Life Lately, June 21

Now that I'm back to blogging, here's a recap of our spring and summer.  You know we went on a big trip to PA. 

I don't think I ever mentioned that Robert started a PhD last August, so he's almost finished with his first year!  He's studying Pastoral Ministry at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  It'll be a long road since he is continuing to be a full-time pastor while in school, but we think he has about two years of class left followed by working on his dissertation for two or three years.  He's doing great!  For each class he goes in person to KC for 40 hours of seated time, and the rest of the class he completes from home.  When he goes in person he gets to stay with his mom and her husband which is really nice! He even made his own "Cloffice" (closet office) for studying at home.  I'm so proud of him!

Sarah had such an amazing year at preschool.  I couldn't have asked for a better experience for her.  She went two mornings a week, and next school year she'll be in PreK three mornings a week.  She learned how to identify all lowercase and uppercase letters, improved in her counting and handwriting skills, made news friends, and enjoyed the special Spanish and Stretch and Grow classes.  She's so sad that school is out for summer which is absolutely precious to me. 

Sarah had her first haircut in March, and she loved it!  I had the same lady who gave me my first haircut do it for Sarah.  My mom still gets her hair done there, and she got to come too.  Sarah got her hair washed, cut, and styled.  She wants to go back every day!

My mom retired in May, and we're so excited to spend more time with her! 

Sarah says the funnest and most adorable things regularly.  Here are some examples:

• She made up some verses for Hush Little Baby: Hush, little baby, Mama's gonna get you a heart, and if that heart should break she'll put it in the trash, but she'll have to sweep it up first. Mama's gonna buy you some hairspray, and if that hairspray runs out Mama's gonna buy you some hair gel.
• If you don't poop for a long time it can causes problems.
• What does my soul look like?
• It breaks Jesus' heart when we fight
• That's a pretty house.  Maybe when I get married I can buy it and we can be neighbors.  That'd be fun!
• Thank you for not making me ride in my stroller.  Dad makes me, and it's so embarrassing!
• Can you please contact Ms Sandy and tell her I won't be at preschool any longer?  I've grown up and will be going to high school.
• Do you know who the king is? Jesus!
• Remember that gross McDonald's in West Plains, and it had a lot of flies?  Yeah, at least there weren't any bears.
• What was it like when you were pregnant with Mittens?
• When I'm holding a baby, he's so warm and cuddly that it feels like he's holding me!
• God, please help Taylor Swift to become a Christian.
• Mittens turns 7 on Saturday.  Is she old enough to go to college now?
• I'm good at practicing being 4!
• The top of my feet are cold, and the bottom of my feet are warm just like how some planets in the universe are hot and some are cold!
• I'm allergic to dust so I'm never going to the moon since it has so much dust! (Robert says you'd wear a helmet and have oxygen so the dust wouldn't bother you.) Okay, if I go to the moon Dad can come with me to keep away the meanies.
• I heard there are streets of gold in heaven.  I can't wait to see them.

Ricky the Pony

For Christmas my parents got Sarah a gift certificate for pony lessons, but there's more to it than that!  A year and a half ago at a fall fest in town, Sarah rode a pony named Ricky, and she fell in love.  We've talked and talked about that experience.  When she rides the carousel at Silver Dollar City she calls the horse Ricky.  We just love him!  So my mom tracked him down at his stable and got Sarah's lessons.  It was so fun!  She went four times for an hour and learned how to brush him and what brushes to use for different body parts.  She learned how to help put on the blanket and saddle.  She got to ride him and steer him.  Ricky was sick one day, so she rode his friend Daisy that time. She took it very seriously.  It's fun to watch her learn new things!

Life Lately, November 13

Sarah is at preschool, and the house is clean, so I can blog, right?  Preschool has been so great for Sarah and me!  She genuinely loves her teachers and feels very safe and comfortable there.  She's making some new friends, and learning so much!  I'm enjoying time to run errands and clean the house by myself, but I'm also loving having some silence.  You don't get much silence when you have a talkative 3 year old girl around!  She's the best, but it's been good to have some down time.  Right now all I hear is the click of the keys and Mittens snoozing next to me.  

