A very special date....

Last night before work, I had a notion of asking my son out on a "date". Today, Kira has cheerleading camp and Dave was heading to jiu jitsu so it was just going to be Andrew and I. Well, when I asked him, he threw his hands around me and gave me the biggest hug and said "Yes!!" (he hugged me so tight, that my ribs hurt). Whewwwww, I would not have been able to withstand rejection - lol. God has blessed me so much with the most handsome and wonderful little boy anyone could ask for. Well, of course, since it was Andrew's special day I asked him where he wanted to go to breakfast. Without hesitation he said "Waffle House". What more could a girl ask for on a date? I had the perfect young gentleman who carried the leftovers and held the door for me, great chocolate chip waffles, and some really awesome conversation and to top it off, I even got a kiss at the end!!! It means so much to me to have a son who not only loves me but loves God as well. He is always reminding me that we need to pray and read the Bible before bed and he will not ever eat without saying "grace" (And a little child shall lead them....). His prayer melted my heart this morning too - he thanked God that we could have a special date and that I am his mommy (yes, I had tears in my eyes). Andrew is so special to me and I love him so very much and I thank God for our date. I have realized I really need to do this more often. Now, if you wouldn't mind, I must get back to my date, snuggle on the couch, and watch a movie and then head over to the school to get soccer pictures of this very handsome man, my date - my Andrew!!!

There is nothing sweeter to a mom's heart...

There truly is nothing like seeing your husband and your kids together and just loving and enjoying each other -- It truly blesses my heart each time I capture these moments of the kids and Dave. I will always be grateful to have a husband that is so involved in his children's lives! It means a ton to me and I know it means even more to Andrew and Kira! Thank you hunny for loving all of us the way you do! We love you!

Soccer has begun and.....

Andrew just could not be happier! He loves soccer and really has become quite good at it too!! When we were looking last year for a new school for the kids, the only question Andrew had was "Do they have soccer?" He truly loves the sport and I am so excited for him to play again this year. The games start in just a couple of weeks and then I am sure I will be posting a ton of action shots of him. For now, this pic right before he and Dave left for practice will have to do.

Baby Shower Fun....

During our time here in South Carolina, we have met some extremely wonderful friends. It is a blessing to be surrounded by such wonderful people. Two of the first people we met here were our good friends Jason and Kristina Brooks. It has been a great journey having our friendship grow and become stronger. When I found out (quite early on) that Kristina was pregnant, there was no doubt in my mind that this beautiful woman deserved a special shower to welcome her new little peanut (yes, that is what she affectionately refers to this little one as). I must admit there were times I was quite worried that I may not be able to pull something off as nice as she deserved....
Well, my fears came to a hault on Sunday, September 14th. The shower came together beautifully and Kristina reassured me that it meant a lot to her and it was a beautiful shower. Wheewwww, all the hard work had paid off. There were baby bib valances on the windows of my home, a baby shower sign outside to match the decorated tableware, balloons, a diaper cake (which I must say was quite fun to make), a diaper teddy bear compliments of our friend Melissa Fludd, little plastic pacifiers hanging from the chandelier in my dining room, and all the yummy food you could want!! Of course there was cake and an extra special treat of oreo truffles made by our friend Ashley Gregory. We played games of baby bingo, baby trivia, and the ribbon game in colors of black and orange to honor the fact that this little one is due on Halloween (you know, the game where you cut the ribbon the size of the pregnant woman's belly). And I must say, I had the creative notion to add one more game to the list to honor this little peanut even more - I had counted and placed peanuts in a glass pumpkin jar and people had to guess how many peanuts were in the jar! What had made that even funnier is that some of the little girls had started to snack on the peanuts not realizing they were there for a game. It most certainly gave everyone a huge laugh when we had to subtract the number they had eaten :) And what is a shower without having the fun time of opening gifts. Kristina was so blessed by everyone's generousity -- little peanut is all set to make his/her way into this world! Finally as an added bit of fun, I found these extra cute "bun in the oven" honey bun scented candle favors that came complete with a box in the shape of a stove for everyone to take home as a reminder of the fun day we had for Kristina!
There are so many people that played a huge role in this shower, I most certainly could not have pulled it off by myself. Thank you to all who made this a lot easier and made it extra special for our friend Kristina!!

A time of reflection....

For those of you that don't know or don't remember Dave and I were married 11 years ago today! WOW, God has blessed us so much within our marriage. I can truly say that I love my husband more today than when we first got married. Eleven years has brought us through so much - the purchase of 2 homes, being blessed to be the parents of 2 amazing children, a move far away from our families, and so much more. As I look back, I am reminded that marriage truly takes work. It is not always fun and games. There are many times I thought (and I am sure Dave did too) that marriage is just too hard but then I remember that we made a commitment to each other, to our families, to our friends, and most importantly to God, Himself, for He is the one that has given us this precious gift of marriage. I encourage you all that are married to take time (not just once a year) to reflect on the importance of marriage and how you can be "more" to your spouse. It is so worth it!! Dave is my lover, our family's spiritual leader, my encourager, the one that helps me to see the other side of things, and I think most importantly my best friend! Be your spouse's best friend - share the activities that they like (even though you may not like them as much), be an encourager - let them know that they are important to you, and just enjoy each other. What you give will not return void but will bring you so much more in return than you could have ever imagined! I love you Dave more than I truly ever thought possible - thank you for loving me in return more than I ever thought someone could!
Song of Solomon 6:3a -- I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine.

Ballerina at last.....

For about 3 years Kira has been asking us if she could do dance classes and be a ballerina. For those of you that have priced them, you know they can be expensive and what if she doesn't like it? All these questions and more were flooding my brain and since we can tell from the previous posts that she may not be the most graceful, we were very nervous to even let her try. Her friend Jessica at school was starting a ballerina class and her mom had told me about it. It's a small school that meets at a church and they go over the basic fundamentals of ballet and have a recital at the end of the year. This was the perfect opportunity for Kira to begin to live her dream (if you can even have a dream at 5). We signed her up on Tuesday and bought her pink leotard that day and she was thrilled. The class runs for one hour and when she was done, she ran out of class demonstrating every position she was taught -- "Mommy, this is first position, and this is second, and this is third", etc.... All the way up to 5th position. Now mind you I have no clue if she is even correct on the positions since I have never taken a dance class in my life but hey, it sounded good to me and she was just ecstatic! How wonderful to see your child's face light up in doing the things she loves! Here are some pictures of the two future ballerinas - Kira and Jessica!!