Football and friends

Last week was Caleb's last week of his first football season. I say "first", because he is absolutely in love with the sport and wishes he could play football every day, so I'm sure we will be signing up for football again next year. It really was so fun watching him play on a little team. Even though having games twice a week made our family's evening schedule crazy, it was a fun thing to do as a family. And his team was actually pretty dang good...in my unbiased opinion. :) He was also awarded a trophy at his last game (everyone was...but that didn't make it any less special). The boy already has three trophies, which is more than I've gotten in my whole life!

Here is my little star...


Also, I have a favor to ask of you. One of my dearest friends from high school, Kristen, has a beautiful baby girl, Jordan, who is just a couple of months older than Adelyn. This past week, Kristen and her family found out that Jordan has stage 4 neuroblastoma. Jordan is scheduled for surgery tomorrow to remove her tumor and then will begin chemotherapy. Please join me in praying for strength, comfort, and healing for this sweet family. They live in New Jersey, so I feel like there is not a lot I can do to help. But prayer is so powerful, and I want to just absolutely cover them in it during this difficult time. Thank you.

My Pretty Little Princess

A short three years ago....




My sweet Ellie turned 3 years old last weekend! It's crazy how time flies! But it's so different with her than it was with Caleb. When Caleb turned three, I remember thinking that I couldn't believe my baby was already so old. But with Ellie, I feel like she should be turning 12 or 13 ! She is already so sassy, and seems too grown-up. But she is also as sweet, and funny, and beautiful as she can be. She is such a blessing in our lives.

She is obsessed with everything princess and fairy right now, so it was no surprise when she requested a "Princess party." We decided to do a dress-up fashion show, and let all the girls dress up like princesses. My sweet sisters magically transformed Addie's nursery into a fairy tale dressing room. It was so much fun! Dawson and I made a princess castle cake....which definitely looked homeade, but Ellie loved it and that's all that mattered. Overall it was a big success, mainly because of the time we got to spend with our awesome friends and family.

Pictures from the big day....


My beautiful little princess....my precious gift.

Precious Ballerina

Ellie started her very first dance class this week! Ballet and tap lessons are my sweet parents' gift to her for her birthday. Such a super, fun gift!! And it's as much of a gift to me as it is to her because it has been so fun dressing her up and doing this with her! She was the cutest, most adorable thing I have ever seen! She looked so precious in her little pink dance attire, and she did such a great job at her first class! Apparently most of the girls in her class have been doing dance for a year or so already, but Ellie just jumped right in and tried to follow them. She did a great job listening to her teacher, and she tried to make some new friends too.

Sometimes I feel like she is definitely gypted (sp?) as the middle child. Caleb is so expressive, and Adelyn is so little, that they both demand my attention way more than she does. Hopefully that will change as the seasons of their lives change. But lately, I've been trying to be so intentional about giving her my undivided attention as much as I can. And in those times, while we're in the car, or at the lunch table, Ellie will usually say, "Mom, let's talk." like she's 18 years old or something. Then I'll say, o.k. Ellie, let's talk. Then every time, she proceeds to ask me, "What's your favorite color?" So, we talk about our favorite colors. Then she might say, "What did you do today?" even though we've been together all day. :) I just love it! I love having these little conversations with her, and I hope we will always have these little talks together. She is such a gift from God!

Pictures of my little "baddawina" as Ellie says :)

Living in Crazy Town

This blog is sometimes wildly unsatisfying, because I wish it was more like having a conversation with each of you...my fellow blogging friends. Sometimes I like the personal journaling feeling of blogging, but then sometimes I wish there was more dialogue. For instance, these days I feel like I'm barely hanging on to my sanity...and I want to know, am I the only resident in Crazy Town?!? :) I feel like I'm constantly behind on housework (the dishes now have a life of their own and I did SIX loads of laundry on Saturday....doesn't sound abnormal until I tell you that ALL SIX LOADS came from MY laundry basket!!! I seriously washed clothes that I wore last winter and have been in the bottom of my basket since then!!! I finally had to wash all of them because I could no longer close my closet door!!) Anyway, there's just been times lately when I feel like a terrible housekeeper, a mean mommy, an inattentive and uncaring wife, an on-again/off-again friend, and a whiney, ungrateful, flaky daughter of God.....I either need some serious time down on my knees, and/or some psychiatric drugs. I HATE when I allow my blessings to feel like burdens, and when I let stress and anxiety steal the joy and peace that God tries to give me.

