10th Anniversary

Today Michael and I are celebrating 10 years of marriage.  I am thankful for a husband who always makes me feel special.  He is a wonderful man & I couldn't ask for more.  I could reminisce about all the ups & downs we've had, but he & I know these things & that's what matters most.  Happy 10 years to my love, I look forward to many more together!   For those wondering, tonight we will be going to dinner at a nice restaurant & then headed to Paris to continue our celebration in September.  Am I a lucky lady or what??  Through the years together, we've had a lot of people look to our marriage as an example of a happy one.  The secret to our success is God's blessing on each of us & on our marriage.  Without God's grace & blessing on us, we would lack the foundation to build a life together.

Preschool pictures

2 weeks from now, Jessie will start 3 year old preschool at Eden Christian Academy.  I am excited & sad all at the same time.  I know she will do great & that the school she will be attending has a wonderful reputation, but she's growing up.  There's no denying that our almost 3 1/2 year old is becoming a big girl.  She has her own opinions about things & she's a very bright little girl (I know I'm bragging, but we think so) & I know it's time for her to start school.  I could hardly believe when I received our first (of many) school lists for this year.

1 large backpack

1 box of broad tip classic colors markers

1 large box of tissues

2 rolls of paper towels

2 packages of baby wipes

2 containers of Clorox wipes

1 large package of paper napkins

1 package of Ziploc sandwich bags

1 package of Ziploc gallon bags

1 package of Dixie cups

For some reason a school supplies list made it more real to me.  As for Jessica herself, she's so excited to start preschool & tells everyone, including folks at the dry cleaner & at Target that she's starting preschool!  She will be attending with one of her little playmates that we know through church & she's happy to have a little friend to begin this adventure with.  

Although, we do not live in the South anymore, I knew I wanted her to have a cute smocked dress for her 1st day...ok, well, for pictures also.  If we still lived down South, this is how I would dress her & I thought why not here...maybe she'll start a new fashion trend :)  Jessica, years from now when you look back on these pictures of you before you started 3 year preschool, know that we were/are so proud of you!  We love you baby girl & pray God's favor on you as you take your 1st step in your education.  

She's practicing raising her hand

This is her "cross" face...that's what she tells me anyway

She gave up on me & starting eating the apple

She's totally over these, but I wanted a full-length shot

Rosie & other notes

Jessica has taken to calling Ella, "Rosie".  Rosie is the name of Caillou's little sister.  To those parents reading, I'm sure you can all relate when you hear that I am no fan of Caillou.  His voice is like fingernails on a chalkboard.  You know the day is off to a bad start when Caillou is on the TV before 8am.  It's not that Caillou is an inherently evil cartoon, he's a little 4 year old boy who has adventures....but, that voice!!  Well, anyway, I'm sorry to those Caillou fans out there, but he's not my fav.  Ella even calls herself Rosie, sometimes out in public.  Jessica sometimes introduces herself as Caillou & Ella as Rosie...funny, right??  I always get looks like, wow those kids are a little strange.  Some other notable things that they are doing/saying right now:  Ella is doing well on the potty & even has made several trips outside of the house in big girl panties with no accidents.  She finally legitimately knows her colors...*cue angels singing*...I thought it would never happen & even briefly thought she might have some color blindness (although I do realize this is highly unlikely in a girl), but it finally happened.  Both girls have taken to telling me that they are busy & that I shouldn't bother them...sassy little things!  Sometimes in the afternoon when I ask them to come in from playing Jessie usually says, "Don't bother me, I'm too busy!"  Ella will usually then chime in to say "We busy". Jessica can now buckle herself into her car seat...awesome!!   Ella thinks spiders are all named "Charlotte" as in Charlotte's Web.  She thinks they all tickle her.  Jessie was explaining to her the other day that good spiders are named Charlotte and bad spiders are named "Mean".  Those are some of the recent things that I thought I should include for memories sake.

PS...thanks to Nuna for the cute dress for Ella...doesn't she look great in that color?

This is her "say cheese" face

Despite all of the fights, they do actually love each other

Bride dress up

The girls were asking to play brides the other day, I thought why not allow them to try on my veil & headpiece that I wore...almost 10 years ago.  Jessica, especially, felt very special to get to play bride dress up.  She said that one day she would "marry a prince".  Ella wouldn't really wear the veil, but she liked the "crown".  Jessie has been asking questions about being married, like, who she could marry.  She had it in her mind about a week ago that she would marry daddy.  I tried to explain to her that daddy was already taken, but she would have none of it.  When he got home from work, she did ask him if she could marry him.  Cute, right??  Here they are...pretty precious if you ask me.  I held Jessie up to the mirror in my bathroom to see herself & she said "I'm so beautiful"...yes, you are little girl, yes you are!

PS...excuse the blue marker on her hand, no time to edit it out :)