First grade here we come!

A year ago my sweet girl was graduating preschool and about to embark on her first of many years of "big school" as we call it in our home. I had so many fears and reservations about Sarah Catherine starting school. She would no longer be with me all day everyday.. She would no longer have the security of being right down the hall from my preschool classroom.. She would finally be discovering who she was without her mom there to protect her from the world. I experienced so much anxiety and really had learn to "cut the apron strings." Learning to do this without letting her in on my fears was a hard task, but once again I leaned on Christ for His strength and guidance. I am so thankful Jesus was there with her every step of the way and blessed her with a school surrounded with teachers who have taught her so much. She was so blessed to have Missy Lay to guide, protect, teach, and love her this year! She is an incredible teacher who has a passion for her students and treats them as her very own! Ms. Lay has done so well preparing Sarah Catherine for the first grade.. and for all of this we are grateful! She has done so well academically, and ended this year with the Good Citizenship Award. Proud cannot even describe how Marc and I feel! This year, coming to an end, is bittersweet.. We have so much to look forward to in the upcoming school year and will continue to pray for God's Grace for Sarah Catherine, but for my nerves as well!

I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.. WHERE???

Several months back we had a lesson in Sunday School about joy. I never knew the difference between joy and happiness, but little did I know this was God preparing my heart for what was ahead!
Spending so much time in the NICU staring at our beautiful 4lb blessing I have pondered so much about that specific Sunday School lesson. It is so easy to pity your child, yourself, your family, your whole situation! But, being here is also very humbling and brings a new perspective to the word JOY!
Joy is finding goodness and happiness in every situation. This has been an INCREDIBLE struggle for me! Growing up I always believed God's purpose for us, as His children, is to be happy.. When in fact that is not the case at all. I have learned that God's purpose is for us to have joy in every circumstance! Having this sort of joy shows God our faith in Him, in any circumstance.. It shows Him we can be comforted by His grace alone!
Before my maternity leave I had been teaching my preschoolers Galatians 5:22.. The fruits of the Spirit... Here again, little did I know this was God preparing me for what was I was about to face! It has been so difficult finding joy while seeing an IV in the top of my babies head, or a feeding tube down her nose, or 10 wires going in 10 different directions, or having to leave my baby daughter day after day in a place that, while I know it's what is best for her, is not my arms! I have to search for a joy only God can give me.. A joy filled with His Grace and Mercy!
I totally believe this is why God's purpose for us isn't to be happy, but to be joyful, why?? Because HE is in control!

Who is your Hero?

I, along with every other woman in America, have become a huge fan of Pinterest. I love looking for ideas on crafts for my classroom, recipes, photography, decorating, etc.. Most of all I love finding new ideas to do with Sarah Catherine! We all can get caught up in our everyday life so much that we sometimes forget to sit back and enjoy our children (or any member of our family for that matter). Recently I came across a link called Pillow Talk Questions for you and your child. It has 20 simple questions, but I was surprised at the (almost adult) conversation it struck between me and my daughter.
I started with question 3 "Who is your hero and why?" When asking her this she looked at me in the rear view mirror puzzled (since this was not our typical after school conversation)... Which then shamed me that I didn't ask more leading questions to my 6 year old. Sarah Catherine sat there looking out of the window thinking about her answer.. Her first response "God." When I asked her why, her response was "because He loves me no matter how bad I act and I can talk to Him anytime I want to." You can call it hormones if you want, but I almost turned into a blubbering idiot driving down HWY 195. It warmed my heart to know that what takes most people a lifetime to figure out, my kindergartener already knew about God's unconditional love, His faithfulness to us and more importantly that His promises never go away. As she and I continued to talk she said "If I picked a human that lives on earth, I pick my Daddy as my hero." Anyone that knows these two well enough I am sure this does not come as a big surprise, seeing as they are attached at the hip. It was her conversation that followed her response that made me so overwhelmed with thankfulness that God placed Marc in my life not only as my husband, but as the earthly father for my girls! They are so blessed to have a daddy that loves them unconditionally and one who thrives on teaching them anything from swimming to hunting, but embraces her (them) for the girly girl that she (they) is(are)!
I hope that anyone who reads this will be encouraged to use these questions to talk more to your child(ren)! They are so creative and attentive, it may surprise you at the responses you receive!

Fall is HERE!!!

This is The Rollins FAVORITE time of year!!

It's A... Part 2

IT'S A.....

Saturday Marc and I were given a blessing by a good friend from church to have a sonar in her home to find out the gender of our baby! When asked Friday night I, of course, was excited but nervousness soon followed! I knew that whatever that sonar revealed would change our lives either way!
Since this pregnancy was so different (and when I say "different" I mean SICK.. Very,very SICK) I was convinced that it must be a boy. Seeing as my pregnancy with Sarah Catherine was a breeze in comparison! I am totally convinced of what my sister in law, Staci, told me a couple of weeks ago.. "God gives you a great first pregnancy so you will want to have another baby later on." My mother was in total agreement and so truthfully stated (as mothers often do) "If you (me) had been first, I wouldn't have had another one." (Thank you for the sweet love Mom)
After the nervous feeling passed, anxiety set in.. I was ready to find out and start nesting!! We are proud to announce that we will be having another little girl! We are so excited and Sarah Catherine is nesting more than I am! She couldn't wait to get the baby things out of the attic and start cleaning and washing everything! She was upset that we decided to paint the nursery the week of Thanksgiving.. She wanted to do it all RIGHT THEN!!!
After finding out Marc really wanted to surprise Sarah Catherine, so we went to the mall and bought a sweet little gown and a matching bib and burp cloth wrapped in a pink bow! Her expression was priceless! We were able to tell her that her baby sister was stretched out on the sonar waving her little right hand and had her feet crossed at the ankles! We were able to see all 10 little toes perfectly and her heart and brain also looked great! God is continually blessing our family and I am so thankful we serve such a BIG God!

Fish Anyone?

Marc took Sarah Catherine fishing today.. Who said fishing was a guy sport??? And she caught with a Hello Kitty bow.. What a girl!!