Sleep Over

Katie had a sleep over with her BFF Kelsey last month. Katie has been asking me for a long time to have Kelsey over for a sleep over. Finally Kelsey's mom and I were able to talk and meet up with each other. After that, we were able to find a weekend that she could come over. They were both beyond thrilled...and Bree was pretty excited too.

Kelsey came over around 5pm on Friday...Katie was pacing the floors and kept checking out the front door from the moment she got home from school until she pulled up in the drive way. As soon as her car stopped Kelsey flew out of the car and her and Katie gave each other a big hug. It was so funny!

Let the fun begin!!!!

For dinner I asked the girls if they would rather have pizza or I could fix sloppy joe dogs. They both looked at each other and immediately started whispering back and forth. LOL  After some well thought out plan, they both agreed on pizza. 

 Scarfing down some pizza ....they were all zoned out on some show (even Chris). :)

 After dinner we headed over to the park in our neighborhood. They played for a really log time.

 After the park we headed back home got on pj's and settled in for a movie. They were worn out because by 9:30 they were asking to go to bed. They both slept in Katie's bed and I only had to go in there one time and ask them to quite down. After that they were sound asleep....but they were up bright and early ready to go!

I told the girls that if it was pretty we would head to the beach for the day. After breakfast, they all three were in their bathing suits...I think this was by 8:30 in the morning. I told them it would be a little longer before we leave...so they decided to have a dance party. Katie cranked up the music and they all danced around for almost an hour.

 We finally got to the beach...it was a beautiful day but the water was FREEZING!!!! They sure don't seem to mind, they played for several hours.

Trying out the body boards

 Stopping for a little snack....this girl loves to eat at the beach. She gets that from me, I don't know why but when we are at the beach all I want to do is snack.

 There were lots of little crabs at the shore and they (along with a bunch of other kids) were catching all sorts of crabs. Checking out several of them.

Daddy was spending lots of one on one time with Bree so she didn't feel too left out from not having her a friend with her. She did really good with Katie having a sleep over.

 Here is a one of the bigger crabs they caught that day. Katie wanted to take this one home to keep it. We had to explain that we don't keep the creatures....we can catch and look but return the back to the sea. :)

After a few hours at the beach we headed home, ate some lunch and then Kelsey had to go home. She is such a sweet, sweet girl and so polite. I told her she could come back anytime. They had a blast and I have a feeling she will be back over lots this summer.

Our First Author

I am waaaaayyyy behind on my blogging and trying to get caught up...so stayed tuned for many more post. :) A couple of weeks ago we were invited to Coffee and Doughnuts in Katie's class. The kids were working hard lately on writing non-fiction books. They got to pick their topic, research all about it and then decided what to write.  They had finally finished and were ready to have a reading and book signing for all of us. 

Our beautiful author ready for her first book reading and signing.

Quick picture with her BFF Kelsey

You can click here to watch the video of Katie and her group reading their book "Cool Crabs" Sorry you will probably have to turn your head. I had to film on my phone and turned it to get the entire group in the shot.

Their book published

After the reading the parents got a copy of the book and each group had their own table to sign the books. It was very cute...all the parents lined up at the tables and had all the authors sign.

 Working hard on those signatures. :)

Me and my girl! I am so very proud of her and the book she helped write. Good job Katie!!!

Mother's Day

This year Mother's Day was extra special to me for a couple of reason. One is that my Mom and Dad were here. This was the first Mother's Day that I have spent with my Mom since I became a Mom.

Me and my two blessings

Me and my Mom...with a sneaky Bree in the middle

 After church and some lunch we all went over to Wilmington for the afternoon. My Mom, the girls and I went to Sweet and Sassy for a Mommy and Me day. We all got manicures and pedicures.

The girls were working the run way while we waited. 

 Getting the feeties soaked and scrubbed....while catching up on all the latest Teen Bop gossip. Katie asked me why I wasn't reading a magazine. I picked up one of the many "teen" magazines. Read a fascinating article about how your boyfriend can be more like Justin Bieber.  Because that is what we all want. LOL:) 

A group photo to show off our sassiness. Haha!

