Kite Flyin'

We spent a beautiful Saturday afternoon having a picnic at the park, flying kites, and kicking the soccer ball around.  I enjoyed snapping lots and lots of pictures of my family having fun.

Dr. Dutton

I am officially married to a doctor! I never thought I'd marry a doctor, but here I am.  Marc passed his dissertation defense with flying colors and he is DONE.  I assumed he wasn't officially a doctor until graduation, but his advisor sent him an email calling him Dr. Dutton, so that's enough for me.  He has worked on his PhD for 5 years.  Add to that the 3 years he worked on his masters and that means 8 out of the 10 years we have been married he has been in school.  No more I say! I know it will take a few days weeks for him to adjust to not thinking about all that electrical stuff, but that will be nothing in comparison to the time he has spent over the last 5 years (and especially last 9 months or so) working on it.  

Marc, I am so proud of you and all that you have accomplished academically. How you have managed to complete your dissertation with as little disruption to our lives as you did is beyond me.  I am thankful for you every day.  And please promise me - no more school. Okay? :)

Marriage Retreat

Last weekend Marc and I were blessed to join some of our friends from church at a marriage retreat in Rome, GA.  The retreat was located on the Berry College campus, and resembles the architecture of Normandy, France. It used to be a dairy farm, but it has been wonderfully remodeled.  I remembered the Berry campus being nice, but I had forgotten how beautiful it was - the architecture, the grounds, everything. We had a nice weekend with no television, no internet, and very little phone use.  Delicious meals were prepared for us AND cleaned up for us.  We had several sessions that taught us new things and we had lots of free time to enjoy being together.  We took a long walk and a long nap Saturday afternoon.  Haven't done that in a while, but the nasty weather was perfect for curling up with a good book and sleeping.  I am thankful that my mom kept all three girls for two nights so we could enjoy this get-away. It was the first time we left Brooke overnight and she did great.

Sunshine

We have had some crazy weather this winter.  Most of it has kept us indoors, but one day a couple of weeks ago it was beautiful outside so I took Macy and Brooke up to our neighborhood playground for a little while before Kayla came home from school.

I am ready for spring and more days like this one!

A New Perspective on Life

My baby is finally walking! She started taking her first steps a few weeks ago, and now it is her preferred mode of operation.  She can't get herself to standing without pulling up on something, but if there is something nearby then she will pull up and take off.  I think she really enjoys this new found freedom.  Kayla and Macy couldn't me more excited for their little sister either.

Stuff

I wish I had more to blog about.  I do, actually, but I am waiting on Marc to get a video on the computer so I can add that to a post.  He is only in the middle of doing reviews at work, investigating the land we are planning to purchase, working on his PhD defense presentation, writing a paper for hopeful journal publication, trying to get quotes from contractors so that when our house sells we can move forward with building our next home, helping me with the kids in the evenings, and helping keep the house in order for potential house hunters that are not coming to see our house.  Sheesh! Can't he get a silly video up on the computer? (Marc, don't even think about doing anything with the video this week.)

On Sunday morning Macy came downstairs before the rest of us and got everything set up for the girls to eat breakfast.  She even had a plate out for Brooke.  Such a sweet little girl!

So as of today we are officially "under contract" for this land.  It has been quite a journey, but we are trusting that God took away other land opportunities for a reason.  We are happy with this lot and the neighborhood.  Closing date is set for March 18.  Now if we could just sell our current house.  If you know of anyone interested in moving to the Canton area let us know!

(Please excuse the way the girls are dressed. Long shirts, capris, and tennis shoes are not the norm over here.  We had to leave the house quickly before it got too dark to walk the lot.)

Bubbles!

Brooke loves bubbles.  She is learning how to blow and it is so cute to see her try and blow the bubbles.

More of That Growing Up Stuff

Kayla lost her first tooth on Saturday.  It has been loose for quite a while and she could not stop wiggling it.  It became quite a habit.  On one hand I'm glad it's gone.  I have never been a fan of loose, dangling teeth.  Ask any 4th grader I ever taught. It's a little different when it is your own child, but not much. But on the other hand, losing a tooth means she is growing up.  I have tried to convince her not to have a birthday this year and to just stay 5 forever.  She didn't go for that idea.  I guess I will just have to accept that my little girl is growing up. Now we wait for loose tooth #2 to fall out.  Fortunately for me it is barely loose so I won't have to look at it dangling there for a little while longer.

Macy had a special prayer the night after the tooth fell out.

"Dear Jesus, thank you that my teeth have lots of glue on them so that they don't fall out like Kayla's." 

Gotta love 3-year-olds!

Just a Couple of Silly Girls

Randomness

Macy asked for pig-tails the other day.  I haven't put her hair up like this in a LONG time, but it sure made her sassy all morning long.  Sassy in a cute way, of course. :)

Yesterday I was so worn out.  With trying to keep the house in order since it is on the market I guess I just hit a wall.  I didn't want to do anything but curl up under my blanket. My back and head were hurting and I was tired.  Thankfully I had my PT appointment that evening. I came home feeling so much better, and then I saw that Marc and the girls had cleaned up downstairs and Kayla had even helped vacuum.  She was so proud of herself. I will definitely have to keep that one in mind...

This morning was cold and rainy.  The girls stayed in their pajamas all day, and in fact I just put them in bed wearing the same pajamas.  They had a bath last night and didn't really do anything all day, so I decided to be lazy.  Don't judge. :) 

They curled up together and Macy watched Kayla play a computer game.

And for some strange reason I thought that if I put Brooke on the chair too that she would cuddle up with them. Nah, she just crawled all over them.

And now I will take a moment to brag on my hubby.  For the last 5 years he has been working on his PhD.  We didn't realize that it had been that long until he looked it up the other night.  Well 5 years of hard work is coming to an end.  He has submitted his dissertation to his reading committee and is planning on his defense the first part of March.  See that thing? That would be 217 pages of a whole bunch of stuff I have no clue about.  He has worked so hard and his advisor has been really impressed with how much work he has done and how well he has done it.  Throughout the process he has published several papers (one of which won a Best Paper award at a conference) and received a couple of patents (or have them pending). As nice as it is for me to see a light at the end of the tunnel, I can only imagine how he feels.