Answered Prayer

We added a new day of celebration to our calendar on April 21, 2013.  Our sweet Macy acknowledged her need for a Savior, repented, and asked Jesus to save her!

After church she went with her dad to get the car while I went to pick up Brooke.  She told him that she wanted to ask Jesus into her heart this afternoon.  We had been talking about it a lot, answering many of her questions, and praying that He would clearly call her to Himself.

After talking with her a little bit, in the quietness of her room while her sisters were resting, she prayed and asked Jesus to forgive her of her sins and come live in her heart as her Savior.  What a precious moment! She immediately wanted to tell her sister.  Kayla had been faithfully praying for her over the last few months, and she was so excited to hear the news. We had a little spiritual birthday celebration for her, and of course cake means candles.  :)

The joy radiating from her was contagious. Later that evening I heard her singing "I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart" over and over. Seeing the happiness coming from her was a sweet reminder that we do have a joy that comes from deep within.  I am so thankful to my Savior for her salvation!

Kayla's Birthday Party

  Kayla had a few of her friends over to celebrate her birthday.  We played a couple of games, but for the most part the kids just played outside. It was a beautiful day for a party!

And what party is complete without some sledding? The girls grabbed the cardboard and had a blast sliding down the hill. 

A couple of Kayla's friends have siblings in Macy's class, so we invited the siblings as well.  I am so thankful for these sweet families, and it looks like we will be having basically the same crew over for Macy's birthday in a couple of weeks. 

Chattanooga Day 2

We woke up Friday morning to a beautiful day in Chattanooga! We grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel and headed straight for the indoor pool.  We had it to ourselves for most of the time and they girls had so much fun! We wished we could have played longer, but the check-out time was looming.

So we showered, packed up, and headed to the Children's Museum. Unfortunately I didn't take too many pictures, but we all had fun playing.

We took a break for lunch, wandered the city to find the ice-cream shop that we wanted to visit, and then played some more. I think my favorite part of the museum was the simple machines area outside. I am really starting to miss teaching, and that is another story for another time. 

 

After the museum we made a stop for drinks and icees and headed home.  The girls had a great time, and it was so good for us to get away for a couple of days.

We Arrive In....

Chattanooga! The girls were SO excited, and they still had no idea that their suitcases were packed in the trunk. We started off our afternoon at the aquarium.

The girls all wanted to dress alike, which of course is nice when you are going to a public venue.  Kayla wanted pig-tails and the other two quickly followed suit. 

The next stop on our journey was Ruby Falls.  The rain had started coming in which is always better for a waterfall. The girls enjoyed exploring the cave.

And they were in awe of the beautiful waterfall. I had told them that this wasn't a waterfall that man made, but that God made it.  So now when they explain Ruby Falls they tell people they got to see a waterfall that God made.

Brooke was starting to get a little fussy.  It was way past her naptime.  She ended up falling asleep in her daddy's arms on the way back out of the cave.  Unfortunately we can no longer transfer her into the car and keep her asleep.  Especially when it is pouring rain outside. After enjoying an Italian dinner for the birthday girl we went to the hotel.  That's then they realized that we were staying the night.  And our girls LOVE hotels.

The Start of Some Surprises

Marc and I had some plans up our sleeves.  The kids were on spring break and we wanted to do something fun as a family.  It just so happened that Kayla's birthday was the day our fun started.  She woke up to birthday greetings from the family.  Macy had even woken up early and made her a birthday card. I hadn't asked her to do that.  I'm so glad she loves her sisters so much.

Kayla opened her gifts first thing. Her sisters got her some Little Woodeez toys.  A school room to be exact.  Kayla was thrilled.

Then it was our turn to surprise her.  We gave her a Kindle Fire. To say she was surprised would be an understatement.  And it took all of 10 seconds for Macy to say that is what she wants for her birthday this year. :)

 

We purchased an app that gives them access to tons of books and apps for free.  It is definitely worth the small monthly fee for them to have access to so many books.They are mostly picture books, but Kayla really isn't particular about what she reads.  She just wants to read. I showed them a few things before we hit the road.  We grabbed breakfast at Bojangles and Chick-fil-A so that everyone was happy, and we hit the road.

