Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Honor Roll and Wacky Weather

This week I had the honor of attending two awards programs. I am so proud of my outstanding students! 
~ A/B Honor Roll and a certificate for being a part of Safety Patrol ~
 ~ Lauren and Olivia with their A Honor Roll certificates ~

The weather this week has been so wacky. On Monday and Tuesday, we enjoyed beautiful weather ~ blue skies and temperatures in the mid-upper 60's. We all enjoyed some time outside!
Andrew rotated between his jeep, his Spiderman bike, and his scooter. He loved getting to play outside (without a coat!)!
 I love that all of the kids in the neighborhood LOVE to play outside after school!

Then... today we had torrential rain with flood warnings and tornado watches! Olivia came home with us for the afternoon ~ they were dismissed early as a reward for making the honor roll. After stopping for a treat at Sonic, we came home and played games. I LOVE that these two middle school girls will play with Andrew right after school ~ he absolutely loves it!!
 I joined them in a game of  "Life"  (they weren't too happy that I won!) ~ Andrew was my helper until he lost interest! Ha!
This was today's weather report ~ tornado watches with a chance of snow tomorrow night. The high for Friday is 30 degrees! What in the world!?!?
Try to stay warm the next few days!

Monday, January 28, 2013

More Birthday Fun

A few weeks ago, Lauren was invited to Leah's birthday party. They painted owls on canvas at a local art studio, went out for pizza and ice cream, and enjoyed a sleepover! Could it have possibly been any more fun?!
These sweet girls have been best friends since first grade! They are officially teenagers!
 Aren't these beautiful?! These girls amaze me!!
Olivia has also been one of Lauren's best friends since first grade! They are becoming such beautiful young ladies ~ inside and out! I love their sweet friendship!
She had SO much fun! Sleepovers are her absolute favorite thing to do with friends!

Double Digits

Last Tuesday, we celebrated Jonathan's 10th Birthday!
I went to eat lunch with him, and we got our own table! His friend, Will, joined us, and it was so fun! I brought fudge pops for his class to enjoy ~ they were a hit, even though it was barely 27 degrees outside! Ice cream always tastes good, right?!
Our evening was kind of crazy ~ he had basketball practice, and I had an important meeting at church. I made pork chops with sweet potato fries (one of his favorites!) for dinner, and we decided to enjoy dessert and presents after everyone got home.
 Andrew loves opening presents, his and everyone else's! Jonathan was so sweet to let him help! Our kids are really loving board games right now, so we bought him DICEcapades! They played it with our neighbor the other day, and there was lots of fun going on!! He also asked for the book, "How to Train Your Dragon" ~ he loves the movie and wanted to read the book. It is actually a series, so we got him the first two ~ I think he is going to enjoy reading them!
We finally got to enjoy dessert ~ an ooey gooey chocolately chex mix! Lauren and Jonathan helped me make it ~ we had never had it before ~ I found the recipe on Pinterest ~ it was DELICIOUS! Especially for chocoholics like Jonathan and Joe!

Happy Birthday, Jonathan! We are so blessed to be your parents ~ you are such an amazing kid!!  You love sports and playing outside, yet you also enjoy playing the piano. You are all boy (loud and rambunctious!), yet you are SO tenderhearted. You truly have God in your heart, and you are so kind and loving to others. We all love you ~ more than you could ever imagine!!!

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Sweet Sydney

Last Monday, Lauren and Jonathan were out of school for the Martin Luther King Holiday. So when our sweet neighbor asked if we could babysit for a few hours in the morning, they were so excited!! Who could possibly say no to this sweet face?!
They all played together and had SO much fun! She was Andrew's shadow most of the time ~ it was so sweet to hear her calling out his name, and she copied everything he did! I think he felt really big!
Lauren and Jonathan were the best babysitters ~ Sydney was all smiles for the entire morning! We are blessed with the best neighbors ~ we look forward to the next time we get to play with this little sweetie!

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Happy Birthday!

