25 days to Christmas...

I LOVE this time of year...lights, decorations, gifts given to others, and all of the different hopes, feelings and dreams that we share with one another.
Our lives always seem to get pretty crazy busy this time of year~but I'm sure most people feel like that around this time of year, right? I do wonder though, how do our homeless prepare for the holidays? I'm watching recent episodes of "White Collar" and it is shocking to me at the amount of homeless people in our world...I know there have always been homeless people, but we are approaching a time when we will have more and more homeless--including more homeless veterans. These men and women have served our country, maybe been injured fighting for our country, and we are not doing as much as we should for them...I don't know what I can do, but I am willing to find out something that I can do to help these "Unsung Heroes" of our country. I know not everyone believes we are right to be fighting in the Middle East BUT we are responsible for our actions as a country supporting it's military...what can be done???
Just deep thoughts on this Monday afternoon, but hoping that we can all find a way to help someone, show someone that we care with the hopes that it will continue on through each and every person we come into contact with during this holiday season...

Thankfullness!

I love my girls!!!! Enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday with your friends and family!!!!

(I just don't have much more to say today, but I find it important to say it!)

Lunch Together

Today, we're heading out to Shelbyville for lunch by the Shelbyville Dam....the girls love to watch the water and there's a small playground they love to be at too!

Hoping to take in as much of this day as we can~I think it's going to rain tomorrow and then it only gets busier from here through New Year's, right?????

Call Me Crazy, but...

I'm SO ready for some of this! I may be in the minority, but I'm ready!!!!!

November...

This month ALWAYS brings mixed feelings...so many different things and changes each year.
I turn 33 in about two weeks...is that old? It feels old some days, but then again, it feels like it was yesterday when I started college...THANK GOODNESS I don't have to do that over again!
Jocelyn turns 4 on the 22nd--seriously, where did the last 4 years go? She is loving preschool, becoming more and more like her Daddy, and really feeling out her own personality.
Carissa will be 6 on the 29th--REALLY, how did that happen so quickly too?!?!?! She LOVES school, loves dance/tumbling/ballet, loves Daisy Scouts, and pretty much everything she's tried so far! She really doesn't have many fears--well, except a few bugs still : )
Life with two WONDERFUL girls and a GREAT husband has been, well GREAT! There are ups and downs, but overall it's been a great life! We have so much to look forward to with adding to our family in the spring, watching the girls grow and learn, and learning so much more about God's plan for our family...

EARLY picture of Baby #3

Everything's fine so far...not feeling the greatest, but I'll get over it--eventually.

Hope all are well and enjoying this nice weather...Rain, anyone????

Baby Mollet #3

So, we found out we are expecting!! The girls are SO excited...they want to tell everyone and are already praying for the baby each time we pray. They crack me up! We are excited, but now it will be a long time telling the girls, "It will happen in the spring..." and they will be even more excited when the time gets closer! So, here we go again...

Fall!

We took a quick trip to a local produce patch and got some mums and pumpkins for the front of the church. There were new doors put in about a month ago and it wasn't really decorated for anything yet. The church purchased two stone benches and then we went out and got some mums and pumpkins! Jocelyn thought it was great to be out and about with only her parents, I think. Sometimes, you forget that you are watching her sometimes because she's so independent! She loved the little straw maze and pulling the little wagon around with me.

Carissa is doing GREAT in school as is Jocelyn. I've substituted a bit for Jocelyn's class, so I see more of her "in action" than I get to with Carissa. Everything seems to be going great...enjoying the cool temperatures as much as we can and hoping to get to spend some time relaxing and having some "family time" this weekend.

Happy Fall!

Carissa...

Carissa's artwork for school...

What can I say...she is ALL girl!

Daisy Scouts and Life

Carissa and I went to a meeting last night introducing her to the Girl Scouts...as of 7pm last night, Carissa is now a "Daisy Scout" She is pretty excited about it and so am I! I always wanted to be a Girl Scout, but it just wasn't really in the cards for me--I guess.

I'm traveling down a path that I hadn't put much thought into until recently...I DO NOT want to have my children SO busy that they don't have time to just "have fun" doing what they want. I have held back on her joining everything out there, but Girl Scouts seems to focus on how she can work with others, for others, and learn different things throughout her time as one. I think I will be helping with her "troop" because I am excited to see what they have to offer for young girls.