Sarah loves going with me to vote.  The church where we vote has a huge elephant named Sue.  Sarah asked me why the elephants at the zoo are just grey when this one is all the colors of the rainbow.

Aunt Pam came to town, and we got to see her for a day.  So fun!

I always let Sarah's hair air-dry, but since it's gotten so cold I didn't want her to have a wet head.  I dried it with the diffuser, and she was ready to model!

Pretending to teach Sunday School

 Sarah is in a habit of waking up around 5:30 for the day.  This was going on before the time change and is continuing.  It's kind of miserable.  She comes to our room several times before we finally officially start her day at 7:00.  It won't last forever, right?  But yesterday when she came to our room she was dressed in a fancy dress and tights!  Princess Sarah!

We got our first little snow yesterday.  Sarah really enjoyed it!  Obviously, it wasn't enough to play in, but Sarah and Robert did make the world's smallest snowman complete with Froot Loop eyes and a toothpick nose.

Who's ready for some recent Sarah quotes?

• In Sunday School we were watching a music video that went with our lesson.  Sarah was doing the motions, and another kid got up in front of her.  Sarah said, "Stop trying to ruin my worship!"
• We were playing with Play Doh, and Sarah said, "It's purple like Lydia's (from the Bible) cloth!"
• "I brush my hair like Cinderella because she's a princess and I'm a princess.
• Sarah didn't like the fish Robert made for lunch.  "My doctor said I'm allergic to fish."
• Me: "Use your mind to think about it."  Sarah: "Actually, it's my brain."
• Sarah's Sunday School teacher said, "Mmm somebody smells good," and Sarah said, "Well, it's not me!  I didn't take a bath today."
• Sarah's prayer: "Dear God, thank you that it's going to rain tonight so we don't have to water our flowers.  Thank you for Grandma.  She's so perfect.  Thank you for my new school.  We do stuff all the time.  Thank you that I get to play on the big playground there.  Thank you that tomorrow is water day.  Amen."
• We were at a hotel, and Sarah said, "This is going to be the most perfect sleepover!  Is everyone else in this hotel waiting to go see their Papas?"
• "My toots are funny.  Your toots are funny.  Dad's toots are funny.  But don't tell people that we're the toot family!"
• "At the Temple (where we have Bible Study Fellowship) I learned that there are three parts of God.  It's God, God, and God.  It's the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  And God is in heaven on a sparkly throne!"
• "When I get married I want to wear a crown, and my husband can wear a cowboy hate.  I'll move out and you can get a new kid to live at your house.  When I have kids you can keep on at your house, but I'll need to keep the rest at my house."
• "Jesus might have a hard time carrying me to heaven since I'm such a big girl."
• "Stomp, drop, and roll!"
• We drove by something stinky, and Sarah said, "We must have driven by a toot factory!"
• Sarah to me at bedtime: "I could huge and kiss you all day!"

Life Lately, October 23

Since I've been off of social media for almost two months, I thought I'd share some pictures and tidbits about our days the last several weeks here on my blog.

Robert finished up our shower!  We had a shower/tub combo originally which I really didn't mind, but it was cracked and stained pretty badly, so we decided to replace it with a large shower since Sarah's bathroom has a shower/tub.  Robert did a great job!  We're hoping Santa gives us a shower door for Christmas. :)

You all know that our yard is a work in progress, to say the least.  Here's what it looked like last year in a blog post.  This year it's really looking great!  It's much greener and thicker.  I think in the spring it'll really look great when we do a pre-emergent to control the weeds.  I'm so proud of our hard work! 

We are loving the cooler weather!  It's so much more enjoyable to play outside when it's this nice out!  Trying to cherish it before it gets too cold.

We made our annual trip to the beach to visit Robert's dad.  Sarah really loved the beach this year!  We picked mid-September hoping that it would be cooler, and it wasn't. :(  But we got in lots of swimming!  Sarah enjoyed "camping" in the RV.

