A Special Treat

The day before Catherine started kindergarten, the two of us went out for a special date. She picked to go to The Glazing Pot to paint something. The most difficult part of the entire process for her was deciding what to paint once we got there. Finally, she chose to paint ice cream bowls for herself and Will. (Once Anna has outgrown the milk allergy, we'll go back and make her one too.) She did a great job picking out colors and painting. And now they have a special bowl to enjoy their ice cream in--which they would do every day if we let them!

Sweet Note

Today I put this note in Catherine's lunch box for her:

When she got home, she told me she had a surprise for me in her folder.

She had made me this sweet note:

I sure do love this girl!

The Look

Anna is perfecting her new look. She thinks she's smiling for the camera, but really it looks a little grumpy. Oh well, she's still really cute!

Happy 85th!

Today is my grandmother, Mama Belk's, 85th Birthday. On Saturday we celebrated with a family cookout at her house. She had a great time having everyone together and watching the kids run around.

And they did spend a lot of time running around, with balloons, balls, and just chasing each other.
But they spent most of their time digging in this pile of dirt. Who knew dirt could be so exciting??
Jasper (my nephew) really loved Mama Belk's cat. He kept saying "kitty" and would carry that poor cat around. At times he was holding it by its tail, and its leg, and upside down. And he'd just squeeze it and hug it. That sweet cat didn't even flinch. But I bet he was ready to see the kids go!

Happy Birthday Mama Belk! We love you.

Snapshots of School

Here a few quick snapshots of school from conversations we've had with the kids in the last week:

1. Catherine: "What I really want to learn at school is take-away. I already know how to do addition, but I guess since everyone else doesn't I'll have to learn it again. I mean, I know how to add; like I know that 10 + 10 = 20. I don't even have to count on my fingers or anything."

2. Today was Will's first day to do carpool, when I drop them off and they walk in by themselves. (teachers are on the sidewalk of course.) What I overheard last night: Catherine: "Will, do you want me to walk you to your class tomorrow since it's your first day of carpool? And I can help you put your lunchbox on the shelf if you can't reach it." And today, from Will: "Mama, Catherine helped me to my class and gave me a hug too."

3. #2 is much better than last week, when I dropped Will off. I gave him a hug goodbye at the door. Anna then ran into the classroom to the dress-up box. I went to get her and then left, apparently without telling Will goodbye again. About 3 mins after I'm in the car, Will's teacher calls and says that Will is upset that I didn't tell him goodbye. A crying Will gets on the phone and I reassure him of my goodbye and how much I love him. I hang up the phone feeling guilty mommy syndrome, wondering if I should turn the car around and go back to hug my little boy.

4. Mommy: "Catherine, what's your favorite part of school?" Catherine: "lunch" She's definitely a Hatten!

5. Mommy; "Will, what's your favorite part of school?" Will: "shooting bad guys on the playground." He's definitely a boy!

6. While saying prayers the other night, Catherine said she wanted to pray for school. I asked her if there was anything specific and she said to pray that she would learn to color faster. Our sweet diligent girl is so detail oriented that she can't color the whole picture perfectly in 10 mins and gets upset about it.

We're glad the school year is off to a great start and thankful for our wonderful school!

Remembering Ten Years Ago

Ten years ago today, I started my first day of classes for my senior year at Furman. I was in a biology class at 9am and didn't know until later that morning about the attacks at the World Trade Center. I remember going to lunch in the dining hall at 11am and they had TV's set up for everyone to watch the coverage. Coming from my limited-world perspective, I really didn't know how to process this. I remember sitting down at the table beside my friend Beau and asking him to give me some perspective on this. He told me it had changed the world, how big of a deal it was, and filled in some missing pieces of the puzzle for me.

I remember the slight panic that took place the rest of that day and week, even with things like gas. My roommate Marianne and I went to the gas station that night and filled up our cars, just in case gas wasn't available a few days later. I remember talking with Jay (who was in grad school in KY) and missing him terribly, wanting his comfort and assurance. I remember placing flags and prayer cards by the fountains at Furman, coordinating a blood drive, and collecting donations for a 9/11 scholarship--the feeling that I had to do something but had no idea what to do.

Ten years later and the images still shock me, especially of the buildings collapsing. Ten years later, and I'm still amazed when I hear stories from that day--of survivors, of lost loved ones, even of Northwestern's amazing response financially to those involved. Ten years later and I'm struggling to explain this tragedy to a 5 yr old and a 3 yr old, who are mostly concerned for children who may have been there and the firefighters who were there. Ten years later and I know my God is still in control of all things.

In Case of an Emergency....

....just call these two!

Back To School

Catherine and Will started school today. Catherine is in kindergarten every day and Will goes to K3 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They were both very excited to go this morning!

Catherine wrote this sweet note for her teachers last night. In case you can't see it, it says, "Ms. Janet, Ms. Amy, Ms. Alice Hi my teachers. I'm glad to see you today. I'm excited for this year. From Catherine." (Sorry Taryn, it's a little more uplifting than Abby's note was!)

Ready to go to school! Please note Anna's new "cheese" face when we take her picture. It's hilarious. I think she will enjoy having some extra mommy time while they're at school.
Look how big they are!
Especially this little man---how is he growing so quickly??
And this sweet one--how is she almost 6 years old? I'm in denial. Really, I am.
We're excited for the school year and all the fun things they'll learn, friends they'll make, and many memories to come.

The Wedding Helpers

One of the things that was most amazing to me about hosting the wedding this past weekend was how God used it as an opportunity for the body of Christ to help each other. So many people helped not only Clair and Ben, but also helped me. God truly sent me a helper every day last week. I didn't seek these people out, but they offered to play with my children, pressure wash my driveway, bring me breakfast, decorate my yard, and more. It really helped me not feel overwhelmed. I guess God knew I needed the help.

My best helpers were my children though. They have been so patient while I worked on cleaning inside and outside the past few weeks. They (mostly) happily rode their bikes while I pressure washed the driveway or planted flowers or weeded the yard. They even helped clean inside and tolerated my craziness when I started organizing everything in sight. Hey, you just never know who may look into your linen closet!

Clair had so many sweet friends who came to help prepare things last week--put out candles and jars, hang sheers, add ivy to the arch, make wedding signs, direct traffic, bring food and drinks for the wedding party, and just take care of so many details.


We know that this wedding was covered in prayer by so many people, and one of the ways that was obvious to me was by the help of everyone involved. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

The Wedding!

This weekend we hosted a wedding for our good friends Ben and Clair at our home. It was such a great weekend of worship and thankfulness from not only Ben and Clair, but their family and friends too. We are so excited for them to begin their marriage and are so glad that we got to be part of the celebration.

We had lots of fun decorating and planning the ceremony. Everything looked beautiful and natural. A great friend from church decorated the entrance to our driveway. The driveway was lined with mason jars that had candles in them and raffia tied at the top. Underneath the patio we had sheers draped to create an entrance area where guests signed the guest book and then were seated by the groomsmen. Everything looked so festive that I'm hesitant to take down the decorations.

Clair has been babysitting for us for months and our children love her. Catherine stayed here for the wedding and was so excited about being with Clair and the bridesmaids all day.
The beautiful bride
The wedding ceremony was wonderful--worshipful, encouraging, personal--all as the sun set in the trees behind them.
The wedding party
We love celebrating marriage and are so glad this worked out for us to host their wedding. (I don't think this will be a common occurrence, however.) Congratulations Ben and Clair!!

To check out more wedding pics, click on the link below:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2367214706693.2141480.1440191938&l=ccbd1d1276&type=1