Soccer Mom Status.

Playing catch up on life. Once school gets rolling every thing goes so fast. So here are a few updates on the Pooles.

Landin started playing soccer! I have been so excited for him to play team sports. I honestly can't get over that he's old enough to do this. Different phase of our life has begun where we get to spend our Saturdays on ball fields. It makes me really happy. I am the most obnoxious mom out there yelling at Landin and taking a bazillion pictures. You can tell it's my first kid playing sports, but I don't even care. I can't keep a smile off my face while he plays.

Landin does really well running after the ball and kicking it. I have never played soccer before, but we are figuring out the rules together. We finally have mastered not touching the ball! Ha ;) Right now we are working on stealing the ball away from the other team. He has a hard time being aggressive out there, which make me laugh because he can be pretty aggressive with his sister. I'm sure after a few weeks he will figure it out! Last weekend was his first game and he rocked it!

Also last weekend, Brian's dad came into town and brought the kids new bikes. The were ecstatic! For some reason it made them look so much bigger to me! Clara kept telling us she was a big girl on her big girl bike. It was the sweetest.

The past week was muffins for mom at the kids school and I had to miss it. It broke my whole entire heart. I won't lie, I cried. BUT my brilliant friend Lindsay suggested I make muffins with the kids the night before and send them in. So that's what we did and Brian joined the kids on the actual day. I think it went well! Brian said they didn't even ask for me. Whew.

                


The kids also had school pictures done this past week and they were AMAZING! I love eCadamy so much, yall! These people bless us in so many ways. Thankful to be a part of a staff that does this for their people!!

Nursing school update: I'm just finished our first round of exams and am headed into the second. I have done really well grades wise, but it is absolutely exhausting! Really miss hanging with the kids too. It's so hard balancing everything. BUT I'm really enjoying being in the hospital this semester. I'm on the oncology/hematology floor on Tuesdays and then Levine Children's Hospital on Thursdays. I REALLY loved working in Pediatrics! Excited to see how the OB rotation goes starting next week. Can't wait to see where the Lord places me next year!

I've been reading this scripture out loud every morning before school from James 1: 2-8: " Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double minded and unstable in all they do."

Things I love about this scripture: it reminds me what persevering gives me, maturity and completeness. Yep, I want those. It tells me that when I need wisdom all I have to do is ask and he will give GENEROUSLY to ALL. I love how that is worded. I don't have to do anything but ask in full faith and he will give me the wisdom I need. Nursing school requires a lot of wisdom, y'all. Like actual wisdom from the books. More than I have. I pray this every single time I study. If you think I get good grades on my own, you are very mistaken. It also says at the end that those who don't have faith when asking are double minded and unstable in all they do, opposite of what I want. I want life of stability, so when even when I'm scared I'll choose to trust in Jesus.

So there you have it, friends. Update on life. Sorry it ended up being so long :)

Tweetsie and Boone Weekend

With Labor Day weekend approaching quickly, we didn't have any plans although Brian had already taken the weekend off at church. After thinking about it a little more, I decided we needed a mini getaway. Brian rarely takes weekends off at church and with me being in school on Fridays now, we never have a full family day together. I knew the beach would be packed, so I looked into the mountains first.

Sitting in class Friday morning, (tsk, tsk) I was googled kid friendly things to do in Boone and Tweetsie was one of the first suggestions. My boy LOVES trains. Always has. I was pretty excited about this option. Brian was taking the red eye out of California Saturday morning, so we decided it was best to go Sunday-Monday. I texted Brian with the idea and he booked the hotel within an hour. I was pretty proud of us for being so spontaneous. :)

Tweetsie was great! It wasn't really crowded. We waited in line for maybe two rides. We got there around noon and planned to stay the remainder of the day. The first thing we did when we walked in was ride the big train around the mountain. The ride was full of pretty scenery and a live show of cowboys vs. indians. Landin LOVED this!! 

The rest of the park had a bunch of carnival rides, which were really fun for the kids. I'm so glad we did it this year because Landin was almost too tall to ride the rides. Right now he's 44.5 inches so next year I think we would have been too late. 

There was also a little petting zoo with llamas, pigs, and goats. The sweet little baby goat got out of the fence and was wondering around with us. Very kid friendly little goat. The kids loved it.

Suggestions if you want to go visit Tweetsie: 1. The park is only open until 6pm, so if you go after 3pm your ticket works all day the next day. I don't think we needed the extra time, but it would be nice to have the cushion if you were worried about time. 2. If your kids are over 45 inches, it may be boring. There are some rides for bigger kids, but it's mainly for the younger ones. I don't think we will go again for this reason. 3. Bring your own snacks and water. The only food served are unhealthy carnival foods like hotdogs and pizza. We did each lunch there and the kids got a fun little Tweetsie lunch box, but I'm so glad I brought snacks for them. 

Sunday night we went into Blowing Rock and had dinner at Mellow Mushroom and ate some yummy Kilwin's ice cream. I love downtown Blowing rock! It's such a sweet little town. Best part is the big park in the middle so the kids were able to play while we waited to eat! 

We had our first hotel stay with the kids, which I was VERY nervous about but luckily everything went really well. Landin fell asleep in the car and Clara went to sleep right away when we got in the room. Then they both slept until EIGHT O'CLOCK! WHAT! It was a mountain miracle. My kids wake up between 6-630 every morning like clockwork. It was amazing!

Monday we spent the day with our friend, Hayley!! She just started her first year at Appalachian State University. We're so proud. :)  She took us for a hike around Price Lake, which was beautiful! It's perfect for those of you with little kids because it's mostly flat.

After hiking we ate lunch in Boone and went to the Mast General store for some fun toys, then headed home. We were so thankful for some time with Hayley! :) 

It was an AWESOME weekend. I'm so thankful for a little getaway with my people! 

First week of eCadamy!

This week was the kids first week of eCademy! eCademy is the AWESOME preschool program given to Elevation staff kids. When I started praying about nursing school, I had such a hard time figuring out what I was going to do with the kids. The preschool Landin attended the year before was so great and I didn't want to leave, but I needed a program that would keep the kids all day. The Lord provided BIG time. Landin and Clara are both so blessed to have amazing teachers and spend their week with friends. I feel unbelievably grateful to know that my kids are safe and so loved while I'm gone.

I forced the kids to take some school pictures. (there may have been cookies involved..)

They had a great week. Landin's class learned about the letter A and the color red. Clara ended up missing two of the last days of school because she was running a little fever. Notice this top picture...he's the tallest in his class!! 

Brian had to go out of the town the last part of the week so we stayed with some friends of ours, the Roses! This family does SO much for us. We are unbelievably grateful for them! Here are a few pictures from our time with them. We were excited to celebrate Papa Joe's big 5-0 birthday with him! Thanks for taking us in, Roses!! 

Nursing school started back this week for me! It's a little weird because it felt like I've never left. The routine of everything came back really quickly. Hoping to get more sleep this semester...maybe. There is so much reading for every class I'm not sure if it will happen. My favorite class so far is the Peds/OB class. Surprise, surprise! I gravitate to those kids and pregnant mommas. We start back in the hospital next week and I'll be at Levine Children's Hospital. Excited to learn from the best.! Praying to find my sweet spot in the hospital this semester! 

Have a great weekend, everyone!