Kasey Comes to Softball

It's a Saturday, but where is Kasey?  Right here at Harper's softball game.  Her cousin's daughter Maggie plays for the Geckos, another SCSL team, so Kasey was sweet enough to come and watch the girls play each other today and cheer them both on!

Harper didn't play her best game, but Kasey did get to see a hit and a Grizzlies' win. 

Christmas with Kasey 2015

 

Kasey has managed to survive with our family for another Christmas!  :)  As I said last year and will continue to say every single year she's with us, she's a gift to us every single day.  Every morning sitting in the floor playing Lincoln Logs, every afternoon when she (without even being asked!) empties our dishwasher, loves on our kids, sends us picture texts.  We really couldn't do all we do without her.  Plus, did I mention she always wraps the cutest gifts?

They were super excited about their new Barbies, and I was so excited that she gave us the Jesus Calling for Kids book to read through together as a family.  Merry Christmas, Kasey, and thank you for all you do!

Christmas with Kasey

Just when we thought Kasey couldn't get any sweeter, she blew us away with her lovely Christmas gifts for our family.  Yes, you read that correctly, our family.  Not even just our girls!

Kasey knows all too well how much these girls love Frozen, so their gifts were wrapped beautifully in a Elsa-inspired turquoise glitter paper with silver sparkles and snowflake ribbon, complete with an ornament with their initial and a gorgeous custom Elsa bow that doubles as a hairbow.  She also knows all too well how much these girls {or maybe mama} love those.  

They each got their own super soft Frozen throw (Harper's is blue with Elsa, and Willa Kate's is purple with Elsa and Anna), a Frozen glowstick (or a sceptre as Harper said), and an Olaf marshmallow sucker.  But, Kasey really amazed me when she pulled out a gift for Sam and me.  What?!  She gave us an adorable picture frame with a photo of the girls and a gift card to Olive Garden for a date night.  I can't say enough how blessed we have been to find her.  She is wonderful with our girls, responsible, and now we know just how generous she is, too!  What a gift she's been to us.  

Praise and Pumpkins

Whewwwwwww. Did you hear that?  It does not matter where you are reading this, you likely heard my enormous exhale all the way from Virginia. I am so, so, so thankful to share that I will be keeping my position with Pfizer in the Roanoke area. The layoff that occurred today was announced around six weeks ago, and my stomach has been in knots ever since. I haven't been afraid of how we would make it; I know He will take are of us. But, just the uncertainty of "what comes next" felt like it was putting a lot if things on hold for our family.  I was expecting to receive my notification call around 1:30 this afternoon, and while most folks arranged to be home for it, I knew that wouldn't be an option with the girls at the house, especially since we had decided not to tell Kasey about it (more about that choice below!). So after I worked the morning, I drove around for a little while to find a place to park and wait for my call.  Though I drove in circles for a while, I ended up in our church parking lot because there was a comfort in recognizing He already knows what decision has been made.   And now, instead of beginning my search for a Plan B this afternoon, I am praising the One who goes before me; He fights for me.

As I mentioned above, we chose not to share the potential layoff with Kasey beforehand. At first I said we could wait, and then give her a notice if I lost my job, but as crazy as it sounds, we actually decided we were going to try to keep her on board for as long as we possibly could so that we wouldn't risk losing her as our nanny (my hope would have been to apply for other jobs rather quickly). Yes, we love her that much. (And now you're all thinking... Out of work and keeping her full time nanny, no wonder she wasn't absolutely frantic about that possibility... haha). 

But, here's just another little peek at why we are so pleased with her. Kasey's mom is an elementary school teacher, and a few weeks ago, Kasey asked if she and Willa could join her mom and her class on a field trip to Layman Family Farm, a local pumpkin patch. Harper has her "long" day at preschool on Wednesdays since she eats lunch there, so I knew Wills would absolutely. eat. up. the chance to go do something with other "big kids" (aka first graders) without ol' Harper there to boss her around. And by the looks of these pictures that Kasey sent me, she sure did!  Just another sweet praise. 

Meet Miss Kasey

In all this busyness, I have failed to mention the girls' new nanny, Miss Kasey.   When Rachel put in her two week notice with us, I cried. Literally. I thought it would be impossible to find someone that we trusted with our girls, our home, the craziness of our life. 

Though I was really hoping to find someone through a word-of-mouth recommendation, it was two weeks post Rachel, and still no luck. So, I signed up for Care.com. Great decision!  

I interviewed a few of the (many!) applicants, and then had the opportunity to meet with Kasey. Immediately I loved her energy and professionalism. When talking about her experience as an assistant teacher at a local children's learning center, she showed maturity, and always looked me right in the eye. She is young, but responsible, and came across as organized while still being laid back enough to be flexible. 

I had scheduled to meet with another candidate the next day, but canceled it after I walked out the door because I knew right away that Kasey was going to be a great fit for our family. We are coming to the close of our first month of having her as our nanny, and we have been so pleased. Just one more way God shows He cares about the everyday needs of our life. 

Here are a few "nannygram"s from the last few weeks.