olivia's baptism...

was one of the most special days i have experienced as a mother.  i have prayed that my children would grow up with a faith in christ and that they would have a relationship with him, but i have also known that my desires are not those of His and that was a decision and a relationship that only He could foster.
the journey to this day began several months ago, so let me start there...
on april 1, 2012 olivia felt the Lord speaking to her and confessed that she was a sinner and that her sin separates her from god, that she understood that christ loved her very much and came to earth to die on a cross for her (and all those who believe) so that she can be perfect in god's eyes and have a friendship with Him forever.  i'll admit i thought she was too young to understand all of that, but god reminded me that He is in the midst of this conversation and was completely capable of helping a little girl who truly has a heart for the Lord understand how very much He does love her.  we rejoiced with her, prayed with her, and continued to seek Him in fostering this new relationship.  olivia was a little nervous about talking to our pastor about what god was doing in her life and she was REALLY nervous about being in front of our whole church family to be baptized so we took baby steps over the next several months.  we encouraged her to continue to ask questions about her faith and new relationship.  we prayed for her heart and her confidence.  soon enough, in god's perfect timing, olivia was ready to talk to our pastor.  yay!!  god is so faithful! she spoke with our preschool minister about her decision and she gave us some great tools to continue on this faith journey with olivia.  fast forward a few more months, olivia was excited (and still a little nervous) to share her decision with our church family.  so the sunday she got her first grade bible, olivia shared with our church family that decision she made to ask God into her heart and that she wanted to be bapatized. we thanked God for giving her the confidence and step out of her comfort zone.  now that brings us to today...

our family was all there to celebrate with olivia.  mark watched from the stage since he was leading worship.  that actually made the day extra special.  ;)

another one of my greatest sources of joy-worship on sunday mornings with  my church family lead by mark and the worship band.  thankful for their gifts and how they use them to serve God.  

ellis asking o about her decision.

praise god for this day, this little girl, and for being an amazing god that cares about our olivia so much that he spoke to her and gave her a passion for him.   i stand amazed and so very thankful!

Matthew 28: 19-20

^"19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with youalways, to the very end of the age.”

seven years old...

it can't be possible that my first born girl is SEVEN!!  i am amazed daily at the life that God created when He made her.  olivia is kind, so smart, sensitive, determined, faithful, curious, artistic, the best big sister, considerate, loving, diligent, a great friend, thoughtful, talented, a super student, a rule follower, a precious granddaughter, fun, and loves Jesus.  it is such a joy to be her mommy and watch her grow into a lovely little girl who i know God has big plans for.  my prayer for her continues to be that she would seek Him first in all that she does and that she would know that He will be EVERYTHING she ever needs.

a birthday breakfast with decorations, donuts, and our little family

a birthday outfit from moonbeam!  a few birthday gifts from b and pop.

birthday dinner at benihana with gramps, nana, and the fam

a rockin' birthday gift- her very own iTouch from nana and gramps.

thank you God for olivia!  i am beyond blessed by her life, her example, and her love.

olivia,  your daddy and i are so very proud of the young lady that you are growing into.  may all your days as a seven year old be filled with love of family and friends, seeking Christ, lots of prayer, and even some new lessons learned to make you the best eight year old ever.  we love so very much!! 

special september sunday...

started off with a gathering a first graders ready to receive their bibles.

i love my church for a long list of reasons, but this particular sunday we participated in just one of them-- our church gives the gift of God's Word to each first grader.  what a precious gift given at the time when these little children are just learning to read.  it's perfect!!  olivia was super excited to get her bible presented by our friend and now children's pastor, ivy.

o and ivy with her brand new bible. 

all the first graders that were getting their bibles with their bible fellowship teachers.

olivia and daddy looking up some verses that ivy was sharing about what the bible says about this special book.

after a small presentation upstairs in the children's area with just parents, we headed down to "big church."  there each child was called up on the stage and our whole church prayed for these children that they would seek God's Word in their daily lives.

olivia getting her bible.  she was excited to have her bible but nervous to be on stage in front of everyone.  :)

as if that wasn't special enough, at the end of the service olivia made the decision that she was ready to share some big news with her church family.  she bravely walked down front and told pastor ellis that she was ready to be baptized.  she explained to him and ivy that she god spoke to her heart on april 1, 2012 and she prayed and asked jesus to be her savior and best friend of her life, but was just now brave enough to walk forward and share that news with her entire church family.  it was so great to celebrate her new relationship with jesus with our church and now we look forward to her baptism.

olivia and some of her biggest fans after the service.   pop, olivia, gram lois, b and nana.

what a special day!  truly the lord has blessed us (mark and i) with this precious little girl.  i am so grateful that she knows him personally at such a young age and that he has given her a heart for him.  she desires to read his word and know him more.  what a gift to witness and what a challenge it is for me to have the same child-like faith that she has along with a daily urning to know him more intimately.   thank you god for allowing me to be her mommy.  

the first day of first grade...

i honestly can't believe that i have an almost 7 year old who is in the FIRST GRADE!!  we had a great morning and she was all smiles and full of excitement starting a new school year.  i know she is going to have a fantastic year.

she looks so grown up and didn't even want a backpack.  check out the messenger bag.  :)  

sweet olivia.

this is how she felt about starting school.  so excited!!!

posing in front of her school.  if they would only trim that tree a bit.  :)

olivia and her teacher, mrs. graham.

her desk.

and her fun classroom.

i read this on a friend's blog and i think it speaks perfectly to how i feel and what i desire right now.  i have adopted it and prayed this everyday...

