Tag Archives: Faith

End of year

I am so proud of Faith and Wilson. They finished out the school year in amazing ways. They both got awards in various areas and proved that they could excel in being both a student and a friend.

Wilson received an award for media and PE (not surprising). In his kindergarten class, his teacher gave him the “Bubbly personality” award. She described him as being a friend to everyone and skilled at bringing others into the group and making them feel comfortable. Wilson is such a sweet little boy with such a big heart. He is rough and tough on the outside, but inside he truly cares for others and is a friend to all. I saw this first hand when I went to school to have lunch with him one day. Wilson could invite one friend to sit with us and he chose a little boy that he had said many times that he didn’t particularly like. I was surprised by his choice. Later on I asked Wilson why he chose this little boy to eat with us and he said, “because he doesn’t usually get chosen and I wanted him to get a chance to sit with a friend at lunch”. That is my little Wilson.

Here he is all ready for his kindergarten graduation and with his fabulous teacher, Mrs Fields.

Faith received two awards. One was for Art, again, not surprising. The other award was the Fruit of the Spirit award for Goodness. I loved her teacher’s description for the award, “You model His goodness by doing things God’s was instead of the way everyone else might do them.” Faith sometimes told me about how the kids at school would say something mean or tease another child. One day she said, “I would never laugh at someone like they do.” That is why she won this award.

It was difficult for Faith to switch schools this year, but she did it with style and confidence. I am very proud of her success.

Here she is with her teacher, Mrs. Vandergrift…..

Our family had a great experience at Metrolina Christian Academy. The kids enjoyed the school year and they learned a good deal both academically and spiritually. I am very proud of them both.

Faith’s birthday

Faith turned eight years old on November 1. Like every child, she was very excited to be another year older (I think that feeling stops at age 21). We were going to have her birthday party at the new house, but a week before her birthday I had the realization that there was no way that we could have her party at the new house. Thankfully, I was able to book her party at the roller skating rink, Kate Skate. Faith loves to roller skate and I was hoping that her friends would enjoy it as well. Most of them did. Roller rinks have not changed much in the last thirty years. They are exactly the same as you remember them – dark corners, old carpeting, wood floors, video games, and top 40 music. The perfect place for an eight year old birthday party.

The birthday party guests were a mixture of new Metrolina friends, friends she misses from CDS and church friends. Left to right: Jesse Youngs, Mia Watson, Kallie, Hadley and Campbell Homan, Kelsey Nelson, and Faith.

Faith really misses her old friends from CDS. It was nice that some of them could be at her party. Kelsey and Faith really miss each other….

Grandmama was the first guest to arrive and one of the last to leave. She and Faith have a sweet relationship. Grandmama loves to watch Faith interact with her friends and have fun. (Faith is into making funny faces now, if you can’t tell.)

For me, the best part of the party was spending time with Faith. Even during her birthday party, with her friends around her, she still sought out my attention. She wanted me to skate with her and to hold my hand. I loved it! She and I would hold hands while slinging each other forward so that we could go faster. We even did the Hokie-Pokie together (although not my favorite dance song).

There has been a lot going on in our lives over the last three months. Faith needed a special day with her friends. She needed to do something fun and something that made her feel important and loved. This birthday party was just what she needed.

Faith is such a sweet and caring little girl. She is quick to console a friend that is sad or needs help. She loves to play school and play with her dolls. I know that switching schools has been difficult for her, but it has made her more self-assured and more confident. She knows who she is and what she enjoys in life. I admire her imagination and her enthusiasm for life. My oldest baby is growing up and I am very proud of who she is and who she will be.

Schools Decision Update

As you know, when it comes to which school the kids attend next year we have many options to choose from, sort of. There are many options but not all of them have worked out. The options have become more and more narrow as the weeks have gone on. First, the kids did not get into Union Academy, which is a charter school in town. Then, they both were offered a spot at Metrolina Christian Academy. I had applied here during my short, but very real panic attack back around Valentine’s Day. I freaked out because I realized that they may not be going to a Christian school, which is what I love most about Faith’s school now. The woman from Metrolina called me one Tuesday and said that I had four days to decide whether or not I wanted to enroll them for next year or else the spots were going to go to the next child on the wait list. (We had already bumped Wilson down a spot once before because we didn’t want to commit.) I had to decide whether or not to spend the deposit money to enroll the kids at Metrolina when I didn’t know if we were going to move into a good school district or not.

