Open House at Socrates Academy.....Kindergarten!

Oh my.....

Is it THAT time already? I was putting off thinking about it, even after buying school supplies!  But, alas, Hannah will be going to Kindergarten in a matter of days. I CAN'T believe it!

Yesterday was Open House. We got to go see all the K classrooms. She won't know who her teacher is until after her first day of assessments so they can divide the classes equally btwn levels of achievement, race, behavior, etc.  Makes sense....  Anyway, next Monday will be the first REAL day of school.  She will be attending Socrates Academy, a charter school here in Charlotte. We are very pleased she got in through a lottery program. Our luck had to come around some time! haha!

Here are a few pictures I captured of Open House! (**She was acting so shy!!!)

Just another day in the NC Mtns.

We went to Franklin, NC this weekend for another visit with Jon's parents. We tried to go on a hike the first day but alas, we took five steps out of the car and DOWN came the rain! Soooo we gave it another try on Sunday AM. And this time Gramma Cathy could come with us. Success! It was a beautiful day. 

Here are a few of my favorite pics from the hike:

See this pic here? This pic here is a HORROR story. I will never forget the moment that Ethan backed away from me while taking a picture, and went tumbling down a hill. THANK you JESUS it was an area where he didn't fall far. I think I am still sick to my stomach about it. See him backing up away from me??? Literally like 3 feet away from me! Well, needless to say, he was STUCK to me or Daddy for the rest of the trip and will be forever more. ha!

Then we went to Papa John's to visit and get some veggies from his garden! The kids also got to play with their cousins Alex and Ilah for a little while.

Stationery Card

Choo-choo Train Thank You Card

Shop custom Thank you cards and notes at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Ethan in a BIG BOY BED!

Well, sadly and happily, I put my boy in his "Big Boy Bed" last night. This is an awesome bed by the way, it is from Ikea and is extendable! The headboard and footboards fold down and become a twin bed! ;) Or just unfold one and it is just a longer kid bed! Neat right? Anyway, we went through the normal nightly routine of getting our blankies and rocking while saying goodnight to everyone and everything :

Night Night Mommy, Night Night Daddy...Night Night Hannah....Night Night Beff (his aunt Beth), Night Night La-La (his other aunt)....Night Night Mimi...Night Night GG....Night Night Mylie...Night Night "Ineee" (Sydney)...Night Night Jessie...Night Night Choo-Choo...Night Night Car, Blue Car...etc etc... **There are some not mentioned here b/c he will not even try to say things that he cannot say as Grampa, Gramma, Jeff, etc. But they are included b/c I say them...so don't worry ya'll! ;)

After doing so, I layed him down and said our I love you's and did our kisses....I walked out of the room and voila! It was DONE! That easy! He went to bed around 8:30 and slept till 9:30 today! I couldn't believe it. Well,maybe I could b/c my Ethan has always been "Easy Baby E". What a sweet sweet boy! Good job Ethan. Mommy is proud of you, but also a lil sad you are growing up so fast!

Here are some pics!

He couldn't wait to get into the bed! 

He kept on getting in and saying "Night Night" even though it wasn't quite time for bed! 

So proud!

 Mommy's first glance last night... ;)

Dress A Girl Around the World!

Today I wanted to share with you the absolute PEACE and JOY and YEARNING for more that I have burning within me!

About a month or so ago, I randomly saw a "friend of a friend" tagged in a photo of a pillowcase dress made for an organization called "Dress A Girl Around the World". As you know, there are many areas that have extreme poverty both in this country and all around the world. This organization has people that help them from lots of areas around the US. I was lucky enough to spot this one in NC! Lisa is my "go-to" for this area in NC! Here's a link to her fb page: Dress a Girl Around the World NC

Here is the link to the whole oganization: Dress a Girl Around the World NP Organization

I have made pillowcase dresses to sell for several years now for mine and my bestie's site Poppies Garden.
NOW we had a great opportunity to do some charity work! LOVE it! I quickly made about 5 dresses to send to Lisa who's brother was traveling to India on a mission trip and could deliver the dresses.  Here's a pic of the ones I made 

 

Lisa's brother stopped in an unexpected area of India b/c they had just had horrible devastation through a fire that tore through the town. There were lil naked kiddos running around! Here's what he said about the experience:

"Just distributed your dresses in a "village" in the slums in Gurgeon, India. This is a community built in the slums where the houses are made from plastic and bamboo. These people only have what they can collect. Our pastor partner wanted us to visit this village because this village recently experienced a fire and what little they had was burned down. Most of the children were only wearing rag underwear or were naked. We even dress a few naked boys that didn't care if they had a dress. These people were Hindu but allowed us to pray for them afterward. It was a real blessing!"

 Here are some pictures that Lisa's brother took while there. 

 The children waiting to be "dressed"

 One of my dresses getting ready to have a sweet kid for an owner!

 Perfect fit!

God is full of grace and wisdom isn't He?  Just when I had lost something very special, God gave me a purpose to dress some little girls in India and hopefully many more! Please let me know if you are ever interested in sewing or also donating supplies to make them! We could even have a sewing party to make bunches at a time! I am just full of humility and also so proud! Can you tell? ;)

Welcome Addy ("Addymae")!

Welcome little Addysyn Reese Leak! 

10 lbs 3 oz of LOVE born on July 29 2011
Congrats to my best friend Heather, her husband Kenny, and her other two sweet girls Syd and Mylie!

Isn't she gorgeous? 

 aka: "Addymae" to Steph....I know, its silly, but its just stuck for me! Hope SHE doesn't mind ;) ha!

 Look at the hair! ;)

 Mommy talkin to sweet Addy in the NICU

 She LOVES having her head rubbed. Can you tell?! So funny! I love it!

Thank you Heather and family for letting me share in the joy of her arrival and for letting me hold her while she was in the NICU. It means more than you know. After losing a baby not too long ago, it was just what I needed after some healing time went by. To see the love, the sweetness, the JOY of a new baby in your life was amazing. I am looking forward to seeing Addymae grow up and loving on her along the way. You sure are lucky Addy, to have so many people that love you!
Love you all!!!! ~Stephanie