Braggin' on My Baby Girl

Or maybe I should title this: "Little Glimpses that I'm Doing Something Right."

Anyway...I have to brag on my baby girl today.

She spent the night with one of her best friends last night: Shanna who is in the blue dress. Well, Shanna has 2 older sisters who decided to rent a movie last night for all of them to watch. It was "Jack and Jill." When they told Caitlin at supper what movie they were going to watch, she says, "Oh, my Mom and Dad won't let me watch that movie. Can we watch something else?"

When Shanna's mom told me that story this morning, my heart almost burst!!! Yes, we did tell her that she couldn't watch the movie. And her reaction was, "But everybody else has seen it!" But this goes to show that she is listening to us even when she pitches a fit about what we have to say!

Let's Go Rangers!!

Harrison started his third year of baseball last week as a Ranger. After two seasons of T-ball, he is playing in the Prep league this year. The boys get three chances to hit the ball as their coach pitches it to them. If they don't hit any one of those pitches, they get to hit off the tee. I've been pleasantly surprised at how well Harrison has been hitting those coach-pitched balls! He likes playing baseball, but he is strictly out there to have fun! He could care less if his team wins or loses--he just likes to be outside playing. I guess there are worse things than having a competitive spirit especially when you are 6 1/2 years old!

Ms. Debbie, one of his favorite people in the world, came out to cheer him on in his first game of the season.

My sweet boy at his second at-bat. It's funny that he is on the Rangers this year because it's the third "R" team he has been on. First it was the Red Sox and then the Reds. I bet next year he'll be on the Rays:)

Lining up with his team to high-five the other team after a job well done. We really like our team this year because we are reunited with some boys that were on his first T-ball team 2 years ago plus Daddy is coaching again.

Let's hope they have a fun season!!

Happy {late} Easter!

We really did celebrate our risen Christ--I'm just way behind on my blogging!
We started off our beautiful Easter morning by seeing what was in the Easter baskets.

Caitlin's favorite thing was the Adele cd, while Harrison was ecstatic to get a new Skylander figurine. We then ate our yummy blueberry muffins and headed off to church. Randy, Caitlin, and I are serving in the Preschool Ministry this month, so we got to share the story of Jesus with the preschoolers. It was an amazing hour that brought tears to my eyes as I watched those sweet little faces hear about the amazing thing Jesus did for us!
We then hurried home to finish preparing the turkey and all the fixings. We had a photo-op before eating.

Our special friends, the Aronsons, came over and shared in the special day with us so we got a picture of all the kids dressed up.

My precious family!

Look at my 2 sweet blessings! They look so cute all dressed up.

Two sweet friends--I hope they keep this friendship forever like their Moms!

Had to have my picture made with my sweet friend too!

The silly boys had had enough!!!

Then someone else showed up with more Easter goodies...

Pa-Pa!! We were so happy to see him!

We stuffed ourselves with some delicious turkey and dressing, green beans, sweet potato casserole, deviled eggs, rice, corn casserole (I know I'm forgetting something...), and yummy desserts!!

It was then time to hunt eggs.

They were all looking for the ones with money in them.

Now to see what we got!

Too bad this is the only picture I got of Grandaddy. Grandmother was so busy washing dishes that she didn't make it into any of the pictures!

Then it was time for the egg races. (Caitlin and Taylor had already changed into their dance clothes which is what they would prefer to wear all the time!)

We had a very full day with our family and friends celebrating our risen Saviour! Easter is my favorite holiday of the entire year, so I try to make it extra special for my family. Can't wait for next year!

My Easter Present

Yes, we bought a new car the day before Easter! I absolutely, positively LOVE it!!!! I was faithful to my Ford Explorer, buying a second one after my first one gave out. But with gas prices rising each day, and us finding out that we really didn't need all that space in an Explorer--a Honda just seemed like the right fit. I love the gas mileage (26 mpg in the city is what I have been getting the past few days!), the colors (crimson with gray interior), and all the cool gadgets it has (heated seats, dual climate controls, and a Bluetooth feature). But mostly I love the new car smell!!

Now if we can just keep it as clean as it is right now....

Field Trip Day

I got to ride next to these 2 funny boys on their field trip last Thursday, April 5: Harrison and Davis. We went with the rest of the first grade classes to Bob Jones High School to see "The Wizard of Oz."

All the characters were there: Toto, Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow, Dorothy, and the Tin Man.

The sets were outstanding as were the costumes of Glenda, the Munchkins, and the Wicked Witch of the East.

And the students did a fabulous job of acting! It's just really hard for first-grade boys to sit still for that long! And I was right in the middle of 11 of them, so I heard a lot of, "When is it gonna be over?" and "I'm hungry!"

Thankfully right after the play was over, we went on a picnic lunch at Dublin Park. This is Harrison's class as they were eating their lunches.

They then got to play at Kids Kingdom to run off some of that energy before heading back to school.

Here are more of Harrison's friends: Jaylen, Luke, and Harrison P. (Yes, there is another Harrison in his class! What are the odds?!?)

We had a great time, and I'm so glad I got to go with my baby boy (although I probably shouldn't let him hear me say that!)

Wow!

I was given this wonderful devotional book when my Mama was diagnosed with cancer back in August. It has been a great addition to my morning routine.
I had a little extra time this morning, so for kicks I decided to look back on the day we received the horrible news that my Mama was going to die. It's amazing!

"Expect to encounter adversity in your life, remembering that you live in a deeply fallen world. Stop trying to find a way that circumvents difficulties. The main problem with an easy life is that it masks your need for Me. When you became a Christian, I infused My very Life into you, empowering you to live on a supernatural plane by depending on Me.
Anticipate coming face to face with impossibilities: situations totally beyond your ability to handle. This awareness of your inadequacy is not something you should try to evade. It is precisely where I want you--the best place to encounter Me."

And guess what?!? The entire situation that I have been going through has drawn me much, much closer to My Father God!

Spring Break at the Beach

So we decided to take a spur-of-the-moment trip to the beach for Spring Break. The kids actually had their Spring Break 2 weeks ago, so we had to take them out of school for 2 days to enjoy our Spring Break with us.

We had great weather, happy kids, and even better food to eat!

We even took Grandmother and Grandaddy with us! I hope my kids realize how lucky they are to get to vacation with their grandparents. I never did that! We just stopped at their house on the way to our beach vacations.

I really debated about them missing 2 days of school for such an extravagant reason. I prayed about it daily. But after having such a wonderful, relaxing time together, I decided that family is so much more important than learning new vocabulary words. And we did plenty of science as we looked for crabs and other sea life. Harrison and Caitlin read in the car, on the balcony of our condo, and in bed each night. So it wasn't such an uneducational trip after all!

I love my family, and I love the beach so it was the best of both worlds!!