March 2011

March is always a time of great excitement and anticipation at our house. First, comes Sarah Ryann's birthday- literally, her birthday is March 1.

This year, I had the pleasure of hosting the 2nd annual sleepover party comprised of 10 9-10 year old little girls. Dan took the boys to my parents for the night (Thanks for the help Grandad!), and my mom, Mimi, came over to spend the night and "help" me. In reality, she did most of the work while I took tons and tons of pictures, refilled drinks, and made popcorn.  She got to deal with the mess made by the cupcake decorating adventure.

A BIG "Thank you" to Mimi for making both chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, and the buttercream icing, and providing the sprinkles, the dragees, and all the other great stuff! 

The girls had a ball. They danced until they couldn't stand, they played games, sang songs, and had a GREAT time together. It was a great party, we are so blessed that Sarah Ryann has such great friends.

 

And then there was Spring Break! We stayed at home this year and caught up on some much needed "house time". We did take a break one day for a trip to the Buffalo Park. We had a blast!

 

Welcome 2011!

I can't believe so much has happened. We have celebrated Christmas, my Mom's birthday, Finn's birthday, Nemi's birthday, and the SNOW- more snow than I have ever seen in Mississippi. We built snowmen and had snowball fights. Precious memories.

Our holidays this year were wonderful, and different. We awoke to a white Christmas! The first in my memory.  It was a wonderful surprise.

Matt, Leigh and Cameron came to Tupelo on Christmas day, and we had a great time seeing them and learning of the newest addition to the family-

baby Morgan

due in August!

Unfortunately our time with them was short as Cameron woke up with a stomach bug the next day and Mom woke up with terrible bronchitis. Needless to say Matt, Leigh and Cameron packed up and moved on back to GA pretty early on Sunday, but our time was fun while it lasted.

We celebrated with Tim and Anna the day after Christmas, their trip to Tupelo Christmas morning having been cancelled due to the SNOW.  After that came January and yet more SNOW!

January also brought basketball season. Sarah Ryann is playing on the 3rd-6th grade girls team for TCPS, and is having a BALL, quite literally.

I knew that this was going to be a great experience when I heard the Coach ask the girls as they came off the court during half-time of the first game,
"Are you having fun?"

A resounding "YES" was the answer, and is still the answer for each of them.

GO EAGLES!

Then came the January birthdays- Finn on the 12th, Jacq Fortner on the 30th and Norman on the 31st.  We didn't get to celebrate, yet, with Jacq, but we sure did celebrate with Finn and Nemi!

BRING IT ON 2011- IT'S GOING TO BE A GREAT YEAR!

Birthdays

So, tomorrow is my Mom's Birthday.  Yes, December 24, Christmas Eve... I know! Poor mamma. She gets short changed every single year. I don't know what it was like when she was growing up. I have heard stories from my Granny, about making sure she had birthday separate from Christmas, and all, but really, how is is that possible? I mean, when you put the tree up weeks before, wrap the presents, put them under the tree and know that the next day is the celebration of Christmas, how is it possible to separate the two?  When I was growing up my Dad always made a big deal about having a separate Birthday present for her, and my brother and I understood from an early age, and we still make a BIG deal about her birthday. Well, we usually make a big deal about it. This year, my Mom has decided that she doesn't want to celebrate her birthday so much. She said she wanted to wait until my brother comes home, which I can understand, but goodness... she celebrates a birthday with such a special person, how can that wait, really?  Mmmm, it cant. I decided.  I LOVE MY MOM!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST MOM IN THE WORLD!  Did you know that my sweet Mom made every single basketball game (until she was thrown out for disagreeing with the referee), soccer game, ballet recital, t-ball game, and every other kind of sport, social gathering, etc., that my brother and I could have imagined? Did you know that she cooked dinner for us, homemade dinner, almost every night when we were growing up? Did you know that she can make the most delicious food, and tie the most beautiful bows, and decorate the most beautiful house in all the world? This, is from whence I came... This is my mother... quite something to live up to... I can't even imagine trying.  Did you know that when I came home to Tupelo that she kept my child every day, without question, while I worked, and worked, and worked... Without her I would definitely not be who I am today. In case I haven't said it recently, THANK YOU MOM!

AND-  THANK YOU GRANNY for giving birth to my sweet mother. I love you both.

happy new year!

I can't believe we are almost finished with January- time flies when you are having fun.... We had a wonderful Christmas. The kids were at perfect ages to really have fun and celebrate. It was an amazing thing to be able to watch them together. Thankfully I was able to spend a lot of time with them during the holidays.

On January 12th Finn turned 4! I can't believe he is sooo big. We had a great time celebrating at GO with a few of his friends and our family. We welcomed new nephew Henry LaGalle "Hank" Fortner into the world about the same time. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family.

Mac is almost 9 months old. This last week he cut 2 bottom teeth, started standing on his own and is pulling up on everything. We think that he will soon progress straight to a walk from his inch worm crawl.

Sarah Ryann is still loving school, ballet and horseback riding. I am so proud of her. She is an incredible big sister to these little boys- so patient and kind... well, most of the time, anyway.

Dan is busy chasing after the kids during the day, and trying to keep everyone and everything straight.... an incredibly difficult job, and he is doing it wonderfully.... although we could use a few new one-pot meal recipes if anyone has any. I am busy with the kids, working, and trying to find time to read and ride when I can. The Lord has truly blessed us, and we are so thankful.