Robin and Rico

Robin's class has a guinea pig. His name is Rico. And Rico came to visit us over the past weekend. That's my kinda pet. One that stays for a couple days to love on and then disappears indefinitely. No cages to wash out. Minimal poo on my floors. Yay.

Robin had a blast pampering Rico for 48 hours.....

parent teacher conference

Some comments written by the girls' teachers today...

"What a sweet girl!! Chandler is always polite and friendly to myself and others around her!"

"Chandler works very hard on completing assignments on time and neatly!"

"Jaci is a delight to have in class."

"Jaci is such a blessing to have in class! She is always asking how she can help, and a breath of fresh air with her positive attitude."

about Robin "friendly to everyone. doesn't let small problems bother her."
"she is quite an artist."
about her classroom behavior, "excellent!"


Makes me one proud mamma!

raising your kids to be leaders - a good book

Braggin' on my kid - because that's what THIS blog is for. ;)

Jaci got invited to an all-day Leadership Seminar at a local college! And that's because she's on Student Council this year which I don't believe I've blogged about but it's a pretty good story.

If you want to be on Student Council, you write a small speech and give it to your class - then they vote. In 3rd grade, she did that {very nervously} and was heart-broken when she didn't win. In 4th grade, we talked her in to trying again but she ended up being sick at home the day they gave their speeches. THIS year, she came home one day and said "I made Student Council". Wow, we didn't even know the vote was coming up or that she was getting a speech ready. You go girlfriend!

Anyways, her leadership qualities are maturing and being noticed. I'm very proud of my girl!

that's the way, uh-huh-uh-huh, I like it

It's easy to post about those times my kids drive me crazy. When they are sooo naughty (read previous post on the pen and pillow issue). But I thought I'd reminisce on last Sunday.

Mitch left around 8am to travel to a different church for the day. I was left to get kiddos and myself to church early. So I could not only preach, but manage the morning service and all that entails. Worship leader quirks, sound and multi-media issues, taking offering, announcements, blah blah blah.

Let me say that the kids were FABULOUS that morning. They got ready for church well and quickly, even Little Bird, who is prone to dawdling. They didn't get crazy in the hour and a half they had before church even started. In fact, Little Bird prayed with me for a while.

Then after church, I had given them the choice what they wanted for lunch {fully expecting to go into town to eat}, they chose noodles. Which I made and everyone ate. Jaci gave her leftover birthday candy bars {which have been in the fridge since July} to her sisters {and me}. Chandler wasn't even going to ask since last time Jaci about tore her head off when asked to share. This time Jaci said, "That was before. I'm generous now." Halleluia.

Thank You Jesus, for times when everything DOES go right.

it's a bumpy road, but someone has to travel it

Yesterday was a pretty bumpy day. I won't go into all the details, but when I heard the prophetic word that was spoken over my husband while he was away last night, I thought, "wow, this must be why we were battling hell here".

ONE of the many little bumps in the day was finding out from Jaci that Robin had written her name, IN PEN, on one of my couch pillows. I thought she was joking. Uh, no.

Can someone tell me WHY a 5 year old, who has NEVER done anything as permanent as this in her toddler life, chooses to do it now? She was disciplined, without a crack of a smile from me. Later though, I smiled as I thought how we will most certainly laugh at this in 10 or 20 years. Mainly because she told me the reason she did it is so people would know that it's ours. Huh? Whatever.

76 trombones...

OK, maybe just one, not 76, but we do have a trombone {and eventually, a player} in the house now. Jaci, as a 5th grader, is in Beginning Band. And what does my tiny little 10 year old choose? The largest instrument a 5th grader can chose, of course. :) She's doing great so far though.

And Mitch and I were very blessed when we heard all her friends had chosen flute, yet Jaci didn't 'go with the crowd' but made her own decision. Maturity is becoming to you, my girl!

double digits

As well as yesterday being the 1st day of school, it was my oldest daughter's 10th birthday. Yay for birthdays!

Jaci Taylor was born 12 days late, at home. My hubby, my mom and a good friend with lots of home birth experience helped me labor this child into the world. Her birth was rocky but we had a good doc on the phone who talked us through some stuff and everything ended fine.

We celebrated the last ten years with a big pool party a few weeks ago. We had given Jaci a Webkinz at the end of July because it happened to be the "Pet of the Month" so she needed to get it registered before August. Her highlights were her other gift from us and I did those Monday evening. That left the gifts her sisters bought her {with their own money} to be opened yesterday before school. A bike basket and scrapbook paper. Goooood.

Our tradition has always been that the birthday celebrater gets to chose a place to eat out {or a meal for mom to cook but trust me, we usually eat out!}. Jaci wanted Applebee's. She's grown quite fond of mozzarella sticks and I'm a dumb enough mom to let her eat them for her meal. ;)

Jaci is a blessing to our family. She's cute and funny, crafty and witty, ambitious and responsible, and loves to sing and teach. She's been prophesied over that she will be in worship ministry and that she will be a little evangelist. She's a good friend and loves to bless others. I'm so proud of the beautiful young lady that God entrusted us with!