Kickin' It

Aubrie, Abbie Grace, Kennedy Grace and Colson

Kennedy and Abbie chasing the team

Abbie, Kickin' It

Nearing the Goal...

Sometimes God just blesses our socks off and I have to tell you about how He did it this time for our family. Over the summer I decided that I should sign Abbie up for soccer. Now, mind you, when I decided to do this it was the end of July. Having NEVER done anything with this sport, I had no idea that they would have already signed up for fall soccer. So I call Sherwood to find that they had filled up and were not even thinking about having a waiting list. So I called Lakewood and talked to the nicest man, Ken Sullivan, who put us on a waiting list for another soccer team if they had enough players and coaches. I called on a Monday in August and on Thursday we had a team! Blessing right? Yep, huge blessing and we were so excited. We went right out and found pink cleets (is that with a "K" or a "C", I have no idea...seriously I know nothing about soccer...) and pink shin guards. We know all of one person (Kennedy Grace, one of Abbie's best friends) who plays with the Lakewood team and she signed up months in advance for Fall soccer. I did NOT want to push the limits of decency and ask for Abbie to be put on her little friends team so we just were excited about meeting new friends and getting to know something about a new sport. So, Abbie, Brie and I show up for our 1st soccer practice and we have no clue what we are supposed to do or where we are supposed to go. We wander around aimlessly and as we were wandering, we see the Burkett's, the one family we know who plays soccer up there. I decide to humble myself and check my "I can figure this out" prideful self and ask them if they would recognize Coach Hopkins so they might point us in the right direction. Well we walk over and they look shocked to see us and Kennedy and Abbie hug each other like they hadn't just seen each other at church two days before. I ask if they know the coach and they look at me like I might be crazy and say, "yes, that's Kennedy's coach!" At this moment, the coach comes over and says "this must be Abbie Grace." I nearly fell over! I mean, never in my wildest dreams did I think that Abbie would end up on a team with her friend. In fact it was so far from what I considered a possibility that I didn't even pray about it. It just felt too selfish to pray for. I never want to approach God like He is some kind of magical genie who will grant whatever wish I ask of Him. This just felt so ridiculous to ask for so I prayed instead for Abbie to easily make friends with the kids that she was placed on a team with. Never did it enter my mind that God would take that wildest dream and make it come true! That's what is just overwhelming to me and it is so consistent with the character of God. He is so big and so intimate. He knows the desires of our hearts, probably even better than we do, and His desire is to bless us. I just have to praise Him for how He knew my heart and my desire to have Abbie know someone on her team. I know this sounds so trivial but that is what God has taught me so much about this year. He is a God who is so big; He created the universe and causes all of us to be and yet, He is so small and intimate that He blesses us in ways that are intensely personal and specific to our needs. Do you know Him like that? If you don't and you want to, ask me about it. I would love to share with you just how much you are loved, because you ARE! He loves you just like He loves me and loves my daughter. Enough to carry me through this summer as a single parent and experience blessing after blessing and enough to put Abbie in the one team that has a forever friend in it. What an awesome God!

