Today was a "Mommy grow day"

A painful one.  Today, our little neighbor girl (also 4), who may possibly be one of Eli's favorite people, grabbed his hand and asked me if he could come with her to a little inpromptu play date about a half a block down the street at another little girl's house.  I was NERVOUS.  I have met the family, they are super nice and have been very welcoming.  Our neighbor girl and her brothers were going down, so I relented.  I had to constantly check the urge to run down there and drag him home, holding him like a baby.  He is not a baby.  He can go down to another child's house for a play date and come back to me in an hour safe and sound.  Thankfully they were out front most of the time, and I admit I sat on the porch the whole time listening, but I stayed at the house.  Our neighbor brought her three and Eli back down and they were so excited, chattering and laughing.  I love that we are in this neighborhood.  I love that there are so many kids for mine to play with, grow up with, and go to school with.  I just don't love the process that I'm now in where I have to be trusting of others with my kids and grow and stretch so that they can too. 

My Garden

We have these little beds along the back of the house beside the patio, so I decided to put my tomatoes and peppers in there and see how they did.  In just over 3 weeks they have grown an amazing amount and have started to produce fruit!  I can't wait to eat fresh tomato! 

Swimming Lessons

Today was Eli's first swimming lesson at the pool. He really loved it, and did well with the teacher and other children. His teacher was very gracious with me and let me lurk around and keep an eye on him (and snap lots of pictures) and watch what they were doing. I got really nervous a few times and wanted to jump in and help, but I resisted. My parents made sure we were all in swimming lessons growing up, and I know it has been a valuable skill to have and has enriched my life. I hope Eli gets the hang of it and enjoys it. He started learning the foundations for front crawl today! I couldn't believe how fast they went.

Isaac and Sophia played in the baby pool during Eli's lesson.  Here are a few cute pictures of them:

Church Web Site

Our church has a new web site! Check it out!

Vineyard Church of Reynoldsburg

We Closed!

I'm so excited!  There's a lot of work to be done but we will be moving soon.  Below is a video I took today of the "before" house.  I apologize in advance for the horrible quality and hope that you don't become nauseous viewing it.