Around here...

I don't know about anyone else, but around the Baum house things seem to be (hopefully) evening out.  Last week was a tough one!  Collin Henry doesn't adapt to change very well.  Our first week in a new class at school was a rough one.  Even with all of my exclamations of how "cool" or "fun" something was, he continued to stand in a corner picking the skin on his lips and staring at the floor more times than I care to remember.  Can we say nervous habit?

So on Friday of last week when I found out his new teacher was going to be on vacation this week, I had to bite my tongue!  Because these thoughts were bouncing around my head and threatening to come out of my mouth...You are kidding, right?.....We are just now getting comfortable with you!.....Please, Lord, don't let the sub be an idiot.....Why?!?!.....

We spent the weekend talking a little bit about how Collin was going to have a sub this week, because as he put it, "Ms. Eva is going to be on 'Cation'".  He also told me she's going to see fireworks; is that what he thinks people do on vacation?

Monday morning rolled around, and we were very excited to meet our sub.  She's a cute, sweet gal who has hit it off with Collin's class this week.  He told me on Tuesday morning, "Mommy, I wanna go to school and see 'dat girl".  I said, "Ms. Suzanne?", and he said, "Yeah!!  Her wears cute clothes."  And then he grinned from ear to ear.  Apparently, colorful scrub pants and t-shirts are all that it takes to impress him.

So praise God from who all blessings flooooowwwwww, we are having a good week around here (with regard to daycare, anyway).


Because the end of our summer has really just flown by / run together, and I haven't done a very good job of documenting the past few weeks, here are some visual aides...

I usually take Collin to Starbucks on Friday afternoons.  I get off work a little earlier than normal, so we kill an hour before Daddy gets home and I get my fix!  We are so beyond ecstatic to have Ms. Kristen Wiley (that's how Collin says her name - the whole thing!) here in AR!  On our last two Fridays, she has accompanied us to Starbucks.  We are indebted to her, because last Friday she stood in line while we were parking and saved us a spot among the 100 undergrad students who decided they too needed a caffeine fix on the last day of their first week of school.  Also, because she let Collin talk to her fun boyfriend, PJ, on the phone.  Collin calls him, "Pee-day".  Yep.

On Saturday, Jarrod had a "guys-only" day.  Collin and I went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and spent most of the day counting down the hours until Jarrod returned!

A few weeks ago when I was dropping Collin off in the morning at school, he was wanting to get a little upset with me for leaving him.  His friend, Isabella, was rocking in a rocking chair and immediately said, "Collin, come rock with me!"  She scooted over, made room for him and patted the spot next to her.  He ran over and climbed up into the chair with her.  Precious!

Collin's Nonne & Papa came to visit a couple of weeks ago.  We all loaded up and spent some time in Heber Springs at a friend's lake house.  It was a great weekend!  Here we are driving at 9:00 pm in a thunderstorm - ignore Landry's scary eyes!

Landry Paige turned 6 years old at the beginning of this month.  She needs a haircut, but she is our first-born child and we love her!  Collin says she is his "sissy".

Gorgeous evening view from the deck of the lake house, and this is just half of it!

And last, as most of you know, Jarrod turned 30(!) this month.  He sent me this picture that day to let me know he made it up Pinnacle in record (for him) time.  Proving he's not an old man...yet!

First Day of School - 2013

It's that time of the year, y'all.  The time when shiny new markers are purchased, watercolor paints and boxes of Kleenex.  The time when everything is new and anything seems possible.  The time when kiddos put on brand new sneakers and actually stand still to let their mommas comb their hair in the morning.  The time when Pinterest is blowing up with Crockpot recipes.  And let's not forget, the time when tearful mommas drop their children off and drive away with visions rolling through their minds that only serve to remind them of how quickly their babies are growing.

