Halloween ~ 2014 Style!

Jedi's and Wonder Woman...oh my!  

Halloween was slightly different this year.  Ben had marching band rehearsal and wasn't able to dress up.  He was disappointed, especially since he and Luke were planning to dress alike.  Oh well...what can you do?

Luke couldn't wait to try on his costume as soon as it arrived! (Grammy made it and I brought it home from St. Louis!)  Ben tried his on too so they could compare!

 And have a light sabre battle!  I love my Star Wars loving boys!

That has to be the cutest little Jedi I have ever seen!

He was more than happy to let me take pictures of him in all kinds of fun poses!

And...my favorite superhero girl!  Wonder Woman!!  How cute is she?!

I was super excited to make a tutu for Abby! I told her I would be happy to make her Halloween costume as long as it included a tutu!  :)

I

I got to take these cuties out trick-or-treating!

Even though the marching band had rehearsal, some band parents came up with the brilliant idea to plan a trunk-or-treat event as a surprise at the end of rehearsal.  It was so much fun!!  The kids were surprised and the parents had fun putting it together for this hard working group of kids!

Even though the kids weren't allowed to dress up, Ben and his friend, Ben, dressed up as twins.  Do you see the resemblance?

I love Halloween!  Such a fun, fun night!

First Day of School ~ 2013 - 2014

Somehow it has happened again.  Summer has flown by and it's time for the kiddos to head back to school.  I am, usually, ready for them to go.  This year...I'm not!  I don't feel like we had enough time for fun this summer.  I want a few more weeks!  They, however, are ready and excited to go.  Well, two of the three, anyway.

I have the hardest time believing that Ben is a sophomore this year!  Ugh!  Time is just flying by way too fast!

 

Abby...can she possibly be in her final year of middle school?!  How does this happen???

 

I know that Abby is a beautiful girl, but, for some reason, this morning I just couldn't get over how beautiful and grown up she looked!  My girl is gorgeous!

 

 And then there's Luke.

Luke has not been looking forward to school starting all summer.  I have been very nervous about how he would handle the first day.  It is going to be long!  I know he will do great, but still... I worry.  I am not a fan of all day kindergarten.  Ben and Abby never had to go to kindergarten all day.  I don't want Luke to go all day.  But I never told him that.

Thankfully, Luke got up, got ready for school and was very willing to let me take some pictures of him before we left for his big day.

Seriously, I did not ask him to pose for me!  He just kept being adorable, so I kept taking pictures.  I love this!!

 

I am so thankful for Luke's teacher, Mrs. Nickles!  She is going to amazing for my little guy!!

 

Yes, there are significantly more pictures of Luke on his first day of school, but how often does your baby start kindergarten?!  I am sad and happy that Luke is in kindergarten.  I know he is going to love it!  He is going to learn so much.  He is going to have influences that I don't like.  He is going to grow up so much this year.  Oh dear...

Lord, please protect my babies.  Please keep them safe from harm, from bad influences. Help them to make good choices and to know that you are in them and at school with them all day, every day.  Please put friends in their lives that know you and love you.  Help them to be strong and faithful.  Help them show you in all that they do.  Thank you for the teachers that you have hand picked for Ben, Abby and Luke.  Please bless them.  Give them an extra dose of grace and patience as they teach every day.  Thank you for giving us another school year.  Amen.

My Softball Sweetie

I love that Abby loves softball!

I don't always love softball season, only because of the extreme weather.  Maybe extreme is a harsh word.  The thing is, softball starts when it is cold outside, and ends when it is blazing hot.  Thankfully, this year was very mild and enjoyable.  I, actually, looked forward to going to Abby's games.  I love watching her play.  (Selfishly, I also love the excuse of sitting for an hour and a half!)

 This is where we have spent a lot of our summer evenings.

I love to watch my girl play!  This girl can hit the ball!

In the past, I have also dreaded taking Luke to Abby's softball games.  He would be all over the place and not very cooperative.  This year, it has been great!  Luke really looks forward to going to Abby's games.  He asks almost every morning if Abby has a game that night.   He is often disappointed when I say, "no".

My social little guy always finds a friend or group of friends to play with and is sad when the game is over and we have to leave.

 

Abby's team had a great season!  They won 7 games and only lost 2!  They were a great group of girls and awesome coaches!