FL Pictures

Traveling Down

At the Donut Hole: Elaina, Joyanne, Abbie, Brie and Kaden

Mom, Brie and Abbie

Aubrie in the Sand

Splashing in the waves

American girls at the Beach

Abbie Grace, 5 1/2 yrs old

Underwater Swimmer

Brie baby in her floaties

Mom, Abbie and Brie

Superstar Abbie

Beautiful Baby Brie with her fishing net

High Flying Acrobat Abbie

I have to tell you, I LOVE going to Destin. This was, perhaps, one of my favorite trips down there ever. We (the kids and I) went down with Becky and her two kiddo's, Kaden and Elaina, and we also took an INCREDIBLE baby sitter, Joyanne. We had the most relaxing week I think I've ever spent at the beach. Well, the time after I took the bar exam was pretty relaxing too but this may have beaten it. We only ate out once with the kids and we did one girls night when we put the kids to bed and Becky and I went to dinner with my sister Brooke. It was a great week. Tons of swimming (pool and ocean) and lots and lots of giggling and laughing. We both said that we really did miss our boys being there but it was okay with us to not cook dinner or worry much about what we were going to eat any other time of the day. We did frozen pizza, mac and cheese, cereal...I mean it was simple and WONDERFUL!! Joyanne was just amazing. She was such a blessing all week. She knew just what to do and when to do it and she never once complained about anything!! She sat in the back of my car with Elaina and Abbie for 12 hours down there and 13 hours back and never once acted like she'd rather ride on the roof of the car than spend one second longer in the back seat (which I would have felt like saying after approximately 10 ot 15 seconds...) Here are some brief highlights:

Kaden swimming in the ocean without a lifejacket.

Abbie swimming in the baby pool with goggles and a nose plug.

Brie swimming in floaties under protest on Monday and transitioning to delight by Wednesday when she realized they come with a great gift: FREEDOM!!

Abbie being so scared to swim in the big pool without her life jacket that she literally nearly scared herself sick.

Hannah Montanta montages and dance parties

Two ladies, one king size bed, one cavernous space in the middle, nuff said...

Really sticky suntan lotion for the Durham's, great stuff for the Simons.

Dolphins off the port bow!!

"Snorkling" by Becky, "Near Drowning" by Tracie

Wave Jumping by the kids

Net fishing

Catching 3 large hermit crabs: one now lives in AR.

Poop in the baby pool (not by any of our children...)

Sleeping on the beach by Tracie...unless a baby is crying, quick check if it's yours, nope. Return to sleeping...

Wine? OKAY!!

Super Spy Kaden

It was a blessing. Thanks Becky for tagging along with us!!

First Day of Kindergarten...

First Morning: Dressed and Ready to Go~

Abbie: THE Crestwood Cougar (can you see her fangs and claws...)

Abbie's Booster Club: Pap, Ni Ni, Paw Paw and Brie

Walking the sidewalk into school with her pink mesh backpack that is as big as she is...

Waiting for her class to be called back. Sitting next to her buddy, Hope

Well, we have officially made it through the first day of Kindergarten. I've been writing back and forth to Phillip today, via email, so I thought I'd use our correspondance to document the day. It goes something like this...

From Phillip to Me: (Preface, he called Abbie as we were walking out the door to school...)

~I'm so glad that I called when I did. I was not sure what time school started for her and all I can say is that the Lord put it in my heart to call and check this morning on Abbie's school time. What time does she get out of school? I've called and ordered some flowers to be delivered to the house for her. Let me know because I want to call her and hear from her how her day went. Love Phill

From Me to Him:

Oh my word, I'm so glad that you called today. It was perfect timing and Abbie was thrilled to talk to you. She did great today...MUCH better than I did. I cried (not big cry but a constant stream of tears that I just could not stop no matter how hard I tried) the whole way there, the whole time I was waiting for her class to be called back to their rooms and the whole way back home. Not to mention I cried for a while after I got home too. Brie was a nice distraction but it about broke my heart leaving her there today. Not because it's a bad place but just because she's growing up and this just feels HUGE and super permanent. No longer my baby, but a real big girl. It's just so bittersweet. Great, and now I'm crying again. Anyway, she was excited and I have a special treat for here when she comes home (Webkinz figure) and she'll be so happy about the flowers.

God certainly had good timing when he prodded you to call today. It made the morning super special.

Lots of love~
Tracie---

Follow up to Phill after Abbie got back from school:

Well, she had a great first day of Kindergarten. She really likes her teacher and she and her buddy, Hope, from MDO got to sit next to each other and she was really exicted about that. They learned some of the rules of the classroom, cafeteria and playground. She also said that she went to the bathroom all by herself and it was, in her words, "fabulous!" Today they colored a picture of Chester the Racoon from the book, The Kissing Hand, which is what you gave to her a couple of years ago for Valentine's Day. They brought home a handprint for mom and dad and a little copied book of pictures about the story that she had colored. She said it was a great day and she can't wait to go back tomorrow. I'm hoping this great attitude keeps up! I think I'll do better tomorrow too. Here's hoping anyway...