Dear Lord,

Thank you for the gift of motherhood and for entrusting us to raise these little girls in your name.  As they begin a new school year, we pray that their lives would be grounded in you.  May they live for you, reflect your love to others, and call on your name in times of joy and times of sadness.  May they grow in wisdom and make memories that will stay with them for a lifetime.  Jesus we pray patience for all teaching and joy in all friendships.  Help us as mothers to walk along them in this journey, pointing out their strengths and helping them grow.  In both good times and stressful moments, let our parenting words glorify You so that we may nurture their academic experience and enhance their faith.

Amen.

kindergarten graduation...

was a special night.  we celebrated olivia's year of kindergarten by watching her march down the aisle of her school cafeteria, wearing her paper homemade graduation hat and yarn tassel, and snapping a ba-jillion photos of our little girl.  we are so proud of the young lady that she is growing into.  she is a diligent student, an expressive artist, a rule follower, a sweet friend to everyone, and has the best heart and smile.

as she walked passed me and i saw this...

i can't help but think about how fast she is maturing.  she is independent and so very capable of so many things.  these nine months have been full of growth and change, and also blessings and answered prayers.

her sweet class singing about the fun year they had together.

can this really be happening?  she is almost done with KINDER!!

this year she developed new friends all by herself.  no longer am i the one that sets up the playdate and is there to coach her in her social situations.  allison is her best friend at school.  olivia chose well.  allision is a precious little girl with a sweet heart and is faithful and loyal to olivia.  watching their friendship develop has been such a joy (with a few bumps along the way too!).

olivia and allison.  such sweet friends.

this year god was so gracious to answer my prayers by giving olivia a teacher that has a heart for christ. ms. pattillo was the best kindergarten teacher for olivia and really understood her spirit.  i love that when olivia come into school the day after she had asked jesus into her heart and shared her decision with her teacher, she truly understood what a BIG decision that was and celebrated with her.  then she wrote me the sweetest email and shared her joy with me.  it is moments like these that only god can orchestrate.

mrs. pattillo and olivia.

and this year has proven to me once again what an incredible family i am apart of.  olivia continues to have the biggest fan club in the audience anytime she is on the stage.  her family has loved, supported, encouraged, and been present throughout her year.  she doesn't even know how lucky she is, but i know that they are the reason she is becoming the incredible young lady that she is.  so blessed and grateful.

 (nana was behind the camera in most of these.  sad we don't have one of nana and o.)

chrissie and o.

her little brother is so proud of her and looks up to her for so many things. 

olivia and b.

our little family.

olivia, we are so proud of you!  may the lord continue to guide your paths and shape your heart in everything that you do.  can't wait to see what amazing things he will lead you to do next year as a FIRST GRADER!!  love you!

a featured artist...

our olivia!!!  olivia's artwork was chosen by her art teacher out of all the kindergarten students at her school and was on display at the public library.  of course, she was critical of her work telling us how she could have made it better, but very proud of herself at the same time.

the proud artist

the piece.  she used oil pastels, crayons, and watercolors to create this piece.

we are so incredibly proud of the hard work and effort that olivia shows in all things that she does, especially at school.  art is definitely something she loves, so to be recognized in that area is extra special for her.  she is still dreaming of being an artist one day ("the kind that sits in the park and paints"- her words) so this is a good start in that direction.  

a week of awards...

and it is only wednesday!!!  her birthday is over, but we continue to celebrate olivia this week.

monday night, her soccer team had a team dinner to celebrate a great fall season.  at the end of the dinner each of the girls were presented with a trophy and the coaches told them what a good job they did this season.

christman telling her how proud he was of her and the way she played all season.

coach john, o, and coach christman- the best coaches!!

first good look at the trophy!!

our last game is this saturday.  to be honest, i am looking forward to a break from weekly practices and games, but i am going to miss getting to see olivia shine on the soccer field.  i am also going to miss all of her sweet friends and their parents.  hopefully team lyon will be back together in the spring for more soccer fun!!

but wait, there is more!!!  yesterday, olivia's school celebrated all the achievements of the second six weeks of school at their award assembly.  jack and i were there because last week ms. pattillo sent me and email saying that olivia would be receiving the principal's award.  this is a BIG deal!  only one student from each class is chosen to receive this award each six weeks.  ms. pattillo said that o was selected because "she always works very hard and does her best work AND she is very helpful to other students in our class."  to say that i was proud of her is an understatement.  :) (sadly, mark had an important meeting and couldn't be there.)  sorry for the poor photography- forgot the good zoom lens.

