Jeepers, Creepers Elizabeth's peepers!

Over Christmas break my mom was reading with Elizabeth and noticed that her vision was much better in one eye than it was in the other and suggested we have it looked at. We did and found out that she had some scaring on her cornea. It has effected her vision in her left eye tremendously and we have been seeing a cornea specialist on a regular basis since then. Last week we had a bit of a set back. She had an ulcer come up on her eye. It must have been extremely painful because she didn't open that eye for DAYS! She had to go to Birmingham to see the specialist 4 days last week. She got to go spend the weekend with Grammy and Peepaw and her vision was much better on Monday when she went back. It's been a long journey and we're thankful for those who have helped us out. I never dreamed that so many health issues would come up when I started student teaching and could no longer be home every day. After all that last week and her missing school Tuesday of last week through Monday of this week, we get to school yesterday and she throws up all over the van! She stayed with me until her Daddy could come and get her. He's been so helpful since I can't take off very much. So thankful for my helpful family and the concern that Sarah and Cole showed for her while her eye was hurting so bad. While she was at Grammy and Peepaw's they both cried for her. They love her very much although they do not always show it. They were so happy to see her come home and we were very relieved to know that her vision went from 20/400 at one point last week to 20/60. She was supposed to see the cornea specialist again yesterday. That didn't happen, but we have a standing deal for when she goes back on Monday. If when she goes back her vision is 20/20, WE'RE GOING OUT FOR ICE CREAM! It was her goal. I was shooting for 20/40. We'll just have to see what happens on Monday!

The little old lady that lives down the hill

There is a little old lady that lives down the hill from us. She has the cutest little dog that she walks every time we drive by her house or so it seems. Normally when we drive by she points her cane at her dog like she is threatening to shoot the poor thing if it moves before the car goes by. I've always smiled and waved at her. Usually I get a dirty look back, but today was different. I smiled and waved, and.......she smiled and waved back! Maybe it's the Christmas spirit or maybe she's finally used to this little family driving by and waving that she decided to return the favor for once. Today she made me smile!

Cole goes to school!

Last Friday was Cole's first day of school. Since it was Friday I picked him and Sarah up after lunch as is my normal routine. He's quite the character. He refused to let me take his picture as is our first day of school custom. I did get some pictures after school, but they were more action shots than then were pictures because I was literally chasing him all over the place. He didn't cry, and seemed to have a good time Friday. All I could get out of him though was that he ate lunch at school. Today he rides the bus, so maybe I can get a little more out of him. I would also like to report that mom has been managing these drop offs tear-free! I may not be very productive while they are gone, but emotionally I am doing well with everyone being gone.

The tooth story!

I've been holding on to this story for about a week, but I have to share it! All the teeth Elizabeth has lost have been loose since before we moved to Reform! About a week ago we noticed that they were just barely hanging on. I cannot pull teeth. I am too afraid I will hurt her, so her Daddy decided he would be the man for the job. I had the job of hand holder while she screamed. After talking with her last night we decided that the fear of the pain was much worse than the actual pain. Anyway, he pulled on tooth one night and another on the next night and last night he pulled on on the bottom. She is now missing her front teeth. Her bottom two below those are in, but their neighbors on each side are gone too. I'm not kidding when I tell you that you can already see the teeth that are coming in! She still insists that we could have waited a while, but we were seriously worried that she would swallow them! The second front tooth is the one with the story. Daddy was wiggling it and she was screaming. I was holding her hands. She wiggles and Daddy throws her up and says, "Don't swallow!". When she wiggled his finger bumped the tooth slightly and it came out. It's a good thing she didn't swallow it. I don't think the Tooth Fairy comes if the tooth is swallowed.

Another year

You guessed it...another year has passes. My sweet Sarah Grace is now 4 and my Coley Bear is 3! It's hard to believe they are this big already. It seems like yesterday (well, it would be 2 different yesterdays) that they were born. They are so big! Sarah is going to Head Start. She loves her teacher and her friends, but HATES naps. She hates them with a passion. She is very smart. Her teachers told me that she was the star student one day because she was the only one in the class that could spell their spelling words (red and blue). She can also recognize and spell her first name. She can write the number one and draw circles. She's 4 going on 14. She can be quite sassy, but is usually very sweet. Coley Bear is still home with me. We are waiting to see if Head Start has a place for him now that he's 3. We're hoping we can get him in soon. He LOVES to go to football practice with his Daddy. The "football babies" are his heroes! He loves football games too. He calls them "putball" games. He loves to ride his tricycle and shoot basketball. He is talking so much more and it is getting to be so much easier to understand him. I always worry about sending my kids to school before you can really understand them, but they always get better just before they turn 3. Elizabeth is doing well too in case you were wondering. She was the student of the week for first grade last week and got to have ice cream with her principal. She was so excited that she talked about it for days. She reads all the time. She is so smart! Regular season for football is over, so now we're doing play offs for state stuff. I am half way done with my last Master's class. I have 4 weeks left, and I should student teach in January. We might actually have 2 incomes next fall. That will be a first since we've had kids!

Going Home

We spent the weekend in Clanton, and it was just like going home. We saw all the girls' old teachers,and got to see all their best friends. We went to the Pumpkin Patch, and got to go to our old church. We had a BLAST, but were so tired!

Spiritual Drought

I have decided to be completely honest with myself and in turn with others. I have been faking it till I make it for far to long now. I'm not sure when it began, but at some point I thought I could do it all on my own. FAIL! I am an over worked, under paid, mom of three that is also a Master's student. Life is not always easy especially when you have 5 people and one income. For some reason I have thought I could handle it all on my own, but I feel like I'm running on E. I almost think it took moving for me to realize that I can't just get by from what I get on Sunday mornings at church. At our last church things were a little different and you could feel the Spirit during worship. Maybe it's me, but I'm not getting that here, so starting today I'm doing more on my own in order to get that back. I miss the closeness I once had with the Lord, and I'm not going to fake it anymore.