My Family

As Thanksgiving approaches, I realize how truly thankful I am for my family.

I also realize that family can mean many different things.

I have one brother. Always wanted a sister.

God blessed me with 4 sisters when I married Scottie.

I have an amazing church family who loves me and has blessed me richly over the last 7+ years.

I have friends who I consider to be family.

I live with the most amazing boys in the world.

I am outnumbered, but wouldn't trade these two for anything.

My parents still love each other.

(And they treat their only granchild like royalty!)

Our family.

I know these people love me for me and would do anything for me.

My dad's side of the family.

I have some wonderful memories with these folks.

God is changing my view of my family.

And teaching me how to trust.

Our family will be expanding.....

We will be adopting a child through The C.A.L.L.

We are super excited!!

We cannot wait to see what God has planned for our changing...

...family.

Henry Turns 8

Happy Birthday, Henry!!

Henry turned 8 years old on Saturday, October 2nd. It was such a fun day and I'm so glad we all got to be together on his special day!

He started off the morning "cooking" with me in the kitchen. In this picture he is talking on his banana phone.

We had his party at the Jump Zone. It was so perfect!! What an amazing place!!

Mr. Jerry is explaining the rules! The party was in the Razorback Room. Soooo cute!

Henry got some wonderful gifts. Lots of Legos, money and a kickball and bases from his Grama and Papa!

It was such a fun day!!!

At 8 years old, Henry:

You are in the 2nd grade and love school.

You enjoy Math, but tell me your favorite subject is recess. :-)

You love to play with Legos and like to build "scenes" with your Star Wars sets.

You are very creative and have a wonderful imagination.

Your favorite TV shows are Spongebob and The Suite Life With Zack and Cody.

Your favorite snack is Goldfish Crackers.

Your favorite food is pizza.

You like to go to the mall and Target with me (and I'm REALLY thankful).

You have a sweet spirit and hate to be in trouble.

You like to go to church with mom and dad.

You are a helper and a leader.

Your best friend is Taylor.

You killed your first deer last year at the age of 7.

You are such a blessing to your dad and I.

We thank God every day for you.

We are so proud of you!

We love watching you grow up and can't wait to see what God has in store for your life!!

Tinker Toys

Henry was playing with his Tinker Toys the other day and made "laser beams" across his door frame. He told me he would have to "scan my eye" to make sure I was a good guy before I entered. I love that even though he has a wii and a DS, some days he just wants to play with his Tinker Toys. Even if it is to build death beams and eye scanners.

The little turkey turns 8 in 2 days and is so excited. Birthday pics and fun stories to come.

Big Boys and Their Toys

Last week my parents came down to go to the Clothesline Fair in Prairie Grove.

Henry and my dad LOVED the old tractors.

They even got to drive them!!

First Day Flashback

Kindergarten, 2008

1st Grade, 2009

2nd Grade, 2010

His teacher has a "dog" theme in her classroom that this one was in the hall display. Perfect representation of Henry. He has already had homework and is already loving this year!

Summer Fun

I realized yesterday marked my last 3 weeks of summer. While I am a little saddened by this realization, I love my job and am really starting to get excited about the upcoming year.

We are so blessed to have a pool in our backyard and enjoy it so much during the summer months. Our lab, Maggie, thinks it's her pool and we just get to swim in it! She loves to swim with us and dive underwater to get torpedos. She is so funny to watch!!

The water was a bit chilly this day so Henry played in his toy bucket. He called it his "hot tub."

Of course, this summer has been quite rainy so there has been some fort-building, wii-playing and movie-watching, too. There have been a few trips to the mall, the library and Grama and Papa's house.

Henry starts 2nd grade in a few short weeks. It is so hard to believe he is growing up so fast! I treasure our time together every summer. Every day is an adventure!

It's been a wonderful summer!!