For my Texas friends, school starts next week, but for all of us Arkansas residents, it was today.  We attended Open House at Collin's daycare yesterday afternoon.  They pull out all the stops to make it an appealing place by bringing in a bounce house and having the Sno-Cone truck present.  In fact, you would have thought we were the meanest parents in the world when we told Collin it was time to leave.  Seeing him in the bounce house (bownky house to him), with all the "big" kids was so bittersweet for me.  I'm glad he can now participate in something like that, but he was so small and awkward.  He didn't know what to do with any of the other kids, so he stayed to his self and bounced while making silly noises.  Seeing him in there reminded me of how much he's growing, but watching him not know what to do with his self helped remind me that he is still small...

Copying another little boy in the Bounce House

Cheese!

Playing on the "bid kid" playground

He has officially departed from the toddler building, and he is now in the Bridge class.  The Bridge class is the bridge between the toddler building and the Pre-School building.  Lord help me when we move to the Pre-School building.  Pre-School...as in, before Kindergarten.  I can't even let my mind go there yet! (Right about now my own mother is rolling her eyes!  I have to channel her when I need to remind myself that children growing up is a natural thing.)

So this morning was a bit rough.  Collin didn't want me to leave him.  He did great until we actually walked in the room, and he realized it was different.  I pointed out everything familiar to him... his friends, Ms. Eva, the toys he didn't want to leave yesterday when we came for Open House.  It didn't seem to matter.  Then I tried to point out everything new and exciting, like the fact that Ms. Eva apparently purchased a goldfish for their classroom.  This actually worked for a moment.  He stopped crying long enough to look at it, and I could see the wheels turning in his head.  It wasn't long though before he went right back to clinging to me.  His bestie, Addie, tried to distract him by asking him to help her "cook supper" with the kitchen play-set.  Bless her.

Finally, there was nothing left to do but apologize to Ms. Eva, duck and run.  I made a quick trip to the toddler building to make sure they would remember to take Collin's blanket to him at nap time, and on my way to the car I spied him through the window of the Bridge class getting his morning snack from Ms. Eva and looking alright.

Collin on the 1st Day of School 2012 and 2013

A Paradox

I can't believe that it is already the middle of August.  I feel like it was February just yesterday.  I don't even know where this year has gone!

It's been a somewhat intense summer for the Baum household.  We have been coming and going a lot for the past few months, and there aren't really any signs of slowing down to be seen yet.  Mostly, I feel like we've done a lot of celebrating other people's lives.  We dearly love all of our friends and family, and we are nothing short of elated to share in good times with them.  But on the few occasions when I sit still for longer than a minute and allow my mind to zero out the world around me, I feel a little bit of longing.  Longing to have something of our own to celebrate.  And here is why I will probably delete this post - that's an utterly selfish thing to want!

I am so grateful for all that we have, and I don't want to take it for granted.  So it seems, as soon as the selfish longing creeps up, I push it back down.  Because I don't want to be less than thankful for what the Lord has provided.

So there's my struggle...  How do I maintain a sense of gratitude toward Him for what I have and also remember that He loves me and wants to give me "a hope and a future".  How do you balance hope for things yet to come with a thankful heart?

Three, O

So today my best friend turns the big 3-0.  I really cannot even believe that it's true.  It feels like just yesterday we were two very young twenty-somethings in college without a care in the world.  Now he is a husband, father and provider for our family.  I could not have ever imagined he would turn into the man he has become.

The broke boy who couldn't afford to take me on a date, now the manager of our finances.  The long-haired, hippy who is forever barefoot, now complaining on the occasion that his hair grows below his line of vision. The boy who refused to grow up, now raising our own boy.

I am so blessed to be married to Jarrod.  He drives me nuts, but like he always says, that's how I know he loves me.

Happy 30th Birthday, Jables.

On a related note: I was blessed to witness Jarrod assist with worship at our church yesterday.  It's been a long time, and I forgot how much I love to listen to him bang on a djembe during corporate worship.  Sort of fitting that he played for the first time at Fellowship Bible Church and on the last day of his twenties!

Sorry, it's really hard to see, but that's Jarrod on the right :)
Also, don't laugh at the fact that he used an upside down stool for a djembe stand, we're working on remedying that!

This song...with a djembe...LOVE.