A Momma's Pride

May 23, 2013 (yes, I'm a little behind)

Since this was our first year at Armuchee Elementary I was sure what to expect for 3rd Grade Honors Day.  As I pulled into the church parking lot, I quickly found out it was a very BIG deal.  Parents were all dressed up and kids too.  I was thinking I was just glad I picked out a polo shirt for Blake!

I sat down with some friends to quickly find out Blake was sitting on the completely opposite side of the church.  After the first awards, I realized they were not walking across the stage to receive awards, but standing at their spot.  I moved quickly and found a perfect spot right across the aisle from him!

I honestly don't remember the order of the awards...

But I was so proud of him, I was just snapping away.

 I wasn't paying much attention to any other names....

Mostly because we do not know a ton of people still.

I just kept taking a picture every time he stood up....

I'm thinking why am I taking a picture of the exact same thing every time....

Even Blake began to tire of standing up so often!  ;o)

But that's not all....

Just a few more times....

He ended the morning with 11 awards in all!

I was SO very proud of him!!!

Afterwards, we took lunch to Kate, our last Thursday lunch date for this school year.

Another year of scouting completed!

Don't know how I missed blogging about this!!!  Last Monday was our Blue and Gold Banquet for Cub Scouts.  The boys are to bring a dessert they made with their Dads.  

Funny thing is Mommy forgot about this minor detail...Kate reminded us on the way home from school!  So we scoured the pantry and found a cake mix (thanks to a Christmas white elephant exchange, no Lolly and Tia it was NOT expired).  After giving him some ideas from Pintrest we decided this one we could handle...

Blake really did make the cake all by himself and Daddy stopped by the store to pick up the additional sprinkles that we needed.  They finished it together!  For a last minute creation...not too bad!  He won 3rd place!!! 

Blake and his Bear den!  It was a crazy group, but he always enjoyed his scout meetings.

 

Checking out his patches, not exactly sure how he earned them all, but proud nonetheless!  ;o) 

Here we come WEBELOS!

Field Day - Armuchee style

So field day here is a little different from what we were used to at Hallsville.  It's a lot of chaos, but a ton of fun for the kids!  This is one of Kate's best buds A.

They split the grades up and did 1&2 on Wed and K&Pre-K on Thurs.  I helped out on Wed, so I wouldn't feel guilty about walking around with Kate on Thursday.  ;o)  I was in charge of this obstacle course...I had fun with it!

The classic over and under game!  Kate's team won...

Kate the Great was first to go...running with the ball between your legs.  She did a great job.

Snack Break!  Some buddies from her class.

The tricycle race was harder than they thought...most of them were too big for it!

Musical Hula Hoops

She was the LAST one!

And she managed to stay dry despite the water balloons and all!  What a  great first field day, already looking forward to next week...Blake's field day!

Spring break, Field trips and the Toothfairy

So I have a little catching up to do!

April 28th the kids I loaded up and headed out for TEXAS!  We hadn't been back to visit since Thanksgiving, so we were ready to see friends and family!

There are pros and cons to going when everyone else is in school.  One of the pros is we get to see everyone at the school and bring special treats to our friends!  Blake photo bombed Kate in the above pic!  It turned out so cute I had to blog it.  ;o)

Sophia was so excited to see Kate...Chia Lu was able to join us for lunch too.  So bummed I didn't get a pic of her with the kids!  :o(

These boys were TOO cool for us, but I think they were excited to see us none the less!

We meet Pop one day when we were out and about.  He schooled the kids!  So glad a grab a pic...these are the moments I never want to forget.

Mer and I have taken the big kids pics at this tree every Easter since they were 3!  We may have been a few weeks late, but we still got it done.  Someday we'll be taking engagement photos in front of that tree...well, if we could have arranged marriages that is!  ;o)

Making memories with our friends, watching The Croods!  

