Today is Madison's Birthday, she is ten years old!! I can hardly believe she is that old already. It seems such a short time ago when she was nestled in my arms wrapped in a little teeny blanket all snuggly and warm. Such a quiet and content little being. Now, a decade later, she is so sweet and tender hearted. She loves to have fun & enjoys all the frills of being a girl. She loves to play school, go to school, and is an aspiring teacher. She says she'll be in school all of her life! :D I believe her! Her Daddy sent word to all her teachers NOT to send home their unwanted worksheets and workbooks,lol. She would spend all of her summer "playing" school if she could.
Breanna will be 12 on the 29th, I can hardly believe she is that old either! She wanted to make her debut early so Mom was on bedrest fo six weeks. She was my tiniest baby of all but she is the most boisterous and fun loving of the bunch. She is ALL girl and loves to make you laugh. She loves cook and if you can imagine this, she also loves to clean! She enjoys chatting with her friends and fixing up her hair. ;)
We celebrated this past Sunday with family and friends. Actually, the girls had a joint party. It was really nice and they had lots of fun. We served bbq meatballs, a veggie tray, a fruit tray, a cookie cake for each girl, party punch (that's the name of the recipe), and nachos. Madison received over $70 and Breanna received over $50. They were so excited, now they are trying to decide what they'd like to buy with their birthday money. Our neighbor gave them each a really cute vintage beaded coin purse with a chain. They are so pretty! I love that kind of stuff.
For their gift from us, we are getting them Dance Praise 2. They have been asking for a while! I'd forgotten about it and Shelby reminded me but not in time for it to get here for their birthday. :( It has been really hectic that last two weeks but I will have to update in a later post.
I am LOVING spring now! When springs comes in, I am most often stricken with horrible allergies and spend most of my time indoors. I did have a bout with that already but it seems to be winding down. Yesterday, Shelby and I walked to Granny's and picked blackberries to go in our fresh fruit salad. We had a nice time together and had a few laughs. We didn't get many berries since most of them were taken over by weeds. Papa used to keep them cut back pretty good but since he's no longer with us, DH has to take care of it all and he hasn't had much motivation for yard work lately. Anyway, we ended up walking up the block to an abandoned house that we knew had blackberries, again, it was over taken but we managed to get a good many for our fruit salad. YUMMY! I love when the black berries come in and I anticipate them every year. It's tradition that the girls and I pick them together, however, the younger ones weren't into it much this year. Sometimes Papa would take them to Great-Grandpa's old place to pick and they would always come back with TONS of them. They miss Papa very much. We all do. He LOVED sweet tea and instead of saying he needed a refill, he'd shake his glass gently with a smile. :) It's funny how you take those things for granted.
The girls and I planted a raised bed for a small vegetable garden this year. There isn't much in it since we're waiting for our seeds to sprout, they have, and now we need to plant them but I'm hesitant since MS Kitty from around the corner keeps digging in the bed. I wonder if there is something I can do to thwart her attempts at destroying my plants. So far, we have tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, carrots, and lettuce. I have a strawberry plant from a few years back that I thought surely had died from being exposed to the freezing temps but it has managed to multiply and do okay, however, the berries shrivel up before they get ready. I don't know what we may be doing wrong. I moved them to a strawberry pot in the hopes that it would help them thrive but they haven't yet.
I have to get in gear and go search for a coat and tie for Jamie for the Purity Ball this weekend. He is short so I'm sure it will need altering but I know the ball is so close that may not happen. My feeble attempts at altering it could be disasterous,lol. I won't attempt that! I wish I had known about the Ball ahead of time. Tux is optional but he really doesn't want to wear one. He'd rather wear a coat and tie with slacks. No matter what he wears, it will make a sweet memory for the girls, no doubt!
Life is good here on the Home Front. Everyone is healthy, happy, and provided for. We are good. Our Spring Bible Conference this past week was wonderful, on the night I was able to attend. On Sunday, the kids performed their dance during part of the worship time. It was so beautiful and all their hard work over the past several weeks paid off. Ms. Brenda had a vision of how it should be eons ago. She is so good with the kids. (Ms. Brenda is the Children’s Ministry leader)
Shelby is doing so good, I’m so proud of her. She has changed so much over the last months. She truly has a heart for the Lord. If it does a Mother’s heart so good to see her child come to the Lord, how does the Father’s Heart feel? WOW
Breanna has been going through some things and I think she really needs some Daddy/Daughter time. From what I can tell it’s a spiritual battle that’s going on. It’s so hard to watch and go through this with her. I know kids go through this stage (she’s almost 12) you know, they get the smart mouth and the eye rollin’ thing going on. Love to talk back and gufaw at every thing you ask/need of them. Makes you wanna shake ‘em sometimes,lol. You just pray and ask the Lord to give you strength and wisdom to nurture them in the way they need and go on. The thing is, if you don’t reach out to them when they need you, they’ll find help somewhere else, and maybe not the kind of help you want them to get. They will seek what they need elsewhere.
