happy birthday lacey!

yesterday, our lacey turned four years old! wow! it's so hard for me to believe how fast "our baby" is growing up. she is so funny and you never know what's gonna happen next with her. when she woke up yesterday morning i was giving her kisses and telling her "happy birthday!" as soon as lela opened her eyes lacey was in her face saying, "lela, you better tell me happy birthday!" i couldn't help but laugh, typical lacey.

we definitely had a very low key party at the house which was nice. i must remind myself it's just the prelude to her "big" party in the next few weeks. mom, laura, sam, evan and aunt carol joined us for pizza, cake and presents. lacey was so cute and excited about opening her gifts. she couldn't get one opened fast enough before she was on to another. she was all smiles when she opened up her newest american girl who she has named "lacey." why lacey? because she has blond hair with bangs, blue eyes and pierced ears just like the one and only herself.

what was i thinking???

lacey's birthday is tomorrow. she will be 4 years old. i still can't believe it! we decided not to do anything real big because she is having a party at jumping jelly bean in a few weeks with friends and kids from school. i'm really excited for her because this will be her first "real birthday party." she is excited but considering its a month away it's hard for her to understand. so tomorrow it will be just a small family gathering with cake and pizza.

since it was going to be a small group, i decided to do something entirely different this year for her. i'm making her a decorated birthday cake. my dear friend wendy is always making her kids birthday cakes and they look so good! she is definitely my inspiration. so, i thought to myself what the heck lets give a try! somebody should have told me, i mean more like warn me how long this was going to take!

but guess what her she is....

rain rain go away...

despite the rain we headed to the braves game last night to see them play against the san diego padres. lela had been before, but it had been awhile; this was lacey's very first time. the game ended up being delayed about 15 minutes due to the rain which was good considering we were out on a school night and lela had a reading and spelling test to take in the morning. we were into the beginning of the second ending, lacey had eaten some peanuts and then started announcing that she was ready to leave. you couldn't help but laugh, typical lacey. we stayed until about the end of the 4 ending and then headed on home. all the while sitting out in the rain...

i need your help, please

i decided that our website would be a great forum to ask for your help. the pta is sponsoring a contest and i would love for not only for lela to win, but her class as well. what i'm asking is so so easy and it only involves a few seconds of your time. all you have to do is cut the box tops for education off your favorite products and send them to me. the school will then receive .10 cents for every box top that is collected. i have included a link that has a list of all the products containing the box tops for education label on them. this is such a win win situation for lela, her class and the school. and another positive is i'm not asking you buy wrapping paper, cookies, popcorn, etc. just please help out, we really would appreciate it. thanks, julie

http://www.boxtops4education.com/AllAboutBoxTops/products.aspx

who me, the yearbook chairperson?

yes, that would be me. i picked up all the yearbook info this afternoon and i feel as if i'm swimming in sea of utter and total confusion. i keep looking at everything trying to discern were to begin. i can at least tell you what yearbook company we're using and that the cover of the yearbook will be a special design. after that i'm at a deadend. i have no deadlines, no contact person, no nothing. its kind of scary thinking i'm in charge of this and i feel like i'm out on a limb without a net. i did have at least some common sense to email the company we are using to see who my contact person is and any other information they might have for me. right now, i'm just hoping they get in touch with me soon that's really my only concern for the time being. the more i have looked at the past yearbooks, i'm getting really excited about the things i want to do and change. this is definitely a great project for me! can't wait to start!

final reveal

here it is...the entry foyer finally finished! it took a little longer than i had hoped due to the fact my little helper wanted so desperately to paint. i'm pretty excited about it! now what can i do next? any ideas...

getting old

as i sit and write this evening our lela has gone to spend the night at her friend katharine's house. yes, this is the first time ever she has spent the night over at a friend's house. i'm actually a little nervous about it even though she is literally only about a mile down the road. it's funny because honestly in my mind she is still too young to sleep over at friends' houses and go to slumber parties, but then i think i was that age doing those same exact things. it's just funny how everything seems different when its your own kids. talk about getting older...uh, i guess we all are though?

and the answers are...