Jocelyn and Carissa are enjoying dance/tumbling/tap classes...Jocelyn is LOVING school, Carissa is LOVING it even more I think! I'm happy with what they are learning, excited to see what the future brings and elated that God is working in our lives on a daily basis.

Quiet...What is It?

Today is only my second morning of "alone" time at home...both girls are at school on Mondays and I haven't had time to sit and just "be" in the quiet that is our home.

I am amazed at how much goes on in our house...even with no children around. The phone keeps ringing, the A/C kicks on/off, the dryer runs it's cycle...and so on. I know it's always been like this, but I don't think I've ever really been here when it's been this quiet for more than an hour. I love the sounds of the girls playing, meals around the table together, the rush to get out the door in the morning, and even the little arguments that often erupt from the living room or the girls' bedroom. However, when all is said and done, I don't know if I'm going to ever get used to the quietness of the girls being gone on a daily basis. Never thought I'd say it, don't know if you'll see me say it again on here, but it's out there!

Today, I've handled some bill-paying, some phone calls that needed to be made (without anyone talking in the background on my end!), started everything for supper, and washed the dishes. My plan was to read my book for tomorrow, but I've become absorbed with housework instead! I will get into a routine, but it's kind of nice only having to worry about me. I worry daily that the girls behave, have fun, stay healthy and learn something new each day, but I know that God is watching over them and that they have had a good, Christian foundation in our home...is it always peaceful here? NO! Is it always sunshine and rainbows? NO! Do they know that we love them? YES! For this I am thankful...

Got a picture of the girls this morning before school...they are GREAT!

The Fair

So, tonight is the last night of the Tri-County Fair...we went with the girls to ride the rides on Friday night and then again last night. Thanks to my friend Pam, they got to go two nights (she had free wristband passes). And we didn't do to badly with too much "fair food" for any of us.

The girls rode quite a few rides last night, but one shocked me! Carissa and Jocelyn had both always had us slide down the big slide with them~not my favorite, but I do it for them! Well, after we (Carissa and I) went down once, she said, "Mom, I want to go down again~BUT by myself!" What?!?!?! Already?!?!?!?!!!!!! So, I reluctantly watched her climb the stairs by herself and she LOVED going down! She got to the top, waved to us, and down she went! She grinned the whole way down! I just couldn't believe it!

My girls are growing up...becoming more and more independent...I'm ready, but I'm not...is that wrong? I want them to learn how to do things on their own, but it all seems to happen so quickly!!!

The week was busy, fun, and exhausting...all at the same time! Brown County is one of my favorite times of the year and we're upon it! I love the time away, the time visiting with family and friends, and now I'm enjoying watching my children have fun with the same traditions I grew up with along the way!

Happy September Everyone!!!

Garage Sales

This weekend, I did a garage sale with two other people...sometimes, I wonder if the work is worth the results. However I feel about the whole thing, I am still always happy to see the benefits of the work! I don't ever want to know how many hours it takes to set it all up (sorting, purging, pricing, and setting up/taking down, otherwise I probably wouldn't want to do it again. Within the past 1 1/2 years, I've done three sales...I think I'm done for awhile (til at least next summer). We did pretty well money-wise, I only packed up two tubs of clothes to still try to get rid of and happy with the business we had!

Now, it's prepping myself for taking Carissa to school next week...I know I've said it before and I'll probably continue to say it, but she has grown up SO fast! What am I going to do with her? Can I stop her from growing up any faster?!?! AHHHHHHHHHH

Now, I'm ready to sleep, but school beckons my attention. So, tonight I will sleep; tomorrow I will do church, and then work on the paper all afternoon and evening. I have until Wednesday, but I just want to start it and feel more confident about my thoughts--getting them onto paper.

Summer's Coming to and End...

Carissa starts school in less than a week...can that be possible? We've done the dentist, physical, and vision screening. She will be getting glasses to wear all the time (no surprise since nearly everyone on both sides of the family wear some kind of corrective lenses or glasses), and she has most of her school supplies ready to go.
Jocelyn has her backpack, classroom items, and she is READY to go...however, she doesn't start until after Labor Day. She has been SO looking forward to being in "school" but I just can't believe they are both there already!
Dance/Tumbling/Ballet started this week...makes for a crazy Monday, but we'll adjust. Jocelyn goes from 4:30-5:15 and then Carissa is there from 5:15-6:30. Joe and Jocelyn ate when she got home and Carissa and I ate when she got home. Not ideal, but worked out okay for a first day! We will probably be doing "Crockpot" meals on those days as well as Wednesdays....Winter is always great for that!!! Kinda looking forward to that!
I will be going to my 3rd class session of my 1st grad class and I've been enjoying it thus far. We have a pretty big paper due next week and then a group presentation due the beginning of September....going well so far--at least I think so!
Well, that's that...I'm a parent of a kindegartner and a preschooler. That's AMAZING to me!!!!
Good luck to all you parents and kids--have a great school year!

