Happy 6th Birthday Rivers!

I honestly cannot believe that our baby girl turned 6 years old today!  I could blink and be back in the summer of 2005, living at Palmetto Richland Hospital, praying that the sweet little baby inside of me would make it out alive.  Praise God for directing us to the right doctors, and praise God that He gave us the conviction of being PRO LIFE because I cannot imagine my life without Rivers in it!  God made her the answer to my heart's cry for a child.  How I longed to be a mother!  And then, Rivers was born, and my first time looking at her, I thought, "God, how am I going to take care of this baby?"  Well, you know what?  The easy part was loving Rivers and that made all of the hard parts so worth it.

Baby girl, your smile lights up a place in my heart that only you have the key to!  I am thankful that God made me your Mama (even though last week you told me you wanted to start calling me "Mom").  I'll never forget what we have gone through together, and I look forward to the years to come!  "You make me want to be brave!"

Changes

I have been reading Charlotte's Web to Rivers at night for the past couple of weeks. It is actually our first chapter book to read together, and it has been such a special time as she recalls things from the days before and gets excited to read that night. The fifteenth chapter is entitled "The Crickets." It made me choke up thinking of her going to school and about summer drawing to a close:

"The crickets sang in the grasses. They sang the song of summer's ending, a sad, monotonous song. 'Summer is over and gone,' they sang. 'Over and gone, over and gone...'

The crickets felt it was their duty to warn everybody that summertime cannot last forever. Even on the most beautiful days in the whole year--the days when summer is changing into fall--the crickets spread the rumor of sadness and change.

Everybody heard the song of the crickets. Avery and Fern Arable heard it as they walked the dusty road. They knew that school would soon begin again. The young geese heard it and knew that they would never be little goslings again...Mrs. Zuckerman, at work in the kitchen, heard the crickets, and a sadness came over her, too. 'Another summer gone,' she sighed...

'Summer is over and gone,' repeated the crickets...'Good-bye, summer, good-bye, good-bye!'"

I have never felt so nostalgic about summer's end as I do now. Usually, I am looking forward to cooler days and the events of the fall. I have always loved the idea of school. The bright red apples. The yellow school buses. The "bouquet of sharpened pencils." Now it will be a time when I have to let one of my children go for more of the day than I wish, yet I know...this is the right thing. God has brought us to this day, and we are so blessed! So blessed to have a child that I adore being around. So blessed that she is WALKING into school. So I am choosing to thank God for the days ahead, and I am praying that my child will be as much a blessing to others as she has been and is to me.

Meadow Glen Elementary Open House

Rivers, Daniel, and I went to Meadow Glen Elementary's open house this afternoon. We were so excited to get the chance to look inside the school that we have been driving by every week this summer, checking on the school's progress. It did not disappoint! Meadow Glen is a beautiful school: bright, clean, and cheerful, just waiting to get students' art work up on the walls. Rivers was so excited to meet her teacher Mrs. Dansavage and her assistant, Mrs. Blankenship. They are fresh out of school and just thrilled to get into the classroom to put into practice all that they've learned.

Rivers' table is at the front of the room, and her friend Mary Grace will sit across from her. There are 23 students in her class.

Rivers was so excited to visit the lunch room (cafeteria/auditorium = cafetorium?). We picked a lunch bag out together at the beach. Just out of the cafeteria window is the grade school playground. Kindergarten has a separate play area off of their wing. We checked out the kindergarten/1st grade wing and then ventured on to the music room (where we met Mr. Rhodes...super nice!), art room, PE area, and to the library to have her school i.d. made. We stopped by the nurse's office on our way out and then congratulated Mrs. Fralick on helping to create such a beautiful learning environment for our children. What an exciting day!

Hilton Head 2010

Hilton Head was a lot of fun this year with both kids able to kick around in the pool by themselves with their float vests on. They loved getting into the pool every morning.It is always such a treat to spend a week with my family relaxing and enjoying time together!
On the last night there, we went to eat at The Crazy Crab in Harbour Town and to listen to Greg Russell sing under the oak tree. Rivers said she wanted to sing, so we made her a sign that said, "I may be 'Itsy Bitsy' but I LOVE to sing!" Sure enough, she got chosen to sing! We were so surprised and excited for her! She sang the softest, most shy version of "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" that you've ever heard!