All in all, it was a great day. Wish you were here...can't wait for you to see all of this for yourself.

Lots and Lots of Love~
Tracie

Mommy and Abbie Date

Thursday Abbie and I had the treat of having a Mommy and Abbie date afternoon! We had so much fun. Brie went with Nonnie and Abbie and I had an entire afternoon with each other. We started out at Gadwall's and then headed out to get a Manicure at WonderNails in NLR. I highly recommend them, they were so generous and sweet with she and I. We had a gift certificate from one of my "secret sisters" so thanks to whomever is part of that for a wonderful treat for my sweet baby and I. Abbie got polish and the lady was so sweet, she added flowers on four of her nails. Abbie was so excited she could hardly breathe! She had her top lip curled over her top teeth and her smile as big as you can imagine. She was so excited...she later told me it was her favorite part of the day. From there we caught a movie, Ice Age 3 (which was funny) and then we hurried home and had an hour and a half at the pool. We rushed home and grabbed a quick shower. At this point, my little princess was starting to s...l...o...w...d...o...w...n... I was drying my hair when I realized she was sitting in her towel on my bedroom chair, sitting up and sound asleep. It was so cute! That girl was worn out! We had a wonderful day and were both happy to go get Brie and have a delicious dinner at Pap and Nonnie's house but we were all too happy to get home and crash! What blessing to have a day to just hang out and have fun...mother-daughter style!

Underwater Mermaid

This is some quick footage of Abbie underwater. She held her nose for this shot but for most of the afternoon she let go of her nose and just blew bubbles to keep out the water. She did great!!

Brie Baby Gets Dunked!

Brie watched big sister go under so many times today that she just couldn't stand being left out. She requested that I put her face in the water and so I did. She is so funny. She seemed to go in eyes open and mouth open in excitement but when she came up she was all closed up. She never swallowed water so I count it as a success!! Guess that's what you do when you turn two!!

Today Abbie took a HUGE leap forward with her swimming. We took Daddy's underwater challenge and she nailed it!! Her friend Elaina was swimming without her life jacket but Abbie had hers on. She really wanted to swim without it so she could be just like Elaina. Mrs. Becky encouraged her to just try swimming without her jacket right by the steps and once she realized that she could touch the bottom, she was fearless! There's no stopping her now!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

4th of July Pictures

Tracie and Abbie

Brie Baby with her "haci"

Mommy and Abbie at Air Force Plaque

Brie trying to make it to the show...

Aubrie basking in the sun...

Paw Paw, Ni Ni, Nonnie, Pap, Uncle Mike and Shana

Stylin' for the the 4th

Cute Kids, AJ, Brie and Abbie after swimming time

Daddy's Big Girl

We had a wonderful 4th of July this year. It was weird since Phillip is deployed but it also gave some new meaning to what the holiday is really about. We had a great day over at Nonnie and Pap's house with the girls. They let me stay home and work on Aubrie's birthday cake while they took the kids over to a friends pool to swim and cause general mayhem for a while. We had a great dinner thanks to Pig and Chick from Sherwood. My parents came out and joined us at the new house for dinner and they stayed for the fireworks. We had one small accident at the fireworks show... Abbie was crossing the monkey bars and I had helped her across and when we made it to the last two bars she said she could finish herself and not thinking "danger, danger" I let go of her as she was swinging for the next bar and slipped narrowly missing crashing her face into the platform at the end of the bars and spinning in mid air to land on her back and knock the wind out of her. It was traumatic for both of us. We went back and sat on the blanket and cried...yes, both of us. We managed to regain our composure before the show started which was great. The first firework went off and it exploded from our line of sight, directly in front of the moon. Abbie exclaimed "Look Mommy it hit the MOON!!!!!" everyone around us giggled and laughed. It was precious.

Brie didn't make the fireworks show. When we left Jo and Bill's house to walk to the lake for the show, the neighbors were shooting off some small fireworks but they did make a considerable boom. She hated it but was really trying valiently to make a good show for the rest of us. She tried but was unable to muster the courage to do the big show. She fell asleep on Paw Paw and he and Nini took her back to the house to sleep off the final hours of the 4th of July. Maybe next year...