Happy Birthday Kayla!

My sweet Kayla,

Eight years ago today I became a mom.  You were born at 7:18AM after twenty-nine hours of labor, and you have been worth every minute of that twenty-nine hours. :)

I just love this picture.  You were 19 months old and you wouldn't touch your dessert until we prayed.  You have grown to love God more and this year has been such a year of growth for you.  One of my favorite parts of the day are those time that we get into discussions about the Bible.  You love to learn what God says in His Word. My prayer is that you will always have a desire to read, learn, and study the Bible.

 

 

You love your sisters so much and they adore you.  You and Macy are such great friends as well as sisters, and I love that.  I love that Macy and Brooke are the people that you would rather play with. I love that you watch out for them and teach them, although sometimes you tend to be more of a mommy than a sister.  We'll keep working on that line between oldest sister and mother.  It's a blurry one sometimes, but you are learning well what the role God has for you as big sister.

 

 

 Your favorite thing to do is read.  The first thing you do most mornings is open your book and read a chapter or two, and I have often found you reading way past your bedtime. It's hard to discipline you for that when I know that you get that desire to read from me.  Your daddy doesn't really understand our need to read. :) I absolutely love that you enjoy reading so much.  

 

 

You still love to match your sisters.  When I tried to pick out coordinating, not matching, Easter dresses you didn't like that.  You also still love to wear matching pajamas.  

 

Some of your favorites:

foods:

mashed or baked potatoes

peas, lima beans, green beans

chicken nuggets

corn

apples

frozen grapes

noodles

shows:

Sofia the First

Wild Kratts

things to do:

playing games

reading

traveling

soccer

helping in the kitchen

school subjects:

history

science

cursive

 

 

My sweet Kayla,

I can't even begin to express how much I love you and how proud I am of you.  You have such a sweet and gentle spirit. You are compassionate and loyal.  I love being able to homeschool you and see your excitement about learning.  You love school and you have had an amazing year in second grade.  I can't believe that you are now eight and coming upon the end of your second grade year.  I am so proud of the young lady you are becoming, and I pray that this next year will be another year full of learning, growing, and loving.

I love you so much, 

Mommy

New Sporting Experiences

We got the girls tennis rackets for Easter and they have been anxious to get out on the court and give it a try.  We were finally able to get out there and they did a great job.  Marc just taught them how to hit the ball and after a bit of frustration for a certain little girl, they were hitting those balls right back at us.

Last week we were invited to the first annual Dorminy Master's party. We had a great time learning more about the Master's and hanging out with friends. Of course since I pretty much know nothing about golf I picked up quite a bit of new useless trivia. But that's the best kind of trivia to know! And thanks to Kristy for letting me steal this picture off of her blog. :)

We had a friendly little golfing game for the adults. (Marc and I completely lost,but I will blame that on the fast that we went first and the other teams were able to learn the slope of the yard based on our putts. Yeah, that's it.)

The kids had some putting fun then dodge ball began.  They had such a great time getting balls thrown at them.  They get that gene from their father. I hated dodge ball growing up, but maybe that's because those balls were thrown at us HARD and left marks when they hit you.

Thanks Dorminys for having us over.  I hear next year you will have to buy your way into the party.  I'm hoping that since we got in during the first year of this spectacular event we can be grandfathered in for free in the years to come. :)

Easter

We had a wonderful day celebrating our risen Savior. After a wonderful church service we had our family over to our house for lunch.

 

After lunch Marc saw that the rain was coming in faster than we anticipated.  The guys quickly hid the eggs in the yard. I usually do the resurrection eggs with the girls while Marc hides the eggs, but there was no time this year. I did do them with Macy's kindergarten class so she and Brooke were able to enjoy them.  And Kayla could probably teach the Easter story using the eggs herself.  As the last couple of  eggs were being grabbed up the rain started pouring down.

 

 

The ladies watched from the back porch.