Front porch swinging!

I love having an awesome park so close to our house!

Sarah, Robert, and I got to ride with Memaw in the Model A for the SBU Homecoming Parade.  Sarah loved sitting on Memaw's lap and throwing out candy!

You might remember that last summer we had to remove our red maple tree because it was rotting from the inside out.  We planted a moon bay magnolia tree.  It just never did well.  It had a one year warranty, and we got a refund this fall.  The roots never took, and the branches were all dried out.  We replaced it with a ginkgo tree.  Here's hoping it does better!

We went up to KC for the in-person portion of Robert's class at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary for three days.  Did I tell you all that Robert is pursing a PhD in Biblical Studies with an emphasis in Ministry?  Robert's mom took us to a fun farm park while we were there, and Sarah was thrilled to pet the animals and feed the baby goats a bottle!

She also loved the chalkboard at their house and drew a "jellyfish with hundreds of legs!"

My parents treated Sarah to a day at Silver Dollar City.  She looks so grown up in this picture riding the tram to get to the park!

We celebrated 5 years of having Mittens!  She really is the best. 

Sarah is in a big princess phase, so it was thrilling to see Anna at the mall!  She told Sarah that she and Pocahontas are friends. :)

This girl has a thing for bugs, and it's so endearing.  Shes so inquisitive!

My little cashier!  She loves dressing up!

We got to celebrate her cousin Sadie's second birthday.  Sarah enjoyed pulling her around in her new wagon!

Last year, Memaw took us to the Harvest Fest and Sarah rode a miniature pony named Ricky.  We have talked about Ricky for an entire year!  She loves riding "Ricky" on the carousel at Silver Dollar City.  So obviously we had to ride Ricky again this year!  She took it very seriously and loved every second of it!

Robert's grandparents came for a sleepover, and we were so glad to have them here!

Sarah is going to be a princess for Halloween.  She's very excited!  Preschool is going well for her.  She's learning so much!  I'm enjoying my eight hours a week on my own.  It's been a good time to clean the house, relax, and do my Bible study. 

Sarah is 3!

Sarah turns 3 today!  It's been a big year of growing physically, socially, and intellectually.  She'll have her 3 year old well visit in a week or so, but the last time she was measured she was 33.5 pounds and 37.5", so I'm guessing that's about right.  Her hair continues to be curly and light blonde.  I think the front has finally gotten long enough that it doesn't get in her eyes quite as much.  She enjoys wearing it down as well as in ballerina buns. :)

We have full conversations now, and pretty much every waking hour is a running dialogue with her.  I think most people understand all that she says, and I know we definitely do.  She enjoys teasing people and making people laugh.

Her favorite TV shows this year have been Llama Llama, Sarah and Duck, and any Barbie shows on Netflix.  She still loves books and has started noticing the letter S everywhere she goes.  She knows how to spell her first and last name and is very interested in rhyming words.

This summer she went to preschool one morning a week for 3 hours, and this school year she'll be going 2 mornings a week for 4 hours each time.  She really liked preschool, and I think it was good for her and will be this school year as well.  This summer she took a four week ballet class and absolutely loved it!

 She has developed a good crew of friends, and we had a friend party last weekend.  It was very fun!

Here are some of her most recent quotes:

"Mommy, if you become a boy I’ll marry you and you can be my husband."

“Mommy, I’m glad you’re in my world.”

She was mad at me and said, “You’re a philistine!”

We were at the zoo and couldn’t see the otters, “Maybe they’re in jail.”

Me: It’s a rainy day. Rainy days make me want to take a nap. 

Sarah: Yeah, rainy days make me want to poop.

Dear Sarah,
I love you very much.  God has made you very smart, and I hope you use your desire to learn new things to do something great for Him.  You are very sensitive, and I love your ability to identify those in need and desire to meet their needs.  You teach me new things all the time, and getting to spend my days with you is an honor.  You are a fun-loving girl who knows how to have fun, and I hope you always keep that part of you.  Let's keep being buddies.  You love reading your Bible and learning more about God, and every day I pray that one day you will become a Christian.  If nothing else happens but that, I will be a happy mommy.  I love you so much, and I'm thankful for you!

