Soccer!

Sparkle started Upward Soccer this morning. Her cute little team has three boys and three girls and the coach is great. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of her front half... it would seem that wrangling a very cranky Sunny and meeting the other moms was all that I could handle for today. Rest assured she had a smile plastered on her face the entire time. Stay tuned for more pictures in the coming weeks!

Graduation!

Okay, so I've been quite overwhelmed by all of the changes taking place in our lives and I've neglected my blog because of it. I'm not sure whether things have settled down or I've just decided that life isn't going to get any easier for some time and I'd better just get down to it. :)

May 22nd was the day that we've been looking forward to for many, many years now. It seems crazy to think that when we made the decision for Buzz to go back to school, Sparkle was, well... just a sparkle in her daddy's eye. It was a happy day for all of us as we celebrated Buzz' accomplishments. I am particularly proud of the amazing job Buzz has done of balancing school with family. He has been busy and has had a lot on his plate, but he never forgets that we three ladies at home are his first priority.

We were blessed to have Buzz' parents, his brother and wife, my parents, and my brother join us from out of town for the big day. Buzz' sister and her husband were also in attendance and it was a pleasure to share Buzz' big day with each and every one of them.

Later on at home, we were joined by our small group friends for a back yard BBQ. Not only did they help us to celebrate Buzz' graduation, but they also put together a birthday party (complete with cupcakes, elmo decorations, and gifts!) for Sunny, who would turn two a few days later. Thanks again girls, you guys are lifesavers!

*By the way, if you wait to buy a graduation cake until an hour before the party, there is no guarantee that the store will have a gender appropriate cake ready for you to pick up and walk out the door with. Oh well, the girls really liked all of the pink flowers!

This post really is too short to give justice to all of the emotion of the day... I love you Buzz, and words cannot describe how proud of you I am or how thankful I am that I get to share my life with you!

Kindergarten

Our little lady is growing up! Such a sad feeling to watch her go, and yet so exciting at the same time...

We picked out her new outfit weeks in advance. She wants to be sure that you notice her shoes.

Daddy had the day off and made her a special breakfast. Yes, scrambled eggs and toast are special around here... at breakfast time anyway. Did I mention that school starts way too early in the day for my taste?

It was pouring rain outside, so we took Sparkle right to the school instead of to the bus stop (yes, we're putting our 5 year old on the bus this year... yikes!). She was happy to go and walked right in. I had to steal my kiss when she wasn't looking.

After we dropped her off we met some new friends from Buzz' residency program at the zoo. First stop, the carousel!

Sunny was just as excited about showing off the dandilion that she found as she was about seeing the animals.

This monkey was just as impressed... they sat and looked at each other and the flower for over five minutes!

In an effort to make the experience authentic, our local zoo sells Fosters in the area of the zoo called "Australia"... not mine, I swear. :) What is mine, however, is the ever expanding belly just below the can. I'm 34 weeks today... getting close!

We left just in time to come home and meet Sparkle's bus. It was so good to see her, and to see that she was still smiling at the end of what she called "a very long day."

Well, it's off to bed for me. I've got a bus to meet in the morning, you know.

(I've got a huge backlog of stuff to post. Beware, it's coming!)

Quickie...

No internet at home for just about three weeks now.  Beyond frustrating!  I have so much to tell about Buzz' graduation, our move, our new house, my pregnancy, the fence that we're having to tear down and rebuild with the last of our spare time...  Any chance that I do have to jump online has to go to checking email and paying bills.

Buzz started orientation Wednesday, on our ninth wedding anniversary.  We were having fun setting up house up until then.  Now I'm having to readjust to having him gone all day... it's been months since he had anything to do other than help out around the house and spend time with us ladies.

I felt a twinge of sadness the other day when I was handed my very own Missouri drivers license.  We love it here and we feel like we absolutely are in the place that God wants us to be, but it's starting to sink in that I'm far from home.

Hoping and praying that it doesn't take three years this time around to feel settled.  We have GOT to stop moving every few years!

Just a quick note...

to let you know that we didn't fall off the face of the planet.  We moved all of our stuff into the new house on Friday and have been busily cleaning, unpacking, and organizing our things.  I'll post more when I find all of my camera cords and such.  And when we have internet.  :)

Disney!

We had a blast at Disneyland this past week to celebrate Buzz' upcoming graduation from medical school!!!

Sparkle loved everything about Disneyland and had a blast riding all of the big roller coasters while we were there.  She was often heard breaking into spontaneous song while dancing in circles and jumping up and down, "I'm the happiest girl in the world!  Yes I am, yes I am!"  We spent our first day with friends from Utah who were also on vacation in the magic kingdom.  Sparkle had a blast getting to take it all in for the first time with one of her dearest friends.

Sunny had fun too.  She was nervous when we first arrived and wanted to be held at all times, but eventually she relaxed and was happy to explore and enjoy what was going on around her.  My favorite quote from the trip regarding Sunny: "[Sunny], NO!  We do NOT raspberry the trash can!"

We have a lot going on in our lives right now, what with the med school graduation and cross-country move coming up in the next week or so.  I'd love to blog more often, but that will have to wait until things settle down a bit...

(Notice that my baby bump has made it's appearance?!)

Fingers Crossed!

We returned LATE last night from our whirlwind Midwestern house-hunting trip and are happy to report that it was very successful!

We are under contract on a house that we are very excited about.  It is 3300 square feet, on over 1/3 of an acre of land, with 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, and a finished basement.  Here's a picture of the front of the house:

And here's a picture of the back yard taken while standing on the back porch.  The house you see in the center across the way is Aunt T and Uncle T's.  We're very excited about living so close and having our kids go to the same schools!

It's a little nerve-wracking to be so excited in this housing market.  I think I'll be holding my breath all month long in hopes that nothing falls through on either the house that we are selling or the house that we are buying.

We feel very fortunate that each and every time we have moved, it has been to a less expensive housing market.  The house that we are buying costs two thousand dollars less than the one we are selling and has much more to offer.  Just how funny is this God that we serve?  Five years ago when we helped T &T move I saw this house model and fell in love with it.  I wished with all my heart that we could move right then and there, but felt God telling me to wait.  Isn't it amazing that in an area where not many houses are for sale, the exact one that I had my eye on for all these years was ready and available for us to buy?  God is good, isn't he?