Yesterday was the Day!

School started yesterday. Both the kids had a great first day. Kind of weird not having my little buddy around today! Missin' my random hugs and kisses.

Don't they look so much more grown up from last year?





what about the year before that when Em was in 3rd grade and Colt was just starting pre-school



My how time flies!

Farewell Dinner

Tonight we got together with my hubbies family. It was the final family dinner before His brother, wife and 2 kiddos move to the other side of the country. It was a fun and emotional evening. All the kids were emotional as well. My sweet girl sat quietly soaking it all in and gently wiping away her tears. My son on the other hand...well he let it all out! As soon as we began talking about the move and sharing stories he just broke down. He ran to me and buried his head in my chest and literally sobbed. There was no hesitation, no shame.....just raw emotion. He proceeded to cry like that for the next 30 minutes or so while we all shared and then prayed together.

On top of his own emotions, I think it was overwhelming for him. It's not everyday as a kid that you see your grandpa and grandma break down and cry....your father and mother break down and cry....your uncles and aunts break down and cry and your cousins crying as well. It was a lot to take in. But it did my mother's heart good to see that my son has such a tender heart. I already knew that aobut my daughter. I pray that he never loses that tender heart and that he will never be afraid to show that kind of emotion in the future. (when it's appropriate)

It's going to be really weird not having them at all the family events. It's a strange time. My sister just moved here with her family after leaving for college 20 years ago.....and now my hubbies brother and his family are moving away.

strange twist!

Things I neglected to post....

My brave girl getting her ears pierced....




My basketball player.....



My little football player....

Dance-Slumber Party Details

The Invitation.....

The Gift CD (with all the music from the dance party!)
The Birthday girl....


The Sweet Treats & Party Decor.....









I had the girls help me with the dipping and sprinkles on the cupcake pops! It was a fun activity~!
The little cupcake bites and cupcake pops were inspired by Bakerella.

Just a glimpse....

here is a tiny little glimpse at what I'm planning for my SIL's baby shower.....

I'm strappin' in and getting ready for the ride!

So, my hubby and I have been pretty intentional about not being a busy family. When my daughter was 5 she played soccer and softball, but at the end of the year we asked ourselves what we were doing and why we were doing it. We decided at that point that eventually life would get busy enough...so why make it busy at a point where it didn't have to be. My daughter is about to be 10 so for the last 5 year...it's been pretty mellow on the activities front! We've done little things here and there...sewing lessons for my daughter and indoor soccer during the day for my son. But we've cherished out calm evening schedules and our nightly dinner around the table without having to rush off to something. It's definitely been nice, but I would also have to say that somewhere in the process I began to develop an attitude of selfishness. I didn't want to start adding more activities because it would be an inconvenience for me. I don't like that crazy busy feeling and so I wanted to do what was comfortable and easy.

But this year we began to step out and add some activities. My daughter played basketball in the winter and my son is going to play flag football this spring. One at a time....that was doable! But then I went to a presentation my daughter did and school and I KNEW that I needed to be open to the idea of letting her join CYT (Christian Youth Theatre). We know people involved. They all love it...and they are all BUSY! So....I always said I would NEVER DO IT!
So, I looked into and realized...HEY...classes are only one night a week. I can do that. So we signed her up and the bonus was that we could car pool with my neighbor!

So we go to the first class and I begin to get emotional. It was this crazy weird experience. There was this obvious sense of family and the level of positivity and encouragement was UNDENIABLE! I basically had to fight back the tears because I KNEW that it was the PERFECT place for my daughter and that she was about to discover something in herself that would be amazing and build her confidence. I was also emotional because of the struggle going on inside! The selfishness I had become comfortable with....I would have to completely let go of it.