1. The wind blew it away.
2. Pam runs after her hat.
3. Dan got the hat.

are you scratching your head? this totally made me go crazy because there was a small picture to the side of the story of a hat and a cloud that looked like wind was blowing. (maybe i should have included it in when i gave you the info, but kevin and i keep asking each other is the picture part of the story? we never could agree because in the directions all it said was read the story, nothing about the picture, so we decided to omit it . i feel so stupid because obviously the picture did relate to the story. talk about a learning experience for us all. last night as we reviewed spelling words and reread the story i started writing other stories just so i knew we were all on the same page, lela and myself. i will definitely keep you posted on everything we are learning.

and thanks for playing along, by the way the only person who got it right was cami! yeah! now i know why your a reach teacher. you're so in the loop on all this abstract thinking. hope you don't mind but i'm sure we'll be calling you next time for help when it arises.

obviously i'm not cut out for 1st grade homework

yes, i said it! i can't do 1st grade homework. i thought i was a well educated woman, but after yesterday's homework that we got completely wrong i must be stupid. here is exactly what we had to do:

*Please read the story and use complete sentences to answer the Think and Respond questions.*

The Hat
by Holly Keller

Pam had a hat.
Pam ran up. Pam ran down.
Dan ran up. Dan ran down.
Dan got the hat!
Go Dan! Go Pam!

1. How does Pam lose her hat?
2. What does Pam do after she loses her har?
3. How does Dan help Pam?

i'll post the answers tomorrow, but i would love to hear from you and what you think. good luck. (i honestly hope none of you get it and if you do, you better tell me how you figured it out.)
julie ;)

stress?

don't let anybody fool you into thinking that elementary school is not stressful. oh my gosh! i feel like i'm the one who is in school again. i'm sitting here as wave after wave of "doubt" comes over me. we've only been in school about 10 days and change is continually surrounding us. what's up with that? i always feel like god is doing some big things when change is happening and right now is no different. it's just a little scary.

today has brought on many unexcepted surprises some of which i brought on myself and others that just appeared. after much prayer i decided to email the gifted teacher at lela's school to have her tested for the reach program. (thanks, cami) after i sent the email i immediately got a phone call from lela's teacher, mrs. perrotta, telling me what a delight lela was and how she was right on track. she even made mention of how lela was one of the top ones in her class. after she made that comment i decided that was my opportunity to ask if she thought lela should be tested for the reach program. she thought that would be great and didn't have any problems recommending her. she told me she would work on getting the paperwork together and would send it home.

after i hung up the phone, i then got an email asking if i would be in charge of the yearbook. uh? me? i have no experience being in charge of a yearbook. in my pervious life i designed ads, photoshoots and laid out small catalogs but does that quailfy me for a school yearbook? after quickly making my decision i replied back. (i told them yes.) but it occurred to me that despite being quite scared i'm also extremely excited about it; then a bible verse quickly came to mind "i can do all things through christ who strengthens me" - philippians 4:13. thank you, lord.

i had just hit the send button when the phone rings again. this time it was mrs. crawley the reach teacher from welch. she had gotten my email and was calling to answer my questions i had about the gifted program. she was very nice and helpful and told me she would be emailing the paperwork to have lela tested if i so desired.
so, now i'm sitting here with paperwork to fill out on lela and praying that i'm doing right thing yet again. i have to laugh because all i keep thinking is how in the world did i get here?

in the swing of things

it's officially the second week of school and everything seems to be going well from our new activities to having to get up every morning, everything is falling right into place as it should. lela seems to be really enjoying her school and loves having homework. she is so good about coming home and doing it. thank you! i just pray that a few months from now we are still this good about getting things done. choir officially starts tomorrow and then we will be in full swing with all our activities. lacey won't start school until september 1, so she still has a couple of weeks left. i have so many things i want/need to do and it's kind of hard having lacey around to help such as painting the new trim that went up. talk about more trouble than it's worth. lacey "tried helping" but ending up making more work for me. i don't know if there was more paint on lacey? the floor? or the wall? i've got to come up with a plan...any ideas?

on another note, lela wanted me to tell you that yesterday at gymnastics she received the "straight leg" award. she was on the bars practicing some move and ms. terri announced to the class that lela got the award for the straightest legs. good job, lela. keep it up!

always something going on around here

i always find ways to improve the house, if i can. my mind is constantly at work thinking of what we can do next. i love watching design star on hgtv and dream of the day when i could have my own decorating show. lol. decorating is such a creative outlet for me it's so much like graphic design but instead of working on 2-d surface you are working in 3-d mode. the same principals apply, so it's not really a big stretch for me and let's face it, i have to be creative it's just who i am.

my latest project is in the entry foyer. my wonderful father-in-law (thanks, earl) added a chair rail and picture frame molding to match what we did in the dining room. i'm in the process of caulking, sanding, filling holes, priming and painting. i can't wait to have it all done. it will definitely add a more formal look to the house and well, i can't wait. here are the "before" pictures. stay tuned...

the long wall when you enter the front door.

the little support wall which will be turned into a column to match the existing column in the dining room we did last year.

proud as a peacock

i'm so excited!!! i have share the news. i guess more like yell it from the rooftops. lela brought home her very first spelling test this afternoon. she hadn't studied for it. so, from the look of the words it was just basic stuff she was/needed to know. well...she got 100% on her test! yes, 100%. we are so proud of her. there was even a note attached to the test asking if we wanted her to get hard words. she said she did because the words were way too easy. i'm very excited for her because i think this will definitely help her during this "adjustment phase." good work lela keep it up!!!

