Megan's First Soccer Game!

Well, Megan's first soccer game was this past Saturday and she had a lot of fun. Her little buddy Matti was out of town and I wondered how she would do. The first picture shows Megan holding Daddy's hand. Jim kept having to encourage her to let go and run after the ball. She got a good kick in and ran over promptly to let me know "Mommy, I kicked the ball!" She was thrilled. It's more than soccer to us. We both desire for our kids to be healthy and active and are trying to foster that in them early. And in doing so, striving to become more active myself. Jim has always been active and is running in his first 5K this weekend. He's also serving as the assistant coach of her team this year. We're so excited for her and look forward to a fun season.

Family Night at Chick Fil A

Here are a couple of pictures from family night at a local chick fil a. We decided to head over after Megan's first soccer practice. Bon Bon the clown was there to paint faces and make balloon shapes! The kids had a blast.

Happy Easter!!

We love Easter and the celebration of Jesus! Because our Sunday mornings are so full we celebrate with our baskets in the afternoon. The kids had an egg hunt in the back yard and then checked out their Easter baskets. We soon went back out to play with bubbles and chalk after opening the so cute character eggs they received from Nana. Thanks Nana!

Our worship gathering was a fun time of celebration and a time full of prayer for our pastor's family. Please continue to pray for Jason as he is in New Orleans with his parents who continue to heal from the accident. Pray too for Jen as she loves on the kids here in Orlando. Our hearts are hurting with them and yet celebrating the peace and strength that only comes from our hope in Christ!

Megan starts soccer

Megan had her first meet and greet with her soccer team on Saturday. As you can tell she and her buddy Matti were having a blast together. We are hoping the girls can concentrate enough on the ball to actually play some soccer this season! Matti's dad and our good friend Jamie is serving as the coach and Jim is assisting this season. More pictures to come as the season continues!

Visiting Mimi, Poppy and Uncle Jason

Jackson was the next stop on our trip. Jim's parents are there and his brother is currently working there. We spent our mornings at the park just up the street, played a lot with Chloe (their fun loving little dauchsund. We of course had more cake and presents and generally a relaxing visit! Thank you guys for a fantastic visit! The last picture is my favorite of Bob (Poppy) in the middle of the kids in the back seat on the way to dinner. Love you all!






We then had a quick stop to finish up last things on the house before heading back to Florida. The kids and I drove 2,000 miles exactly! They were so wonderful and God blessed us with a safe trip. We're grateful to be home and getting back into our routine. Here was the last picture from our trip. It was our first stop on the way home. We got out just in time to miss the snow that started falling later that day! BRRRR! Much nicer going up 10 degrees with each stop rather than dropping cooler with each stop.

Special people

You know how rare it is to find a special friend? I was so excited to get to stop and see our good friends the Huddlestons on our trip! I really didn't even mind that their neighbor backed into my car while I was there (felt much worse for her van). Our girls are about 9 months apart and love to play together. Trevor and Stacey always "steal" Megan when they come back for a visit. Stacey and I also share the exact same birthday and we both have curly blonde hair! How crazy is that? Needless to say, they are sweet friends and I had a great time visiting. The girls decorated Easter egg cookies together, played in the fort that covered the living room until Jacob knocked it down (by the way, really cool Trevor), enjoyed a Mickey Mouse bath bomb bath, colored and played with every toy in the house!

We spent the night with them and then went to visit my grandparents for the day. My grandmother has been recovering from pneumonia and I really didn't want to unleash Jacob's enthusiasm on her for much longer than a day! We had a great lunch together and then spent time playing together. Megan got to show off her new doll and how well all the clothes fit that grandmother had helped to make! I don't get to visit them nearly as often as I'd like. I used to spend all my school breaks and weeks during the summer with them. I'm very fortunate to still have them both and truly enjoyed our day together.

Visit with Papa and GanGan

We also got to see my dad and step-mom who live near our TN house. Thank you guys again for all you've done to help me get the house ready to list! My mom scrubbed the kitchen and watched the kids while I went back and cleaned the rest of the house. My dad hung blinds, touched up paint, changed bulbs, scrubbed oil from the driveway and garage, changed filters, hauled trash and I'm sure more.....My brother handily runs a landscaping biz on the side so he worked tirelessly on the overgrown yard! You are all priceless and I love you all!

My nephew's birthday is the day after Megan's so we all got to get together to celebrate Calen's birthday! Jacob was beyond tired and bless his heart my brother tried so hard to keep him entertained!
Papa, Megan and Gan Gan

Gan Gan and Megan coloring

the birthday boy!

Uncle John flying Jacob!

Birthday at Nana's

So the day after Megan's party I took off to Nashville with both kids to get our house back on the market. Since it was Megan's birthday you can imagine the gifts and cakes that were waiting at each grandparent's house! Our first stop was to stay at my mom's....aka Nana and what a birthday it was. My brother and his sweet wife and daughter were able to join us for dinner and doll cake before the girls received their gifts!









nana still has her talent!











sweet cousins!











the girls thanking nana for their American Girl dolls!

Yep, American Girl dolls complete with a case of clothes made by my mom and grandmother for each of the girls. Janna (my sis-in-law) and I had a lot of fun helping the girls change their doll's outfits. They even have a box of earrings or accessories as Fancy Nancy would say!

The Hello Kitty Party

Well, Megan's girlie party was a blast! She had so much fun and I think everyone else did too!! Thank you moms who pitched in so much to help me. I can't believe my baby is 4! I remember her keeping us up nights and blowing the hair dryer to soothe her to sleep.....now we're in dance, starting soccer, and enrolling her in VPK. Where has the time gone?











the birthday girl herself.




We had 10 giggly girls and painted toenails and fingernails. We then decorated our goodie bags and played dress up. The pin the flower on Hello Kitty was next before we dug into yummy cupcakes, strawberries and strawberry lemonade. Megan loved all of her gifts--we packed many of them to take with us the next day on our trip to TN!

Here are a few pics of the day.












all the girls!











decorating goodie bags!











Happy 4th Birthday Megan! We love you!