Memorial Day 2012

  My grandparents hosted a cookout for Memorial Day this year. This is my grandma and the newest addition on this side of the family, baby Kaden. This is my cousin Mark's baby. He's 9 months old now. I haven't seen him since October, so you can imagine he's grown quite a bit since then!

 My big girl, with her new shirt I got at a consignment store. I really like it!

 He loves grass!

 My mom and Chris

 Syd and my brother, Kyle playing some cornhole.

 I got some Kaden love, but he's at that age where he wants to get down and explore, so it didn't last long. I'll take what I can get.

 And this is my other cousin's boy Jeremiah. He was 2 in January. I just love this kid. He's so sweet and cute! My sister in law and I always say we're going to take him home and we'll fight each other for him. He kept picking up each bag as it was thrown and putting it in the hole or on the board. He was cracking me up!

Mother's Day and More Birthday Celebration!

 This is what Sydney made me at school for Mother's Day. I love it!!

 And this was a few papers stapled together, about me. I love the drawing of the air hockey table...

 boy, that would be nice!

 and this is my favorite. She loves when I make tacos (and brownies, not brains), and then when asked how I make it, she says I buy them. ha! For the record, I do make homemade tacos and it's her favorite meal.

 A picture frame and a tissue paper flower, proudly on display. I really like the picture.

 On to birthday celebration number 2! This time, she picked her cousin and 3 other friends, and we went out to eat lunch, which is where we're opening these gifts...

 This is a really cool gift! You color the messenger bag in with the markers included. She and I (mostly me) have finally finished it as of tonight. It's really neat!

 Her very first whoopee cushion. Joy!

 2 Abby's, a Madison, an Addison, and a Sydney.

 After lunch, we went to get their nails done. I let them pick feet or hands and Sydney got to get both...ya know...since it was her "birth week."

 My Mac drying her toenails. Love this girl so much!

And Sydney, getting the full treatment. After nails, I was originally going to take them to the movies, but I was mistaken in thinking there were no kid movies out. Later, I found out Chimpanzee was still playing, but honestly, Sydney wanted them to come back to her house all along, so when I told her there were no kid movies playing, she asked if they could just come back to the house. And I think they had more fun playing than sitting in a movie theater anyway.

The Family Party

 My baby girl turns 8 on Wednesday (I'm still in denial) and today we had a small family party for her.

Her cake was made by a local bakery and was not only incredibly awesome looking, but it tasted like heaven!

 My brother and his wife got her a friendship bracelet making kit. Remember those?! She's already made Addison one.

 Hensleigh, Sydney, and Addison

 This is what Chris and I got her. It may seem extravagant, but we got a really good deal on it and we couldn't pass it up. Plus, it's nice to have for us too!

 So excited!

Easter 2012

Happy Easter!

Easter egg hunt at my mom and dad's

Lovin' on baby Hensleigh

Hensleigh is getting so big! Here's Syd, Hens, and Addie at Chris's mom and dad's.

And another easter egg hunt at church. We had a nice day, pretty good weather (a little cold, but much better than previous years). Hope everyone had a good one too!

Horses

Our neighbor and good friend across the street, recently adopted 3 horses from an auction. We'd never been up close to them, but we started walking up at the cemetary again since the weather got nice, and their fence comes right to the edge of where we walk. At first, it was funny, because every lap we did, we noticed they had moved closer each time. Finally, we were able to pet them. The next day, we came back with snacks.

Kissing the horse

I don't know all their names, but Sydney calls them Brownie, Chocolate Chip Cookie, and Tanny. Tanny gets no love from the other 2 girl horses. They chase him off from us.

Give me those carrots!

School get together

Sydney's school had a get together for the elementary school kids since they hadn't been in school since the tornado. It gave them a chance to get together and play with their friends. I really wasn't expecting ALL the stuff they had...

5 bounce houses, the Tumblebus, the Bubble Truck, and a hot air balloon!

Sydney caught up with one of her classmates.

And she found Madison! I love this little girl. She and Sydney were in Girl Scouts last year and she's been over to the house twice to spend the night and she is sweet as she can be.

And what's a festival without a balloon sword?

Tornado Devastation

Sydney's school

again, the school

looking through town towards the 4 way stop. This was a great small town.

golf ball sized hail

This is Sydney's daycare inside a church. This is where she was when the tornado hit. Fortunately, they have a basement and all the kids were safe.

The parking lot of the daycare, where all the cars were damaged.

What's left of my favorite house in town.

Same house.

So, all I can say is that I'm very thankful that my baby girl was safe. And with her anxiety issues, I was scared that she would be in a full blown panic attack. But she told me she just got in the bathroom and sang "Jesus Loves Me." She is such an angel and I'm thankful she's here with me. It's remarkable that all the kids were safe since most of them were still on buses when it hit. I personally have never witnessed such destruction and chaos. I am so thankful for all the cops, firefighters, military people and whoever else showed up to help the town. It was very moving to see all the help coming in. We had a friend who had pulled over in the school parking lot during the storm and watched it pass right in front of him and collapse the school. Amazingly, his car suffered very little damage and he was unharmed. So, I'm counting my blessings today for sure.