My daughter has friends

Ellie and Chloe

I know it sounds funny, but I truly am amazed that my 3 year old has friends... she asks if they can come over and play, she wants to be around them. My little baby that I brought home from the hospital has grown and learned to talk, and dress herself, and is potty trained... and has a little group of friends. Is this where it all starts? I have found myself taking a step back and looking at the big picture... it seems like right now, at this moment in time.. this is who Ellie is. The 3 year old. The preschooler. It has just occured to me that she will get bigger. She will get older. And when she's 10, I won't be able to imagine her any older than she is. When she's 10, 11, 12, etc, 3 will seem a million miles away. Just the other day she wanted me to pretend to feed her a bottle from one of her baby dolls. I told her that she used to drink a bottle and that I would rock her to sleep. She kept arguing with me. "No, I not a baby! I'm Ellie!" It's so weird that these things only happened 2 years ago. Of course I remember them, but of course she doesn't. She has no clue what I'm talking about when I tell her how much she loved cereal and bananas in the morning, and how she would squirt baby food out of her mouth. She thinks I'm crazy. I guess it's all happening really fast, and before I know it she'll be 10, and I'll be telling her stories from when she was 3 and she won't remember any of it. So I guess I'll just embrace Ellie the 3 year old while I can, give all the hugs and kisses I can, and let her sit on my lap, pretend to do my hair, and let her tell me that she loves me all I can.

I got a job! And another one...

No, I'm not driving a combine! Let me explain first how farming works out here. It's totally different than back home. Farmers out here own so much land that they have to hire custom harvesters to help them cut their corn, milo, and sunflowers. These custom harvesters travel all over the US harvesting for different farmers. They bring all their own equipment, their own men, their own trailers... it's crazy. The custom harvester I'm working for, Carl and Karen (great people) needed help with lunches and laundry. Karen has to get 15 lunch buckets packed and taken out to the fields everyday, so I'm helping her. It's quite fun. It's only 8am to 1pm everyday except Sunday, but I really do like it, I've learned a ton about farming! Here's the twist - I had an interview at First National Bank here in town about 2 1/2 weeks ago - I thought they forgot about me. That's why I took the job with Carl and Karen. Of course, the bank calls yesterday and wants to hire me! I've worked out the hours so that I can do both, and I start at the bank on Monday! Since harvest only lasts until the beginning of November, the people at the bank were very gracious in letting me work the hours out so I can continue to help Karen. Ellie's sitter will be my friend Shana, the same girl who teaches the preschool class in her home. God just seems to be working out all the details, and I am so thankful!

Ellie's First Day of Preschool

I can't believe it. I'm taking "first day" pictures. Josh made fun of me. This is a milestone, don't you think?! Because we have no preschool teacher at the moment at our church, my good friend Shana is taking advantage of her Early Childhood Development degree and teaching Ellie, her son Cole, and her niece Chloe in her home. They are starting to work on an "All About Me" book, and have even learned new songs today! She had a great first day!


Schoolbox in hand with crayons, scissors and glue inside, she's ready!


The students - Chloe, Cole and Ellie (and Addison wanting to be part of it.) The classroom - Shana's kitchen!


Shana's adorable 15 month old daughter, Addison.