Our 10th Anniversary

This year marks 10 years of marriage for me and David.  I can't believe how the time has flown and how much our lives have completely changes since that day!  We are so blessed beyond measure to still not only love but also truly like each other, have three precious girls (two here with us and one in heaven), jobs we enjoy and also pay the bills, loving family and friends, and on and on.  Are we where we thought we would be 10 years ago - not exactly, but praise GOD for being our third cord in our rope of three strands through everything!  I look forward to our next 10 - 20 - 30 years with anticipation of what is to come.

We were not able to do a "big" thing for our 10 year this year because David was leading a mission trip to Peru the week of our anniversary, so we will try and work something up next year.  The girls and I did get to go to Tennessee to see David's sister and her family who had been stationed in Germany and were finally home!  It was a great weekend and all the kids had a blast playing together.  It was so great to have ALL the cousins together.

David's Aunt Darlene that live in Tampa was even able to make the trip up, she was awesome with all the crazy kiddo's running everywhere.  She even got some snuggle time with a very busy 15 month old!

I got to talk to David and he was roughing it for the Lord - this was his view in Peru that day!  Really it was a great trip and many lives were changed, all in all not a bad way to spend a special day.

We ended up leaving on Sunday after the family had gone to church because David was getting back to Pelham around noon.  So, this picture was really to say "hey we are packed up and leaving - love you".  Little did I know SK was super pooped from the busy weekend so here is a nice before and after of my tired girl in the car!

Our Back Yard Addition

Last year David got a "big" pool to go in the back yard that was large enough to float around in but still small enough for SK to touch.  It was about 10' in diameter and 3' deep.  We stored it over the winter and got it out this year.  David worked and worked to get it all set up and had it all filled up, then we got up the next morning and found out the darn thing split on one side during the night and dumped out all the water!  So, off he goes to the store to get a replacement.  This time an 11' in diameter and 3' deep pool.  Again he works and works to get it set up and all is good for about a week.  Then we start to notice water seeping out because the tarp below the pool was too small (it was for the 10' pool we had last year), so little bits of grass were growing through the pool and made little holes.  So, David drains it, marks the holes he sees, patches them, lays out two layers of 16' in diameter tartps, then sets us up again.  Again - we go to sleep and the next day the water is GONE!  Someone easily deterred would say, maybe we don't need a giant pool in the back yard and give up... not my husband.  He then went out and bought a 15' diameter, 3.5' deep pool.  He double checked the tarps laid out past the pool, got it all put together and leveled, and filled her up one more time.  So, this one seems to be the winner.  It has been up and functional for over 2 months now and we are loving it!  I'm intrigued to see how winter storage is going to work though!!!

4th of July

We started off the 4th of July with grand plans to go to this great FREE event in Hoover with fireworks and live music and a car show, but then it rained and rained and rained.  So our big night out turned into a night in.  We grilled (of course) and had a yummy dinner.  Afterward SK and I slipped out to go see Despicable Me 2 while David and Charlotte Anne snoozed.

When we got home from the movie we lit some sparklers in the driveway and watched the fireworks on TV.

The next morning I got the girls up and we watched the Washington DC fireworks special I recorded the night before and Charlotte Anne was getting down to some Neil Diamond!  Who knew?!

When she was all boogied out, we got ready and loaded up to go to the McWane Center.  It was Charlotte Anne's first time there and she had a blast!  She was able to run around and touch everything - pushing any and all buttons!  

 

Since it was the day after a holiday I let SK pick out her own outfit, so notice the hot pink fluffy skirt, hot pink tights, and hot pink sandles - all to match her Ariel shirt, sassy lady!

VBS 2013

Vacation Bible School's theme this year was "Kingdom Chronicles" - knights and armor, good kingdom and bad kingdom, dressing up, ...  Needless to say Sarah Katherine came home every day with great stories of how much fun she had and what she had learned.  What was so wonderful is this year I think she is starting to put everything together because the evening after they presented the gospel to the kids, we spent about 30 minutes talking about Jesus and how he is God's son and he loves us so much that he died for each and every one of us.  I don't think SK has quite put all the pieces together, but she's starting to really listen and retain.  Just this morning she asked me when I asked Jesus in my Heart and became part of his "kingdom".  I love, love, love that my baby girl is learning all of this at such a young age and I pray she listens to the call of God on her heart.  I also pray that David and are given divine wisdom for how to teach our girls and how to reflect the life that we should to our girls.  What an awesome responsibility and opportunity!

 All the kids singing at family night.  Sarah Katherine and our buddy Jackson are on the front row just to the left of the lady with her hand up.  Sassy girl loved dancing and singing in big church!

After the kids showed us all their songs the church had ice cream and inflatables for the kids - we had a blast!

Mommy and Daddy go to Orlando

David had a conference in Orlando, so we saw a great opportunity to do an inexpensive mini-vacation and we made the call for it to be grown up's only (not nice to do since it was Orlando, I know - but we had a blast!).  We flew out a day before the conference began so we had one full day off, so what better to do in that one day than hit up all 4 Disney parks in one day for free?!  David knows a lady that works at Disney so she was able to get us a one park hopper for free, so we started at MGM, then worked over to Magic Kingdom, then Epcot, then Animal Kingdom, then back to MGM for the late fireworks and home to the hotel - trust me, much more high impact than that little list sounds!  We made a plan and worked the plan so we got to do and see everything we wanted in our one day.  So fun!

