6th Grade Awards Day

I was lucky enough to get to go to Caitlin's 6th Grade Awards Day on Monday, May 21.

Here's my pretty girl waiting patiently for the program to start.

These are the Character Council winners. (Sorry it's blurry!)

Here she is with her good friend, Kendal, after Awards.

Pa-Paw joined me as one of her fans.

This is her homeroom teacher, Mr. Thaxton.
You can see her Awards in her hands: Character Council, Art (that was displayed in Panoply), and Language Arts Excellence--there were only two 6th graders picked and she was one of them!

Caitlin and Mrs. Armstrong, her Language Arts teacher.

Harrison was so proud of his big sister and her awards.

Caitlin and I then went home to change clothes and then out to eat lunch together, just the two of us. She picked Atlanta Bread which is our favorite girls' place to eat. We then did a little shopping, but we just had fun being together. I absolutely love times like these with my baby girl because I know they will not happen too many more times!

Mother's Day

I'm not gonna lie...I was really, really, really dreading Mother's Day this year. I know I have two of the most beautiful children that God blessed me with, and I was looking forward to opening up their presents and hearing them say how much they love me. But I knew that I wouldn't get to celebrate with my own Mama this year.
What I wasn't anticipating was the actual meltdowns I had leading up to the day. I think Friday was the worst. I was okay as I passed by the display of Mother's Day cards in Target on Wednesday--there were only tears in my eyes. And I was even okay as I picked out new flowers on Thursday to place on her grave (well, I did cry a little). But I heard a song on the radio Friday morning on the way to school that just put me over the edge. I cried ALL.DAY.LONG!!! You can ask my first-graders. They thought I had an eye infection because my eyes were so red!
But the crazy thing was...on Sunday...I had a small meltdown at the cemetary, but that was it!! But let me tell you why. My precious, sweet daughter who is wise beyond her years saw me crying and started to tear up also. But then she said the best thing ever.
"Mama, now Ma-Ma is up in Heaven getting to celebrate Mother's Day with her mom."
How did I ever get so lucky to get her?!?

Harrison was super excited to give me his present that he came running into our room and woke me up bright and early. He made a sweet card and decorated a heart-shaped cake from Publix for me.

I was lucky enough to get dressed before Caitlin gave me my present from her. She made a super sweet card in class and gave me a new iphone case in her favorite color: pink!

Randy (and Brady too!) gave me a new beach chair for our annual trip that is coming up on June 2. I can't wait to use it!!

The rest of our day was spent in Birmingham at the McWane Center. We had originally planned on going to the Zoo, but God had other plans. The Heavens opened up and rain came down most of the day. Luckily we had a back-up plan!
We then came home to Madison and got to eat a lovely Chinese dinner with Randy's mom to celebrate Mother's Day with her.

I know my day was much easier than I had expected because I was covered in prayer. I had so many dear friends text me during the day that they were praying for me. I just can't tell you how good that made me feel! God knew that I would need His help throughout the day, and He held me up just like I needed!

Rangers Prep Ball

So I haven't been up to date on updating Harrison's progress as a Prep ballplayer this season.

He has done a great job and has really improved as a ballplayer.

I was so nervous for him to play in this league because it's Coach Pitch.

I just didn't know if he would be able to hit a pitched ball, but he has surprised us!

Pa-Paw came to most of his games to cheer him on.

 Most of the time Harrison played in the outfield and got very good at it.

He loved having his Daddy as Coach again this year.

A few times Harrison played Catcher. That was a real learning experience!!

Here he is hitting a ball pitched to him!

Up to bat

I love being at the ball park watching my baby boy play!

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....