Splash Day

I am a little behind on blogging- we had way too much happen in a one week span! Last Wednesday (just before I left on vacation) was splash day at Abby's school. Her and all her schoolmates played outside on the inflatables brought in for the day. 

This is Abby's pre-K class made up of "older" 3 year olds and now younger 4 year olds. I am so glad they will all be back next year and Shining Stars together! Abby's friends that we hear about most are Harlyn (next to her) and Preston (in the green Batman shirt).

Their teacher in the Friday class made this poster for the hallway- I love it. Abby wants to be a magic fairy!

Here are a few of my favorite splash day photos of Abby and her friends....

The outside fun ended with popsicles! 

Tomorrow is our last day of school until September. We are sad and also so excited for the fun that comes with summer!

Bring it on...

we have been to the pool three days this week- bring on summer!

Orlando Trip

I was in Orlando for a contract job (helping manage an event) last week and part of this week. Another planner and I managed a registration desk from 7-6 daily and we had about 40 attendees in three different rooms. As you would imagine, there are busy times and then there are quiet stretches when they are learning for 3-4 hours. During one of those quiet stretches, I ran up to my room, changed into a sundress and read a magazine for 30 minutes at the pool. After not being outside the hotel for 2 days, it was nice!

Saturday night, my co-worker and I walked over to nearby Downtown Disney for dinner and to get souvenirs for our kids. We ate dinner at Fulton's Crab House where Marcus and I ate when we visited Downtown Disney on our honeymoon almost 14 years ago. 

The whole area was grown a lot since we were last there. The lego area was especially larger!

Since Disney now has more rights over Star Wars, there was a lot of attention to that movie. It also happened to be a big Star Wars weekend at the theme park. I sent Marcus these two pictures on my phone. He was a tad jealous!

I did come home with 4 fun gifts for Abby and two birthday surprises for Marcus. 

My souvenir came from the hotel gift shop.... bracelets made from recycled flip flops! They were inexpensive and I think clumped together, super cute for summer!

I had a great time in Florida. I hadn't flown in over 7 months and oddly enough, will be flying toward the opposite coast before the month is over! This time it is all for fun! Details and pictures will follow!

Mother's Day Celebrations

First of all, Happy Mother's Day to TJ, Jacque, and Carol. We wish you a day of fun, relaxation, and enjoyment! 

I can not believe this is my 5th Mother's Day. This sweet girl of mine just keeps growing (and I just keep changing my hair!). ha!

This morning Abby wished me a Happy Mother's Day while snuggling in bed... something she needs about 10 minutes of each morning. I know- call me blessed!

I said, "I am so glad you made me a Momma". Abby then says, "who are you talking to?" I said her somewhat puzzled and said that I wasn't a Mom until she was born. 

She then reminded me, "I didn't make you a Momma. God did." 

And I will praise Him for that as long as I live. My heart aches for the many women just waiting and wondering if they can ever celebrate this day.

We have celebrated all week- with a Mother's Day tea party last week at school. Abby made me a cross and a sweet card. At dinner one night, she noticed I didn't have peas on my plate and asked why. I told her I didn't like peas and she said in the most honest and sad voice, "I put peas on your card." The morning of the party, Abby told me out of the blue, "I should have put chicken." 

On my handmade card/questionnaire, Abby said I am 18, I like to eat peas and love to give her hugs. One of three isn't bad :)

Marcus and I celebrated surviving another year as parents with a date night on South Congress. We finally tried Home Slice Pizza. It was delish! Although, the waiter tried to convince us we could each eat 4 slices. Two was plenty! 

Afterward, we walked across the street and I bought a new pair of earrings. I truly don't mind buying my own gift- we both have confidence I will like it. Aren't they pretty! I love Kendra Scott and they are part of her limited time summer line.

Finally, we ended the night at Lick, a local Austin made ice cream shop. They have lots of funky flavors and we sampled a few of them. I ended up having Salted Caramel and a scoop of Chocolate Caramel Roasted Pecan. They were yummy!

Happy Mother's Day to all and a big thank you to Marcus for allowing me to be the Mom I once dreamed of. I spend my days hugging and playing not meeting and greeting and I love it more than I ever knew I could. Thank you dear!

Babies!

Abby and I have seen a lot of babies over the last week- this is Harper and she has a new baby brother Hudson. They are a new family we have gotten to know and just love! Hudson and Harper have the cutest little playroom and his nursery is all manner of chevron and elephants! So cute! I have loved my new MOPS group and their Momma Kathy is my newest friend from that group. We met Hudson and delivered dinner late last week.

The same day, we met sweet little bitty twins Caroline and Parker. They never made a noise while we were there, even when Abby and I held Caroline. I have never held a baby that small before- it was just the best! I believe they are around 5 pounds at this point.

Today, we had lunch and met Baby Sydney. Have you ever seen a more beautiful child? She made sweet faces even when she was upset. I would have a hard time saying no to this child!

All these babies reminded me of my own baby. She is such a little girl now and while I am happy to be over the worst toddler stage, I do miss the sleeping in your arms all day stage. 

Thank you Jesus for healthy babies for my sweet friends!

