AAA's 11th Birthday

Sweet AAA turned ELEVEN years old this past weekend. I can't believe it has been ELEVEN YEARS since she was born! She is as sweet as ever and I am so blessed to be her mom!

We will celebrate her birthday this weekend at the lake with friends. However, we did want to celebrate on her actual birthday, so we let pick out her favorite restaurant for dinner.

And Cheeburger Cheeburger was her first choice!!


AAA and her sweet and fun friend...

They split the half pounder and made it to the Wall of Fame!

Our waitress surprised her with a Banana Split.

Kat struck a pose while the camera was clicking!

All of the kids afterwards, fat and happy!

Next stop....Yogurt Mountain! Yippee!!

Mama and her Birthday Girl!

I was so sad when I saw this pic! I didn't know she was being all silly during our one picture of the year together!

Silly Sunshine!

Thanking God for the past eleven years and asking for his blessings on her this next year!

Easter Egg Hunt #2 and Counting...

Sunshine had her second Easter Egg Hunt this week. Terrible weather was in the forecast, but it turned out to be a BEAUTIFUL day!! Thank goodness for the "only get twelve eggs" rule. Otherwise, she wouldn't have any eggs! Talk about a laid back egg hunter! She's stroll on over to an egg, gently place her basket on the ground next to the egg, then slowly reach for the egg, only to have it quickly grabbed by a more eager egg-hunter. When she finally found her first egg, she dusted it off before she put it in her basket! The "crazy mom" in me wanted to yell, "Get with it! Quit dusting off your eggs and RUN, for goodness sake!" But the more "civilized mom" in me refrained, thankfully. And thanks to the rules, Sunshine hunted a dozen lovely eggs!

Two hunts down, three to go. Plus 48 cupcakes and 24 bunny treat bags. Believe it or not, I'm going to bed early and will bake and stuff eggs in the morning! This bunny is beat!

Easter Egg-travaganza 2011

We spent this past weekend in Tennessee at the family's annual Easter Eggstravaganza. We've done this every Palm Sunday weekend for the past eleven years. In fact, AAA was born the day after we returned from our first Easter Eggstravaganza, and we haven't missed one since! The Easter Eggtravaganza is bigger than Christmas (or at least equal to Christmas!). Of course, a great time was had by ALL!!

Nice...(AAA blowing up a rubber chicken)
What kid doesn't love a cookie cake?!

Sweet cousin!

Enjoying lunch...

More sweet cousins..

Everyone enjoyed Uncle Ken's infamous homemade pizzas!

Quack!

(I'm not sure what kind of face this is!)

Smile!

Aunt Ann (aka the "Easter Seal") with the two golden egg winners!

Sunshine always smiling!

Looking for the golden egg.

My Easter baby.

I LOVE this pic!

Kit Kat!

Li'l Man hunting for the golden egg in a tree!

Kit Kat hunted only light pink eggs.

The starting line. And they're off..........

The cousins with their aunt, the Easter Seal. :)

Happy Easter!

She makes it look so easy...

A few weeks ago, we were all at Sports Academy shopping for cleats, soccer balls, and shin guards. The girls and I were in one department of the store while M and L'il Man were in the shoes. The girls and I walked over to the shoe department when we were finished. M was trying on a pair of shoes for work. I took one look at his shoes and thought to myself, "HOW am I going to tell him, without hurting his feelings, that those are the ugliest shoes I've ever seen?!" But before I can even finish processing my thought, KitKat blurts out, "You canNOT wear those shoes!" So M picks up another (equally as ugly) pair. Kat doesn't waste a minute...."Can I just tell you something?", she asked (although she didn't wait for a response)..."You cannot wear an all white shoe!" Thank goodness for KitKat.

Something tells me I'll never have to ask, "Does this make my butt look big?" I think she'll blurt out, "Take that off - it makes you butt look big" before I even have a chance to ask !

(Sidenote - but this post reminded me of something funny. KitKat is playing her first sport this year...soccer. I saw a bumper sticker that was perfect for her. "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you wear your hair." ha!)

Let's Go Fly A Kite..

Sunshine's kindergarten class met at the Intramural Fields on Friday to fly kites. And it was the perfect day for some kite flying!! (And that dress...yeah, I made it. :) )

Gift Number Five

5. Letters to mommy !

Translation:

"Tiffany is the best Mommy anybody could ever have

She's the girl I've been dreaming about since I was a baby

She's the most kindest mom I know

I hope she never leaves

She's my mom and nothing will change that

She's the girl I wanted."