her name was called!!

ms. kirpatrick giving her the award.

her teacher, ms. pattillo, o, and her principal, ms. kirpatrick

what a fun week!!  so proud of you o!!  we love you and it brings us such joy watching you accomplish great things!!

olivia's REAL birthday day...

started with a birthday breakfast.

eggs (her favorite) and cinnamon biscuits, and a candle of course.

i am in disbelief that she is SIX!!!

then daddy, rara, and b brought her chick-fil-a for lunch at school (i had to work) AND she bought her whole class an ice cream treat to celebrate her special day.  oh, and her principal wished her a happy birthday on the announcements in the morning and gave her a birthday pencil.  (that was a BIG deal to her.)

after school, chrissie picked her up.  they walked back home and were able to spend some time together and chrissie gave her the BEST birthday card, a beautiful purple princess crown and wand, plus a really neat princess puzzle.  i think the best part for o was getting chrissie all to herself for about an hour.  :)

o and chrissie-- they love each other so much!

once i got home, we headed to mcdonald's where pop, rara, abby, kk, and jack were waiting to celebrate o some more.  we walked in and they started singing "happy birthday!" and we all ate some ice cream together.  then the kids played for a little while before it was off to the next event.

"happy birthday to you!!!"

we came back home to find uncle sean and nana at our house.  uncle sean was working on the chair to go with the desk that nana and gramps gave o.  he also brought a barbie birthday gift for o.  she loves anything barbie!!

b stopped by and brought part 2 of olivia's birthday gift from she and pop and to wish her a very happy birthday.  in addition to the awesome american girl bed, pop and b gave olivia some money to go shopping and buy some new clothes for school.  the money was not in a card, but b hid it in a "quilt making kit" so o had to dig through all the pieces and find it.  it was so cute and o is excited to make the quilt too!!

to end the night, we continued our tradition of going to benihana with nana and gramps.  this year uncle sean was able to go with us too!!  dinner was yummy (as usual) and olivia had her third serving of ice cream for the day. :) (only on your birthday is that close to being acceptable.)

 as olivia climbed into bed that night, i wished her a happy birthday one more time, and she responded, "mommy, i think this is the best birthday i've had yet!!" i think i might have to agree.  :)


our sweet olivia!  we can't believe that you are six years old today.  you have so many people in your life that love, support, and celebrate you, but no one loves you more than your daddy and i.  our hearts grew bigger six years old when we saw you for the first time and they have not stopped going since that moment.  you teach us about compassion and how to love others by your example.  you challenge us in the questions you ask and your perspective on life.  you are truly a gift from God.  we are so lucky that He chose us to be your mommy and daddy.  we love you so much!!  can't wait to see what you will accomplish this year.  happy birthday!! 

the first day...

of kindergarten was FANTASTIC!!

here is our sweet kindergartener ready to walk to school...

she was so excited to get to school and begin this new chapter in her life. i was so thankful she was full of smiles. such an answer to my prayers!!

we arrived at her school, posed for a few more pictures...

in front of the school. (i hope to take this pic every year. she looks so small now, that will change.)

then after a short walk from being greeted by the principal to her class it started to hit me-- this is really happening!! she is going to be in school 5 days a week, all day!! oh my!!

she was thrilled to see her teacher and even let me take ANOTHER picture.

o & ms. pattillo. isn't she darling? the teacher and o. :)

she found the perfect hook for her backpack, found her name tag, and then her spot on the carpet, and diligently began reading at the books waiting for her. such a good student!!

as we waved good-bye one last time and walked out of the building, i have to admit, i was a little teary-eyed. a bit unexpected from me, and i continued to fight some tears as we walked home. i just can't believe that she is almost 6 years old and in kindergarten!!

i wondered all day what she was doing? is she was meeting friends? did she like her lunch? will she want to go back tomorrow?

when i greeted her after school, she was still full of smiles and stories from the day!! success!!

after school, we had a date with the fifer girls and all the grandparents at mcdonalds for ice cream and to tell everyone about the first day. the kids were more interested in the ice cream and playing, but their faces lit up to see all the grandparents there to give them hugs and smiles.

at home i made a special "first day of kindergarten dinner" for her. she had picked the menu a few days ago (spaghetti & meatballs, ceasar salad AND fruit salad, bread, and chocolate pudding), but i surprised her with a few (last-minute) decorations to make dinner feel extra special. :)

i am so thankful that day one was a success from every aspect. i am humbled that the lord gave me the gift of this sweet little girl to love and experience life with day after day. i am reminded that he gave me this gift with the promise that he is there at each step of the way, always watching over her. he is always near. thank you god for your indescribable gift and your faithfulness, unending love, protection, and hearing my prayers.