my girl and her girls

Little Miss has had some fun times the last couple of weeks also. One of her best buddies had a sleepover....and S had a blast spending the night and staying up late with her best friends. She also finished preschool....yes, my girl is an official kindergartner. She is thrilled...I am dealing with it and will be dealing with it until you find me as a puddle on the front steps of the elementary school. But, let's stick to the end of her days at Covenant right now. Her little school has been wonderful - teaching her scriptures, growing sweet friendships, singing precious songs, and learning lots of "good to know" stuff. I had the privelege of planning her end-of-the-year party. We had a good time...those kiddos love a party!

bye bye baseball

Well, the long, fun season of living at the baseball field has ended. C had his last game and end of the year party. His coaches' wife was so very on top of things and scheduled our party at the Birmingham Barons' game back before the season ever started. We sooo appreciated her pre-planning because our guys loved it!!! They ran on the field for the National Anthem then went to a party area for trophies, game balls, and cake. Here are some pictures from our afternoon at the ballpark:

What a weekend!!

Whew! What an amazing, wonderful, (BUSY!!) weekend! I wore many hats this weekend....and am soooo thankful for each one I wore....chauffeur, cook, cheerleader, ballet enthusiast, daughter, mother, wife, photographer, social coordinator....well, you get my drift. A busy weekend full of blessings and special moments. Being a woman is not for the faint of heart. But, oh, the paycheck is unbelievable!! I adore the hats I am blessed to wear...

Well, this crazy weekend began with Little Miss's first ballet recital. Oh, she was sooo excited!! And, both sets of grandparents were in town to see her. I really don't think it could have been a better day for her...unless she could have stayed on stage all day...she would have loved that! Here are a few pictures from this sweet event:
After our girl's recital, we hit the ball field where we saw my buddy play a GREAT game! He played so hard with all of his grandparents watching. We beat the #1 team - Go Cardinals!
After the big game, we came home to cook out and celebrate S's birthday with the family. C read all of her cards to her. Bear loved every minute - no lack of attention on him! We had such a great time all hanging out together. We sure enjoyed having the Grands in town for such a fun day!!
And, then we celebrated Mother's Day. My feelings on being a mom....well, that is another post for another day. And, the thankfulness I have for my mom and Eric's mom and our precious grandmothers...well, that will be another post too. I am sooo blessed! I am sooo very blessed!!

She is 5!!

My big girl turned 5 yesterday! We have a 5 year old little girl in our house...kind of hard to believe. She is such a joy, so excited about everything. She is dramatic, loving, funny, and so girly. I had her best little friends come over for a playdate to celebrate with her. She chose not to have a party. I was good with that decision. We will be taking her and my niece to Atlanta to the American Girl store soon for their combined birthday trip. So, a day at home with some buddies and a few cupcakes did the trick for Little Miss. We had a great day celebrating!
She woke up to a rainy birthday and told me she was glad that God was making the flowers grow on her birthday. We talked about her being five and she told me how excited that she could say she was a "whole hand." I love this kiddo!!! Her precious friends from school came over for lunch and to play. They designed some pretty unique cupcakes to eat and were so silly...sweet girls. That afternoon, a few more friends from church came over to celebrate with some pizza and more cupcakes to decorate. Little Miss had a ball playing with her best buddies!! S is so very blessed to have such precious friends. She loves these girls so much! Each one has such a sweet heart.

Little Miss had a great day...she is as happy as she can be to be five. She told me tonight that she sure did like being four and thought five would be just as good. She didn't want to grow up yet, she said. I told her that I was with her on that one....to enjoy each day's blessings. She just grinned....that five year old grin. Of course, today brought a great deal more self-confidence and independence. She wore high heeled sandals to school because "they looked cute with her outfit". She gave herself her first shower, because "she needs to learn so she doesn't always have to take baths".

Oh, yes, I think I will be seeing a lot of that mischievious, precious five year old grin this year.... Lord, help me!

turning lemons into lemonade

This past Saturday, my kiddos and I sat down while eating breakfast to talk about all that had happened last week in our area. Tornados and storms had uprooted trees everywhere, schools were closed, people were hurt. C's school had been closed due to power outage and an all out mess all over his school yard. His baseball schedule is still in a quandry...trying to find a field to have the last few games....his field was destroyed. We had seen on tv and heard of even more destruction, complete destruction all around us - in Tuscaloosa, in Pleasant Grove, back home in Mississippi. We talked about how sad the families there must feel to have lost their homes and loved ones. We had been and will continue to pray for all of these poor people as they begin to put their lives back together. As we talked and finished our pancakes, we began to come up with a 7 and 4 year old plan of how we could help. C's school is collecting blue jeans - time to clean out the closets and bins of out-grown clothes. My consignment sale I hit every year is collecting all things "child" - time to clean out toys and my yard sale pile. We were so excited to find some things we could do to help! Jesus calls us to be His hands and feet - it was time to get started right here in our own state of AL! The kiddos figured we could go buy some toothbrushes, some soap. They decided on a long list of items to buy that families would need. So,.....this is how they decided they would start: They got started Saturday afternoon after a soccer game and trip to the store. So, they only got a few hours in...but they collected $78.00!!! They were thrilled! They were waving their sign at every car that passed. They told their customers why they were collecting money and what they would buy. We had some very sweet neighbors that came back for a second glass or to donate to the cause. We met neighbors we had never even met before. This mama was so proud! I loved watching them work, serving others so enthusiastically. After the sale, we headed to the store and they (very excitedly) worked to fill their carts with much needed toiletries and shirts/socks. We dropped off our purchases at our church for them to disperse as needed. So, now to come up with another plan to help...

I pray our tiny efforts help someone. I pray the people who receive our donations know they are loved and that the Lord up above adores them. I pray they feel His hands holding theirs, I pray they sense His feet walking beside them on their new journey. I pray we can act like those hands and feet again and again. I pray my children felt the sense of joy and purpose in helping others. I desperately want the poor people affected by these storms to feel a peace as their lives are put back together piece by piece. I pray they rely on the Creator, the Great Physician, the Prince of Peace....He will take care of them as they recover, I know that. I also know He will teach my family to love more deeply and to give more sacrificially. He will turn this whole horrible devastation into something to bring Him glory, I am sure of it. He has a beautiful way of taking lemons and making lemonade....