Back to School

Well, today was Lauren's first day of 1st grade! She was very excited to head back to school, although Nolan was very upset. After she got out of the car, he was crying, "Me, me, me!" He wanted to go with her. :( Then, all the way home he was saying, "More Lauren!" It was cute and sad at the same time. He will miss having her around, but I'm excited for the one-on-one time he and I will have together...it's my last year with him at home before he starts preschool! (sniff, sniff)

We had a special prayer time with Lauren last night and presented her with her verse for the year, which was Matthew 5:14 & 16: "You are the light of the world - like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. In the same way, let your light shine for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father." We know that God must really want her at GCA for another year, because our house still hasn't sold! She has a much smaller class this year (only 9 kids), which will mean more individual attention from the teacher, which is great!! We continue to praise the Lord for providing us with the means for her to attend a christian school. :)

Here are the pictures I took of her before getting in the car this morning:

When Lightning Strikes

Learning to trust God with our finances has been an ongoing lesson for the Smith family. Has anyone else ever felt this way? Just when we feel like we are getting ahead, a million things happen all at once! Lately we feel as if we are cursed…every day brings another unexpected expense. It is getting to the point where it is laughable – let me share with you the drama…these are the things we have had to shell out $$ for just in the last couple months:

· MRI to confirm diagnosis of a bulging disc in my L5 S1

· Physical therapy for my bulging disc

· Chest x-ray for Lauren to check for pneumonia (it was negative; turned out to be pertussis)

· 4 new tires for Ryan’s car, due to all the driving he does back and forth to work

· Repair for Ryan’s car due to hitting a coyote while driving to work in the early am

· Transmission flush and repair for my car

· New downstairs A/C unit due to a power surge when our house was struck by lightning (yes, you read that right)

As we watch our savings get completely depleted and our credit card debt increase, we have to remember that God has blessed us with so much…and we have seen much harder times than these. In situations like this, even though we want to ask “God, why??”, we know He has a plan. He is teaching us to rely more heavily on Him (like we should be doing anyway) and to praise Him when we have a little and when we have a lot. So, even though everything around us seems to be falling apart, we will continue to put our trust in the One who has never let us down, has always provided exactly what we need and continues to be faithful through all of life’s storms.

Operation Beautiful

I just read about this in a magazine and LOVED the idea of it! I started with a simple post-it note on Lauren's dresser mirror in her room, but you could do it anywhere!! :)


















The story behind it:

Caitlin Boyle, founder of Operation Beautiful, decided to put a post-it note up in a public bathroom for anyone to see who came across it. It simply read: "You are beautiful". She took a picture of the note and posted it on her blog - over the next year, hundreds of women followed suit and sent in pictures of their own random acts of encouragement; most of them put in public places...on telephone poles, on the scale at the local gym, on the copy machine at the office, on dressing room mirrors, etc.

Let's encourage other women - sisters, daughters, mothers, aunts, cousins, complete strangers...and even ourselves with this positive thinking! You may just make someone's day!! To learn more, visit http://www.operationbeautiful.com/.

Home Sweet Home

Well, we made it back safely from Oregon after an amazing 5 weeks of vacation! I was nervous about flying by myself with the two kids (I was outnumbered!), but the Lord blessed me beyond words! The kids were complete angels!! I had total strangers telling me how amazed they were at my kids' behavior. And I couldn't have been prouder - we colored, read books, had snacks and watched 1 movie on the first 4-hour flight. Then we had a 2-hour layover in Atlanta, where we ate lunch and "got our sillies out". Once we got on the 2nd plane, we were all tired (we had to wake up at 3am to leave Portland), so we snuggled up together and slept the whole way home to Charlotte!

We were all so excited to see Ryan and he was anxious to have us home (the house is pretty quiet when you're there all alone!). It took about 3 days to adjust back to East Coast time, but we are on track now. The kids have enjoyed rediscovering all their toys and it has been nice to sleep next to my husband again (minus the snoring, of course). :)

Now we're focusing on getting school supplies and ordering uniforms to get Lauren ready for 1st grade. I can't believe I have a first grader...when did that happen?!? We took her to get her hair cut yesterday and she decided she wanted to chop it. So, they cut around 4 inches off - much easier to handle in this heat (it was over 100 today!) and quicker to style before school each morning!! Here's a pic of her new 'do:

Summer Fun