A Full Night at Brainerd Baptist Church

Let's see ... we had the Awanas Awards, Bible Drill Recognition, Kindergarten Choir Concert, Children's Choir Musical, and Quarterly Business Meeting. It was a full night and we were exhausted when we got home! The kids did such a good job and I was so proud of them! I probably took several dozen pictures and I recorded the whole thing but here is just a sampling of the evening.

Mr Marshall thanking the Cubbies leaders and giving out the Cubbies Awards. (Lydia is standing behind his right shoulder in a white shirt and light blue pants)

Nathan giving Caleb his Sparkys Award for finishing his first book.Abigail coming back to give me the award she got for Sparkys for finishing her second book Kindergarten Choir Concert

Childrens' Choir Musical: Parablelooza
The Green Machine:

The Orange Crush:Collin and Pastor Robby participating in a game with the choir

Abigail's Birthday Party

We celebrated Abigail's 8th Birthday with a High School Musical themed party. We invited family and friend to come celebrate with us. Abigail designed the "Wildcats" cake and Daddy made it for her. She was very happy with the way it turned out! Most everyone who was invited came so we had a houseful! She definitely enjoyed her moment in the spotlight.

Abigail watching me cut the cake:Daddy, Mommy, Aunt Alli, Ms Darlene and Grandmomma singing to Abigail Mr Dale, Ms Brooke, Ms Kelly, and Ms Andra singing to Abigail

Abigail opening the new bedding set that Roy's parents got her to go on the bunkbeds that my parents got her.

Ms Andra, Ms Kelly, Uncle Erik, Faith, and Pepaw watching Abi open presents Granddaddy watching Abigail open her High School Musical waterglobe

Abigail's Birthday Slumber Party

Abigail had her very first sleepover this year. It was quite a new experience for me! It was me and seven 7-10 year olds, not good odds! All kidding aside, I think everyone had a good time so it was a success as far as I am concerned. We started out the evening with pizza while watching High School Musical 2. The girls sort of drifted in and out of the living room intermittently watching the movies between activities. We also watched Cow Belles and Hannah Montana: Living the Rock Star Life. The girls played dress-up, painted their nails, did makeovers, worked on coloring a poster for Abigail, decorated their own cupcakes, played with Abigail's toys, tried on every pair of shoes I own and every dress Abigail owns, gave each other tattoos, ate snacks, opened presents, and got very little sleep. I don't think I was the only one who was exhausted!

eating pizza while watching the movie:the girls with Abigail's dresses and my shoes on:showing off their nails and tattoos:
Caleb spent the night with his friend Sebastian who was also having a birthday party that night. This is them with Sebastian's brother Jude playing at Chuck E Cheese.

Mother's Day

I am truly blessed with three beautiful children who bring such color into my world. One of my favorite things about having little ones is the homemade gifts they bring me. Between school and church the kids had several opportunities to make things for me and they were so proud of their work!
This is the rose I got at church Sunday morning. Caleb was so glad I got "real" flower! These are the gifts from Abigail. She made a paper bouquet of flowers that had sentences about me written on each one. She also made me a tub of bath salts that were very "aromatic". The silk flower she got was for my hair. Luckily it didn't match my dress on Sunday so I didn't have to fight that battle.

These are the gifts from Caleb. Let's see ... first of all he decorated a paper sack to use as a gift bag. Next he gave me a small bag of Hershey's kisses. There's a "teacup" with a tea bag and poem in it. He also made a pen with a carnation attached to one end. An "abstract" cut-out of a train. And finally, an illustrated booklet with different sentences about me.

After church we headed home and grilled lunch with some of our neighbors. The kids all played together and the grown-ups enjoyed some much needed socializing! I couldn't believe that we had services that night but we played hooky and stayed home and had some family time. It was a very relaxing day!

Awanas Carnival

Sunday, April 26th, was the end-of-the-year Awanas Carnival. The kids always look forward to this event. This year things were different because they had games out on the field instead of inflatables and inside games. The kids started out with pizza and a coke. This is great because it gives them a chance to socialize. Then the Sparkies headed to the store. As usual, the most "intense" part of the carnival is the Awanas store. Throughout the year the kids earn Awanas dollars for memorizing their verses, attendance, bringing friends, bringing their Bibles, etc. Then the carnival comes and the kids walk around each table debating their purchases. Abigail had money left over from the last carnival so she was excited to see how much she could get for her money. She bought a big ticket item: the Hannah Montana boom box that connects to her ipod. Then she bought a small item for herself and her brother and sister. Caleb and Lydia were so pleased that she thought of them. What a sweet big sister!

Caleb debated very hard over whether to buy one big item or several smaller items. He decided to get the Iron Man action figure set. That took all of his money but he was okay with it.

After the store the kids headed out to the field for games. During the wiffle ball game Abigail showed off. When she got up to bat, all the boys came in from the outfield because they assumed she wouldn't be able to hit very far. Well, imagine their surprise when the ball flew over their heads and they were scrambling back to the outfield to get it. She was so proud!