I am usually able to hear fairly clearly what God wants me to do in life. I have no trouble knowing what He is telling me what to do each day, where to work, if we should move, etc. This decision, however, stumped me. There were so many factors: money, religion, us moving, us selling our house, public school districts, leaving CDS, etc. I had a really hard time separating out all of the many factors that were contributing to my indecision. I think I cried for a majority of morning that Thursday, which was my last day of decision making. I felt like I was determining the rest of their lives with this one decision.

I had to tell Metrolina by 3:00pm whether my children would be going there or not. I prayed that God would make it “abundantly clear” what my decision should be. Even at the end of the day, I was still unclear, and I still am, somewhat. I continue to wonder – Did God tell me months ago to “wait”, but I didn’t and now I have caused all of this strife in my life by not waiting? I will never know. What I do know is that I was emotional about this decision for many, many reasons. Probably the biggest reason is that I am a mom and I want the very best for my kids – just like every other mom on the planet.

A couple of events helped make my decision clearer (and the fact that at 2:45pm my mom and Tom both said “Enroll them!”) :

1- I cried every time that I thought about them going to a non-Christian school. This is not because I thought that they would be miserable or mistreated at a public school, but because I love the community of the Christian school, I love that the teachers pray for their students, and I love they look at each student as a child of God with different strengths, talents and weaknesses.

2- In Bible study I read the verse. “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinth. 4:18 This spoke volumes to me in regards to spending the money on private school vs spending the money on a house and vacations. I may not be able to see with my eyes the value of a Christian-based education, but I will see it in eternity. I will know that I have given them a solid foundation in Christ that is immeasurable in earthly terms. The vacations and a nice house are not what are most important in this life. (Although, I am sure that God will provide for those as well.)

3- My mom went with me to the school to tour it one more time. I was going to go alone, but since I was such a basket case of emotions I thought it would be best to bring someone along with me. I value my mom’s opinion on just about everything (especially on Godly and financial matters) and knew that if she left thinking it was a good school then it must be one. The tour was given by a woman named Monique who was so sweet and kind. She knew my struggle to make the decision and empathized with me. At the end of the tour she held our hands and prayed for me, my children and my decision. Later that afternoon, my mom said that they should be going to Metrolina because it is important to send them to a Christian school during their formative years. Coming from my mother, and my accountant, that was a big vote of confidence that we would be making a good decision both financially and spiritually for our family.

4 – I didn’t want to leave it all up to us moving and being able to change school districts. (Maybe lack of faith on my part, but no one likes the unknown.) I didn’t know where we were going to move or even if we were going to move to a new house this summer. I didn’t want to send them to the school that we are currently zoned for due to the school’s late hours. I wish that there was a school that had only a 4-5 hour day. That would be perfect! I would love to homeschool, but I know that I wouldn’t be very good at it. The day would end with me saying, “Oops, we didn’t get to our work again today. Oh well. Maybe tomorrow.” I have a vision of what a homeschool mom and family are, and we are not it – well organized activities, maps on the wall, a flourishing garden, well attentive children, etc…..not us!

In the end, all of these things added up to help make my decision clearer than it was that morning. We decided that we would enroll Faith and Wilson into Metrolina Christian Academy. As the weeks have passed, I am feeling more and more comfortable with our decision. Faith and Wilson both know that they will be going to this school in the fall and are excited to be together.

The bottom line is this: God is in control of ALL things. I have to have enough faith to trust that God is going to provide the money for the upcoming year(s) of private school. I need to trust that He will take care of my kids no matter where we live or where they go to school. Even if we change our minds this summer after we move, I know that my children will be taken care of and that they will learn to know and trust God in their day to day lives. I am thankful that we have the ability to make this type of decision. Never in a million years did I think that this would be something that would be an option for our family. I know that we are very blessed….no matter where we end up.

Cinderella

The new Cinderella movie came out this weekend and we were invited to go watch it with Sidney and Jesse. I had not been to a theater in many, many years. I honestly could not tell you the last movie that I saw outside of my living room. I had definitely never been to a theater with seats as comfortable as the ones at Crown Point, which was just recently renovated. It has electric, leather-like recliners and swivel tables. It was awesome!! I could relax, prop my feet up and enjoy a movie – just like at home, but better. Here are the seats…..