Our other good buddy C!  So glad we got to see him if only for a few hours.  There were many others we got to visit with and I'm so upset with myself for not being more intentional about pictures!  Thank you to all of you who made time for us!  And to everyone else we didn't get to see I'm so very sorry!  One week is just too short!  BUT know that our door is always open and we have an extra room!  ;o)  hint hint

We made it back home to finish out our last 3 weeks of school!  Cannot believe we are now just two weeks away from summer!!!  This week was FULL!  B had two field trips one of which was to the TN Aquarium...this is the only pic I got!  He is SO his father's son...notice the short hand for square inch.  

The very next day Kate had a field trip to the Atlanta Zoo!  Girls are much more into taking pictures!  This is a very sweet friend that God has put in our lives...so thankful.

These are some of our girl scout buddies!  We rode home with them...so many giggles.

And tonight the Toothfairy will be visiting our house.   This is her third tooth to come out but the very first one she pulled out ALL by herself!  She was so proud!!!

Musical Debut

Thursday night was Little Pumpkin's musical debut!  She was Sheep #1 in "Cock-A-Doodle Dandy."  

Here she is before the show!

She did all the hand motions and sang all the words with a smile on her face!

She did so well on her speaking parts too!  So dramatic...I think we may have a future drama student on our hands!

This is her second line...

The animals came up with a petition for everyone to sign to stop the rooster from waking them up in the morning!  This is the sheep taking the petition around to the audience for signatures.

Her fan club!

So grateful for God providing good friends while we are so far from our family!

SO very proud of our girl and her hard work!

Playground Shrink

Remember her?

Well, if I wasn't so lazy I'd photo shop my son's picture into that! Let us begin at the beginning...

So, have you ever had one of those conversations that wished you had recorded?  That was my conversation with Little Lion on the way of from school Monday.  They have been in standardized testing since last Tuesday so they have had extra recess time each day.  Monday was no different and after he said the Social Studies portion was easy I asked what he did during recess.

"I played."  {such a guy answer}

Well, yes, but what did you play?

"Pokemon."

Is that all?

"Well, then I had some work to do"

Oh? What kind of work are you doing?

This is where I wish I started recording....  I cannot retell it the way it happened!  I was in a state of shock and awe!  He proceeds to tell me that he "helps" groups get back together again.  Basically, resolving playground disagreements.  The humor was in hearing him talk about it!  He was so serious and his choice of words were so grown up!  I was trying my hardest to not bust out laughing.

"Jane* & Sue* are hard.  Everyday something new comes up and my plate just keeps getting fuller and fuller.  I've been working on them for weeks.  I got the environmental group back together in one day! That's the normal time frame to getting them back together."

Love this boy!  His heart is so big!!!  Praying his sweet spirit is never crushed.

*Names have been change to protect the innocent!

For the Kids

Honestly, this post is probably NOT for you!  You're welcome to browse, but I told the kids I'd send pictures of my Dallas Texas hotel with glass elevators and a waterfall.

So without further ado, my hotel...

New Shoes vs. No shoes

I am not an extremist.  I don't usually throw myself  all in to any one thing.  I love my TOMS! But, that's not all I wear.  And even though buying a pair is donating a pair, the hefty price tag still leaves me with only one pair (that I bought on clearance...hope they still count that and donate a pair)!  Anyway, today was One Day Without shoes.  Maybe I was just using it as an excuse to not run today, but I decided to take the challenge.  Granted it is easier for me as a stay at home mom to go without, and the point of making a statement was lost since no one besides my kids even saw me today.  However, I was conscious of my decision throughout the day and thus made me aware of the simplest of things I take for granted most days.

Kate on the other hand needed a new pair of shoes because this is what her shoes currently look like:

It's hard to tell but, the gray spot is actually a hole all the way through the sole of the shoe!  

She was SO excited about her new shoes.  She was singing all the way to school.  Blake was totally annoyed by this, so I asked her to stop and promised her she could sing from B's school to hers.  I kept my promise and she sang the ENTIRE way.

Well, sorry that it is sideways and a little unsteady...but it's hard to drive and video at the same time! Before you turn me in to CPS, I was in the drop off line so, we were not moving that fast!  