We discovered that night that auditions for the plays were the following day...and NEW students were welcome to audition. This was NOT in my plan. CYT is HIGH commitment and lots of volunteer hours for the parents. Not to mention 3 days a week when doing a play with a TON of driving back and forth!

of course she wanted to audition!

so I came home and began to discuss it with my hubby and the tears began to flow. I told him about how perfect it was for her and how I knew that as a mother I needed to start becoming WAY more sacrificial! God was definitely working on my heart and it was great to hear that he had been speaking similarly to my hubby as well. So we were on the same page...we would let her audition.

The next day she auditioned. It was amazing! SHE was AMAZING! She had NEVER done anything like that before and she did soooo good. She got up there without looking nervous...introduced herself and sang her little heart out! She sang beautifully and she had this big bright smile on her face the entire time. She was totally in her element! My mom sat next to me crying and somehow I was able to fight back the tears.

The following day was call backs and today we found out that she made the show. She will be part of the ensemble...and she is super excited! I'm excited for her.

My schedule is about to get BUSY...VERY BUSY! I don't think I even have a clue how busy. Every CYT parent I talk to gets big eyes and says, "it's alot!" Every person who I know who has a friend who is a CYT parent says, "I never even see her the month of the play."

So...I'm really glad I'm leaving for Mexico for a little vacation, because I'm going to need to be completely refreshed to start this new crazy life of mine. The great thing is...I know it will be worth it! My daughter totally deserves this sacrifice of my time. She's one pretty amazing kid.

I'm thankful that I have a God who is constantly molding me and shaping me into who he intends for me to be!

(I do have to say that making the decision not to be a busy family isn't one I regret. It was great for our family...I'm just saying that the time has now come to let my kids spread their wings and discover their interests and talents!)

My daughter....the dancing queen

It's always weird to do posts about regular old life stuff after my last one...no matter how you swing it. But here it goes....

A few weeks ago was the annual Father/Daughter dance that my hubby usually takes my daughter to. But this year hubby was sick in bed with a fever. He opted not to go to the dance and infect a room full of people. So it was Papa Scott to the rescue!! I think it's great that my dad got the chance to do something special like this with his grand-daughter.

The evening started with a trip to the hair dresser for the fancy hair-do (I'm soooo bad at doing hair...so I leave it up to the pros)





Oh my goodnes...how gruwn up she looks! I can't believe it! She now is officially only one shoe size behind me and she comes up to my nose!



Then we headed over to Papa Scott's house where he was in his best duds and ready with a cute little vase of red roses for his little Emily-doodle!





I unfortunately do not have pictures from the actual dance...but I think my dad worked his hip replacement out pretty good!!!

SURPRISE MOM!

sidenote ****The cute little blond girl waved at me today as my son was getting on the bus. She has never waved at me before. It almost made me think, "Does she read my blog?" LOL. Then after my son got on the bus, and sat next to her of course, they both waved at me together as the bus drove off!****


So, I never shared the story about my sis coming to town and surprising my mom....

Originally my sis and her fam were supposed to come to town for Christmas. But the Arctic Blast around here prevented them from coming since they were driving from Vegas. We all resolved that it just wasn't going to happen. A couple days after Christmas my sis calls and says, "I think we might come! Like we are gonna get in the car and come now!" WOW! So we agreed that we would keep it a surprise from my folks. We stayed in touch every couple hours as they made the long drive. About 4 hours before they got here she called my dad and let him in on it. We all got to my folks house at about the same time. My mom was out shopping with a friend. When she came home I told her my kids were hiding from her in her bedroom. I had already given my sis the camera and my kids along with her whole fam were in the bedroom. Needless to say....my mom was COMPLETELY SURPRISED!!

CLASSIC!!!

Dear, cute little blond girl on the bus....

I know you are totally adorable. I know that your smile is bright and cheerful. The cute little bow in your beautiful blond hair is so pretty. I know that even though my son is only SIX years old he obviously sees how cute and adorable you are as well. I see how everyday he gets on the bus and sits right next to you. Even when that other little boy is already sitting there. I see him when he plops himself right in between the two of you....making sure the HE is sitting next to YOU!

