Happy Birthday Lindsey Kate!

Today is Linds' 9th Birthday. We made cupcakes to take to school and having a little extra batter, I baked it in two ramkins and made this ADORABLE cake to celebrate. How nice it is to celebrate your birthday over several days. Saturday we went to eat at the Cracker Barrel for her birthday and Uncle Pablo's birthday. Tonight we will celebrate with dinner of her choice with the Steedley grandparents. She wants steak. A girl after my own heart. When we were discussing the menu and she mentioned that she wanted steak, Heyward's reply was "Do you want a perfectly marbled T-bone that cuts like butter?". Well, not quite what we're getting, but it will be good nonetheless!

Taking cupcakes to school was lots of fun. Jody took the Mentos and Diet Coke experiment for an added surprise. The kids thought it was GREAT!

First day of School

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future - Jeremiah 29:11

I woke up this morning with great anticipation in my household. THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!! Remember how exciting that was? As I crept downstairs in the dark to do my Bible Study, these words for Jeremiah lept off the page. What an appropriate verse for the first day of school! I know today will be exciting for them, but in a few weeks the excitement of school will probably wear off and we will be back in the drudgery of school. Running late because no one can find their shoes, trying to pack lunches and write checks for lunch money, trying to remember to sign papers so we won't get in trouble... Life's like that, huh? I needed the reminder that the Lord's plans are plans to prosper and not to harm. Plans to give us HOPE!!

After we dropped off the children at school this morning, it was hard not to bounce out to the car without a spring in my step. Micajah - my one that doesn't like school much - told me how EXCITED he was to be able to use his school supplies! When we got to the door of the classroom, we were met with shouts of his name from his friends from last year. That's got to make you feel good and give you HOPE. When we walked back by after dropping off the girls, we peeked in the window to see him digging through his backpack to pull out the treasured crayons. This is the first year he has gotten to buy school supplies so it is very exciting! His teacher, Mrs. Amy, is so sweet - so it will be a great year!

Lindsey Kate began 3rd grade. WOW. Last night at open house, her teacher Mrs. Pam told us how excited she was to finally teach one of our children. That's got to make you feel good and give you HOPE. Lindsey Kate's class has 15 boys and 5 girls. We were not too excited about those odds, but know LK will do JUST fine. Mrs. Pam has a treasure box in her room with prizes for the kids. She said sometimes she gives them at random just for being sweet. Well, Linds has that in the bag - especially in a class full of boys!!

Our sweet Heyward started the 5th grade. I can NOT believe it. I remember the 5th grade SO well. It doesn't seem THAT long ago that I was in the 5th grade. I also remember the 5th grade as the beginning of "hard" school. More subjects, more tests, more homework, etc. We're going to have to begin to work on those study habits to keep those grades good. She looked SO grown and so tall heading into that hallway today and I swelled with pride that she still wanted mom and dad to walk her to class. Sweet, huh? That's got to make you feel good and give you HOPE!

All in all, a bittersweet day. I was glad to see them so excited but it seems so quiet here at the office. Being home at lunch will be even more quiet. Maybe Jody and I will actually get to have a conversation that doesn't involve bodily functions, Hannah Montana or stuffed animals. Hope indeed.

Bad Hair Day?

I just HAD to post these photos. The girls were in Cheer camp this week at the High School. On Wednesday they had "Wacky day" where the girls well, dressed wacky. These photos are of Heyward's hairdo we came up with to go with her striped leggins, plaid skirt and floral shirt. She has one challenge for you - look at her and do NOT laugh! Bet you can't do it, huh? They usually have a winner for the best wacky day costume. They did not do it this year but I'll BET she would have won.

Lindsey Kate had an equally as wacky outfit but opted for my long black wig with a scarf tied around her head axl rose style. She must be a pretty good little cheerleader because she won a coveted Spirit Stick at the end of camp. A second for her in 4 years of camp.

Riverdogs and Baseballs

How nice it is to get away for a few days for a family vacation! My friend, Jennie, invited us to her amazing Beach house in Edisto Beach, SC for a long weekend. Our children are close in age to her children, so they all had a wonderful time together. We laughed because when we first got there, her 4 year old son Jack said "Which one of you is Lindsey Kate?". When Linds said who she was, he replied "You're sleeping with me!". Well, that did NOT happen, he had to settle for Micajah.

On Monday before we left, we went to the beach for a while. Jennie and I were on the beach and Jody was in the water with the 6 children - Micajah came out of the water SCREAMING because a TINY little crab had pinched on his toe and was still attached! It was hard to be sympathetic while suppressing our laughter. The children uncovered some Sand Dollars and Heyward talked us into taking them with us home. That was fine until 2 days later when we began to smell them in the car. Yes - she had left them in there. Thankfully we discovered it when we did!

On Monday afternoon we went to Folly Beach, SC - right outside of Charleston. My Uncle Joe moved to Mt. Pleasant SC a few years ago and is a regular attender of the Charleston Riverdogs games. He attends SO often, he has been given the nickname of "Citadel Joe" by the other regulars. Anyway, he invited us along for Monday night's game. The children had never been to a baseball game like that, so we pulled out ALL the stops.


When we first got there, we made a trek to the shop and the children spent some of their Mema money on things for the game. Then we located the face painter for these gorgeous works of art. I'm glad we took a picture when we did because Micajah's "Charlie the Riverdog" face painting had smeared terribly before the games' end.

Uncle Joe had made arrangements for each of them to receive an "official" baseball and for the announcer to put their names on the board and "welcome" them to the game during the 8th inning. They actually did it twice because they did it earlier than they said they would and we missed it.

At some point in the game, I took Linds to the restroom and this was the view out of the back of the stadium. Gorgeous, huh? This picture actually doesn't do it justice. The wind was blowing across the marsh, so it was nice and cool. Amazing!!

We had the MOST amazing seats. Uncle Joe has his regular seat, but a friend donated seats right next to his for us to sit in. We were RIGHT behind the on deck circle for the Riverdogs. We laughed because the mesh screen that we were sitting RIGHT behind had lots of dents in it from foul balls. I actually missed the umpire getting hit in the head by a foul ball. Jody said he stood up and stammered a little then passed out cold on the ground. Thankfully he was wearing a helmet and face mask and was fine - even though he had to sit out the remainder of the game.

We also took pictures of the kids with Charlie the Riverdog, but they are on Lindsey Kate's camera, so I will have to post them later.

The next morning, I get a phone call from Uncle Joe saying our picture made the paper. What are the chances?? Well, we're in the background - but made the paper anyway!! Unfortunately, Jody is behind Charlie the Riverdog, but you can see the rest of us.

The rest of vacation was spent at the beach and in Charleston. We took one rainy afternoon and spent it at the Children's Museum of the LowCountry. It was AMAZING!! I think Jody and I had as much fun as the children.

We also went and ate at Bubba Gumps, went to the Charleston Market and took a carriage tour of the City. Micajah must be allergic to horses, though, because before the tour was over his little eyes were REALLY swollen. Bless his heart.

Anyway, as MUCH fun as we had - and we DID have LOTS of fun, there is NO place like HOME!!