Best Friends

Have I shared how much I love these two girls???

Well, I do! They are my 2 very best friends in the whole world. I just don't know what I would do without them. We've been there for each other through the births of our children, job changes, house moves, and just everyday life. I've always known I could count on them for just about anything, but since October when my Mama died, they have really outdone themselves. One of them calls me each and every morning on my way to work because I made the comment back in November that my dark moments were when I was alone in the car. They remembered that comment, and now call to make sure I am not crying my eyes out on the side of the road. However, I know that if that were the case that one of them would come to my rescue. I just can't brag enough about them, and I hope they know how much they mean to me!

A New Use for Duct Tape

My sweet baby girl has been involved in a Sunday night Bible Study at our church for 4 years now. I have always taken a Bible Study at the same time until this year. My small group " gang" went in different directions, plus none of the studies they were offering really appealed to me. So I figured I would take the time off from a formal Bible Study this year and spend that time with Harrison.

I promise this is leading somewhere;)

Since I have always been involved in a Bible Study of my own, I have never been able to sub for Caitlin's leaders on Sunday nights. Well now they know I am available, so I got asked to sub this coming Sunday night.

When I asked Caitlin if that was okay, she said, "Sure. You can just sit in the corner and listen and not say anything."

Just One More...

Just had to share this picture of Caitlin's dance group at their competition last weekend. This was after they had danced and were receiving their awards. Her "Wizard of Oz" group won a High Gold for their tap dance. And her "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" group also won a High Gold award for their Hip Hop dance. That cute dance also won 3rd Best Overall in the Junior category. It was an exciting weekend to say the least! We are now done with dance competitions for this year--Woo Hoo!!! So now we can concentrate on the next sport: Baseball with Harrison.

Lent

Because we are a Methodist family, we give up something for Lent each year during 40 days before Easter. Both Randy and I were raised in Southern Baptist churches, so this concept of giving something up to get closer to Jesus is exciting for us. I always try to pick something that means a lot to me so that I will say a prayer or read the Bible when I am missing that certain thing.

I have thought long and hard about what to give up this year. I didn't want to do chocolate or sweets again or even bread. I then had an epiphany tonight. I remembered back to 2 years ago when I got closer to God and read much more of my Bible than usual. Do you know what I gave up that Lent? Facebook!!

So even though I get lots of news plus see tons of pictures of my friends and get to just "be in the know" with everybody, Jesus means more to me than any of that! Plus I know that I will still be "in the loop" with my close friends!

So, good-bye Facebook! I will see you again after Easter!

The Fresh Prince Follows the Yellow Brick Road

The weekend we have been anticipating finally arrived! Dance Competition Weekend! But first I made a little treat for the girls....

Dorothy's ruby red slippers. I was hoping they would bring some good luck to our girls.
We woke up at regular time on Friday, dropped Harrison off at school, finished packing the car, then took off for Montgomery. We got there at lunchtime, so we had lunch at one of our favorite spots...

Dreamland! It was delicious as usual. We were hoping this big lunch would tide Caitlin over through her dancing that night.

Of course we had to take our annual picture in front of the Renaissance fountain. Then it was off to get our dancing queen ready for her first dance.

Here she is ready to bust a move in her "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" hip hop dance. There were a few nervous trips to the bathroom, but she was ready to go!

Caitlin and her hip hop teacher, Ms. Kaityln (We've been confused many times already this year when we call her name!)

5 of the 6 hip hop girls ready to take the stage
Caitlin, Delaine, Megan, Alyssa, and Shanna

Before the competition started, we were treated to a performance by Twitch and Lil' C. They are both excellent dancers and were on "So You Think You Can Dance."

"Fresh Prince of Bel Air" dance
Caitlin is on the far left.

Their ending move--she is still on the far left.
The girls were disappointed after Awards because they didn't earn a medal--only a ribbon for Gold. And, of course, Caitlin was the most broken-hearted over it! However after watching 2 days of booty-shaking and pelvic thrusts, I would gladly trade that for their Gold ribbon any day! I sure don't want my eleven-year-old doing moves that would embarrass anyone! (One main reason we attend her dance studio is that they feel very strongly about modesty and teach it to the girls.)
So we spent some time with her friend, Shanna, and her family after the performance to cheer the girls. It was bedtime, then up again at 5:30 on Saturday to get ready for her next dance.

My Dorothy

Here is another reason we go to North Alabama Dance Center: the instructors pray with the girls before each performance. I cannot express in words how much this picture means to me. I love that my baby girl is learning that God is in everything you do (and not just at church!).

Opening pose of "Wizard of Oz" (or Boogie Shoes because that's the music they danced to)

They looked like they were having so much fun! Caitlin is the 2nd Dorothy from the right.

Shaking those Boogie Shoes! Caitlin is the 2nd Dorothy from the left.

She is the last Dorothy on the left here shaking her groove thing.

When it was all said and done, they won a High Gold Award, High Point for their category, AND....2nd Best Entertaining in the ENTIRE competition!!! That's one proud Daddy with her!

My cousin, Laci, drove over from Auburn to cheer her on. Caitlin had built up an appetite by this point, so we let her change clothes then went to eat.

Normally we eat lunch on Saturday at a little dive named Chris' which is right by the Capitol, but since Laci was with us we went a different route. We tried a new Mexican restaurant by the hotel. It was pretty good!

My "thinks he is so funny" husband and me
We sent Laci on her way back to Auburn, then watched the Teen Dances until dinner time. By that time Caitlin was begging for a Chris' hot dog because that's the only time she gets one, so we got take-out and ate at the hotel with her friend, Shanna, and her family. It was bedtime at this point because the girls had dance classes bright early on Sunday morning with the competition judges.

Two tired, but happy dancers at the end of the weekend!

It was a very busy weekend, but it was a lot of fun watching my baby girl and her awesome talent!

I Can Actually Do Something Right!!

We are going through an extremely hard time at our house right now. It's called "I'm 11, but I Think I'm Old Enough to Know Everything!" We say prayers EVERY SINGLE MORNING AND NIGHT to survive this phase. And luckily, I do know it is just a phase. However, I am very, very worried how long this particular phase is going to last. I knew with her colic or 3-year-old stubborness or potty-training that it wouldn't last until she was in school, but this one may last entirely too long!

Well yesterday afternoon, she about made me wreck the car!! We were driving home from the grocery store and laughing about the crazy cheese lady who ran into our cart because she was in such a hurry to get to the cheese sale. (I thought of you, Allison!) When all of a sudden, she got quiet and says to me, "You know when I was home sick last week and you taught me how to figure out the circumference of a circle? Well, your way was sooooooo much easier than the way my teacher taught the rest of the kids." I am NOT kidding when I say that I almost drove off the side of the road! Lots of things ran through my head as to what to say to her, but I chose, "Thank you. That means a lot to me."

So maybe we've turned a corner and this phase is almost over! I'm not questioning it. I'm just relishing the fact that I actually remembered how to figure out the circumference of a circle and that my baby girl thinks I'm smart!