Summer So Far

Summer is the time of year when Robert is gone the most.  I remember the first summer as being the summer where I went to most things but was very hot and very pregnant, the second summer was the summer of Sarah teething molars and crying, the third summer was the summer of potty training, and this fourth summer is the summer of taking forever to fall asleep.  Interesting what major themes stick out to you.

Before summer stuff really got kicked off for Robert, I was in my second wedding of the summer!  Congrats, Tiffani and Matt!

Robert had Serve Springfield at the start of June.  Although he's technically home at night, he had 14 hour days Sunday-Wednesday.  It was an exceptionally hot week so Sarah and I really didn't join him for much.  I think we stopped by to say hi two or three times, but that was it.  Each morning the students worked at a senior adult's house scraping off chipping paint, power washing the exterior, washing his RV, and doing some yard work.  After they finished Sherwin Williams was going to send a crew to paint it for him.  In the early afternoon they worked doing landscaping for a new community of tiny houses for homeless men.  Super cool!  In the late afternoon they went door to door near our church asking if they could pray for people.  Talk about courage!  I don't know many adults who would be up for that, but the Holy Spirit always enables our students to get out of their comfort zones.  Then they'd meet up with other local student ministries for dinner and a worship service.

Sarah had her first lemonade and loved every second of it!

We celebrated Robert's 28th birthday early before he left for summer camp. 

And we got to celebrate Father's Day the day before Robert left for camp.

Camp was a week after Serve Springfield, and they returned to Camp Revo at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, AR for the fourth time.  We're hoping/thinking maybe Sarah will be able to handle going next year.  I really hope so!  The students had a great time, and I know God did big things in their lives.  Monday we went to Jump Mania with friends, Tuesday I went to visit my parents for the day, Wednesday morning was preschool, and then Wednesday afternoon hit and there was nothing left to do for the week.  I had an hour or two of panic and a pity party, but I managed to pull it together.  We went and used a gift card at Starbucks and played outside to end the day.  On Thursday we had dinner at Chick Fil A and stayed at the play place for a long time.  Thursday and Friday mornings I had other mom friends over for play dates.  Sarah has been taking an hour to an hour and a half to fall asleep at night for the last nine months.  It wouldn't be so awful if she'd just stay in her room, but she comes out several times.  She prefers Robert to do the majority of her nightly routine, and it's always worse when he's gone.  That was the case this week, but I am glad that once she went to sleep she stayed asleep.

Last day without Robert

 Robert's birthday is during camp every year, and the students always make a huge deal of it!  This year they all had cutouts of Robert's head on a stick to carry around. :)

We've been able to tag along for some small student activities like a game day and a pool party next week.  We've had lots of trips to Bolivar and have met up with Robert's mom and sister and their families.  We aren't taking any trips this summer, but it's just so hard with Robert's job, so that's how it has to be, and that's okay. :)  We'll have a fall trip to Alabama.

I donated 10" of hair to Locks of Love, and am enjoying being a bit cooler!

Sarah got more in to fireworks this year and really enjoyed throwing down the snappers.

Can't believe there's just one more month until a new school year and Sarah switches to going to preschool twice a week!

Life Lately, June 6

The last four months or so can be summed up in this picture:

Honestly, Sarah's "spirited" nature has been kicked up a notch (or 50?) since late January/early February, and I'm clinging to the idea that if two is hard three is easy????

Robert got ordained in April, and we had a ton of family in to celebrate with us.  It was a great weekend!

Sarah and I have been able to go to Silver Dollar City a few times this year, and Robert is bummed that he hasn't been included in a single one of those trips.  I think Sarah has now ridden everything she's tall enough to ride, and I'd say the ladybugs are her favorite.  It's one of two rides that she's allowed to ride by herself.

