Thankful

I am so thankful for my daughter. She's been a huge help to me. She will fix she and her brothers (and sometimes me) lunch when I ask her to. She'll sometimes get them breakfast. She sorted the laundry (it is crazy how much there is). She gets me things I need and helps with the boys. I'd be so lost without her help.

I'm also thankful that God provided us a church family already. How often do you move to a place and already have a church family (before you even move there)? Normally it takes us awhile! I know God provided it because He knew we'd need it. The Pastor's wife brought dinner last week, another woman called and said she'd try to bring dinner this week and another has emailed. I just wish we all didn't live so far from one another!!!

Well, off to rest. I am exhausted after a night of hardly any sleep.

First Weekend in Iowa

Well, we experienced our first weekend in Iowa. Zach already goes to work tomorrow. I'm wondering how I'll keep the three kiddos busy while he's gone! I guess I will have to find some parks or something to occupy our time or I may go mad within these walls;)


Friday we drove back down to Ankeny. We wanted to try to find a fridge. We met some of our neighbors, who all seem really nice. They also pured the cement for our driveway and sidewalks. Then we went and bought a new dining room table! I've been wanting a new one for awhile...we outgrew our other one awhile ago. You can see a picture of it here. We also drove around the campus a bit so Zach could be familiar with it. It certainly is a beautiful campus.

Yesterday we drove down to Des Moines just to weigh the vehicles. Fun. Then we checked out the mall in Ames, briefly. I was actually looking for a new maternity swimming suit since the clasp on my other one broke. No luck at the mall so we went to Target. Yes, Target!!!! For those of you who don't know we had NO Target in Mississippi. The closest one was in Mobile, about an hour away. Well, in the town we'll live in we'll have SUPER Target!!! Can you believe the luck in that!?!? On the way to Target we spotted a park and let the kiddos burn off some energy.

We also got an email from our realtor saying they're having a hard time getting somebody out to the house to connect the gas and electric. Apparently most people were sent to Eastern Iowa to help, but in my mind you'd think they'd leave some people here for work. This may all set our closing date back...which would really, really stink. So please, please pray that everything goes well and they're able to get out there this week to hook us up so we can close on the 2nd like planned. My mom flies in that same day and I really need her here to help me out or I'll really have back pain!!

We ate at a Panera Bread for the first time...oh it was delicious. I'm so sick of greasy food and wanted some healthy. We came back to the hotel and the kiddos and Zach swam and I did laundry. I would have swam but my back and stomach have really been hurting lately so I just watched.


Today we went to church. It was nice to see familiar, friendly faces. After church they had a potluck picnic at the park and we were able to go and eat healthy food and more importantly fellowship. The kiddos made some fast friends, especially Chatterbox! She really seemed to hit it off with one of the Pastor's daughters. My back was just aching when we left and I came back to the hotel and crashed and feel much better. The left side of my back has really been bothering me. Wish I had my heating pad or something. At least resting in bed seemed to help today though.

Awana Awards

We had our Awana Awards Sunday night. I don't really have any pictures of Cuddly Boy because when he got his award Zach & I were up there too, as Cubbies leaders. He got the first year Cubbie Award- a Cubbie bear to put on your vest.

Little Man getting his 1st year book award

Princess getting her 3rd year book award (she went and stood right by her brother;))

I don't know why Princess is so serious looking;) These are their attendance awards- they only missed 2 club meetings! Cuddly Boy was too shy to go up!

But he didn't mind making a face at me while we were sitting!

They handed out Bibles to those who have accepted Jesus within the past couple of years. Princess' name is on the Bible and she was pretty excited about that! She's been carrying it around with her the past couple of days!

It is really weird to think that we're done with Awana. I had a few girls both this year and last year and you really grow close to them. They're moving up to Sparks and we're moving away but I will miss those little girls. At our last Cubbie meeting a few weeks ago I was thinking about them in years to come and wondering if they'd even remember Miss Jamie! I hope that their time in Cubbies helped them to learn more about the Lord and what He's done for them. It is always so rewarding working with children and teaching them about Jesus. One of the little girls gave me a card and it was so precious.

I think Princess is a bit sad that it is over. She mentioned about going when we're in Iowa but I'm not sure that will be the case! Since I teach them Bible in school I think I'm going to incorporate memorizing verses next year, rather than doing Awana verses. Also, the church we more than likely found does not have Awana (although I know we could always go to another for Awana). And I admit I like my Sunday nights to stay at home and enjoy a quiet family meal and family day;)

I am proud of how well my children did with memorizing this year! They really pushed themselves to finish their books and did a great job!