Oh sweet girl....the little note card you gave him on the bus today was very thoughtful. The fact that you took the time to dictate it to your older sister is so sweet. The picture you drew on the front...of a heart....was very well done. And the full blown crayon drawing that you did of the two of you...well, you are quite the little artist! Of course my son can't read that well yet, so his big sister had to read the note to him. It is very sweet that you missed him during christmas vacation. There were two parts of the note that really caught my eye. The very first line in fact, which was "Do you like me?" And the way you ended it with "Love ______"

But oh cute little blond girl on the bus......you can have the spot next to him on the bus.....but you can't have his heart quite yet! He is only SIX! I know....so are you....but do you have to be so darn cute! I've told him that he's too young to have a girlfriend. He tells me he knows that and that you are not his girlfriend. I've told him that if you ask....he has to say, "Sorry, but I'm too young to have a girlfriend!" He says, "I know!"

So, cute little blond girl on the bus....you will still be cute in like 15 years! So if you could maybe try NOT to be sooo cute until then I would really appreciate it! Because for now...I think I'm gonna keep his heart safe and sound in my arms. Hopefully it will stay safe and sound there for many years to come!

I figure if all else fails...when cute girls like you start coming around (ya know...in 15 years!) I will just have to do something REALLY embarrassing to get them to LEAVE! I'm not sure what...but I've got some time to think about it!

Sincerely yours.....
The mother of the cute little boy on the bus

One last Tennessee Post!

If you are interested I've put together a slideshow of a lot of our pics from our Tennessee trip! Enjoy!

Tennessee Trip Photo Show

Just a few pics of the fam

Pics from while we were in Tennessee

Toothless in Tennessee--- Part 2---- the pics!

Ok, ya'll will think it's totally crazy but in our little family my hubby pulls our kids' loose teeth with plyers. The funny thing is .... it doesn't hurt at all! When you pull a tooth straight up out of it's little home, it comes out nice and clean. As opposed to breaking it off by wrenching it forward and backward. They love it and Colt couldn't wait to have his dad do it because he has seen it done to his sissy and he knew it wouldn't hurt!





The other tooth right next to it is loose too...they plyers will be needed again soon! Oh and the bonus is that we always go out for ice cream when someone looses a tooth!

Toothless in Tennessee!

Well, here we are in Tennessee and Colt lost his very first tooth! He is sooo excited! I'm thinking I might actually download pics a bit later, so I will try to post some later.

We went to the Tennessee Aquarium today and I took lots of pics there! It was fun. We ate at this restaurant called Sticky Fingers. OH MY GOODNESS! It was soooooo yummy! FANTABULOUS BBQ ribs and their whisky flavord BBQ sauce is to die for! The drive from Murfreesboro to Chattanooga was really pretty with all the rolling hills. I'm kind of bummed out though because the tree colors still haven't totally popped yet. I guess it's been a bit warmer than usual lately or something. I really wanted my kids to see the fall colors at their best. I saw them years ago up in the Northeast and they are spectacular! Tomorrow we will drive through the smokey mtns to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge with our ultimate destination being Dollywood.

Right now I'm just sitting by the pool at the hotel while the kids swim. My hubby is back in the room watching Monday Night football. The local team, The Tennessee Titans is playing.

Well, I'm off to blog hop. I don't get much time at home to do that...cuz I'm usually designing blogs rather than looking at them.
see ya'll later!

In Tennessee-----almost didn't make it!