Of course, they are silly girls!

Abby wasn't very happy with me at this point.  I told her coach that it was her birthday and the team sang happy birthday to her. (:  (We also found out that #8's, who became one of Abby's very good friends, birthday was the same week!)

Like I said in an earlier post, we decided that since Abby was scheduled to take snacks so close to her birthday, that we would make them birthday treats.  Abby requested softball cupcakes.  Perfect!  I think they turned out pretty cute.  The girls were all super impressed!

That's my girl!  Isn't she adorable?! I am so proud of her!

Abby's rec games are over, but school softball is only just beginning!

BLESSED!!

I can't explain how blessed I have felt lately.  There have been some pretty amazing things happening around here.  I just have to share.

*****

Abby found out that school softball tryouts were happening at the end of April.  Jon and I were hesitant to let her do it.  We both had concerns about how she would handle it if she didn't make the team.  I didn't really say anything to her, but she continued to be excited about it.  She reminded me the night before that tryouts were the next day.  I gave Jon "the look" and he asked her, "Abby, it's great that you want to tryout and we want you to tryout, but what if you don't make the team?"  Abby was very quick with her response.  She shrugged her shoulders and with a slight teenager attitude said, "There's always next year!"  Well, alrighty then!  How can you deny that!

Abby tried out and the waiting game began.  I asked her everyday when she got home from school if she found out about the team.  Everyday she said no.  Finally, the answer came.  Yes, she found out and YES, SHE MADE THE TEAM!!!  WOW!!  She was so excited!  I was so excited!  Yes, I cried. 

*****

Ben and Abby both want to go to band camp at University of Arkansas this summer.  (Ben felt like he missed out last year.)  The problem?  It costs $400 per student!  Ouch!  Jon and I talked about it and decided that, at least, Ben would be able to go.  He was a little bit older and would be able to pay for part of it.  We figured that Abby needed another year of band under her belt and and to be another year older before she should go.  Abby was disappointed.  Even though I was good with the decision that we made, I was disappointed for her. 

We found out that scholarships were being offered for band camp.  Sweet!  After talking to Ben and Abby's band teacher, we decided that both kids would apply for a scholarship.  We would see how much they got and re-think things.

It was very exciting the day Ben and Abby got mail from the Musical Research Society.  Both kids received $100 scholarships!  Praise the Lord!  Great news! 

Ben and Abby (along with all of the other recipients) were recognized by the Music Research Society for their band camp scholarship.

However...there was another $300 per child that we still had to figure out.  Ugh!  Again, we decided that Abby would wait until next year.

I mentioned to another band teacher that only Ben was going to be able to go to band camp.  He asked me how much money would be needed to get both kids there.  I ashamedly told him.  It was a lot.  He didn't cringe (that I could tell via text), he just said that he would see what he could do.

The day before the camp registrations were to be postmarked, I asked if he had any new information and he did not.

The day the registrations were to be postmarked, I finished filling out all of the paperwork.  I held both of them in my hands and prayed over them.  I just asked for the Lord to give me an answer.  Even if the answer was no, it was an answer.  I was ok with that.  I just wanted to know.  A few hours later, I (hesitantly) asked again if the band teacher knew anything new about band camp money.  He  said that he found $100-$200, but that was all so far.  He told me to go ahead and send in the registrations for both kids without the money and by the time they questioned us about it, we should have it taken care of.  That seemed a little awkward, but we decided to do it.  Not even one hour later, he texted me back and said that the entire amount (the amount that I told him was needed for both Ben and Abby to go to camp.) was taken care of!  What?!?!  There was my answer!  Both kids get to go to camp!  

I am so thankful that we have such amazing band staff here, in Bartlesville!  Not only do they do their job, they go above and beyond!  They want to see their students succeed and better themselves as musicians!  I am also thankful that there are gracious people out there that are willing to help kids better themselves!

I truly believe that we experienced a miracle straight from God that day!  It could only be from Him!!

*****

Luke turned 5!  I know, I already blogged about it.  But in the course of all of the amazing things that were happening, this was one of them.

*****

Ben had art displayed in at art show downtown.  (Again, I know, I already blogged about that too.)