Anyway....as much as I wish blogging was really group therapy, it's not. I do want to share some pictures from Halloween...Adelyn's first pumpkin day! It was a lot of fun!

The traditional carving of the pumpkin....Adelyn looks curious?!



The cutest "soldier pilot", "princess fairy" and daisy flower you'll ever see!!

Fall Fun with the Family

This past weekend my parents came into town, and we celebrated my Dad's 57th birthday and my parents' 34th anniversary! Wow! It was fun to talk with them this morning over breakfast about that momentous day 34 years ago. I'm so blessed to have parents who love each other, and who are committed to each other and their marriage.

It was a beautiful weekend for family time, so we picked out pumpkins, ate too much, and played outside. Here are some cute pictures from the weekend....


Cutie Patooties and pumpkins....was unable to get all of them to smile at the same time!


Adelyn's first pumpkin....


I think she loves her pumpkin. :)


But she loves her Memaw more!!


The boys playing football together....so cute!!


Ellie loves being a big sister and one of her favorite things is to help feed Adelyn...

sooo sweet!! :)

Thoughts for the Day

Some are taking this Swine Flu paranoia a little too far
(my sister sent this picture to me, pretty cute :)

So, here are some random thoughts...

1- What does it say about the state of your life when you are only changing outfits every 48 hours??

2- And within that 48 hours, hoping you remembered to brush your teeth at least once?!

3- Those 100 Calorie packs of cookies/crackers are meant to be eaten three at a time, right?

4- Why is it that every time I change Adelyn's dirty diapers these days, I feel like I'm competing in a rodeo event? Calf roping/steer wrestling?!?

5- Being quarantined/ostracized from society for 5 days is WAY TOO LONG! I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to going to Kroger and Wal-Mart tomorrow.

6- Getting ready for a garage sale is a lot of work...but it's also kinda fun. Cleansing, organizing, getting to play "store", making some extra money so that we can go on a date night and buy Halloween costumes?!, etc.

7- The book "Crazy Love" is still kicking my butt. I think I want to read another one of his books, "Forgotten God" about the Holy Spirit. I love what Chan has to say and the way he says it, but the true concepts of 'Christianity' are so hard to live out every day!! So challenging!

8- I wish someone would hurry up and buy our mini-van. It breaks my heart to walk by her every day in the driveway.....

9- After we dropped off Dawson at work today, as we drove out of the parking lot, Ellie said, "My Daddy is so handsome." So sweet, and so true. My husband's pretty darn hot. :)

10- I REALLY hope we can actually get some sleep tonight....PLEASE GOD!


Cutest Lil' Aggie!

Golden Gator & Farm Flu

This week has been eventful, to the say the least. First, I must brag on my son. He was honored with the "Golden Gator award" at his first Awards Assembly this past Thursday. They give this award for being the sweetest, coolest, bestest kid in the class (well, that's not exactly the description....but that pretty much sums it up! :)
We were soooo proud of him! And he was pretty proud of himself too...but I think he would've been more excited had there been a new toy or ice cream involved! :)





However, just a day after he received his award, Caleb came down with the H1N1 flu. And by the way, I hate calling it swine flu....that's just not very attractive. So, that's why I'm either calling it H1N1 or the Farm Flu. Caleb's been a champ, and hasn't felt too bad except for the fever and an annoying cough. But this morning, Ellie woke up with a fever of 101.5. So, here we go again. I have a feeling Adelyn is not too far behind, because she's not acting like herself either! :( Please pray for healing for our little ones, and strength and stamina for the nurses here at the Skow Clinic. I'm feeling a little ragged already with just one patient, much less three. And I think we are all getting a bad case of cabin fever!

Here are some cute pictures of Ellie Faith, before the epidemic hit....


Doesn't she look like a snake charmer....I thought the panties with the rubber boots was a good look! :)


And this is her playing in the rain....no, mommy was not at home during these activities...


But it sure looks like she had a lot of fun!!