Dh and the two big girls are going to a Father/Daughter event this weekend. A Purity Ball, ever heard of that? I hadn’t, until this past weekend and when Ms. Brenda told me about it, I knew this was what they needed. It is hosted at a near by Church, the Young Ladies of Virtue Class. The Ball will build stronger relationships between dads and their daughters and encourage the girls to take an oath of purity until their wedding day. The Dads pledge to be there for their daughters to listen and encourage them in their relationships in a Godly way. The girls pledge to remain pure until marriage. There will be a sit down dinner, pictures with Dad and purity rings. From what I’ve been told, it’s a spectacular event. There is to be a castle theme, including a beautiful Castle Cake and a special father/daughter dance of the evening. The song, Cinderella, I believe it’s by Steven Curtis Chapman? I’m not sure. So, this week, we are getting ready for that. Shelby has a pretty formal dress given to her by our pastor’s wife a while back. I almost got rid of it and she begged me to keep it. I couldn’t imagine why we needed a formal dress hanging in the closet?!? LOL “See, Mama! Aren’t you glad we kept it now?” Yes, baby girl, I am.
For Breanna, we will be going shopping this week for her gown. The girls are so excited! Another Dad from our church is taking his oldest daughter so we will hang out with that family and do something fun with the little ones that night, hopefully. We aren’t fond of prom going & such so this will be so fun & good for the girls. It isn’t prom but it is still a special event that we can have fun getting ready for. Our neighbor is a licensed cosmetologist, so hopefully, she will do their manicure & hair for us!!
As far as every one else in the family, all is well. Maddie is eagerly awaiting her new glasses, she needed a new prescription this time & she chose a cute pair of blue frames with butterflies on the temples. Chris is doing well @ therapy but always insists that Ms. Debra (his speech therapist) is on vacation when he goes to OT! He does very well with her once they get started, it’s just getting him in there. He prefers the fun things in OT over the sit down work in ST.
Emma Grace is finally POTTY TRAINED!!!! YIPEEE!!! I’m so happy and there were a few tears on her part at first, but now she is doing so good with it! Hardly any accidents at all these days! I’m so proud of you Emma Grace!!!! You really worked hard and earned your Polly House!
Jenna-Kate is doing wonderfully! She is growing so fast. She’s learning to kick up a splash in the bath and has realized that she has things attached to her that she can pick up toys and explore with. It’s so fun to watch her learn to use her hands and fingers. Daddy is teaching her to wave Bye-Bye and she will put one hand in the air and spread her fingers and flap her arm up and down, it’s so sweet! She will be 7 months old next week! Well, she is getting fussy, so I need to run take care of her. I have enjoyed my blogging today.
So, DD4 (3 y/o) is sitting at the table after breakfast this morning and says she wants to cut out this picture that she drew. It looks like a little person with a huge head and big eyes with a funny mouth. I say to her, "who is that?" she says, "It's you, Mommy". I say, "Well, I look a little creepy." She giggles and says, "You are creeky!"
I thought that was too cute!
Today is DS sixth birthday. When he gets up, I sing the birthday song in the silliest voice I can muster so early in the morning. When I'm done, I say, "I love you Birthday Boy!" He says, "I'm NOT a birthday boy, I'm, a spunky little meerkat!" He doesn't like cake so we're having birthday pizza with six candles tonight. :D
I can't wait to hear what funny thing they say NEXT.....Emma is holding him hostage in the laundry room so I gotta go! :D
Well, the forecast for the deep south when I got up this morning seemed promising for snow in our area. It seems we'll miss out on it though. A dear friend of mine lives about a half hour away and they got lots. We are just getting rain. :*( My son has been wanting snow for months. I would love for him to actually get to see it snow. I'm holding out hope that he may still get to see it, we'll see how the day goes!
We are a Christian Family desiring to raise our children with the primary focus of Training their Hearts. "I have no greater joy, than to hear my children walk in truth..." III John 1:4
We aren’t fond of prom going & such so this will be so fun & good for the girls. It isn’t prom but it is still a special event that we can have fun getting ready for. Our neighbor is a licensed cosmetologist, so hopefully, she will do their manicure & hair for us!!
He does very well with her once they get started, it’s just getting him in there. He prefers the fun things in OT over the sit down work in ST. 
Well, she is getting fussy, so I need to run take care of her. I have enjoyed my blogging today. 