I went on my annual weekend trip with Robert's mom, grandma, and sister, and Robert and Sarah survived!

This year we went to Tulsa, and my favorite part was our stop at Ree Drummond's Merc.  The food was tasty, and the line was long but worth it for special occasion.

My dear friend Leigha got married on May 5, and I got to be a part of it! It was a special day!

For about a year I've wanted to paint our garage door, so Mother's Day seemed like a perfect time to cash in on that request!  It only took one coat and Robert agrees that it looks much better now.

On May 20th Robert and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary!  Wow!

Sarah loves chips - a girl after my own heart.

On May 22nd Pepaw passed away.  I could spend a whole day listing his positive attributes and reliving fond memories and attempting to express the love that our family shared, but that wouldn't do him justice, so I'll just say that Pepaw loved God and devoted his life to Him.  I look forward to seeing him again one day.

Sarah started preschool and couldn't be more excited!  This summer she's going on Wednesday mornings from 9:00-12:00.

Robert had a work meeting in Hannibal (4 hours away), and Sarah and I tagged along.  We slept remarkably well in the hotel, and Sarah and I enjoyed swimming and eating lunch at a cafe.  She ate off all the icing from her cupcake and the server brought her more, so it's basically her new favorite restaurant.

We have put so much hard work into our yard, and it's a lot of fun to check on it and see how it's progressing.  Our lilies were looking really good last week!

We went to a Springfield Cardinals game since Yadi was in town.  Sarah caught a shirt, and Robert participated in musical chairs and won a shirt.  We lasted for about half of the game and had a lot of fun!

Sarah and I picked strawberries with friends and even got Robert to try one!

I was in another wedding yesterday!  Tiffani and Matt got married, and it was a great day!  Sarah sat through the whole service and loved the cupcakes at the reception.

When Sarah says something I really want to remember I try to type it up in my phone really quick, so here are the endearing things she's said the last couple of months.  It's quite a bit, but the grandparents love this kind of thing, right? :)

April 3 - Sarah was asking about our wedding rings. I explained what they mean and told her maybe one day she’ll marry a nice man. “I hope I get to marry Santa!”

4 - She saw the moon, but it was faint since it was day time. I talked about how the moon goes away during the day and comes out at night. She asked me if it sleeps. I told her that's kinda right. She asked me if the moon has a blanket and bed when he sleeps. ️

May - She came out from nap to say, “I just needed to let you know that I love you. Do you love me too?”

Am I allergic to pokey trees? I don’t feel very affectionate towards pokey trees.

I have to have a babysitter because I’m not allowed to stay home alone. 

S: We need to sit in the car and die. R:  No, we don’t want to do that. Dying is a bad thing. S: But Jesus died, and that was good. 

9 - Sometimes big girls get out of bed to kiss their mommy

11 - My strength wants to go pee pee, but my brain won’t let me.

12 - Holding two receipts. “If you give me 100 bucks I’ll let you pick which one you can have."

23 - Nana, did you know that I’m a child?

26 - I hope Jesus comes back for us soon 

30 - First day of preschool - Preschool was good! When I picked her up she said, “You came back! I was wondering if you would!” Then when we got in the car she said, “I wish I could go to preschool every day!” The teachers’ names are Miss Michelle and Miss Elizabeth. She used the potty twice and told me one time she zipped up her pants by herself, and the other time Miss Elizabeth helped. She met a boy named Skyler and a girl named Cora. They learned about the letters C and M and played a lot. She got goldfish crackers for snack and ate a big lunch that I packed - string cheese, half a PBJ sandwich, mandarin oranges, and half a pouch. She had a good time!

(Frustrated with stickers) "For pity’s sake!"

31 - Knock Knock

Who’s there?

Sarah!

Sarah who?

Sarah Varner!

Knock knock

Who’s there?

Nobody!

Nobody who?

Just kidding! It’s Sarah!

You’re a sweetie pie. I’m a sweetie pie. Mittens is a sweetie pie. What’s a sweetie pie?