished with God’s Blessings this past month! (I started thinking about the whole "unspoken" thing after reading the blog (link on the side bar) Stuff Christians Like (April 17 post)).

Mississippi University for Women Homecoming 2008! I went to my 10 year college reunion in the middle of April. It was, in a word, WONDERFUL! I can’t even begin to describe how much I loved my college years and it was so nice to be back with the girls I loved the most. I even made some “new” friends—Erinn and I have begun emailing each other for accountability in exercising. I set a goal of 10 miles this past week and, quite by accident, did almost 8 miles in one day! I do have an explanation: Cassie and I walked to the library on Wednesday-it’s about 3 miles there and 3 miles home, so I knew I was going for a “long” walk…but back in my running-days, I’d run 6 miles daily with no problem. SO, I had my cell phone with me and decided I’d call my favorite friend, Mary, who lives “on the way” to the library. Ummm…not so much. Walking to her house and back added on another 2 miles but Mary had joined us on that part of the walk so they were “effortless” miles! I got to visit with Mary—balm to my soul—and we stopped off to rest at her house so Cassie got to play with “Ms Mary’s” toys! It was so cute to see Cassie enjoying Mary…almost as much as I do!

There are many more things to write, but it’s time to get ready for church. Thanks for keeping up with us! Also, check out the slideshow of our recent activities!

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April Already?

Things have been busy around our house so blogging has had to take a back seat. We're doing okay...just had to deal with a lot of family drama.

Cassie has had many fun adventures lately. Poppi took me and Cassie on an adventure last week to ride the carousel, finally. I'd been taking her to the mall but we wouldn't actually ride the horses...it's $2 per person so I decided we didn't need to spend that money. She's played at the park across from her Tiaboo's house and had some special reading time with her Granma.

The BIG hit in our home lately is "Signing Time"--I decided to start learning sign language with Cassie via some DVD's I heard about on the TODAY show. We borrowed a few at the library and now she LOVES to watch Signing Time. We've both learned quite a lot of sign language and her vocabulary has grown exponentially as a result. I cannot begin to express how much our daughter loves these DVD's! Check out their website: www.signingtime.com

Easter Weekend!

Hi Blog-friends,
We had a VERY busy weekend... but Cassie did well in spite of major disruptions in her schedule. Click on the picture to see what we did!

WH Easter Egg Roll 2008

Saturday we attended the Easter pageant at our church and then went to a party at my parents' house. The most darling part of that day was when Cassie walked into her Mimi and Poppi's room all by herself to settle down for some quiet reading. Guess she had enough of all the people interaction and wanted some peace and quiet in her pack and play. She read to herself for quite a while.. I just love the fact that she is confident enough to set her own boundaries regarding sleep, play, etc.

Sunday we left VERY early to be at church in Pennsylvania to celebrate Granma's birthday and Jesus' resurrection. Cassie skipped her nap in the afternoon but was pleasant in spite of the lack of sleep.

Monday was another early day...we went to the White House Easter Egg Roll thanks to Tiaboo! Beka works at the White House and was able to get tickets for all of us to attend. We drove to Beka's house and then Metro'd to the WH--Cassie was unsure of the "train" at first but did well overall. Once at the WH, it was really fun to see Cassie enjoy the music from the Marine Band. She didn't want to leave the music but we coerced her to venture away when we pointed out all the Easter bunnies roaming the lawn. Sadly though, Beka did something horrible to her back when trying to lift Cassie--she spent the afternoon at Urgent Care to figure out the problem! She's in a lot of pain and needs our prayers! After the White House we walked to Poppi's office for a visit. Cassie enjoyed meeting all of Poppi's friends at work...and we were glad to get a ride back to Tiaboo's house (Beka especially was glad not to walk).

On a separate note-I've noticed a marked increase in Cassie's ability to communicate effectively. She's using a lot of words and has begun singing very clearly. The Easter gift we gave Cassie (Leap Frog Phonics Alphabet for the refrigerator) has been a HUGE hit...Cassie is singing the alphabet over and over again. She's also been reading to herself a lot...holding the book up and pointing at things, while running a narrative of what she's seeing. I'm impressed and want to do some research on how to encourage her interest in reading.