A Bible Scholar In Our Midst

Last night was "Open House" for Karson's Pre-K class. We had so much fun getting to go to her room and see all of the neat things she's been doing. We met some of her new friends and looked at her work on the bulletin board. Because of the system they have for drop off/pick-up, I never get to see her room. I now have a better picture of where my baby is everyday! It looked like such a happy place, and Mrs. Kendall said that Karson was doing great! Needless to say, we were VERY proud of our big girl!


Miss Jennifer was so sweet to keep Campbell last night so that we could focus all attention on K and her big girl class. I must say that once Karson found out that Campbell was staying at Miss Jennifer's, we had to bribe her to go with us. She wasn't too excited about missing out on her time with one of her FAVORITE ladies! I digress...


On the way to the school, Rus and I were chatting with Karson about her day. It was a Thursday, so it was a "double school" day. We have named Tuesdays and Thursdays "double school" days because Karson goes with me to preschool in the mornings (she is in the 4 year old class) and then goes to her Pre-K class in the afternoons. It really is a PERFECT arrangement.

Anyway, as we were chatting about her day, we were also listening to Bob and Larry! The song "Whole World In His Hands" came on. When it got to the part that says, "He's got the wind and the rain in His hands", Karson shouts from the back seat, "I know that story!"...and the following conversation occured.


Rus - Yes, the one when Jesus' friends were scared of the storm, and Jesus made the rainstop.

Karson - No, Daddy, the one with the whale!

Me - Jonah and the whale?

Karson - Yes!

Me - (Ever the annoying teacher) Tell us about it.

Karson - Well, Jonah got swallowed by a whale. God sent it to save him.

Rus - Why?

Karson - Because he disobeyed.

Me - That's right, God told him to go to Niniva and he didn't go. (Then I quickly turned to Rus and said under my breath, "is that right?")

Karson - Mmm hmm, so God made a storm come and dump him out of his boat and then He sent the whale to save him.

Rus - So did the whale eat him?

Karson - No, he just swallowed him up. And Jonah stayed in the whale's tummy and it was VERY smelly in there.

Me - Did the whale finally spit him out?

Karson - Yep, and then Jonah was covered in WHALE SLOBBER!


You called it Miss Shelbi (Karson's Bible Story teacher). You knew that was the part that they would remember. I love it!!!

Life as we know it...today's edition

I took Campbell BACK to the doctor today. She has a double ear infection. Poor girlie. I hate this for her, but at least it's something definite, and something that can be treated with antibiotics. Hopefully she'll be back to normal in no time.


In other news, Karson went to school today... WITHOUT A BOW IN HER HAIR. I was informed this morning that she did not want to wear a bow. I tried really hard not to show my disappointment. I even agreed without an argument. We discussed the specifics of this new arrangement and decided that she would still wear bows some days, and definitely to church. I'm going along with this, but I don't have to like it - right?

Have a great weekend!

They'll Hate Me...I Mean...Love Me For This Later!!!

Lately I've been all about the matching outfits. I've waited my entire life to have 2 children that I could dress alike. Am I weird? Don't answer that.


Here is a picture of the girls before church this morning. (Don't ask my why Karson is making that face...I think we're entering into the dreaded "I can't do a real smile" phase.)


I feel that it's my motherly duty to give them life experiences that they will be able to talk about with each other when they're older. You know, experiences like, "Remember when Mom used to dress us in matching outfits. Wow. Why did she do that? I hated having to wear matching stuff."

NUTTY - it's my favorite word!

Wow! How did life get so absolutely NUTTY?!!!! I have enough going on for about 15 posts, but I'm condensing them all into one. With that being said....WARNING...random thoughts ahead!

1. Preschool - Tomorrow will complete our 2nd full week, and things have not slowed down yet. I'm hoping they will soon. I feel like I am running at a constant sprint the entire time that I am there. I'm still needing to fill one teaching position, and I have another teacher that is pregnant and due next week (I need to find a sub for her while she's on maternity leave). This is TOTALLY stressing me out. Thankfully, my DEAR and PRECIOUS friend Shelbi has helped me out by filling in. I owe her big time. Thank you, Shelbi!!! Meanwhile, I'm also figuring out that there is no way possible to keep everyone happy...I don't like that. I'm a pleaser by nature. I don't like it when people are mad at me. It will get better...right?

