Fall Pictures

Taken By Gail Smith at Spring Valley UMC on October 20th. 

She looks just like her Daddy if you ask me. 

Thank you Uncle Jason for my John Deere overalls. 

What!?! There's a whole song and dance about popcorn!

Blue Sparkly Shoes

Kathleen and I went to spend the night with Pop Pop and Mamaw this past Friday. On the way back to Henderson we stopped at the Mebane outlet mall to stretch or legs. When we walked into Oshkosh to see what deals were available, Kathleen went straight for trying on the shoes. She decided we couldn't leave the store without these blue sparkly shoes on her feet. She was so excited she even slept with them on the way home.

Bubble Blitz

I love the Durham Museum of Life and Science. We have a good time every single time we go. This past weekend they had a exhibition called Bubble Blitz. As soon as I heard about it we put it on the calendar as a date we couldn't miss. Below are some pictures of our day of fun playing with bubbles of all shapes and sizes. There were: big bubbles, little bubbles, edible bubbles, bubbles with dry ice fog inside, and our favorite of all.... bubbles that you could light into a ball of fire with propane inside.

With all this excitement we still found time to stop and watch the demonstration of dropping Mentos in Diet Coke to make a rocket explosion! I had never seen this before. Very cool.

Hill Ridge Farm

I was so excited to go this year, we went the first day they opened! Really, looking at our schedule this fall, there was only one other day that may have worked and with the weather as beautiful as it was this past Saturday we just couldn't pass up the opportunity to seize the day.

Kathleen so enjoyed the bounce house, sand pit, pony ride, big slide, train ride, hay ride, pumpkin patch, and kid mazes. We took a picnic lunch for the back of the car before we went in and spent the afternoon playing and playing and playing.

A moment to cherish

This Sunday morning a member of Spring Valley UMC, Sherry, took over the pulpit and delivered a message worth remembering at both churches. How to pay attention and be aware of God in daily living. This particular Sunday I covered nursery at Gillburg and listened to the sermon via speakers. Then when we got to Spring Valley, Kathleen was pretty tired and cried wanting me to stay with her in the fellowship hall. I was happy to do so since most of my Mommy time with Kathleen is on the weekends and it's silly to have her cry missing me just so I can sit in worship.

Kathleen and I were on the floor quietly cuddling, coloring, and playing with stickers when all of a sudden Kathleen looked up at me and out of no where and said, "You're the best Mommy I've ever seen." I said, "Thank you baby," fought back the tears, and squeezed my sweet little girl a little tighter. Then I asked her to tell Mommy what she just said again... and she did. :) Got to take it where you can get it. I'll hold that snapshot of us there together in my head as long as I can. The way we were sitting together was very similar to the picnic picture at the top of the blog.

You Know You're a Preacher's Kid When

While Kathleen was in the bath a few nights ago she picked up the empty soap bottle we were playing with to pretend it was a microphone, "...just like Daddy's." When I asked her what do you do with a microphone, she replied, "You pray with it." Then she proceeded to close her eyes and pray, "Wonderful God, thank you for this day, this water, Mommy, Daddy, Mamaw and Pop Pop. Amen."

Happy 35th Birthday Uncle Jason

Kathleen will see you Sunday to celebrate with chocolate cupcakes!

This weekend

This weekend Kathleen and I went to visit my Aunt Mo, cousin Anne, and her husband Trent + daughter Samantha. We had a wonderful dinner at Aunt Mo's new house in Charlotte and were so happy to catch up plus have the girls meet for the first time. Sammy is only 2 months younger than Kathleen.  

After a spend the night at Mamaw and Pop Pop's it was Saturday morning play time with Pop Pop followed by lunch and carousel/train rides with Aunt B. 

Kathleen slept the whole two hour + car ride home and we were greeted by a wonderful indoor campsite Daddy surprised us with. 

I can't think of a better way to spend time with my little girl than enjoying time with family we love.

Climbing up and down the stairs

Sammy was so sweet and fun to play with. Kathleen asked for her for days after our visit.

A vist to the NC Zoo with The Millers

This past Saturday we had the wonderful experience of meeting up with our friends "The Millers" at the NC Zoo in Asheboro. It was a 2 hour drive for us to both meet in the middle. We drove from Henderson and they came from Vale, NC. The Millers became some of our dearest friends while Calvin was in divinity school and we had not seen them since graduation last May. After a year of ministry in rural churches we had much to catch up on. Katie and I caught up on every mommy topic we could think of from potty training to discipline, the expected and unexpected ventures of becoming an official pastor's wife, plans of potential future kids or lack there of, and recommended blogs and books since we both love learning from other women smarter than us. Katie and I originally bonded over shared pregnancies since her youngest, Isaac, is just 3 months older than Kathleen.

Kevin and Calvin mostly discussed church topics and were surprised and how similar their experiences had been this year. The kids played and enjoyed each others company the entire day. Kathleen did the best she could to climb like Malachi, she followed Eliana wherever she went and asked her to hold her hand on the tram ride back to our picnic lunch. And Kathleen was happy to hug Isaac goodbye after a delicious mexican dinner together.

There are very few friends in this world that you can pick up right where you left off with even after a year has passed. I am so thankful for our time together at the zoo. Families such as the Millers are truly a gift from God to all those they come in contact with.

Camping for July 4th

For a little getaway in the middle of a very busy June/July schedule for Calvin - I decided to book a three day, three night camping trip for our family over the July 4th holiday. This was part of a week long vacation for me and it seemed like the only time we would get to go camping this year if we wanted to take Kathleen for her first trip in the great outdoors. 

The camp site was located on a smaller part of the lake set apart by a bridge that kept the water calm and the scenery peaceful compared to the larger part of Kerr Lake. We set up camp between rain showers on Wednesday night and put the boat in the water. Our site allowed us to tie the boat up right outside the tent so we could come a go as we pleased. We had the area all to ourselves except for the second night when a nice family of three with an 9 month old camped at the site next door for the evening out with their little one. Being on the smaller part of the lake didn't seem as exciting at first, but it proved to be a good thing when boating and swimming with our two year old. In the end, we were thankful for the "privacy" away from the crowds. 

Kathleen slept very well in the tent at night. On Thursday morning she woke up announcing, "My boat, My boat, I can see my boat out the window!" Most of our three days at the lake was filled with boat riding and swimming in the lake. Kathleen enjoyed jumping off the boat into the water, and she and Daddy even swam to a "far away island" to find buried treasure on one afternoon adventure. 

I did all of the food packing, but Calvin cooked all of the meals while we were there. Grits, eggs and pre-made biscuits for breakfast, gnocchi for one meal, mexican for another, pasta with tomato sauce and green beans, veggie burgers, corn on the cob and hummus round out the menu for the 9 meals packed for the trip. 

No proper camping site would be complete without a campfire and roasted marshmallows at night. Kathleen only wanted one surprisingly enough. (Mommy had several) And to entertain by the campfire, Daddy told Kathleen camping stories of when he was a boy with his family. Kathleen then decided to tell Daddy a few of her own stories...and all of them ended with "and then I ran away" for some reason! 

It wasn't perfect timing for our family to go camping with all that was packed onto the calendar, but I am so thankful for the time away, the beauty of nature that surrounded us, and the refocusing on spending time just the 4 us of (counting Rascal too). 

Sleeping Quarters

A current Favorite - corn on the cob

Rascal likes to swim too

Daddy teaching Kathleen to throw rocks into the lake overhanded. 

Splash!

A little happy dance.