The Chapel That Built Me

Toddler House Child Care & Learning Center, 1985 (me standing at the door)

I had mixed emotions when I learned that my mom and dad were selling their chapel building.  The first emotion-- happiness.  They can both truly retire.  Mom, you don't have to stress anymore about connecting to the internet, grocery shopping for those big receptions, and long Saturdays on your feet.  Dad, you will no longer have to bother with keeping the grass mowed or worry about the leaky roof and basement. You can plan trips without a second thought of when you have to be back.  No more worrying about who is going to cover the weddings for you or getting back to the office to take care of the book work and pay bills.

On the other hand, I was terribly saddened that this building, that has been in our family for 28 years, will no longer be "ours."  I started thinking about all the memories we have had there.

As a child care center, it's where my mom managed dozens of employees and took care of hundreds of children in the ten years she operated the business. I spent countless hours there as a child.... hanging out on the playground, sneaking into the kitchen for extra snacks, waiting on my dad to pick me up on his way home from work. I learned every nook and cranny of the building. The secret bell tower. The creepy basement. The hidden passageways.

And growing up, it served many different purposes for our family.

It's where our church worshiped while our new building was being competed.
It's where I worked my first job.... helping organize and prepare lunch for the day care kids at 12 years old.
It's where I lived briefly as a child.... there was no bathroom or kitchen upstairs, but we camped out in a makeshift apartment one summer as our house in Lebanon was being finished.
It's where my brother lived for a while in his bachelor days... at least there was a kitchen and bathroom then.
It's where Danny asked me to marry him.... home from college one weekend, after working a wedding.
It's where we lived after were married... first time on our own, it just made sense.

And when mom decided to retire from child care, she took a suggestion from a friend and decided she would enter the wedding industry.  A wedding chapel?  In Mt. Juliet, TN? I'm sure many people, including my mom, had serious doubts that it would work  And, here it is, nearly 15 years later.  Yep, it worked.

An estimated 1,500 couples were married there.

Juliet's Wedding Chapel, 2000

We've worked there countless hours as a family.  Me, Erick and Angie-- pitching in however we could.  Dad-- remodeling, working on the heat and AC, more remodeling,  Mom-- taking care of all of those kids, meeting with clients, and the majority of her Saturdays for the last 15 years.

Through the years, it's where we've celebrated birthdays, showers and special occasions.  It's basically my childhood home. It's where I grew up. It's the place where I've spent more time than any other.

I can still remember entering the building for the first time.  It was 1980 something.  Dusty red carpet and church pews as far as a 7 year old could see.

Needless to say, after all of the years and memories, I am very sad to see it go.

 But, what a wonderful ride it has been.

Juliet's Wedding Chapel, 2012

Addendum: The building, built in 1944, was originally Mt. Juliet First Baptist Church.  

Free Mies Old

Ask Drew how old he is now and he responds, "I'm free mies old."  That is not a typo.  It's the cutest thing.  He can say 'three' and he can say 'years', but when he puts them together, it comes out "free mies old."

This is a not a good representation of his speech though.  He can carry on a conversation like a five year old... "I already have a yapkin, Daddy."  He asks questions... "What did you say?" And creates his own thoughts....  "We need to tell Grant."  Strangers as well as friends remark on how well he can talk.  He knows all of his monster trucks by name.  And, we probably have about 20!  He knows most letter sounds and can count to 20 plus.  At Grant's baseball games, he calls out each players number as they come up to bat.

His birthday party was once again simple and sweet.  Well, except for the cake and cupcakes I guess.  I tried hard to convince him he wanted puppy dog cupcakes, but monster trucks win every time.

Drew's best friends (AKA Grant's best friends) came to the party as well as Autumn, Peyton, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and great grandparents.  He got a new comforter for his new bed, some summer clothes, cars,    and, of course, monster trucks. 

and a wagon from mommy and daddy.

I'm already bummed that by this time next year he'll be able to correctly pronunciate... "I'm four year old!"

Drewbie Bear

Milestones are coming way quicker than I can keep up with these days.

Drew turned three and he's sweeter than ever. His number one question is "Mommy? What cha' doing?" He'll ask me this many times a day. It's his little way of starting a conversation with me as usually we are in the car or at home when he asks.

We moved him to his big boy bed just a few weeks shy of his third birthday. We started of with it on the floor to get him (and me!) acclimated. Then put it on the frame the day of his birthday. He has done wonderful in it and has yet to get out of it on his own. He still waits for one of us to get him up in the morning. He's had some nap resistance mainly consisting of a weak effort of "I don't want to take a nap" and "I don't like this bed." But, once I get him in bed, he's still taking good naps.

Occasionally, our busy days don't allow for his typical nap time. Funny thing is, he will find a way to still work it in himself. We found him in the late afternoon on Easter asleep on the couch clutching his chocolate bunny.

We just took down the baby swing as well. Bittersweet day for mommy. Lots of excitement for Drew.

We have mastered potty training. Number one at least. He is most often dry when he wakes up at night as well as nap time. After bribing him with the world and more, he still requests a pull up for number two. This aggravates the you know what out of me. I've decided that it's best for both of us if I just go with the flow. Sooner or later he will decide he can do it. And as promised, we will buy him a Skylander.

His best friends are Grant's best friends. He gets ecstatic when one of them comes over to play. He follows them around, wrestles with them, and copies whatever they do. While Grant is at school, he even asks me if they can come over. I'm grateful that they, including Grant, tolerate him. He thinks he can do whatever they can do, and he pretty much can.

Grant got first at the annual Sawyer Easter egg hunt.  Guess who was second.  Drew.

Grant's 7th

What can I say about Grant's birthday party?... 

Danny continues to say that I go overboard for such events.  But, I say, as long as I have still have some control with the birthday party, then I'm going to control the birthday party.

The one thing that nearly through me for a loop though was Grant's request for an Angry Birds cake.  You see, Grant sees me making cupcakes every week.  They're just no big deal to him anymore.  He wanted something special. 

I think he got it.

I don't just make cakes for anyone.



Danny came up with a life size Angry Bird game. The boys had to throw each bird a different way... through the legs, eyes closed, left hand, etc. They did several rounds and he kept score on the PC which he hooked up to the TV with Angry Bird music playing in the background!



The boys had a blast.  And Grant blew out his birthday candles for the 7th time.






Love these guys.



Waiting his turn.



Mimi, Nanny, Granny, and Nana