Big Girl Bed

Got in from the beach tonight and decided to put M in a big girl bed. Of course, things didn't go as smoothly as planned. We had a little trouble putting the bed together, so it was about 8:30 tonight before we got her in the bed to sleep. And she was exhausted. Slept 15 minutes in the car ride home and that was it. Probably not the best timing!
But my M is growing up. And we just felt it was time. So here she is. She didn't take it well. She was so confused, and kept calling me into the room over and over, and said she didn't want to sleep in her bed. After laying down with her for awhile, Daddy went in for reinforcements, and she finally closed her eyes. Let's pray she makes it through the night without getting out of her bed!
I must admit-I'm a little teary about it. My littlest girl is out of her baby bed! As we packed it away in the attic, I told O, "we'll get it out one day for your babies." Although it's so sad thinking that she is my last "baby" (at least, that's what we PLAN on!) I love watching my girls grow and love being their mother, no matter how big or small!

Last violin recital and Relay Day

O has taken violin for 2 years now. It's been incredibly rewarding, yet incredibly challenging. Violin is truly a tough instrument to master. However, O has really matured while playing it, and it has given her a great foundation of music theory, and developed her musical ear in amazing ways. Because she's outgrown her current violin, we've decided to give up the violin for now, and pick up piano. We may revisit it in later years, but no matter what, we will never regret the lessons learned from learning this amazing instrument!

This is a pic of O and her friend Merritt who played piano in the recital.

O and her very special teacher, and friend of mine, Mrs. Tricia. O was always motivated to do her best for Mrs. Tricia!

O's last day of school was Wednesday. Truthfully, I let her play hooky on Thursday and Friday since all they seemed to be doing was playing outside and watching movies. I figured she could do that at my house, and with better supervision! Relay day was great fun on Wednesday, and O played some fun games.

A hilarious picture, I think! This is O pushing a potato with her head!

Happy Summer! E's through with Preschool!

My sweet E just finished up her last preschool year! Next year she will be starting Kindergarten, and I hardly can believe it. She is the most creative, thoughtful, free-spirited child I have. Not a day goes by that she doesn't make me belly-laugh. She really says the darndest things! For her end of the year party, we had a swim party at her classmate and friend Anne Daniel. They had a run-through sign that they couldn't quite tear! It was really cute.

This is E's very best friend Sage. I am so sad that Sage will be at a different school than E this year. She has truly been a wonderful friend to E and they match perfectly in personality. We're so thankful they go to church together, though!

The 4 girls from E's class of mostly boys! Aren't they "bathing beauties?"

Dance recital 2009

My 2 groovy girls had their dance recital last weekend. Though I missed their having "tutus and tiaras" I was truly pleased with their performances. They loved Ms. Shale and I loved this year of dance!

I'll bet noone at that recital had the fan club we had! The girls had all 4 grandparents, 2 aunts, and 4 cousins! We're so thankful for them all!

My 'Speriments

I have 2 future scientist/biologists at my house. A day doesn't pass by that one of them doesn't mention a "'speriment" or a "klektion" of some sort. (That's "experiments" and "collections" in E talk). One day last week, we did 2 experiments. Here's the rundown.

Mentos/soda experiment-by O. Love

Take 5 Mentos, and drop them into either a Dr. Pepper bottle or Diet Coke bottle. We tend to go generic on "'speriments" so we used Dr. Thunder.

Result: Soda shoots (or is SUPPOSED to shoot) straight up into the air. The result was "so-so." But it was oh-so-fun.


Creating a Wormery-by E. Love

Take soil, sand, bark or leaves, and organic matter like apple peel. Layer in a soda bottle, add 4 to 5 worms, put bottle in warm dark place, and watch the worms over several days eat dirt, and change composition of bottle ingredients.

Results: Not so sure the purple sand didn't kill them. Never noticed any difference in soil composition, and worms didn't seem to thrive. Sorry wormeys!

This Is The Fuzz

This is fuzz. This is the fuzz that came from the doll. This is the fuzz that came from the doll that M slept with. This is the fuzz that came from the doll that M slept with that she tore a hole into. This is the fuzz that M stuck in her nose that came from the doll that M slept with that she tore a hole into. These are the tweezers that pulled out the fuzz that M stuck in her nose that came from the doll that M slept with that she tore a hole into. Enough Said.

First Sprinkler of summer

Nothing much here, just PURE joy at the first sprinkler turn on of the season! Wish I could be a kid again. Check out the elation on their sweet faces!

Ole Miss baseball with Daddy

Drew took the older girls to an Ole Miss baseball game a couple of weeks ago. They came home worn out, sweaty, and totally pumped that they got the cool baseball players signatures on a ball that was actually used in the game! Check out my "love-struck" girls shyly asking for autographs! Drew said E was the more aggressive one, though O was right there with her asking for the signatures, too.

Mother's Day 2009

I had an amazing mother's day this year. It started off with a wonderful brunch at E's school. She gave me a pretty vase she made, a picture, sang the M-O-M-M-Y song, and served me yummy food, including the incredible petit fours homemade by Mrs. Susie herself! On Sunday, though I don't have many pictures, I woke to breakfast prepared by my hubby and children, flowers, signs all over the house made by the girls, and a NEW GUITAR! So often I feel so inadequate as a mother, and it was awesome to be remembered on Mother's Day.
After a special Mother's Day service at church, we celebrated the day with our own wonderful moms and ate a great lunch together. AS a sidenote: We came home with 2 goldfish that had been used as decoration, and 2 days later they were dead. We TRULY have bad luck with pets!

Super Spring Snapshot

"Earth's crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God."-Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Oh, how I love Spring. We're just around the corner from hot, humid summer days, but this weekend, Spring showed off at her finest. With sunshine, and a lot of rain, our family had Spring fever this weekend.

From the intricate, miraculous pattern on a turtle's back...

The hilarity of a new puppy on a leash......
Hands that beautify....

Eyes and chubby little fingers that marvel at the color....
Cool night breezes on freshly cut grass for a movie to be enjoyed....
Tilling fresh earth....

Planting new flowers, with hopes of abundant growth...

And the confirmation of new life, that comes EVERY SINGLE SPRING.....

From the words of Nichole Nordeman..."Open up the heavens, open up the sky...cause all of your creation wants to testify.... I have a song, so let the earth sing along....Cause I just wanna praise You."

I'm so thankful for God's gift of creation.

E's Mother Goose Party

As preschool music teacher at the First Methodist Church here, it is my responsibility to put on a Spring music show, showcasing all of our cute little preschoolers. This year, we had a Mother Goose Party, and every class sang funky versions of Mother Goose rhymes. It turned out to be a lot of fun, and I have to say, my Little Bo Peep was pretty cute!! She had been sick last week, and looked a little pale, so I just put a liiiittle bit'o color on her, including a liiiiittle bit'o'mascara, and during the performance it started running down one eye and her face looked a little "Lolita." Although I had lots to concentrate as the music director, I made sure to send another teacher backstage to clean her right up! You know, since I'm such a "stage mom" and all!

This is E and her best friend Sage. They also got to dress up as Old King Cole, but I didn't get any pics of that!

Nana, Papa and some cousins came to see the performance, as well as Mimi and PopPop. I didn't get a pic of Mimi and PopPop, but we were excited they came, too.