Aubrie's Birthday Party

Mickey Mouse Cake by Mommy

Aubrie Faith, 2 years old

Birthday Song & Candles...

Brie and Paw Paw

Kaden, Brie, Paw Paw, Abbie, AJ, Eric and Elaina

Aubrie Faith is now two years old!! I can't believe it's been two years. She had a wonderful birthday party this past Sunday with everyone who loves her celebrating her special day. We were not planning on having a "friend" party until she was three but with her Daddy deployed, it seemed appropriate to surround her with people who could help substitute for him. No one could replace Daddy but it was fun to have everyone there singing with Brie. The Simon's, Watkin's, Durham's, Peerson's, Alfonso's and Hannah Garner were in attendance. We served Subway sandwiches and tons of fun finger foods. We did a Mickey Mouse theme and everyone brought books for Brie's presents. We got some wonderful new reads. We did have one minor incident at the party. We sang Happy Birthday and blew out the candles and the whole shabang before we realized that Abbie wasn't in the room....so we did it all again and enjoyed singing to Brie the second time just as much as the first. What a great party for such a wonderful little girl! Happy Birthday Aubrie!!!

Swimming Lessons

Cat, Dog or the Pig

So today Abbie was hanging out in the den and she had been doing some coloring. Brie saw an opportunity to stir up a mess and promptly scattered the crayons all around the floor and coffee table. When I walked through the den, I asked Abbie to please pick up some of the crayons. Now, I have to pause here to tell you that we have been reading a book about the Little Red Hen who wants to plant some seeds and grow some wheat to make into bread. She is on the farm with a cat, a dog and a pig who are pretty lazy. Everytime Little Red Hen wants to perform a step toward growing, cutting, milling, and baking the bread she asks the cat, dog and pig "who will help me?" to which they respond, "Not I." So back to Abbie and the crayons... I asked her to pick up some of the crayons. She looks at me and says, Mom, who will help me pick them up? I said, well, honey, I'm about to go up and find Brie's "haci" so she can go down for a nap. She looks at me and says matter-of-factly. "Okay, so who are you, the cat, the dog or the pig?" I nearly fell over. Not much to say to that, I picked up the crayons with her. Gotta love kids!

Eggs to Baby Birds

Here are some pictures of our eggs a few days ago and the baby birds today.

Hatching Day...

We have had the pleasure of watching some birds make a nest in the wreath on our front door and lay four eggs. These eggs are as tiny as they can be! Today when I went to check on the eggs, we had not only eggs but also BABY BIRDS!! They are sort of creepy looking but they are also such a little miracle. Today they have survived people coming up to our front door, me walking in and out of the door without knowing that the eggs had hatched, a torential storm and constant interruption by my camera and the kids checking on the newest residents of Sugar Creek.

Chicken Dance

So a few nights ago, the girls and I were hanging out finishing our dinner and recovering from a crazy busy day. While I was working in the kitchen, Abbie was wandering around looking for something to do. I suddenly heard hysterical laughter coming from Brie. I look over at Abbie, grab my camera and the video here is what I saw...Enjoy Abbie's Chicken Dance.

Secret Sisters...

Tracie and Abbie
Tracie and Brie

First let me say that the pictures with this post really have nothing to do with it except that I'm smiling in them and that's what I have been doing a lot of lately thanks to some secret sisters. Yes, someone or several someones, I don't know which, have been leaving the most delightful surprises on my car and on my front porch in such beautiful bags and envelopes. I don't know what to say except "THANK YOU!!!" And that's just not enough...I have loved all the gifts from my annoymous secret sister(s). Each one has brought squeals of delight from me and from my girls. Abbie and I just keep looking at each other exclaiming "Who is doing this!!!!" quickly followed by something like "Open the bag Mommy and see what you got!!" I told my husband that's it's been better than a lot of my birthdays! The gifts are so thoughtful and are exactly the stuff that I love! I know, I keep using exclamation points but seriously, even as I sit her writing this, I'm equally flabbergasted by this sweet, secret, generous outpouring of love and selfishly loving every minute of it...I'm such a girl!! So, thank you so much. I just can't say it enough. I am so blessed by the people in my life and so grateful to the Lord for placing you in my life. More than anything, I am blessed by the friends that He has brought around me to keep me smiling while Phillip is away. Thanks to you and thanks to Him for you! Love and Hugs~ Tracie