Andrew and my daddy share a birthday, and it is one of my favorite days of the year! My aunt taught me cake decorating basics just before Lauren's first birthday, and I have enjoyed making lots of their birthday cakes over the years! This year, I had a very special helper ~ he was so excited about his Spiderman cake! It turned out to be one of my favorites!
I bought this metal plaque from a street vendor in Central Park in New York City. He loves it far more than I ever dreamed he would!
Andrew was most excited about opening his presents, so after lunch, we did just that! He had so much fun!
He looks so big to me in these pictures! He is growing way too fast for me!
I love, love, love this picture ~ for so many reasons!
Mama and Daddy bought Andrew a game called Headbanz ~ the Disney version. He absolutely loves it! Lauren and Jonathan, along with lots of their friends, have also enjoyed playing it! It was the perfect gift!
Tammy bought Daddy a book about Haywood County ~ I think he is really going to enjoy looking through it! I'm sure he will know/remember lots of things since he has always lived there! It is a really neat book! 
After playing his new game for a while, Andrew decided he was ready for cake and candles. Since going through an extremely tough round of radiation/chemotherapy treatments for throat cancer, Daddy's tastes have changed. His favorite cake has always been Devil's Food with Mama's homemade chocolate icing. Chocolate tastes bitter to him now, but peanut butter cookies taste pretty good. His sweet Lauren made a special batch, just for him. We wanted him to have a 'cake' and candles, too ~ it's just not a birthday without them!

These pictures just melt my heart! I love these two so very much!!
 Grandpa with both of his boys! Grayson was super excited for Andrew! 
Something funny I want to remember ~ a couple of weeks before his birthday, Andrew told me that he didn't want Grayson to come to his party. I told him that wasn't nice ~ that Grayson loved him and they always have fun together. He said, "I don't want Grayson to come, for him is not sticking his finger in my cake!" That just cracked me up! Once Grayson arrived, Andrew asked me several times if I had asked Grayson not to stick his finger in his cake! I didn't, but Grayson was super sweet, and he didn't put his finger in the cake!
 Such a sweet face ~ still so hard to believe we've celebrated his 4th birthday!
 These two love each other so much ~ it is fun watching them grow up together!
It was such a special day! Last year, we had no idea what Daddy would be facing a few short months after his birthday. He had an extremely difficult summer, but by God's Healing hand, he is cancer free right now, and he is improving every single week! I feel like we have been given an incredible gift ~ we are so blessed ~ and I try to cherish every moment God grants me with friends and family! God is so incredibly good!!!

Happy 4th Birthday, Andrew!
Happy 62nd Birthday, Daddy!
It is my prayer that we will be blessed with many more shared birthday celebrations! I love you both more than you could ever imagine!!!

Monday, January 14, 2013

Four Years Old

On Wednesday, my sweet Andrew turned four, and I still can't believe it!
I still think of him as my baby, but he is really starting to look like a little boy!

 ~ My Precious Newborn ~
 ~ First Birthday ~
 ~ Two Years Old ~
~ Three Years Old ~
~ Four Years Old ~
Andrew, you are such a funny, sweet, and loving little boy! You are an absolute joy! We love you more than you will ever know!!

Sunday, January 6, 2013

A Fun Saturday

On Saturday, Jonathan and Lauren went bowling for a friend's birthday. While they were having lots of fun, Andrew and I did a few errands ~ but not without stopping by Chick-fil-A for lunch and an ice cream cone! His smile just melts my heart!
After the bowling party, Olivia and Sophie came over to hang out for a little while. Joe and I put them to work! Ha ~ not really! We were busy taking down Christmas decorations ~ Jonathan and Sophie were sweet to take the ornaments off his tree. They are such cute friends!
 Olivia and Lauren took down her tree as well. It really was a huge help! Livvy got a sewing machine for Christmas, so Lauren enjoyed helping her get started with it. Such sweet besties!
 Our neighbor, Emily, joined them a little later ~ they took a break from sewing for facials! I have to admit I almost said no ~ our house was already a mess ~ but I was really glad I let them! They had SO much fun! 
 These three had just as much fun playing games ~ Headbandz and Fibbers! 
I love that they included Andrew!
I laugh SO hard every time I look at these next pictures!! They are hilarious to me!!
It was such a fun day! And we did get all of the Christmas decorations put away!