Not What I Planned Today

This is not the sight I was expecting today...rain. I expected to be swimming with Henry today, watching Maggie and him splash around and play. I did not expect rain. Although it is great for our lawn, it deflated our fun. However, Henry and I did set out on an adventure this morning before the rain set in (I tried to call it a "date" but he corrected me and called it an "adventure" instead). We stopped by the coffee shop and the donut shop before heading to the Fayetteville Farmer's Market. It was a beautiful morning and there was lots of produce! We bought some blueberries, cherry tomatoes, candy onions and cucumbers. We both really enjoy going there on Saturdays. We drove by the library and planned to pop in, but they were closed today, so it was on to Wal-Mart!! It was a pretty good trip - at 9:30 am. Maybe I'm on to something...go early before the rest of Fayetteville gets there! We made it home by 10:45 am.

Here's a view from the front. I bought a new flag this week and am feeling very patriotic!

I was afraid to buy flowers at the Farmer's Market since they would be sitting in the car a while, so I got some beautiful sunflowers at Wal-Mart. Henry suggested we "plant them in the yard."

I have thought about updating my blog a bunch over the last month, but quite honestly didn't know what to say! I think I was putting too much thought into it. HA

We have lots of fun things planned over the next couple of days...Freedom Fest tonight (assuming it's not rained out), cookout tomorrow and swim (again assuming it's not rained out), and launching an arsenal of fireworks currently taking up most of my kitchen table and something Henry has been looking forward to all week! I will do my best to get pics up soon. Happy 4th everyone!!

Losing It

After a few tears and a little blood, Henry pulled his first tooth last Sunday evening, May 23rd. The tooth fairy came and left him a cool $10 bill. His theory is that the tooth was actually only worth $5, but because he was brave and pulled it himself, he got a $5 bonus. We'll go with that.
Congratulations, Henry! We are proud of you!

Ready for Summer

Henry and I are so ready for summer. My brother took this picture last summer when he was here to visit. I think it sums everything up perfectly. I'm ready for hot days, my swimming pool, ice cold lemonade, ice cream and fireworks. Bring it!! I am ready!!

What are your summer favs??

A Special Day, A Busy Month and a Big Fish

So, I'm a bad blogger. I have good intentions. I even said one time that I planned to blog once a week. HA. It's been almost 2 months, but let me say that they have been 2 very busy months!! I think contest season got the best of me this year. I took my 8th grade girls class to Choral Performance Assessment in Bentonville in March. They were the first group from KMS to ever go to this contest. They made straight first division on stage and in sight-reading. Not an easy thing to do!! The judges at these contests to do just hand out first divisions. They must be earned. My girls worked very hard and sang their hearts out! I am so proud.

In April I took about 65 7th and 8th graders to Solo and Ensemble contest at JBU and it was another amazing contest. Lots of first and second divisions. 2 of my ensembles made first division. One of those was a group of 7th and 8th grade boys who did a really cute arrangement of "This Ol' Man." They were so proud they made a 1 and are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their plaque!

Our final contest of the year was last Saturday in Branson. The Ozark Mountain Band, Choral and Orchestra Festival is held every year at College of the Ozarks in Hollister. It is a unique competition because after the group performs on stage, 2 of the judges actually work with the students. It's such a good experience for the students and we go every year. My 8th grade girls performed the same pieces they did at CPA and received straight first division again! After the contest, we spent the day at Silver Dollar City. I LOVE Silver Dollar City!! But the weather was less than ideal. It stormed off and on all day. But overall, it was ok. They students had a good time even though the weather didn't cooperate!

Whew! That's a little of what's been going on in my world the last couple of months. All that is left now are 2 spring concerts and a talent show. We are close to the end, but we're not there yet!!

And now on to the special day. Easter was amazing. Not only were we celebrating Christ's resurrection, Henry was baptized that morning by his daddy. On December 9th, Henry asked Jesus into his heart by himself after AWANAs. He told us about it the next morning. We have been talking with him about it to make sure it was the real deal and it was! He is so sure about it. We had been talking with him about baptism and on Easter Sunday morning, he was baptized with 12 other children and youth!! It was incredible.

Henry's MeMe, Papaw, Grama, Papa, aunts, uncles and all his cousins were here for his special day. Everyone stayed for lunch in the youth building!

And last, the big fish. Last Friday Scottie fished at Lake Atkins and caught the biggest bass he's ever caught! He brought it home to show and it lived for a couple of days in the pool before being set free. Now that's a big fish!

I really hope to do better with blogging in the future! Thanks for reading!