How cute is this kid?!

Happy Tet!

The Last Couple of Days in Pictures......

Molly has enjoyed the last couple of days. The weather has been lovely--snow earlier this week and 60 degrees by the weekend. I was so excited to get to take Molly to the park after work yesterday afternoon. We met Anna and A.J. for a walk. Molly really likes A.J.! Last night, I hung out with Annie Beth (I took my first field trip to Trader Joes) and tonight we had the McArthurs over for dinner. So far, it's been a fun weekend! :-)

Deal Seekers!

So, I LOVE a good deal and I LOVE my friend Laura's blog because she is always posting about her amazing deals. So we thought it would be fun to create a blog where anyone can post about great deals they've found. If you are interested in posting, email me or leave a comment and I will email you the password. Or you can just check out all of other people's great deals!

www.dealseekerladies.blogspot.com

15 Months Old

Our baby girl is 15 months old today! And in honor of her 15 month birthday, Brian is reading her the Westminster Larger Catechism as we speak. She's incredibly interested, Daddy. :-)

Snow Day!

We had the day off of school today due to snow. Tara, I know you are laughing at school being canceled with our two inches of snow. But you know how we are here in the south! :-)

It snowed overnight, so when we woke up, Molly got to see the snow first thing. She played in the snow for about 10 minutes and had a great time! My child who doesn't like to touch the grass walked all over the place in the snow. Go figure! :-)

I was also glad to have the day off of school because we got to watch the inauguration. What a neat thing to be able to watch history in the making.

It was a fun snow day!

Brian's New Job

Brian recently lost his job, but God was SO good and opened the door for him to work for our friends' company, North Carolina Farms. This has been such an amazing blessing and Brian is very excited. Today was his first official day and he really enjoyed it.

Tonight, our friends Brad and Annie Beth surprised Brian with a little "Welcome to NC Farms" party. Annie Beth fixed some wonderful chili and we had chocolate cake for dessert. Yummy!

I wanted to get a picture of Brian outside of North Carolina Farms, but it got dark. I'll have to take my camera out there and get some pictures one day. I went on a tour last year and it was really interesting. Maybe Brian will come home with a green thumb! :-)

Happy Birthday, Dr. King!

Tomorrow I will have the day off of work as our country honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I am so thankful that Dr. King followed God's lead on his life and as a result, in my classroom, "little black boys and black girls join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers."

In math this week, we've been talking about similarities and differences. I made a Venn Diagram with the class and used two students: a Caucasian girl and an African American boy. We talked about how the students were the same and how they were different. Do you know that my children NEVER mentioned the color of their skin. Their height was mentioned, their hair length and color, the fact that one wore glasses and one didn't, one was a boy and one was a girl, even their clothing, but not one child noticed that they had different skin colors.

Praise God for the accepting hearts of children. Praise God for Dr. King!

Daddy's Girl

It's been really neat to watch Brian and Molly's relationship unfold. When we picked Molly up in Vietnam, she didn't mind Brian, but didn't really pay him too much attention either. Then she started really enjoying her playtime with Daddy, but wanted Mommy most of the time. But lately, she has been a DADDY'S girl! She gets SO excited when Brian gets home clapping her hands and yelling "Dada! Dada!" at the top of her lungs. She still only wants Mommy to put her to bed at night, but really prefers Daddy the rest of the day. It's so very sweet! The above pictures were taken before bed tonight.

Hump Day Update

Whew! I'm half way through the first week back at school! Things have gone very well this week. My kids have been great, it's been nice to see my friends at work, and Molly is once again enjoying being spoiled by Nana everyday. Although, Molly's newest word is "hot" and Nana says that Molly won't eat her omelets anymore because she says they're "hot." We always pick on Nana for making Molly huge breakfasts (omelets, pancakes, etc.) so she insists that while I was home we convinced Molly not to eat Nana's omelets anymore. Ha! :-)

All kidding aside, we feel SO very blessed to have Nana taking care of Molly everyday. Molly couldn't have it any better--Nana even took her to the mall today! :-)

Tonight, we got to hang out with our great friends from college, Luke and Sara. Luke and Sara now live in California so we don't get to see them very often. It was SO fun hanging out tonight. It was like we were back in college--plus a couple of kids. :-)

We love you, Luke and Sara!!