So, tonight I'm thankful for a fresh perspective on shoes and for the excitement one little girl had for her new shoes!  

Our Musical Planet

Blake had his 3rd grade musical on Tuesday night.  He was bummed that Daddy was out of town, so I went a little overboard on the photos and videos... I showed some restraint when it came to posting though. ;o)

They were encouraged to wear anything from another country, so B wanted to wear his shirt that our sweet friend brought back from Korea.  He was SO proud of that shirt!  ;o)

They had made props in art class for the performance.  Including flags for each country and fans to use for their Korean song.  I was impressed with their singing in foreign languages...they obviously had practiced very hard!

He is in the top row if you are having trouble finding him!  ;o)

The whole gang.

I was so proud of him.  He did much more singing this year than years previous...it's still so hard for him to not people watch!  

This is the principal and the teacher running off the stage is B's. ;o)

This first video was before I realized I could change the settings on my phone for the lighting!  Bummer!

All fixed.  He did quite well on his hand motions....given the genes he has inherited!  ;o) 

His response to the night :  "Well, that was short!"  

Happy Birthday Dr. Suess!

Did you know Saturday was Dr. Suess's birthday?  Well, if you have kids, you probably did because the hype went all week long around here!  Mark had a business trip to Chattanooga, so Friday after school we headed up to meet him and do some playing.  

Saturday found us at the mall and in the middle of a HUGE birthday party for Dr. Suess!  The kids listened to different people read books.  They each were able to choose their own book, enjoy some birthday cookie cake, and participate in some fun crafts!

The obligatory picture for mom!  They really did have fun!

Fun times!  Oh, and we had snow!  What a weekend.

Boring

That's what we are... no exciting news to share here.  Just the run of the mill days and I don't even remember to get pictures of those days either!  :o)

We've been big on Girl Scout cookies lately...keep forgetting to get a pic of her with the cookies...Booth sales this weekend...surely I will remember then!  (But just in case don't hold your breathe.)  Sales are still going so if you need some cookies let us know.

This is her "Cukoo Clock Hat" she made!  She was very proud of it and I was proud of her creativity...sometimes we just don't let them imagine much anymore.

They have both done GREAT at upwards basketball / cheerleading.  However, I think we are ALL ready to be done.  This is our last week.  It will be nice to have our Tues, Thurs, and Sat. back!
Like I said we are boring!  ;o)

That pretty much catches up the pics I have.  :o)

InterRupted

Yes, that is the name of Jen Hatmaker's book.  I would love to be blogging about all that I've gleaned from it except I've been interrupted!  The hubby agreed to read it with me almost a year ago... on one condition:  that I don't read ahead of him.  So I have used that has one of my many excuses for not picking it back up.  I've taken it with us on many trips with good intentions, but life just keeps getting interrupted.

This seems to be the theme of my life right now!  Interrupted!!!  Everything from the grandiose pictures of what I thought life in Rome would be a year (+) later to the minute daily tasks that never seem to get completed.  It is all becoming very frustrating and I can't help but think, maybe we need to get back to that book! ;o)

Kate survived last week by the skin of her teeth.  I was so glad to have Daddy Lion home on Friday to enjoy a girls night out at a Scentsy party.  (nothing glamorous, but it was anywhere but home with the kids at that point)  Saturday was jammed packed with cheer-leading, a baby shower, basketball and a couples bowling with some co-workers.  However, it also brought the news of Mark's Grandpa Roy's passing.  So, filter all that with busy-ness with a  heavy heart:  made for such a long weekend in a not so good way.

We will miss Grandpa, however we have PEACE in knowing that we will see him again and join him in worshiping the One who gives us that chance!

"But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Phillippians 3:13-14

Grandpa just beat us there!

So, here we are again..."normal" life being interrupted.  What is God trying to teach me?  Just trying to remember to be still and listen for that quiet voice. 

Thank you to all of you who read and say a prayer for us!  Grateful for a place to "vent" and be honest and know that I'm loved and prayed for through it all.  

Good night