The best part was that I got to go do something special with Faith and our friends. Faith and I don’t always get a lot of girl time together. I almost cried walking into the theater with her because it was something fun and special that we could do together without the boys. (I tend to get sentimental when I do something new and exciting with the kids. It is like I get to see it through their eyes.)

The cutest part of the day was when we got dressed to go to the movie. Faith got dressed and then picked out my outfit so that we matched. We both had on 3/4 length sleeves, black leggings and Uggs. It was a real compliment that she wanted to dress like me. (I know that won’t last too much longer.)

Overall, the movie was wonderful. The underlying theme was more about love, kindness, and good parenting – more so than just about a girl and a prince. Good things happened to her because she was kind to others, and not just because she was beautiful. Faith and I really enjoyed ourselves this afternoon. I need to remember to take the time to do more new and exciting things with her….she is my little girl.

American Girl Doll Store

Faith and her American Girl Doll Julie have been inseparable for months. They sleep together, eat together, Faith gets her dressed in the morning and puts on her pjs at night. It is really cute (and sometimes inconvenient).

She has been asking to go to the American Girl doll store here in Charlotte so that Julie could get her ears pierced. Yes, a doll can get its ears pierced for $14 at the store and it comes with a pack of earrings. Not bad pricing for the American Girl store. :). As a Christmas gift, Grandmama Pat said she would take Faith to the store to browse, get the dolls ears pierced and eat with her at the cafe. Faith was so excited! She waited over a week for the special day to arrive and was giddy with excitement.

The first item on the list was Julie’s ears. They took Julie in the back and drilled holes for the earrings (of course faith doesn’t know that is what they did). This store has thought of everything! They have an entire salon of services for these expensive dolls. Thankfully, we were able to purchase her Julie doll for a small donation to the church. That is where her second Christmas present doll came from as well. The dolls are typically $135 each.

The next event on our agenda was to eat at the cafe. The three of us got a chair at the table and Julie was given a baby seat that attached to the table. Julie also got her own cup and saucer that she could take home. The meal was surprisingly delicious and not too overpriced. The servings were small, but we were eating in a restaurant geared towards children and dolls. We had fruit and yogurt, French fries, and soft pretzel bites as the meal and then ice cream for dessert.

After we ate, faith walked around the store and pointed to everything that she wanted in the store….which was just about everything there. Grandmama, Faith and I had a delightful afternoon together and Faith got exactly what she wanted for one of her Christmas presents.

Super Thursday

I have a tendency to over-book myself and my calendar. Some days I have only one thing to do, while other days have items overlapping. Not all the things are my calendar are work, but having too many fun things on my calendar can be exhausting as well. Thursday was one of those busy, but good, days.

I started out the day by visiting my good friend, Dr. Smith, the plastic surgeon. It wasn’t for anything major, it was to discuss a scar that I have had for almost thirty years. It is a small scar, but in a terrible location….right in between my eyes. I got it in seventh grade while playing on my friend, Rhonda’s, piano. I could never really see the scar until this past year. It started to be visible in every picture that I took. I hated it. I went to see if Dr. Smith could make it disappear…he did. He is the nicest doctor I have ever been to see. He said, “You know, I think I have some extra filler back there that we can use. I will just plump it up a bit and you won’t be able to see it anymore.” Yep, thats right…free filler!! It puffed up the skin so that the scar no longer cast a shadow and it literally looked like it disappeared. Brilliant!! I don’t have any plans to be a plastic surgery junky, but it is nice to be able to get rid of the things that really bother me every once in a while. A nice birthday gift!

After my very successful trip to the doctor, Miller and I went to my friend Julia’s house for a playdate. Her son, Hudson, is a few months older than Miller and they play very well together. We were there about two hours, when I realized that I needed to go home and have some down time before I went to get Wilson and then go to another playdate at 2:00pm. A twenty minute power nap does wonders for my sanity and physical well-being. I am an extravert for about 2-3 hours and then I run out of extraverted-ness. It is like I use it up all at once and then there is nothing left. If I didn’t leave right then to get a bit of quiet time then I would not be able to complete the busy day ahead. It was nice to go home and cuddle up on the couch with Miller for a little while.

Our second playdate was with my friend, Sarah, down the street. Wilson loves to play with her rough-and-tumble boys. They also have an amazing backyard to run around in.

