Karcie LOVES to dance!

Every time she dances, her hands go up....kind of like the song.  :) She may be related to Frankenstein.  She likes the zombie walk!

Waiting on Big Sister

I hate leaving Karcie in the nursery for two hours on Sunday. Usually Richard takes her home after our church service while Kamdyn and I stay for Sunday school; however, today he is fishing. I came down to play with Karcie while Kamdyn went to Sunday school. Stat tuned for a cute video of Karcie dancing!

Karcie at Church

Karcie still cries when we leave her in the church nursery. It breaks my heart. But, she is all smiles when we pick her up!

Moving on UP!

This past Sunday was "moving up" day for the little ones in Sunday School. Kamdyn moved upstairs to the 1st grade class. She loves it!

First Grade Rite of passage!

Apparently, in order to be in first grade you must lose one or both of your front teeth!

Kamdyn's tooth has been wiggly for a while....since kindergarten.

She has been wiggling it for weeks. Her friends have encouraged her to pull it. So far Friday is her day to lose a tooth.

This is how it happened.

On our way home today after our first full week of school I hear Kamdyn scream an ear piercing scream. I told her to be quiet thinking she was playing with Karcie. (Car rides are no longer quiet with two children. Ever.) I look in the rear view mirror to see Kamdyn's tooth literally hanging by a string. Blood was all over her mouth and she was hysterical. She was screaming that Karcie pulled her tooth out.

I had to find the nearest driveway in downtown Augusta so that I could pull over. I pulled the tooth the rest of the way and gave her tissues to stop the blood..

Kamdyn says she told Karcie to pull her tooth. She proceeded to put Karcie's hand in her mouth. Karcie didn't like that at all and promptly jerked her hand out while knocking Kamdyn's tooth out.

I laughed all the way home. It's a typical Karcie story. She is constantly bothering Kamdyn and "hurting" her even though she is the little sister. Kamdyn is the sensitive one and Karcie remains tough.

It's a story for the books! Kamdyn has decided that this tooth will go under her pillow. I bet that kind of makes the tooth fairy nervous. Yikes!!

She was still crying even after I pulled the tooth and gave her tissues.  She may or may not have been mad at me for laughing at  her for telling Karcie to pull her tooth.  Karcie did as she was told for once in her life!!  :)

Karcie was clueless as to what was going on and what all the fuss was about!

First Day of First Grade

First Day of First Grade! 

It was great!  She loves first grade. She loves her new teacher and one of my favorite teacher friends, Miss Boykin!  We look forward to a great year!!  My favorite part is that she is directly across the hall from me.  She faces the door and I can peek in anytime to smile at my sweetie!

How grown up does this little sweetie look?

Ready or Not!! Here Comes First Grade!

Kamdyn starts 1st grade tomorrow.  I can hardly believe it.  She is so ready.  Why am I not?  It really seems like yesterday that she was Karcie's age and I was chasing her around the house.  Why do they have to grow up so quickly?  I look back and wonder if I really savored every moment like I should have.  Did I hold her enough, rock her enough, sing to her enough, read to her enough?  Then, I look at what a sweet, smart, witty, compassionate, and all-around great little girl she has become and realize that I must have done some things right.  Was I perfect?  No.  Am I perfect now? No. But, I tried to do everything that I could to make her feel loved so that she would become independent and strong, but tender hearted and caring at the same time. 

It's hard being a working Mom!  I struggle with the first day of school since having children EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR.  I don't want to go back to work because I don't want to miss a thing.  I want to volunteer in her classroom.  I want to volunteer in our school.  It seems as if this would be easy since I am there, but I am so busy doing my own job that there isn't any time left over. 

Now that we have Karcie, I think I am struggling with starting back to work even more.  I know that she is our last baby.  This is it!  I can't turn back time.  I will never get these precious moments back.  And I know that in the upcoming weeks, months, and soon-to-be year that we will be rushed and racing the clock.  There won't be enough time for me to truly enjoy my family as I would like.  I will work hard to find the proper balance, but it just never seems to be enough. 

I HAVE to learn to let go a little.....well, A LOT!!  Do I need to be a perfect teacher?  No, but I want to be.  Will I ever be a perfect Mommy?  No, but I want to be.  Can I be a perfect wife?  We know the answer to this question, too. 

As I prepare for Kamdyn to start first grade tomorrow and for myself to begin another year as a Kindergarten teacher, my goal is to LET IT GO and ENJOY EVERY SINGLE MOMENT!! 

We'll see how it goes......

Big Shoes!

This girl is obsessed with our shoes. She is forever going into my closet and dragging out all of my shoes especially the heels.

Here she is with daddy's flip flops. These kept her occupied for quite a while! Excuse her PJ and diaper outfit. She didn't leave the house today and wanted to be comfy! :)