Disney World

What a wonderful treat to have the opportunity to go to Disney World! Mr. and Mrs. Crowson (Nanny and Grandaddy) gave us this trip just after Mr. Crowson left for Iraq, and we just couldn't have been more thrilled! The very first morning, Rivers had breakfast with the princesses in Epcot.Within 30 minutes of arriving in the Magic Kingdom, a parade started up! It was so magical, and Rivers and Daniel just danced and joined right in. The Magic Kingdom was definitely the crowd favorite! You just feel like a little child when you're there.Rivers loved Minnie's house! Mrs. C had purchased three Minnie Mouse outfits for the trip.

Rivers and Nanny posed in front of Cinderella's Castle on the way to the front of the castle to see the fireworks. They were just amazing!
We road It's a Small World three or four times! Rivers sang the song the whole way and was mesmerized by the all of the little people!

Mrs. C and Daniel were as competitive as ever on the Buzz Lightyear ride. It was such a joy to be in the "happiest place on earth!"

Tea for Two

Rivers and her friend Lindsay had a little tea party last week. They were adorable preparing their tea with lots of sugar and a small wedge of lemon. They enjoyed being little ladies together but did not enjoy the tea! Next time: hot chocolate!

Preschool Christmas Party

On Rivers' last day of preschool for 2009, her class had a Christmas party which included a game of musical chairs. I'm sure that Mrs. Dunlap and Mrs. Boyd had no idea that the children would be emotionally attached to the chair with their name on the back that they sit in during class time. Many of the children thought that they were supposed to sit in THEIR chair and got upset when another child sat in it. It was truly adorable! Rivers did really well and made it to the top five. She loves the children in her class, and it is so sweet to watch them interact.

Our Would-Be Christmas Card Picture

So, you didn't get your Christmas card from us in the mail this year?! I just couldn't get it together enough this year... or last year...to make this happen. Things were rolling along so smoothly early on this season. We're going to have to make some changes next Christmas in order for us to really enjoy this "most wonderful time of the year."

The picture above, by the way, would be our reality: Jackson pulling Rivers hair. Below would be the idyllic, sweet picture that you would have received in the mail!

Christmas Eve

I love Christmas Eve just as much as Christmas Day and have as long as I can remember! We usually go to the service at First Presbyterian with my family, eat a wonderful homemade supper, and open family gifts under the tree. This year, we had a bit of a detour. I ended up getting a migraine headache (the third one in a week!) that afternoon and Jackson fell and bit through his lower lip leaving a beautiful blood trail in our master bedroom. This was not the Christmas Eve that I had dreamed of! Thankfully, my headache was gone in time for supper, and we enjoyed a wonderful night with my family eating pork tenderloin, drinking Wassail, and sharing gifts with each other.
My favorite gift that the children were given was the children's Bible that I grew up with, the Read-N-Grow Picture Bible. I had asked if Mom would get this for the kids because I loved it when I was young. It has 12 pictures per Bible story, which kept me riveted as a child. We have really enjoyed reading it with Rivers. Thank you Mimi and Pop-Pop!

The South Carolina State Fair

We had such a great time at the fair last Friday! Daniel and I are die-hard fair fans, so we look forward to this time of year so much! The weather was absolutely perfect: cool and clear.
The view from the top of the Ferris wheel.
Shortly after arriving, we bumped into our friends Joey and Crystal. Jackson and Ellis kept each other company in their strollers while Jake and Rivers rode a few rides together. Crystal and I and Joey and Daniel even managed to race each other on the EuroSlide with the kids on our laps. It was so much fun!

This is a blurry picture of the dragon rollercoaster that Rivers almost FELL out of. Right after I shot this picture, Rivers put her hands up as the car rounded the corner and it appeared as though her upper torso went up slightly over the side of the car. The four of us gasped, and I was shocked that she didn't fall out. We yelled for Jake to hold onto Rivers and for Rivers to hold onto the bar. SCARY!

Rivers loved sharing a corn dog with Jackson.
It's so fun to ride as a family on the Ferris wheel.
All of us shared an elephant ear with cinnamon, sugar, and apples. YUM!
Jackson, you see, is barefoot. He takes his shoes off all of the time now after we just had a great stint of keeping them on. At least he's not licking the pole this year!

Rivers got to be the conductor on the train. She rang the bell the whole time.

We wrapped up with a pretty late night for us...9:30, but we had SO much fun that it was hard to leave!