Party Time!

We have had a really busy weekend of really fun stuff....

Saturday morning, Marcus and Abby went to a local comic book store of their Star Wars (and comics in general) celebration. It was "May the 4th be with you" day afterall. Abby had fun and Marcus was one proud Dad to have a little girl there who knew the people and was excited to be there.

That is Marcus in the crazy hooded sweatshirt. Abby wouldn't gladly hold a character like that :)

She doesn't look happy to see "Dark" Vader

 After lunch and a short nap, we celebrated Hannah's birthday with an Ariel princess party.

Abby and the birthday girl, Hannah. She was so excited to see her friends from our old church and from dance class at the party.

We left Hannah's party and drove to LauraMae's birthday party. It was a Doc McStuffins party which Abby loves! Doc is the cutest show on Disney Jr about a girl who is a doctor to stuffed animals. The girls were given all kinds of treats and able to play doctor on animals Mae's Mom provided. They even had little stethoscopes, tongue depressors, and a big book of boo-boos where Doc writes her diagnoses. 

Happy Birthday LauraMae!

Megan, Mae and Abby- these girls are sweet friends and I love seeing them play, love, and hug on each other. You can see them at Mae's fiesta last year by clicking here. 

Speaking of Fiesta... Abby and I dressed the park for church and our class picnic at the park today. Oh the fun of dressing up!

Glorious Day

The past few weeks we have had the best discussions with Abby about Jesus. 

Between Easter lessons and AWANA, Abby is learning some powerful verses about Jesus, His sacrifice, love for us, and our sins. Abby is really starting to process and ask us great questions. It makes my heart so happy to see her recognize Jesus for what he did and to store Him in her heart.

She has learned a verse a week since September and can easily recall about 10 of them. Her new favorite- "Go into all the world and preach the gospel". We end it with a loud Hallelujah and a quiet Amen. It is one of the funniest things to hear- she says Hallelujah with such fervor. 

We had another big breakthrough this week- for the first time ever, Abby noticed the music on my ringtone and asked to hear it. Glorious Day has been my ringtone for over a year. I love the words to it and love that she "got" them. We have played it more than once daily since then and tonight she told me the chorus. 

For other parents out there, don't think the little things you are doing aren't catching on. I have waited for so long for Abby to hear my song and learn it is about Jesus. I know that we will have more conversations in the car now because of it and future songs we play. I pray I have answers for the questions that will come because when I don't know the answer, Abby always says, "Let's ask Siri". Awkward :)

Our Saturday

In our attempt to eat healthier, I have visited the Farmer's Market a handful of times. This weekend, Abby and Marcus joined me. The market is at nearby Lakeline Mall and they have fun little activities for the kids. Abby loved the little black bunny rabbit, but didn't love the face painting? What kid doesn't love face painting?

This clown was pretty cool and he made Abby happy with a purple puffy poodle on a purple leash. 

She knew just what she wanted!

After story time and working out, we had lunch and naps at home and then joined our friends, The Jamisons, for dinner at Dahlia's Cafe in Liberty Hill. We went there for my birthday and loved it, so we came back with friends this time! The girls played in the big backyard while the adults caught up and then when the live music started, the girls had fun dancing!

It was an exhausting but super fun day!

Social Butterfly

These are pretty awful pictures, but they totally represent our busy day yesterday!

We met some new friends at the park Tuesday morning for play and a picnic. Abby requested I take her picture with Harper and then she gave me the "finger". Oops! I wish I had noticed it prior to the play date ending. Silly girl must have been scratching her face.

After being at the park all morning, we rested and then the door bell rang and our friend Kiersten and Kaylinn came over to play. We hadn't seen them in months and everyone was excited!

We played outside for a little while and I made a bowling game for them. Thank you Pinterest. They played a few times and we've played more since. Marcus is on a sparkling water kick- we saved a few bottles and had a game ready!

 While the girls played, I got to spend some time with this little man. He discovered how yummy a banana can be!

About an hour after our playdate, I went to dinner with my friends lovingly called The Dance Moms. Our girls had dance together over a year ago, but we all became friends and do dinner on occasion.  We stayed out late eating yummy food and talking!

It was a fun day with lots of friends!

The Bee's Knees

My sweet girl had a rough Wednesday. She got up from rest time to potty and told her teacher that she couldn't walk- her knee hurt. Abby then proceeded to crawl the remainder of the day. At pick up we discussed the incident- she asked for a band aid and claimed she hurt it on Monday. Since she was fine all day Monday, Tuesday and until rest time, her teacher and I chalked it up to being tired and possible emotional about something else.

When she still wouldn't walk on it Thursday morning, we visited the doctor. She has a sprained knee... a very minor version apparently because she was walking on it by 4 PM that day. This morning before school I asked her to stop doing PE today if it started hurting her again. She told me, "I can't do all my tricks, but I can still do some without it hurting." Well, that is good to know! :)

Love when we are early to school because Abby sits in my lap and snuggles with me before the doors open. I realize the time is coming when she will not sit in my lap or snuggle so freely, so I am trying to cherish it, focus on her and give long and tight squeezes when given the chance.