While David was in conference the next few days I sat by the pool, went shopping, saw a movie - all these amazing calm things I NEVER get to do. :)  One night we went to Medievel Times for dinner (Dixie Stampede in Gatlinberg totally ripped off their entire show, but it was still fun).

 The day we were leaving, we scheduled our flight for late afternoon so that we would have that morning to head over to Universal and hit up Universal and Islands of Adventure to round out our whirlwind of theme parks!  We were there when the gates opened and hustled straight back to Harry Potter.  We still had to wait for about 30 minutes, but it was awesome!  We finished the day with lunch at Emeril's and were so tired we couldn't have done anything else if we wanted to.

We did souvenir shopping for the girls through out the week and when we gave SK hers she went to her room for like 5 minutes and came back with literally wearing every since souvenir we just gave her all at one time - can you tell she was excited?!

Family Photo's

After rescheduling about 3 times and telling my husband that he MUST be present that day and be smiling, we finally got family pictures taken by a sweet young lady in our college Sunday School class that we teach.  She is very talented and offered up her time for us, which we eagerly accepted!  These were taken at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens - Sarah Katherine is 4.5, Charlotte Anne is 14 months.

Visiting Gram

We went to visit my grandmother in Anniston for the day and my mom, her sister, and her sister's grandkids got to come also.  We had such a great time celebrating my Gram's birthday and enjoying time together.  Life is always so crazy, I love it when we carve out the time to purposefully see family and spend time together.  The kids had a blast and didn't bother too many residents at the place where my Gram lives!  I think they enjoyed watching the kids - I know I will when I get that age.

Charlotte Anne's One Year Appointment (well, 13 months)

Due to mommy and daddy's crazy schedule and two reschedulings by the doctor, we finally got little Charlotte Anne in for her one year appointment at about 13 months.  This time daddy got the privilege of taking her and seeing her pitiful face when the mean lady gave her the bad shots.  As expected, CA is pretty small but she is starting to catch up.

Weight: 21 lbs (25%)
Height: 30" (50%)
Head: 18 1/4" (75%)

Mother's Day 2013

This year as a combo birthday / Mother's Day / we need time away we packed up and headed to Ellijay, Georgia to stay in a cabin and enjoy the BEAUTIFUL north Georgia mountains.  First exciting part - the cabin was super reasonable!  Second exciting part - the cabin was amazingly nice!  It had 2 master suites with full bathrooms, a giant bunk bed room with 3 sets of bunk beds, a theater room with a Wii and surround sound, hot tub, sauna, gorgeous decks complete with lots of great seating (including a swing the size of a twin size bed with tons of pillows - my favorite!), and a fabulous view.  I would have been happy to just not leave the cabin all weekend, but we did venture out Saturday to an orchard that allows you to pick your own fruit. Strawberries are in season, so we loaded up on strawberries (literally the best strawberries I have ever eaten) and then cruised out to a waterfall nearby.  After those excursions we headed back to our home away from home and cooked steaks and ate out on the porch.  What a perfect weekend and perfect time with my family, especially nice to hit the pause button for a bit and enjoy this time when our girls are little and have time as a family without running here or there.  This spot is definitely on my "must go back" list.  I'm thinking it is ON sometime this fall! :)

Picking strawberries with daddy - they did GOOD!

Top of the falls, a bit windy. :)

The cabin had a path down to a fire pit that overlooked this amazing view!  Oh yes, big plans for when it gets cooler.

 We stopped in Chattanooga on the way home for lunch and to let the kids run around some.  Here is me and SK in front of the aquarium.

Preschool Choir's Spring Performance

The day after Sarah Katherine's 4K graduation was performance night at church, so girlfriend had a BIG weekend!  The ages 3-5 choir sang 3 songs for choir and did a wonderful job!  Like last time I have a video and am totally unable to get it to load. I am going to need some video lessons for dummies soon.  

After the choir sang, they also did some songs they sing at "Wiggling Worship" which is our church's preschool worship service.  I was super impressed b/c one song was all the books of the Old Testament and the second song was all the books of the New Testament!   Yes, these 3, 4, and 5 year old know ALL the books of the Bible.  We are so blessed to have amazing people working with our children and teaching them at such a young age.  Little children truly do worship perfectly - it is a thrill to watch!!!

Sarah Katherine's first "gradunation"

Sarah Katherine's first (of hopefully several) graduations (or as she says it - gradunation) was May 4.  My baby girl put on a cap and gown, showed off all she had learned over the year including her alphabet - forward and backward, numbers, presidents (yes, all of them!), states (again - all of them!), letter sounds, and several precious songs.  After all the graduates had their certificates they also showed a slide show of all the kiddos dressed up in snazzy outfits (SK in a dress, jewelry, gloves, and makeup!) posing and he song "Putting on the Ritz" playing.  Then there was a portion of the slide show of the kiddos baby picture and then flash to their cap and gown picture.  I started crying before I even saw my own kid!  The ceremony was amazing and I am so thankful of the wonderful school where my girls attend - they are loved, nurtured, and taught not only great basic information to prepare them for "big school" but also that God loves them and He sent His son Jesus to die for them.  God bless Chase Learning Center and their staff!  Because of SK's birthday being in September, she will go to advanced 4K next year which is basically an accredited Kindergarten but we can't take full credit b/c of her age.  So, when SK goes to "big school" she will have already gone through the curriculum once and will be super ready.  I am so proud of my smart, talented, beautiful girl!!!

 Hilarious song!  Title is "Tooty Ta"!  The kids were singing with their eyes shut and tongues out - they loved it!!!

 SK's 4K teacher - Miss Robin.