now seriously...

for weeks now i've been toying with the idea to really get personal and open myself up. i feel like i share so much of myself on my blog, but it's usually happy stuff. i like happy stuff. it makes me smile and it makes realize how truly blessed i am, but for some odd reason i'm going take you to a dark place i was in not to terribly long ago.

i can't really put a finger on when i started feeling not quite myself, but i do know that by the time school was finished back in the spring i was finished as well. i had become angry, edgy, mean (according to the girls) and just down right indifferent. i didn't want to clean my house, cook, play with our girls, etc. i would write in my journal about how unhappy i was in my life, but never sharing any of this with you. my darling husband kept encouraging me to go to the doctor but i so didn't want to. finally i realized just how miserable i was. i went to the doctor telling him how i thought it was my hormones. we talked for a while in regards to everything i had been experiencing. my blood was even drawn and tested. he ended up prescribing me an anti-depressant, lexapro. i was not happy when the prescription was handed to me. he told me of the side-effects which really turned me off, but then he also total me of the benefits. after much thought, i decided that i just needed to give it a try and see what happened. don't worry about the side effects, focus on all the positives. well, i'm happy to say that i feel like myself again. what a wonderful feeling! i have my energy back and i'm loving life. the vibe in the house is much more calm and peaceful and i personally prefer it that way. life is good, god is good and i truly feel blessed. i don't really think about the negatives. i won't lie and say that they don't cross my mind, but doesn't everything we do in life have sometype of effect? good or bad?

we're so not in kindergarten anymore

it seems everyday when i pick lela up from school there is something new and traumatic to deal with. it breaks my heart to hear how much she doesn't like school and never wants to go back and this is coming from a child who loves school, loves homework, etc. these are the things we are having to deal with at the moment and it breaks my heart. on monday, she tells me that the teacher yelled at the class and made them all put their heads on their desk and be quiet. she then tells me mom i wasn't doing anything, but i got real sad and wanted to cry. poor lela, she is not use to the whole class getting in trouble because of a few disruptive kids. oh, this is hard. i know in a few weeks everything will be ok, but at the moment it's really hard seeing her have to work through this. when i say i've been there i've been there. my second grade teacher was notorious for always yelling and screaming at us and then cutting the lights off and making us put our heads on our desk. i think about that a lot these days especially seeing our daughter going through it, but then i have to tell myself, "hey, i turned out ok." i realize all we can do is keep encouraging her and letting her know how proud we are of her, but sometimes it's so hard not to just break down and want to protect her from the world. she is our first born. the child with the sweetest and most caring spirit i've ever met and to see all this happening to her is well...just hard. yesterday, it truly hit me we're so not in kindergarten anymore! sniff, sniff

gymnastics and spirit night

today, marked the start of both lela and lacey's new gymnastics career. for lacey it's her very first time ever doing it, for lela it's old hat so to speak. lacey seemed to really enjoy herself climbing, jumping and swinging like a monkey at the zoo. lela on the other hand advanced to the highest balance beam in the gym and proceeded to do a roll on the beam with the help of her teacher. it still amazes me watching her progress in the sport.

after gymnastics we headed home for a quick bite and on to spirit night at bruster's ice cream. it was so nice seeing so many parents out and in support of the school and pta. 20% of everything they sold between 7-9 went to the school, so it awesome seeing everyone taking advantage of it. lela's teacher, mrs. perrotta even was serving ice cream and taking orders. lela was so shy when mrs. perrotta asked her what type of ice cream she would like...typical of her these days it seems.

if you are curious to know how i'm adjusting to being in a large public school. well...i'm working through it day by day. kevin is definitely being my rock during this period of change in our lives. at the moment i feel kind of lost in a sea full of people. for the past 4 years, i knew most if not every parent and child in the preschool. i sit on the preschool board and am a dept chair on our consignment sale committee. now i'm in an entirely different environment where i have no idea who or what is going on in our school and that is extremely hard for someone who wants to help. yesterday it was brought to my attention that two spots have become available on the school council board and i have to wonder if this is the path god is leading me in? i have had a couple people encouraging me in this direction, but do i really want to commit two years? such big decisions. if you would just please keep us in your prayers during this season of transition.

