curly q

mommy's day

The Friday before Mother's day, Arden brought home her gift for me from school - two sunflowers she'd planted and a paper sunflower made from her handprints - so sweet!  As a teacher, I loved doing all the fun crafts with my students for Mother's day, but I love it even more being on the other side of things!  Esther captured this shot of us.

After church on Mother's day.  I am so thankful for the privilege of being the mommy of these three girls!

We spent the afternoon and into early evening of Mother's day at the beach with friends.  I wish I'd taken my camera... the beach was breathtaking.  The water was a beautiful blue green (not always the case for us here on the Atlantic), and there was a huge tide pool that was perfect for all the kids to play in with no major waves and you could see your feet (again, this doesn't happen that often where we live)!  It also would've been nice to capture Woody and our friend, Genesis (a Daddy-to-be), flying the girls' Ariel kites! :)  It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day.  I am richly blessed as a mommy!

Papa's creamed corn

sweet goodness.

the royal wedding

I did not follow all the hype leading up to the royal wedding in April... until the week of the wedding that is!  And yes, I will admit waking up at 6 am to watch the ceremony in its entirety and being captivated by it all.  I remember watching Charles and Diana's wedding as  a little girl and there's just something majestic about the whole thing.  And since it's not every day you get to watch a real royal wedding, I got all into it!  Arden was the first to wake up at 6:45 and she watched along with me.  When the newly married couple got into the carriage, I decided it was time to wake up Esther.  Of the three, she is the most into princesses right now and she loves Cinderella's carriage and so I did not want her to miss out!  I think the look on her face sums up how she felt about the wedding-sheer bliss!

I just so happened to click the camera as they kissed the first time... I was watching Esther and so I actually missed it-ha!

Needless to say, I couldn't get enough.  I think Esther felt the same way.  Toward the end, Arden just kept asking if she could go to school!

In the days that followed, the girls dressed up and took turns being "Princess Kate" and having a wedding.  And a few weeks after everything, we were in the check out line at Publix when Esther yelled, "Look, Mama!  It's Prince William!"  This completely caught me off guard because our girls have never mentioned anything or anyone (especially by name) on a magazine.  What have I done! ;)

soccer star

Arden began playing soccer in April with Upward Sports and just finished up at the beginning of June.  We had never introduced her to this sport before evaluations, poor thing, but I must say she picked things up quick.... that is, after evaluations and the first couple of practices.  At evaluations, she was asked to run a 10 yd sprint, then 20 yds.  There were guys at each end and cones to know where to turn around.  Well our sweet little runner just kept on running.  Past the cones.  Past the guy with the timer.  And through at least two other stations with several of us trying to get her to stop running and come back!  She has always loved to run, so we thought soccer might be a good fit, but when this happened, I thought, maybe track and field??!  

Anyway, it didn't take her long to get the hang of things and she actually turned out to be quite the little defensive player.  There were even a few games where you would hear her yell, "Hey, I need to get that ball!"  She had a great little team, the Lil Eagles, (yes, we were a lot smaller than most teams we played!) and an awesome coach to encourage her.  She loved going to practice each week and would always get excited about her Saturday morning games.  All in all, it was a really fun experience for her and our whole family.  Arden's coach also coaches the other Upward sports, so he and Woody have her interested in basketball and soccer again for next year!  And yes, we did invest in a soccer ball, so now Arden has Esther dribbling around the backyard whenever there's a free moment and I think they'll both be awesome soccer stars next year!

You may not be able to tell, but this pic was taken when Arden only had one front tooth left!

The Lil Eagles

And this pic is from the last game a couple of weeks ago, with her two new front teeth coming in.

Awards night... each player got a soccer medal and a nice backpack. 

Arden with Coach Andy.  He gave Arden a special gift for being the only one on her team to memorize the Scripture verse every week.

Way to go Arden!  We are so proud of you!!

girls' weekend!

I got to spend the first weekend in April with these three lovely ladies in Greenville, South Carolina.  I cannot begin to tell you how thankful I am for each of them in my life and how long it had been since all of us were able to get together.  Two of us have known each other since we were four years old and the rest of us are going on almost fifteen years of dear friendship.  We've rejoiced together, mourned together and seen everything in between... from being college roommates at SU to mommies (10 kids altogether!) living in four different states.  

The weekend was such a refreshing time of sharing life, encouraging one another and laughing a ton all while enjoying the beautiful city of Greenville and all its diversions.  

I love each of you and thank the Lord for your constant and loving friendship!

miss snaggle tooth

From the end of March to the end of May, Arden lost FOUR more teeth, including her two front teeth!  This brings the grand total of teeth she's lost to SIX and she's still FIVE!