The boys!

The girls! Last time we were together, Nicole was pregnant.

The whole group--just like college days. Only it's 8PM and we're all ready for bed!

Thanks for the cool pink giraffe that matches my room, Mr. Luke and Miss Sara!Cute babies!Happy Cooper!Is that whipped cream?! Oh, my, Daddy! That's naughty! :-)

In other news, I was honored to accept the "Friend of the Year Award" last night. I was nominated by my good friend Annie Beth after going to Target with AB very late (okay--like 8PM) last night. I was still in my PJs when she called, so I came--PJs and all. Here I am with my award--AB bought me a Starbucks drink! :-)

Okay, okay....while I didn't really win any kind of cool award, my friend Jessica from church did. Jessica won the teacher of the year award for the REGION!! How cool is that?! Here she is with our county's superintendent (who I also love--he was my high school principal).

Congratulations, Jessica! You can read the whole story here.

Winter Break Coming to an End...

Well, after three weeks at home with Molly, it's back to work Monday. I went into my classroom yesterday to drop off some things, and got excited about going back to work for the first time this week. I love my kids and I love my job, but it has been SO nice to spend three weeks at home with my baby. But this time of year is always fun. The kids really take off after Christmas, and it's amazing to watch their growth. And while I'm sure Molly will miss me being home, I know she's going to have a great time with Nana (as always!)--she's already looking forward to her omelet breakfast. :-)

Poor Molly has more teeth coming through. You know what no one ever told me about teething? It lasts FOREVER! Luckily, it only seems to bother her when they first come through and then she seems to be okay. But the last couple of days they've obviously been bothering her. She's been crying at bedtime, chewing on her fingers, and cranky during the day. I'll be glad when they finish coming through and she can get some relief!

But despite her teething troubles, Molly had a fun night tonight. Her Donahue buddies came to play for a little while tonight and she always loves playing with other kids. Here are some pictures from tonight--I thought you'd enjoy these, Granny! :-)

New Haircut

I don't know what it is about wintertime that makes me want to chop my hair off, but I did it again this year! It's NEVER been this short--but luckily my hubby likes it! :-)

Dear Miss Annie Beth and Miss Dana

You can now rest easy!! :-)

Baby Play Date

Molly had a fun day today! She had a play date with Maia (her friend from Vietnam who was in her orphanage), Emily, and Caleb. We played at Maia's house and Molly had a fun time playing with all of Maia's toys.

The girls (plus Roxy)

I love Emily's face in this picture--what a cutie!

Molly decided she likes Miss Dana today!

Molly and Maia watching Roxy outside

Reading a book with Mrs. Dana

Caleb napped for most of the play date--but this is proof that he was really there!

And a picture of Annie Beth--just because it's cute! :-)

Starting the new year off with....

A visit from Tara!

And fun times with our baby girl!

Tonight before bath.....
(Think she needs one? hehe!)

During....

And after....All Clean! :-)

2009!

Is it really 2009 already?! Brian rang in the new year at Josh and Brooke's annual New Years party. My mom spent the night and we watched High School Musical and ended up sleeping through most of the festivities. Of course, Molly rang in the new year in her crib.

Today we had a pretty low-key New Years Day. We all took naps and then went over to Nana's for her traditional corned beef New Years Day dinner. Yum! I'm excited to see what God has in store for our family in 2009!

Happy New Year!

Molly's first picture of 2009
French Toast Breakfast

Our first family picture of 2009

Having fun at Nana's houseSweet baby in her PJs