We left there and went to Parent Observation Week at Faith’s gymnastics. She did amazing. The bar is her best event. Faith could flip over a bar better than anyone in her class. She loves the monkey bars at school and it has paid off. We got a close up view of her doing the bar, the balance beam and the floor. She loves gymnastics and I am glad that I signed her up at such a great place. She attends ISC in Matthews off of Monroe Road. It is actually very popular with many families from her school and some of our friends. At the end of the class, Faith received a trophy for completing the class through the end of the year. After trophies, her teacher came up to me and said that Faith may be ready to test again and then move up to another class. My response to this was, “Really?”. I feel very guilty for sounding so doubtful about this major accomplishment, but I had no idea that she would move up levels so quickly. I guess they see her progression more clearly than I do. I am very proud of what she has been able to learn and how committed she is to it. Here are some pictures…

Believe it or not, but the day is STILL NOT OVER! Tom had his employee Christmas party that night. My wonderful parents let the kids sleep over so that we could go out for the night. :). We went to VBGB for dinner and drinks. VGBG is a beer garden near uptown Charlotte that has a big heated patio with ping pong tables and other games. I was a bit grumpy on the way there which resulted in Tom telling me, “I need ‘Fun Becca’ to come out so that we can have a good time tonight”. I took that to heart, and ‘Fun Becca’ made a smashing appearance. We talked and hung out with three other couples. One of the other wives and I really hit it off. I love it when I can go out, have a few drinks, relax AND meet people that I really enjoy spending time with. We had a fun time at the party and I can actually look forward to more business events.

I know that I told you a lot of unless information in this post, but part of me wants to remember how busy life is with three kids, a husband, and an overly social me. I enjoy meeting new people and doing things with friends. I couldn’t have a day as busy as this one all of the time, but once in a while it is fun. I stayed out of the house all day long, cleaned absolutely nothing, spent time with the kids, watched Faith show her stuff, eat a delicious/free meal, and have some fun with my husband. What could be better?!?

Faith is 7!

The birthdays just keep coming. Two down and two to go! Faith turned seven-years-old this past week. I always said that I could envision her as old as six, but now we have surpassed that – she is seven. I asked her a few weeks ago where she wanted to have her party and she said that she wanted to have it at home. She had quite an extensive list of friends that she wanted to invite, 25 in all. In hopes that not everyone would be able to attend, I waited until about 1.5 weeks before the party to send out the emails inviting her friends. In the end, about 16 of her closest friends from school and church were able to come to the party. We had planned to have games out in the yard, but the weather turned nasty, and it was rainy and only 45 degrees. Not a perfect day to have everyone outside. We still had the party at our house and hoped for the best. I decided to have the kids paint a craft when they arrived, play indoor games and then have cake. Of course, I also scheduled the party to last only one and a half hours, which is a much more reasonable amount of time to entertain children at our house. The party was a lot of fun!

The kids painted their picture frame or birdhouse when they first arrived. Then everyone came into the living room to play “hot potato” and “freeze dance”. I had no idea that those two games would be so much fun! The kids loved them and asked to play them again and again. It was so cute to see sixteen 4-7 year olds dancing around the living room and having the best time together. They were laughing and showing their best moves. The kids were so happy to be together having fun. After the games, the kids decorated cookies, danced some more, had cake, and watched Faith open her gifts. Then the party was over. Of course, it was much louder after everyone had cookies and ice cream cake….much louder.

I knew that I would be tired after the party, so I had bought only four tickets for Tom and the kids to go see The Little Mermaid play at Faith’s school that afternoon. I needed peace and quiet…and a nap. I was so tired that I fell asleep on the couch for 1.5 hours while everyone was at the play. I was exhausted! Tom was a good Daddy and took them to the play while I slept. I then met them at the Tony’s pizza for an early dinner. (Tom got his nap later).

It was a great day. Faith loved her party and so did her friends. Faith has grown up so much over the last year. She is still as sweet and kind as ever. She is a great big sister to Wilson, and especially to Miller. She still likes to sleep in Miller’s room with him on occasion. I am just so proud of who she is and how she conducts herself most of the time. She is kind to her friends and wants everyone to be happy. She sees only the good in people. In school, she is a wonderful student and loves to be there. Every penny that we have spent for her to attend Covenant Day has been worth it. Faith has been taking gymnastics for a month now, and by the third week they had already moved her up into the next level of classes. She loves it and works hard at practice each week. I truly cannot say enough wonderful things about Faith. She is my “sweet girl” and I am so thankful and blessed that she is mine! Happy birthday Faith!!

Here is the group pictures….