Our Blessings

While Phillip has been in Kuwait, we have experienced the most incredible blessings. I know that the source of these blessings is the Lord Jesus. We are literally overwhelmed by His outpouring of love by His people. In the last month, our computer has broken, our washing machine broke and my vacuum cleaner broke. Small things, yes and no. Our computer crashed the night before Phillip left and it was the only means of communication we would have with him in Kuwait so it was important to us that we get it up and running. Nick Ferguson, the son of one of my parents missionary friends came over and fixed my computer and swept it of all the viruses that were making it slow. Then my washing machine literally broke in the middle of the spin cycle while there was a full load inside. My mom finished the load at her house but I was still in desperate need of a washer. Enter Action Jackson (aka: Gary Jackson our "furniture guy"). We called him, he had a washer without a dryer that he would sell to us at a great price. We drive out there and when we get there, to my astonishment, he wants to GIVE us this washer and will deliver it and set it up and take my old one away. Why? Because he wants to repay my parents for their kindness to him over the years and because he wants to help out a solider's family. This was a HUGE blessing. It's a fabulous machine...works great, has a large capacity basket and most importantly: cleans like crazy!! Then the vacuum cleaner literally caught on fire while I was using it. Sparked, shot out what can only be described as a small electrical flame and then poured out smoke. It was dead, no coming back from that kind of destruction but God had a plan! I had a older Hoover (like more than 10 years old) that worked great but I had stopped using it when I got this new one...I thought I had killed the old when I sucked up a belt thingie under Abbie's bed. Turns out, it was repairable for a super low price ($26.00) and I was able to shell out another little bit for an extra machine so that I can keep one upstairs and one down. The man that helped me, Rick at Rick's Vacuum World on Kiehl Ave in Sherwood, was wonderful and as it turns out, his son is a fire fighter at Station 2 in LR. Small world. There have been so many blessings that I can't really even contain them all in this posting. From annonymous gift certificates, notes of encouragement, invitations to be involved with other families, playdates, job opportunites, PRAYERS and so much more we have been so abundantly blessed. I thank God for the way that He has moved His people to care for my little family. In the scheme of things, that He loves me and mine enough to do that when He is busy keeping the world on its Axis is phenomenal.
Praise to Him who is Holy and thanks from this daughter of Christ Jesus who deserves all the Praise. Thank you Lord for loving me so much and for providing in every need and blessing us even with things we didn't know we needed and weren't expecting. We love you.

More Graduation Pictures

Abbie Grace and Mrs. Marabeth

Abbie Grace and Ian Walker
Abbie Grace and Her Candy Diploma
Future Crestwood Cougars: Hope and Abbie

Abbie getting her certificate with

Mrs. Marabeth and Mrs. Jamie

Cubbie's Awards Night

Mr. Eric Day and the Crew:

Kaden, Eric, Abbie and Elaina

McKenna, Brie and Abbie Grace

Ms. Jean, PawPaw and Abbie

Ms. Jean, PawPaw, Aubrie and Abbie

Elaina and Abbie

Abbie with her certificate

The ceremony

So due to a technical glitch, we were 20 minutes late to Award's Night but we squeaked in just in time for Abbie to be annouced with her class and receive her outstanding attendance award and certificate of completion. A cubbie no more, my little darling is now a sparky!!! She was excited and can't wait to move from a blue vest to a red one. We had surprise visitors tonight. Paw Paw and our dear Ms. Jeannie showed up to cheer and congratulate Abbie Grace. She was so excited to show off her awards. Brie was ecstatic to see more faces that she knew. It was a super fun night.