First and Last

First day of Kindergarten:

 Last day of Kindergarten:

 Good friends:

Great teacher:

Kindergarten graduate Calyn:

Kindergarten graduate Zach:

Mrs. Daniel's Kindergarten class: 

 2nd place Kindergarten AR reader:

 1st place Kindergarten AR reader:

 Top 3 Kindergarten AR readers:

Zach and Calyn had a wonderful year. They learned so much. They learned to read. They learned about presidents, Texas, dinosaurs, sharks, plants, and teeth. Zach and Calyn learned to be a good friend and how to respect other peoples' personal space. They celebrated Fall, Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Spring, and the last days of school. Their class won the Spring Box Top collection competition and received sno cones from Bahama Bucks.
Their teacher was so good. She taught them a lot. I was impressed with the way she treated her students, especially compared to what I saw from other teachers. Zach and Calyn wanted to attend school everyday and passed on every chance to go home early. I think that says a lot about their overall experience. They chose to stay at school even when other students were going home early.
Zach and Calyn also received a special award for PE. The PE teacher chose them as the best athletes in their class. They both also were recognized as top AR readers. Calyn took first overall for Kindergarten. Zach took second. This was the first year they even recognized Kindergarten AR readers. I personally think it was because they had earned so many points. Both Tim and I read a lot. I am thankful that my kids enjoy reading and learning.
I am thankful that Zach and Calyn had such a good first school experience. Tim took them to school alot, but I also took them many times. We made it a point to pray for them before they exited the car. I often prayed about how thankful I was for their school, teacher, friends and just the opportunity to go to school. I knew they did not realize how fortunate they were to go to a good school, but I wanted God to know that I was thankful. I also wanted for them to see me thanking God for these things.
We are looking forward to summer. We have a lot of fun things planned. We will also slow down and enjoy our time together.

Mom's Day 2011

My friend Melissa just posted an excellent blog entry detailing our shared Mom's Day. You can read it here. In case you don't click on the link, I'll give you a synopsis. We (the Dallas' in our car and the Williams' in their car 12 miles behind us) set out for Amarillo early Sunday Morning. The purpose of the trip was to see Curren Gomez get dedicated (along with 40 other new arrivals). Eric, the girls, the grands, and the nannies all took the stage to dedicate Curren. I know this day was hard for Eric and his family but I was so proud of all of them and blessed to get to spend the day with them. The week leading up to the service was really tough for me. I struggled with really missing both my mom and Brie. While I know my mom is in far better shape in heaven, sometime I play the "what if" game. I wonder what my life would look like now if mom had stayed healthy. What kind of relationship would she have with my children? I could go on and on. I usually don't because I am satisfied with her being whole in heaven. For some reason it hit me hard this year. Most likely because I was also missing Brie and feeling so broken for her children. I know that God has and will continue to place wonderful, godly influences in their lives. But selfishly, sometimes I just want Brie back.
The day in Amarillo was good. I had a rough time during praise and worship, but made it through. We all had lunch together. The kids played in the kiddie pool and watched a movie. I got to hold, feed, change, and love on the Champ. We left in the late afternoon. We stopped in Tulia so the rest of my family could meet my cousins' newly adopted baby boy. We got to eat at Chipotle (my favorite) when we arrived in Lubbock. Once we got home, the kids were excited to give me all their homemade goodies. They worked hard on their cards and poems.

They also got me a new bike which my friend, Laura, helped me pimp out with a baby seat. Pictures of that will have to wait.

I love being a mom to my kids. Although they do things that annoy me like Zach showing up to baseball practice without his shoes. Not just the right shoes, but shoes at all. Or like Abby peeing in my bed as I type this post (she was in my bed because she has strep again and Tim is out of town again). They also do and say funny things like Calyn coming upstairs in the middle of the night saying that Grant's crying is making her ears hurt. Today, Zach pointed to a Chihuahua in the car next to us. While I was impressed that he knew the dog was a Chihuahua, Abby didn't see the dog and said, "Where is the enchilada?" Abby does not think it is funny at all when Grant scratches or bites her. She is however, the first to comfort him and feel bad for him when he gets punished for scratching and biting her. She hugs him and tells him, "It's okay bubba."

There is almost never a dull moment at our house. I would not trade our chaos for anything. Losing my mom and Brie has taught me a lot about not taking things for granted. Brie and I talked just before her death about whether our goal was just to survive or to thrive. We both decided while we go through seasons of just surviving, we did not want stay in those places. We wanted our families to thrive and our relationships with Jesus to thrive. I think I am more than surviving but still have a way to go before I can claim to be thriving.

The fifth of May

I found the cutest cookies on one of my favorite blogs. Sweet Sugarbelle is a South Plains native and makes me want to bake more. Her cookies looked like this:

My cookies looked like this:

I made guacamole and queso for dinner:

We had the tortilla chip cookies with guacamole (fruit dip) and salsa (strawberries and kiwi) for dessert. Tim questioned me as to when we started celebrating Cinco De Mayo. I replied, "When it gave me an excuse to make something cute."

Prayers Please

My cousin's family is going through a very difficult time right now. Would you please stop and pray for them? Please pray for peace and comfort and understanding.

Also, tomorrow we are headed to Amarillo. Curren is getting dedicated. Please pray for the Gomez family as they go through their first Mother's Day without Brie and for Eric as he dedicates his son without his wife by his side.

One more- our family is also going through a very challenging time. I do not have the freedom to share but would appreciate if you would pray for courage, wisdom, and encouragement for my husband.

Thank you!

One down, seventy-nine to go

 Before:

After:

Calyn recently "lost" her first tooth. She had to have it pulled by the dentist because it was infected.

Thinking about her teeth, reminded me of the dinosaur project the twins did for school (not sure why but probably all of the teeth we the kids had to cut out). The twins worked with one of their friends and they each produced a dinosaur fossil head. They were Zach's archeopteryx skull (2 liter Sprite bottle), Calyn's tyrannosaurus skull (gallon milk jug), and Sydni's triceratops skull (half gallon milk jug and paper plates).