*****

Abby had her spring band concert and received an award.  (Here)

*****

I had an amazing birthday and Mother's Day.  (Here)

*****

Abby was invited to the 7th grade awards assembly.  (Here)

*****

Ben had his spring band concert and, also, received an award.  (Here)

*****

Luke graduated from preschool.  (Here)

All of these things happened within about a two week period.  It was just one exciting thing after another.  How could I feel anything but blessed?

Luke's Preschool Graduation

I am so thankful for the decision Jon and I made to send Luke to East Cross for preschool!  We have loved this whole year!  The staff is amazing!  Luke's teacher was the best!  He only had nine kids in his class, which was just perfect!

On the last day of school, Luke had a little program and graduation.

Could these kids be any cuter?!

 

Next step:  KINDERGARTEN!!

(Where does the time go?!?!)

HaPpY 5Th BiRtHdAy, LuCaS!!!

Mister Lukey could not wait for his birthday!  I mean could. not. wait.  The big day just couldn't come fast enough.  It was fun to listen to him be so excited.  On the other hand, it got slightly old answering the constant stream of questions of, "Is it my birthday yet?", "Is my birthday tomorrow?", "How many more days until my birthday?".

Fortunately, Luke was able to take birthday treats to school the day before his birthday.  That made him happy.  It made him feel like it was his birthday, even though it wasn't.  (:  Who doesn't love a prolonged birthday???

 

Aren't these birthday treats adorable?  They would make me happy!   (I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I made these fun birthday treats and I was pretty proud of them.)

Getting Grammy's present in the mail the day before his birthday made Luke's day!  Not only did he get to have birthday treats at school, but he also got to open a present!  Score!

Thank you, Grammy!

The big birthday day was finally almost here!  The excitement and anticipation that Luke had was super fun to watch!

 MY 5 YEAR OLD BIRTHDAY BOY!!

There was way too much on the calendar for May 9th!  Not so much during the day, but the evening was insane.  Because of this, I had to find some fun ways to distract Luke from opening presents and make sure he had a super fun day.  

First stop:  lunch!  I told Luke we could go to lunch anywhere he wanted. He, of course, chose...

McDonalds.  Silly boy!

YAY!!  Another package came to distract Luke from having to wait for Daddy, Ben and Abby to be home to open presents!

 

Thank you, Aunt Kris, Uncle Scott, Lexy, Kortney, Reilly and Erin!!

As you saw here, Pathfinder is one of our new favorite things.  It was a gorgeous day outside, so I asked Luke if he would like to go for a walk on the Pathfinder.  He had no idea what I was talking about.  I asked him if he would like to go to "the forest" and he jumped up and down for joy and shouted "YES"!  

 Not only is Pathfinder a great place to go for a walk, it has some great places for photo ops!

One of Luke's favorite things on our walk was this cactus.  It was pretty cool.  He didn't want to get too close and was proud that he didn't get poked by the "pokey things".  (:

Another one of Luke's favorite things about Pathfinder is this tunnel.  We didn't walk the direction of the tunnel, but we had to go just far enough for him to walk to the other side.  I also gave in and let him climb up to the top.  Ugh...It was his birthday, after all.  And I get so tired of saying no.  Again, one happy boy!

After Pathfinder, I'm pretty certain that time seemed to pass extremely slow for Luke.  Remember I said that we had a crazy busy agenda for the night?  Well, I told Luke that he couldn't open presents or eat cake until Daddy, Ben and Abby were all home.  What he didn't quite realize is that Daddy was meeting us downtown for an art show that Ben was a part of.  Then we were off to Abby's band concert.  (More on those events later.)  After that we would finally be able to go to Frank & Lola's (his birthday dinner of choice) for dinner.  It was late.  We were all starving.  But it was great!

Our sweet waiter decorated Luke's cup of milk.  (:

FINALLY...

Time to open presents!!!

 And eat cake!!!

What a great day Luke's birthday turned out to be!  It was busy, but so much fun!  I am thankful that Luke and I had the first half of the day to hang out and have fun together.  I just can't believe that my little guy is 5 years old!  I just can't figure out how this happened so fast!

I love you so much, Lucas James!  I love that you love Jesus!  I love that you are growing up to be a sweet, loving, happy, outdoor loving, silly, fun boy.  I hope you had a super fabuloso 5th birthday!  

We Love Pathfinder! (AKA, The Forest)

 No words necessary...