1000 Gifts, continued

3. Painted masterpieces.

4. Friends that show up at just the right time.

1000 Things

I don't even know where to begin...
I love blogs! There. That seems like a good place to start! I love blogs because one link on one blog leads to another link on another blog, and so on and so forth. Somehow, through blogstalking, I wound up face to face with this book staring at me. I ordered the book and I can hardly stand to put it down! The online book club that goes along with this book starts this Sunday, February 6th. However, they are only going to discuss Chapter One, so I don't want to get too far ahead of the book club! But I want to keep reading!!!! I URGE you to please buy this book and inhale it! BAM does NOT have it and can't even order it. In Auburn, you can order it from Lighthouse or Hastings. (I ordered mine from Lighthouse and received it within 48 hours). The book is called "1000 Gifts" because, on a dare and in a very "dry" spiritual season for this author, she was asked to list 1000 things for which she is thankful. God's gifts. 1000. As she began making her list, her life changed. She woke up each day with an excitement, a giddiness, that truly changed her life. Writing down, naming God's gifts, in the ordinary day-to-life, she discovered just how blessed we all are right where we are. Her excitement is contagious. The happiness that flow from God's gifts in the day-to-day is ours if we will just look at them as God's gifts! After reading Chapter two last night, I could hardly fall asleep because I was busy making my own list in my mind.
I have a feeling that the author will challenge us to make our own list of 1000 Gifts. However, I haven't read the entire book (yet), so I'm not entirely sure of the challenge. Regardless, I am beginning my list today! I don't need a challenge - I just needed a little inspiration.

My list of 1000 gifts is in no particular order, but I took these pictures yesterday (before I began my list), and I can't look at them without thinking of God's gifts and thanking him for them!

1. The smile of a seven year old with a kool-aid mustache and big front teeth, and not a care in the world that her teeth are big or that she has a red kool-aid mustache.

2. Freckles sprinkled on the nose of a little girl (specifically, these freckles sprinkled on this little nose).

I've blogged so infrequently lately that I'm not sure I have any readers left! But I am still going to host a give-away for this incredible book! Leave a comment and I'll choose a winner by this Thursday, February 2nd. Even if you don't enter the give-away, "pretty please with a cheery on top" order this book and be blessed by it!!!

2010 was a sad year for me. The timing of this book (God's timing!) is so good. I am so ready to focus on God's gifts/blessings and and thank Him for every bit of it!

Eyes Wide Open

I only made one New Year's Resolution this year, but it encompasses so much that it's really more like a bunch of resolutions all rolled into one.

My New Year's Resolution is to be more intentional. As a wife, as a mother, as a friend, even as a blogger! I looked back at my blog from 2010 and I'm sad that I blogged less! SO many wonderful memories made that I didn't record. That's okay - there's still time. I'm going to intentionally get 2010's memories on this blog. I love re-reading my blog from year's past. I find myself laughing and crying and unable to click "sign out"! I am so happy that I have recorded the "day to day". That is life!

I look back at 2010...it was a good year. Lot's of sadness and many distractions but the "day to day" is always good. The purpose of starting this blog, back in 2008, was to remind myself daily of all the "day to day" blessings and to GIVE THANKS for them(!), while at the same time preserving some wonderful memories. I look back at this past year, and somehow along the way, I lost the intentionality of looking at my blessings, counting them, and thanking God for them. It is so easy - too easy, in fact - to get caught up in the busyness and life and just go through the motions of the day. And before you know it, the day has turned into weeks, the weeks have turning into months, and the months have turned into an entire year!

Not this year! I'm living 2011 with my eyes wide open.

Happy New Year!

One Proud Mama

Last weeks the kids had a "Celebration Day" at their elementary school. M and I were given a "head's up" earlier in the week that AAA and L'il Man would be receiving the Principal's Award for citizenship, but that it would be a surprise to the children.

I couldn't have been any more proud of these two munchkins of mine!

AA never saw it coming. She was truly surprised. And embarrassed. She does NOT like to be the center of attention. On the other hand, this little boy never had a doubt that he wouldn't get the award. I was surprised. And embarrassed. :)

After school that day, I told him, "Daddy and I have known about this for a few days." He replied, "I've known about this for a few days." Surprised, I asked, "How did you know? It was supposed to be a surprise." He replied, "When my teacher told us on Monday that she was picking one boy and one girl, I knew it was me. I know I'm good."

Good thing it wasn't an award for HUMILITY!!