We head out to dinner afterwards and then back home. Photo is dark...but little one was out and fell asleep holding my hand. (insert melted heart). Love my girls!

The second reason Mother's Day was so special this year is that Katie was baptized today. A few weeks ago she accepted Jesus into her heart. We met with Pastor Bobby shortly after and he talked with her about her decision and about being baptized. She was so excited!

Hanging out waiting for the baptism to start.

Quick photo of the two of us right before she walked up. I love how happy she is about her decision. :)

The water was really warm...so she had to take a few minutes to get down the steps. Pastor Bobby tell everyone how Katie came to her decision to accept Christ.

Getting ready to go down in the water.

Down with the old self and up with the new self!!!!

Right after....So thankful for this little girl and who God is shaping her to be!

Being a mom is the hardest job I know I will every have. I have to rely on the good Lord to give me the strength each day to love my girls in a way that will help mold them and show them what it is like to live a life for God. I am so thankful that he gave me these two lovable and very silly girls to be their momma.

Tell the World

Video of the girls singing at church the other Sunday. They and the other kids have been working on this song the past few weeks. Click here to watch the video.

Bonfire with the Family

The weekend we picked the girls up from my Mom and Dad we actually met up at my Aunt Shirley and Uncle David's house. They live very close to where we normally meet and I haven't seen then and some of my other extended family in some time. Shirley and David had a bonfire and invited the rest of the family over. My Aunt Kathy and Uncle Ronnie were able to make along with my cousins Amy and Brian. 

The bonfire...roasted hot dogs and marshmallows

 My cuties

 Me and my Momma

 Daddy and Bree hanging out

 Shirley and David live on lots of land so they took the girls out on their gator and tractor....the girls LOVED it. They thought it was the best thing.

We had a great time catching up and seeing our family. The girls haven't spent much time with my extended family but they warmed up quickly to them all. We stayed the night at Shirley and Davids and the girls feel right at home. Bree even said that Shirley was like an extra Nana...which is high praise. When it was time to leave they didn't want to go, so I guess we will have to come back soon to see everyone. Thanks to Shirley and David for putting together the bonfire for everyone and for housing us for the night. :) 

Spring Break in TN

Last week the girls went to TN for spring break and to spend some time with Nana and Papaw. They were thrilled to be going. They love going to TN...especially without mommy and daddy in tow. 



They had lots of fun and Nana and Papaw had lots of good pictures to share. They went to an Easter Egg hunt at my parents church.

They had a gold and silver egg hid and the kid that found it would get a special prize. Mom said Katie was so determined to find one of those eggs that she didn't even pick up eggs that she found. Gotta love her competitive side...she gets it honest at least. By the end of the hunt Katie only had a few eggs in her basket.

They dyed some eggs to hind around the house.

I gave the Easter Bunny a heads up that the girls would be in TN...so he was nice enough to stop there for them.

All dressed up on Easter morning and ready to go to church. Two beautiful girls!

They took a trip to Gatlinburg TN to Ripley's Aquarium.

Getting an up close and personal view of the penguins.

I love how Katie is leaning back from the sting ray...as if it was going to get her.

One of Katie's famous silly faces

What's in there Papaw??? I think he had to be the brave one and put his hand in the dark hole.

Hold your breath....so silly

Sweet sisters....this gives me hope that even thought they fight they really do love each other. :)

They love their Nana and Papaw

Hugs

By mid week Nana wasn't feeling so good. She had a cold so Papaw had a day out with the girls so Nana could rest. Both the girls wanted to go to Bays Mountain.

 You can see that Katie has trained Bree how to join in the silly face photo's

 Checking out the animals.

 After Bays Mountain, they stopped by Eastman Park (we played here lots as kids) to let them play.

 This playground hasn't changed a bit.

Papaw also took them to see Matthew's soccer game he had that afternoon. I think the enjoyed their day with Papaw.

They had lots of play time at home and with Kevin, Brandy and Matthew. I know they had a blast and each time we talked to them on the phone we got an ear full of that they did. They are already asking about when they get to go back this summer. Thanks to Nana and Papaw for giving them a fun spring break and also giving Chris and I some time on our own!