the one and only lacey meredith

lacey is always cracking us up. we decided a long time ago that god gave us lacey to make us laugh and keep us on our toes. kevin and i both say if she had been born first that would be it. she is so busy. there are many a day i think if i could just have a ounce of her energy i would be doing so good. these days she has learned the art of telling stories. what do i mean? well, for example the other day there was a loud crash in our family room and i asked her what was that noise. her first response was "nothing" and then came "it was just my milk that fell in the floor." Comes to find out in actuallity it was my glass coasters she was playing with that fell in the floor. she has colored on our glass kitchen table only to tell me that she didn't do it, it was someone else. i just wonder who that someone else was? any ideas???

first day of 1st grade

well, we made it through our very first day of first grade and everything seemed to go good. lela has never been one to spill too much information. you usually end up having to pry stuff out of her, but from what info i did get it sounded pretty good.

it was so nice walking to school this morning, the afternoon a little hot but not so bad. talk about bringing memories from my childhood back. we lived so close to my elementary school i didn't have much choice in my mode of transportation - either walk, ride my bike or ride in the car. trust me when i say all modes were explored at some point during my career there. ahhh! how life was so different then versus now.

lela's teacher seems very nice and fun. i'm excited for her and hope it's a great year. i have heard quite a lot of positive feedback regarding, Mrs. Perrotta and her way of teaching. i now lela will do great! she is loves to read, write and doing homework. (she's definitely not her father's child...lol)

card catalogue

i'm a sucker for trying new things, especially if it doesn't involve risk. last night as i was checking out different blogs i found this awesome link to make cards that look ones from a card catalogue in the library. do you remember going to the school library and pulling out a drawer that contained hundreds of cards with the title of the book, author, information in regards to it and of course the dewy decimal system that was used to catalog them? talk about years ago.

ah! i love the library. maybe because i had the pleasure of working in the school library when i was in 6th grade. i wonder if maybe that spurred my love of books? don't get me wrong i love technology and how much it can do for us; but being able to pull open a drawer where you are surround by hundreds of books and actually have something tangible you can hold in your hands is so satisfying to me. i think that is why i fell in love with graphic design - the paper aspect of it definitely. to a hold a finished product in your hand is so fulfilling to me. i love looking at all the eye-candy on the computer, but nothing in my book compares to holding a finished product. i have tried for years to go electronic with my calendar/agenda. it doesn't work for me. i love being able to flip through my book. i used different colored pens to label certain activities. i will say i'm very anal about my calendar, just ask kevin or anybody for that matter? he tried writing in it once just anywhere and i about had a conniption. nobody touches my book!

ok, here's my finished card. you have to try it, it's so much fun! let me know what you think and i would love to see what you did. j

last day of summer?

yes, we celebrated our last official day of summer today. we decided to take the girls back to stone mountain for a day of fun. lela especially had been wanting to do sky hike since she had first seen it, but the line was way to long and we decided to save it for another day. well, that day finally came.

the girls were so excited when they found out we were headed to stone mountain will all intentions of doing sky hike. lacey couldn't do the actually one, but they something closer to the ground that she was able to maneuver through numerous time as lela and kev waited in line. i would so love to do it, but somebody had to stay on the ground with "little sis" and i didn't mind a bit. in fact i was able to play around my camera and that is always a positive in my book.

when kev and lela finally got up there, lacey and i were cheering them on. lela from the looks of everything did really good. lacey as always had no fear as she maneuvered through her "sky hike." talk about no fear! she even got mad that she couldn't do the rock climbing wall that lela was doing. she kept insisting "i can do it!" well i guarantee you if she had been tall enough she could have done it. nothing stops that girl!

the weather was great and we as a family had a blast! i love it when the four of us are able to hang out and have a fun. i only wish our summer wasn't over ;(

everyday...

we inch closer and closer to the first day of school. i still can't believe summer is basically over with for at least lela. lacey still has until september 1 before she returns. we're trying to enjoy our last few hours/days of freedom - sleeping late, playing at home, hanging out with friends, just being plain 'ole lazy. ahh! these are the days. today, was such a treat just hanging out with friends. we spent most the day over at wendy's while the kids rode bikes and played. it was so nice just visiting with a dear friend, i must say. thanks wendy, katharine and lily!

night and day

no two sisters could be anymore different than lela and lacey. last night they were playing around in the yard doing, gasp, gymnastics. lela this week has started working on a handstand and lacey well...anything that requires to go flipping through the air is what she is gonna do. i decided to grab my camera and play around as well. you never know what you'll shoot and catch on the spur of the moment.

i love this picture of lacey because is so quiet feeling. her sitting in the grass watching lela. i love the fact that she is holding a piece of grass in her hands. its so sweet.

as i said before, you never what you'll get when you shoot on spur of the moment. could this be an olympic gymnasts in training? or even a future gymdog? (if you look closely, you'll notice she has her tongue stuck out in concentration. from what i've been told her daddy did this as well, especially when he was dribbling the ball down the court in basketball.)