Sidewalk Chalk Morning...

I'm babysitting today--only full day this week, so we will be outside as much as possible! The weather is beautiful this morning and we've been outside since about 8:15! Rained last night and cooled things off enough to open the windows, sit around and play outside and just enjoy the day!

The three girls have already "decorated" the driveway with Chalk Art...a few pictures of the art and "artists" of the morning...

Castle of Cards...

Carissa built a "Castle of Cards" tonight and I took these pictures...she cracks me up at her creativity! She's in the background of one of them--so proud of her work!

School Days, School Days...

Well, the time is quickly approaching...

I start grad classes in a little over a week...

Joe starts grad classes in under a month...

Carissa starts kindergarten in less than a month...

...and Jocelyn starts preschool in a little over a month...

Where did the time go?!?! Life gets us so busy, crazy, and waiting for a moment to breathe, while all the while time does go on! I can't say it's not fair, but is it? I am excited for everyone's milestone this year, but the time has flown by!!

Joe's at camp this week (I know, I know~pray for us girls!) and we are hangin' around the house most of the week. Carissa keeps saying, "Since it's a girls' week, can we ________?" She wants to do things, watch things, and just be what she thinks girls should do and be when the boy(s) are away! So far, they've found some new toys (old toys--just didn't know where they were) to play with, cleaned their dollhouse, and continuously enjoyed trying to make each other scream...when does the screaming stop? Well, we're going to work on it BIG time this week, otherwise, Mom's going to go crazy!!!!!!! We had popcorn for supper last night, leftovers for lunch and planning on chicken for supper...we kinda like "flying by the seat of our pants" meals! They did not have any kind of rest/nap time today, so they should be in bed fairly early...I HOPE! They are starting to become more and more independent and it's nice to see them finding what they need to accomplish any given task without me helping them with every, single thing! They are great girls and I wouldn't trade anything about them....Okay, maybe the screaming :)

Here's hoping for a safe, happy, nice-weathered week @ home!

Life...

There are things in my life that I get stressed out over...
~~Keeping my house clean--just in case someone stops by
~~Keeping up with the laundry
~~Debt...but don't we all at least somewhat stress over any debt?
~~And, currently, Vacation Bible School...It's very much a "Love/Hate" relationship. I love the excitement of getting people involved and watching the kids have fun! I don't like the stress I put on myself trying to make it "The Best" it can be...when I just need to realize that extravagance is not necessary for kids...I mean, heck, my girls could have hours of fun with empty boxes, tissues, or anything that I would deem "trash" once I'm done with the item.

I love the fun that kids have, but I struggle to understand my strengths and weaknesses in Directing VBS...this is only my 2nd year as a director, but I continue to "live and learn" in each step of my "VBS career" and hope that I will continue to learn something, or lots of somethings each day, week and year of VBS.

Fortunately, I still get to come home and continue my "normal" daily things...I love my life, sometimes frustrating for me, but I love my family, friends, and God...AND I want to continue to do my best~~ALWAYS!

Swim Lessons!

So, the girls are taking swim lessons this week...they both love the pool, but didn't really like to go underwater or think about getting too wet while we're there...

Carissa's fear of bugs and butterflies didn't even bother her last night...it was AWESOME! Jocelyn didn't really want to do much at lessons, but really just wanted to play! Neither one of them had taken a nap, so by 6:30 they were pretty tired (that was only 1/2 way through the lessons)!

Tonight, however, Jocelyn and Carissa were really great! They both went under and Carissa did it quite a bit! They are getting so independent~it's a little sad and exhilarating at the same time! I think you can click on the pictures to make them bigger, but they did really well tonight considering the water was stinkin' cold!!!

Happy Fourth of July...

Enjoy time with family, friends, and all who are in your presence today...God has given us a wonderful world to live in~it is broken, worn down, and tired...but it is our Earthly home with the promise of a Heavenly HOME with God...

Happy 4th Everyone...