Happy Mother's Day

Tonight I received my Mother's Day gift.  It did not come in a package.  It wasn't all glittery and full of glamour.  To the naked eye, it would seem as if it wasn't a gift at all.  But to me, it was PERFECT.  A game of baseball with my husband and children.  What began as a simple walk to the neighborhood park, ended in us teaming up, boys against girls, with Ry being the all-time-pitcher.  And there you have it, my gift.  Time with my children.  Happiness.  Laughter.  Good, wholesome fun.  Cheering each other on.  And when it was over, each of them said, at different times, something to the effect of how we should do it all over again soon.  And in the middle of it all, we spotted a little bunny.  Maddox wanted a closer look, so we snuck over to its little nook.  Maddox looked at it and said, "Aww, he misses his mommy and his sister and his brother and his daddy.  He need a family.  Hey, I know, we can be his family.  We can give him food."  Of course, I thought of our little girl who is out there waiting on us, her parents and her sisters and her brothers to love her.  We pray that she is being held tight and loved on until we can hold her in our arms forever!

Maddox Ren

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful little princess and she loved to play with her babies....

 and one day her imagination took her away in a boat she made from a tiny picnic table she chose to turn upside down....and to take it a step further, she grabbed her broom to help her row and she sang at the top of her lungs "Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream...."

 the beautiful princess held on tightly to those she loved....

 and occasionally the little princess made poor decisions such as coloring every inch of her feet and then stomping through the carpet to see just how many footprints one can make with just one coat of color!

 But she was so darn cute that not too many people could stand to be upset with her for long - 

 and the "sass" factor was just too charming that most chose to hoot at her pizazz.

The beautiful little princess was embraced by those surrounding her.  She was loved.  She was adored.  And she lived happily ever after.  The end.

Oh What A Night!

Spring Formal 2013

 Colin and his partner, Lauren, danced the night away.....Rock Shag, the Waltz, the Twist, and many others that I cannot recall the name of.  

 But before the dancing ever begun, the Grand March took place.  Imagine a sea of people and that is what we were looking down upon.....we literally had to find Colin and not let him out of our sight because once he was gone, he was gone and it was very hard to locate him again.

 As luck would have it, the rain was coming down at a steady pace so our hope for gorgeous, outdoor photos was doomed.  Luckily, we found a nice moment afterwards to snap a picture amongst the crowd.  Colin and his friend, Braden, partnered with twin sisters and the foursome had a great year together.  I would ask the boys during our drives to and fro Social what they discussed during classes and they always seriously said, "We don't have time to talk.  If we talk, we mess up our dance!"

 These two lucked up and ended up being close to one another in the dance crowd....C, first year, WHITE PANTS, tie and sports coat....Parker, second year, tuxedo....each class is required to wear a certain attire.  

 Loved that we got to spend an evening with C!  Following the formal, we all ventured out to dinner and then it was on to some after-dance fun with an evening of bowling!  Good times!

Happy 11th Birthday, Pryce!

Happy birthday to one special 11 year old boy!  

 Waking up is hard to do unless it is your birthday and you know gifts are in store.....

 and gifts there were!  As well as three anxious siblings who could not wait to see what each package held!

 Pryce is my man with a plan usually.  This year was different.  This year he could not come up with a plan for his birthday.  So, enter, mom.  I gave a call to some of his closest friends....

 and while Ryan took the boys to a surprise movie, I drove around and picked up the friends.....

 and we all met at Pryce's restaurant of choice, Miyabi Japanese Steakhouse....

 and there were a lot of smiles, followed by laughter, and....

 some crazy dancing!  I am pretty sure we turned the restaurant upside down:)

And after we left our mark at the restaurant, we ventured home for some good homegrown fun - football, baseball, our annual treasure hunt (in the dark no less!) followed by P's favorite ice cream cake and gifts!  

We are so privileged to call this kiddo ours!

11 years ago, this earth gained a precious baby boy who is growing up way too fast for his momma....he has a heart of gold, a giving spirit, I tell him he is my little creator because he is always creating a Lego something-or-other and he loves art class, he is the friend that everyone gravitates towards, he is a hard worker and a math genius, a baseball maniac, a talented piano player and a swimming sensation.....we love you P!  Thank you God for blessing our home with Pryce!