2. Campbell - She is MUCH better!!! Thank you for your sweet comments and prayers. Little Miss Doodlebug is back to being our smiley, happy baby. She is babbling like crazy, and I am loving it!!! Today she was stuck on NANANANANANA. My mom was beaming (she is "Nana" to the grandchildren). Cams got to go to preschool for the 1st time on Tuesday, and she did so great. She took her naps and stayed on her eating schedule like she had done it a million times. I was so busy dealing with everything else going on that I only got to check on her once. :( I meant to take a picture of her first day, but I forgot that too! To make up for it, I took this one when we got home. Notice the return of the "1st Day of School Dresses" - we've got to wear them while they fit! They were watching a show together, and I thought they looked so sweet sitting there beside each other!

3. Karson - She had her first dance class on Monday night. It is a ballet/tap combo class, and she LOVED it!!! Her teacher's name is Miss Mary, and she is "very pretty" (that's what K told us after class). Kars's BEST friend, Addi, is in the class with her. These 2 were born 2 days apart, and have literally been together since then. This is the first year that they aren't in school together, so it was a glorious reunion Monday night when they got to see each other for dance. Kars keeps asking how many days it is until she gets to go back...I think she likes it! Here is one of the pictures I took Monday night. (They will both turn 5 at the end of October - how is that possible?)

4. Decisions - We have been thinking and praying about some major things for our family over the past few months. Some of those things are coming to a head this week. We would so appreciate your prayers. We are excited about how God is working and providing for us, but it is also scary to step out on faith. We just want to follow HIS plan for us.

5. Story - A quick Karson story! She has been practicing writing her name using both lower and upper case letters at school. Tonight she found a pad of sticky notes on my desk and asked if she could practice on them. I told her yes, and she proceeded to carefully write her name. After she finished, she peeled it off and began to stick it to her back. When I asked her what she was doing, she said she was making a name tag (many times at church, the teachers stick their name tags on their backs). When I asked her why she needed a name tag, she whispered in my ear, "I'm making a name tag because Ma sometimes calls me Bella". ("Ma" is her grandmother, and Bella is her cousin). I nearly fell out of my chair. She is now asleep in her bed with her name tag still on...just in case someone might mistake her for someone else.

6. Rus's Birthday - This Friday, September 12th is Ruston Blake Zumwalt's 35th birthday. Happy Birthday, Rus!!!!!! I hope you know how much I love and appreciate you! I am so thankful and proud to call you my husband. I pray that this next year of life brings many blessings and much joy. I know one thing for sure, it will be FULL of new adventures!

If you're still reading, thanks for enduring my rambling! I'm hoping that life is going to calm down sometime soon!

Poor Baby!

Campbell is sick. Yuck! Bless my sweet baby's heart, she is miserable. She started acting fussy in the night on Saturday. By Sunday morning her nose was runny, but she was okay. By Sunday night she was running fever, and by Monday morning great green globs of nastiness were coming out of her nose and eyes (sorry for the description - just keeping it real). She missed her first day of preschool yesterday(my super, awesome mom came and stayed home with her), and I took her to the doctor after I picked up Kars. We waited for 2 HOURS in the waiting room (I think everyone else in Owasso is sick too) only to find out that our sweet baby has...a cold. Are you kidding me? I just knew she had a double ear infection, maybe strep throat, and was going to be dehydrated because she wasn't taking her bottles. But no, it was just a cold. And what do you do for a cold? Not much.


Regardless of what is officially wrong with her, this baby feels terrible. I just hate it for her. For the past 3 1/2 days she has had this pitiful look about her, and she won't let us put her down. Thankfully she seems to be turning the corner. Rus is going to stay home with her tomorrow, but I think after that we'll be in the clear. I guess I should be thankful she made it almost 7 months before she got anything. It's just hard to watch her feel so badly - especially when she can't tell you what to do to help her.



Monday night I had to finish cleaning up in the kitchen and she wasn't about to leave my side, so...that's how she ended up in the sink! Doesn't she look pitiful?

As you read above, Campbell missed her first day of preschool. But Mommy didn't! I'm too exhausted to write about the first week, but I'll be sure to document details later. Let's just say that being the director is busier, crazier, and harder than I ever thought it would be...but it's all coming together.