They did it! They went to Kindergarten all on their own... I didn't have to hold them, console them, and ... to my great sadness... I didn't even have to worry about them missing me. They were SO VERY EXCITED to go to Kindergarten and to ride the bus. They were both bouncing off the walls with excitement. And when they came home.... THEY WERE STILL EXCITED!!!!

SCHOOL TOMORROW AND ERIN NEEDS PRAYER

I think I will start off with some news on Erin and her need for prayer. She played in the scrimmage on Friday. They won 1-0! Yippee!! Erin scored. She enjoyed the game and is pretty excited about the season. Unfortunately, she may have really injured her leg during that game. She is tougher then most athletes. She rarely complains about the pain and usually plays right through it if she is able. She had rested her leg all weekend, but it hasn't seemed to have helped. She was playing in practice and the coach called her out. He asked her if she was injured. She said yes and he immediately sent her to the trainer. The trainer feels she has stretched or pulled (or something like that) her outside perimeter ligaments/tendons.... not sure exactly because the little ones were making a lot of noise while we were talking. She will need her leg to be taped up during play. It really hurts her to twist her body. That is a crucial move in soccer. This is the time the coach will be finalizing the starting line up and key players. She is determined to play through the pain. They have a scrimmage tomorrow. Please pray that she stays strong and can play through the pain... but more importantly, that she does not injure herself even further or that the injury is not worse and she could end up causing more damage.

Today, Emily begins classes. Tomorrow, Sam, Jacob and Elizabeth and Ri all begin. And next week, Erin begins. I will post more later. For now, I am going to go enjoy the last day with my kids.

My heart is missing my baby girls!!!




Thank you, to all those who prayed for Erin. We were able to Skype her last night (you gotta love technology!) and she looks great; exhausted... but great. She is practicing/playing hard about 5 hours a day. Her knees are still in a great deal of pain, but she is managing it. Unfortunately, I didn't send Ibuprofen - I have no clue way! I knew she would be needing it for soccer. The worse part is that there is no store for her to walk to. We will have to send some to her. When her knees are this bad, the doctor told us to have her take 800 mg a dose. She needs to be taking it BEFORE she practices. She mentioned something about her shoulder, but the little ones were VERY loud at the moment and I didn't hear her (then we got distracted and I forgot to ask). The great thing about being able to see her was to be able to "read" her and try to determine if the "sadness" I heard was really sadness or it simply exhaustion. After seeing her, I am convinced that she is just exhausted. I had feared that the love she once had for soccer was gone.... but that does not seem to be the case. I still see that "Erin sparkle" when she talks about playing. The team has a scrimmage today. The coach is only taking 20 girls. She finds out this morning if she is one of the 20.

As for me, I do much better when I know my kids are doing ok. Emotionally, I am fine unless I really stop and think. Different things hit me. Last night, I was staring at Erin's walls .... trying to figure out where to begin.

And my eye drew to some picture of Erin and her best friend. For some reason, I began to choke up a little. And when i was cleaning out her backpack, there was an old paper of hers. When I started reading it, I had to stop. Weird. I feel just fine and then... wammm... something makes me get a little sad about my baby being gone.

To make my emotions a little more jumbled.... Emily left for Baptist Bible College yesterday. We sent her with a car so that she could go see Erin play once in a while and so that she could bring Erin home at Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. Emily is a rock. She is an amazing young lady. She couldn't wait to get to school. The difference in a year is amazing to me. Last year, she was terrified of going. This year, leaving us was no big deal. She hugged us and smiled saying that she would see us in a few months. Having been gone all summer and experiencing God in such an incredible way has made her very, very strong.

I called her last night, thinking she would have officially be settled in. I laughed because of who she is! Emily is all about relationships. Before she even pulled into the dorm, she had gone to her work to see her boss and find some of her friends. Before she even began to get her room in order, she had spent 3 hours with a very good friend from last year. They both had done some "growing up" in God and spent the entire time talking about how God had worked in their life over the summer. By the end, they had set up a time to meet this morning for a prayer walk. Their goal is to meet every day for a prayer walk. Now THAT is VERY exciting to me!!! It was 11:00 when I talked with her and she was just beginning to unpack. (she had arrived at school at 6:30) And even at that moment, she had just received a text from someone who was begging to meet up with her then (though curfew is at 11:00 so I don't think she was able to).

Well, I love the life my girls are beginning to live. I am truly grateful! I am so blessed to have such beautiful, strong, precious girls!



Over the weekend, we spent the day at Papaw's family reunion. Here are a few pictures. The kids and I went, but Mark had to work. We missed having him with us.

Saying goodbye....... it's not so easy on me.











It is funny how things feel to me these days. I walk into Erin's room and if I stop to think at all, I need to walk away. I am ok if I just go in and start working at changing it (Jacob is going to move in to it), but if I take a moment to think of my little girl and go through her things... I really do need to go do something else. My home is getting a bit smaller and my heart is aching a bit more. We took Erin to school on Sunday. Most likely, she will not be home until Christmas (unless her team does not make the national tournament and then she will be home Thanksgiving). We get to see her a few times when the team travels to Ohio to play and when we go there at least once. I am so excited for her, yet my heart aches. When we left her, she seemed so empty and sad. It broke my heart. She had a smile on her face, but the smile was one that saddened my heart. We left her, alone.... knowing she was aching that she wouldn't see Jacob (her boyfriend) for 4 months..knowing that she was a little apprehensive about soccer, knowing that she wouldn't have a roommate for 2 weeks... knowing that her room is very dull and empty (not feeling like home or cozy - the rooms are so small that it is hard to make it that way) and something about it just made me sad.... knowing that she wouldn't be home... knowing that she is an independent child.. yet knowing that she is tougher then nails and wouldn't show much emotion if she were aching. There was just something that made me sad.

Which leads me to this post. For those of you who have a walk with Jesus... could you pray for her? I just spoke to her and I really feel like she needs some prayer. Her body is so physically warn out. They are practicing morning and evening. Her knees are really hurting her. It has been awhile since her knees have acted up. She needs to take ibuprofen regularly right now and keep them iced, but hasn't. Her back is really hurting (which may be a result of overcompensating because of her knees or just from the intense practices). And her shoulder is popping out. She talked to the trainer about it. The trainer informed her that she is probably going to have to have surgery when the season is over to repair it and that the next time it pops out, she may have some issues with getting it back in. So please pray for her body. Pray the shoulder stays strong through the season and that we can get it repaired at the end. She is an amazngly strong child and can keep an intense physical pace.. but with these new issues, it is going to be hard on her.