Casa de Mayo

Well, the girls and I have been in Lubbock a little over two weeks now. In some ways it feels like we just got here, but in others it feels WAY longer. I can’t lie – I miss everything about Abilene. My friends, my church, the schools my girls went to…did I mention my friends? And, obviously, it’s been hard being away from James. We have enjoyed our many phone calls to him, but we are loving having him here this weekend! I don’t think I’ve ever seen my girls as excited as they were when he pulled up in the driveway.

Kaitlyn has adjusted pretty well to her school here – which is the same Elementary school that I went to. WEIRD. The first day I dropped her off I cried for a good, long while.  But, in typical Kaitlyn style – she was totally fine when I picked her up that afternoon. I thank God for blessing her with such an outgoing personality. Cora, Claire and I have enjoyed lots of games at home, going to the park when the weather finally got warmer, story time at the library (which is WAY better here than Abilene), and even a few play dates with some friends! My parents took us to a Disney Road Show that was super fun! Cora and Claire are slightly obsessed with Mickey Mouse right now -so they loved it! I didn’t know many of the other Disney characters would be there, but Cora about fell out of her seat when she saw Cinderella. I wasn’t sure how much Kaitlyn would like it, but she REALLY enjoyed it too!

I am hoping to get C and C in a Mother’s Day out program one day a week soon. We’ve tried a couple of new churches and all three of them just march right in their Bible classes like they own the place. Seriously. I’m so thankful for those girls. I am also meeting with someone from the Nursing School at Covenant here on Thursday. I’m hoping to get a plan mapped out to start that as soon as possible with a part time job to fit around it. Change is good. We are ready to all be here together, but James and I are so excited to think about the possibilities to come. James is trucking right along in Abilene. He takes the GMAT on Friday and has been studying so hard!

I know I said that I had funny stories about the move in my last post, but unfortunately I only remember one of them. James and I were both kind of nervous to tell Kaitlyn about our transition to Lubbock. We chose our words carefully, and the tone of our voices even MORE carefully! We told her like it was going to be an adventure, she would get to go to the same school Mommy went too, get to meet new friends, etc, etc. You could just tell she was letting each word that we said completely soak in. SO many different expressions went across that girls face. She didn’t say much at first (which made me a little nervous). So, I asked her if she had any questions about anything and after thinking for a minute she asked, “Will my new teacher have a long name or a short name?”

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of weeks.

Much to report, much to report.  I’m going to just keep it short and to the point. We are moving to Lubbock! The girls and I are actually headed that way tomorrow (or maybe Friday morning).  Long story short, James is at ACU finishing up some classes this semester. We were all thinking about moving to Lubbock anyway this summer for him to start graduate school at Tech (hopefully). To minimize/eliminate expenses while he is in school here, we made the quick and prayerful decision for the girls and I to go ahead and go, live with my parents for awhile and get a head start on our life there.  Deep breath. It will be hard to be apart for awhile, though there will be many visits back and forth. We covet your prayers during this transition. We both truly love Abilene and hope to eventually end up back here.

Funny stories about Kaitlyn and this move coming soon….

You find a lizard! I was picking up toys and clothes off of Cora and Claire’s floor yesterday and found a little gecko hiding underneath a pile. I did not want to touch it, but Kaitlyn gladly volunteered to pick it up. To my surprise, Cora and Claire each wanted a turn to hold it. So, out came the camera.

This cheer popped into my head just a second ago. I can vividly hear the cheerleaders yelling it when I played in High School. ANYWAY…. this is a video of Kaitlyn scoring her FIRST goal at her FIRST game on Saturday! You can’t see her that well, but it’s her making it I promise! (It’s the basket at the end of the video) I was so excited I almost charged the court. Can’t wait to watch the rest of her games! Also enjoy the Ref’s (James) comments.

Claire turned two on the 11th. (sigh).  We didn’t do big birthday parties for her or for Cora (who’s birthday was Dec. 21st) this year. Just small, relaxed…just with our family. I loved it, but I do feel some level of guilt about not having a PARTY.  I will do better next year (hopefully). My parents were here for the weekend, so we decided to do her cupcakes and presents on Sunday.  She got a play cash register, a mini Walmart basket with groceries, and a magna doodle drawing pad. She loves and has enjoyed playing with all of them this week. I have NOT loved picking up the 140 pieces of “groceries” from all around the house. ha.

Claire,

You are your own little person. You have your ideas and thoughts about what you want to do, and could care less about who you are with or what environment you are in. This makes it SO fun to just simply watch you. It is sheer entertainment. You love to sing and dance. You love your sisters and truly miss them when they are gone. It’s so fun to watch you get excited to see them when it has been awhile. Even if it’s just from your nap..you can not wait to go find Cora. And Sam..our dog that you have named Sammy. You’re the only one that calls him that. You love to just hug and squeeze on him or just lay right down next to him. You also love putting his food in his water bowl and pulling on his ears and his tail until he barks at you. Then you just laugh and laugh. Your facial expressions just crack us up. You are still attached to your paci’s. One in your mouth and one in your hand is how you prefer it to be. You love to talk on the phone, but you have to hold the phone between your cheek and your shoulder. I guess you see me doing this a lot so that I can multi task! You are very strong willed and can scream so incredibly loud it’s almost unhuman. You can throw a fit like I have never seen. But you can also snap out of it pretty quick if we can redirect you fast enough! You love to sing and pray. You make sure we pray before dinner every night, and you repeat the words that we say. You are such a precious girl Claire Elizabeth. I am so proud to be your Momma.

It was time for the mullet to go. Sweet Claire. It’s been all buisness in the front party in the back for some time now, so we figured the day had come to shape it up a bit. She LOVED Cool Cuts for Kids. She got to sit in the car and pretend to drive..she did not want to leave that place!

One of the reasons I love living so close to ACU’s campus is the convenience of babysitters! One of our very favorites is Megan (often occompanied by her boyfriend/fiance/husband Garrison). My girls have grown to adore them! Kaitlyn and Cora were asked to be flower girls in their wedding last weekend. It was a beautiful wedding at a neat historic house here in Abilene. We were blessed to be a part of their special day! I am so sad because my camera battery died right before the wedding, so I don’t have that many pictures. We love you Mr. and Mrs. Hartline!

Kaitlyn came RUNNING off the bus today with just the most excited look on her face. She was quick to tell me that she had some “very exciting news.” I love that she waited until she was right up close to me before she shared what is was. She just looked so proud and said – “I got Student of the Six Weeks!!”  You have to understand, this is something that she has talked about since Kindergarten. She is always so happy for whoever is chosen to receive the award, but has wanted to claim this title for a while now. She has worked so hard in school and I truly am so happy for her. (I may have gotten a little teary when she told me).  Kaitlyn, I love you so much and am very proud of you!

I am trying really hard to reduce the amount of stress in my life. For this reason I:

1. Am not going to try and recap everything that has happened in the past few months since I posted.

2. Switched from Blogger to WordPress in hopes for a more user friendly site. (I have a lot to learn, but it already seems easier and quicker)

3. Am really going to try and train my thinking in the reason that I blog in the first place. Not for comments, but for a scrapbook for my girls. They are some hilarious little people and I have GOT to do better about recording their stories for them to look back on some day.

So, for today.. I leave you with a few recent pictures and a promise..to my girls this time – not to readers – that I will “journal” more frequently, so that one day we can all sit down together and reflect on the pure JOY that is each of your childhood.