Well, we are here in Tennessee! And let me tell you it was a literal workout to get here. The day started out easy. Our flight didn't leave until noon, so it was a leisurely morning getting things ready before we headed to the airport. Our flight pattern was from our place to Atlanta and then to Nashville. If you don't know Atlanta has a HUGE airport!!! We got off in concourse A and had to catch the next plane in Concourse E. You have to take a train to get there. We only had an hour between flights. So we get to E and all of a sudden it hits me "GASP!... I left my camera on the plane!!" (my $800 camera and my $200 flash!...so we are talking $1000 here people!) I went into panic mode! We went to the Delta desk and they were totally NOT helpful! So then we went to the new gate and they called the old gate and we discovered that YES they had my camera! So that was good! What was bad was that our plane left in 25 minutes and I had to RUN back to the old gate in concourse A and then back to the new gate in Concourse E again...and pray I made it back in time! Oh people, I knew there was a reason I should have kept up my running from last year. But alas I haven't worked out in like a year so I was totally suckin' wind...and totally sweating! But I had to KEEP RUNNING! My family was standing at the new gate waiting for me. They had just been told that the door to the plane would be closing in two minutes when they finally saw me RUNNING towards them with my camera bag in tow! I barely made it! But I made it! I thought I was gonna die, but I made it. When we got on the plane everyone was of course seating and staring at us...and I was obviously flush and sweaty! It was totally embarrassing!
We landed in Nashville and then took the 30 minute drive to Murfreesboro where we are stying for a couple nights with my hubby's Aunt's house. We had a nice visit last night and then this morning we got up and went to church with her. She goes to a large church here in Murfreesboro called World Outreach Church. I gotta say, he was a great speaker and it was SOLID teaching! My hubby's cousins are coming over in a bit for a BBQ. The kids are excited to meet their cousins! It should be fun!
We drove into town today and saw the campus of Middle Tennessee State. It was very pretty and all the old historical homes on main street surrounding the old town square were amazingly beautiful! I hope to post pics ...maybe in a day or two.
I hope to keep ya'll posted on our trip, so keep checking back!
hey....at least the airport experience allowed me to get a workout in while on vacation!!

She's gonna be famous...

Ok, I'm gonna brag on one of my family members for just a minute......
This is my cousin Allison (no it's not the Allison listed in my friends list) Isn't she totally gorgeous and adorable!!!
We all think so! These pics don't show it the best, but she has the most amazing blue eyes and the longest real eyelashes you have ever seen. Take a good look at her face because she is gonna be famous someday! She is currently finishing up her senior year of college then in the summer she is off to California to persue her dreams!

A couple years ago an artist was introduced to her and the artist, Margaret Morrison, did a series of paintings using my cousin as a model. I've included the paintings below and then beneath the paintings is part of an article from athensonline.com that gives a brief overview of the artists perspective for the paintings. Margaret Morrison is featured artist at the Woodward Gallery

In contrast, a woman with full waves of golden hair stars in two carnival-themed paintings. In "Girl in White/All American," she smirks over her shoulder, holding eggshell white balloons, a fluffy Mardi Gras-style mask and an opulent feather boa. In spite of her party-ready mood, she stands in front of a ripped tarp that only partially obscures the view of a damaged and foreboding landscape.

We see her again in "Carnival," this time with a jaunty blue and orange party hat and surrounded by balloons, festive flags, and an abandoned bucket ride. Three elephants gamely try to balance on top of each other, but there's no crowd to witness; the carnival tent is in subdued colors of rust and gold, and in absolute tatters. Again, there's the battered, gray and smoking city behind her.

That girl, says Morrison, is America.

The work came from "that crazy year we had when Katrina and the tsunami hit," she says. "I found myself riveted to the television, watching every second of coverage, as well as the war in Iraq.

"As human beings, we are captivated by calamity," she continues. "In a way it's become like a carnival sideshow."

And as for the oblivious girl representing our country, Morrison explains: "We're a little bit removed from what's going on around us ... our party is merrily going on, while the rest of the world - we get from snippets of news - is spinning out of control."

At last the school pictures!

First Day of 4th Grade.............



First Day of Kindergarten............He was sooo excited!





this was his look telling me to STOP TAKING PICTURES NOW!!!