Chloe's Baptism

Chloe recently made the decision to be baptized. She had asked if she could be baptized about a year ago after saying the prayer of salvation in Sunday school. However, I wanted to be absolutely sure that she was making the decision for the right reason and that she truly understood what her decision meant, especially since she was so young. She asked again this past August. After talking to her about it, I knew in my heart that she was ready. We decided that she should be baptized on the last Sunday in September, allowing us time to invite our family to her baptism.

Chloe with our Children's Pastor, Pastor David, before her baptism

I was so nervous and excited for Chloe as she was baptized. I had to take off the heels that I had worn to church that morning because my legs were shaking. It was beautiful to witness.

We like celebrations in our household and what better reason to celebrate than Chloe's public declaration of her faith. We invited the family over for a simple reception after the church service.

(Note to self: Turn off the chandelier before taking family pictures in the dining room.)

What celebration would be complete without a cake?

Chloe received this beautiful cross necklace from Aunt Dana and Uncle Tommy as a baptism gift.

We couldn't have asked for a better Sunday, sharing faith and spending time with family.

Evan's a Kindergartener

It's official. Evan's a Kindergartener!

Yes. My sweet, shy, insightful boy started Kindergarten. He has such a reserved personality (in public), it makes me smile to see what he wants to be when he grows up. He chooses such bold professions. If you remember last year's first day sign, he wanted to be a policeman when he grew up. He's my thinker, always analyzing a situation, so I know that he will do great in lines of work that require fast thinking. I guess we will have to wait and see...

Evan met his teacher, Mrs. E, and his new class on Monday, August 17th, during a "get acquainted" hour at school. He was so nervous the night before. We sprinkled some jitter glitter under his pillow and read a poem that was given to me at Open House by his new teacher. It must have worked because he did great.

It's so rare that Evan and I have one-on-one time, so after the meet-and-greet, I decided to take the rest of the morning off of work to spend it with him. I didn't plan a breakfast like I did for Chloe, but I thought it would be fun to have a picnic in the park. We had some time to kill before lunch, and Evan decided that we should go to the Dollar Tree to pick out a toy to help pass the time;) Afterwards, we stopped by Burger King, Evan's choice, to pick up lunch.

Then, we headed we headed to Blount Cultural Park to enjoy a picnic and morning in the park.

Evan is loving Kindergarten. He seems to be much more confident this year compared to last year. It probably helps that four of his classmates from last year are in his class again this year. I love hearing stories about his new friends and to see how he is coming along academically. He's definitely coming into his own. I'm so proud of you my handsome, sweet, shy, analytical, and witty boy!

At the Zoo with Grandpa

Grandpa (my dad) came into town over Labor Day Weekend for a quick visit.

We spent a lot of time talking and catching up, so not many pictures were taken over the weekend. However, we did make an excursion to the Montgomery Zoo while he was in town. Here were a few of my captures from our outing.

We stopped at the "bird house" first.

" Ooh, Momma! He's letting me hold him!"

We walked around and looked at the animals!

We even played in the zoo's park with Grandpa for a bit.

The littles pretended to be bears in a cave.

 

And, the littles took one final picture with Grandpa before we headed home for dinner.

It's been a couple of years since we've visited with Grandpa, so this time was precious to us. We love and miss him so much. We have a trip planned to visit him over the Thanksgiving holidays, so it won't be so long between visits this time. We can't wait!