End of the School Year

Chapman celebrated her year of 3K with an end of year program....she is so animated and so much fun to watch!  Give Your Heart to Jesus was her song and she sang her little heart out!

 Colin is HOME!!!  And this mama is thrilled to have him....he lost a bit of weight this year so I am working overtime feeding him lots of his favorites!

 Maryn graduated from Kindergarten

To say her year was amazing is an understatement.  She rocked every bit of her Kindergarten year.

 And ballet.  Parents were invited to watch during Maryn's last class.  She danced as she was instructed but she was more interested in doing splits!

 Our school had a rough first semester....so thankful my girls were shielded from the drama and had a great school year.  

 Emma was confirmed and we were able to attend!  So honored to call this girl my niece and to see her begin her walk with Jesus.

 MK was awarded with High Honors from her 6th grade year!  So proud of her....the most exciting part for me was watching her as she smiled big - I could tell she was so proud of herself!  To hold an overall average of 95 in all subjects for a year is quite the feat!

 A bit of improvement for little Cha.....

 I work for Matilda Jane Clothing and was recently given the opportunity to visit our home office in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.  What a great, quick trip we had!  Missed my family but it was fun to see where all of the fun takes place for our company.

 This girl is going places.  Audition day, the day she has literally looked forward to for a year!  We drove up to the studio and I said, "Today is such a big day!" and Maddox replied, "Really?  I was thinking the day I was born was a big day!" Hmmm.  Can't compete.

Her quote that she came up with all by herself is "Never be ordinary.  Be different.  Different is what makes you who you are."

 Happy early 7th Birthday, Maryn!

 Celebrating our kiddos is always a fun treat!  We hosted our very first swimming birthday party for Maryn!

 The party was a huge success!  Her friends are precious and we enjoyed spending time with them and their parents!

 Even the big sisters had a great time!

 MK's turn....we love MK's village and we were thrilled to have them over for the afternoon....for three hours they swam and I had to drag them out for snacks!

 And someone got a new do!  She was thrilled to get her summer haircut!  So cute on her sweet little face!

Mother's Day Weekend

I am really not a big "extra day" kind of person.  I love Christmas. I love my birthday.  I love Easter.  But I have never been one to expect nor want a big to-do made over me for Valentine's Day or Mother's Day or whatever else falls between all of those!  What I want, is time.  Time for my family to ALL be together, away from the responsibilities of home and school and just everyday life.  I want to be with my children, my six gifts that God has entrusted me with, and my husband who walks along side me on the greatest days and the not so good ones.
So, that being said, last year I asked for a camping trip.  We have a lake not too far from our home and it was the best little getaway for each of us.  And during that trip, we made a pact to do it again this year!
Friday, we packed up two tents, three kayaks, life jackets, chairs and a bunch of junk food, and off we went to the lake. For exactly twenty four hours, I had uninterrupted time with my people, my favorite crew!  I listened to the chatter of my boys as they sat in their Enos; I watched as Ryan, MK and the boys played endless amounts of Frisbee; we roasted WAY too many marshmallows and introduced ourselves to a new way to make Smores - Chips Ahoy cookies with the roasted marshmallows in the middle; I listened as Maddox sang every song she knows - she has the sweetest voice and I do love to hear her sing!; I also laughed when Maddox proclaimed she loved camping but she didn't like to be outside; I watched Maryn tend to the fire....she poked it, threw way too much straw on it, built it as it went down and all the while she said, "I really do love camping!"; and then Chapman....she was a hoot as usual....she had dirt in every crevice of her body, she collected every leaf on the campsite, she made "fireworks" aka campfires, she was the only one to tackle the orange clay to go swimming in the lake, she asked me, "You hear sumping? What is dat? Dat a bird? Can you sing it a lullaby so it will go to sweep - it's too loud and it hurts me ears!" The children kayaked all around our cove and to a few different local islands....and found a few sightings of strange animals tho we are all thankful we didn't see any sign of a snake!
The gift of time with my family is the best gift I could ever ask for!  I am so thankful for this weekend away, the simplicity of it all, the laughter and chatter it brought to each of us, and the memories that were made.

Maryn Gentry

It can be quite rare that I focus on one child for a single post but THIS girl is doing BIG things and I can't let another day go by without making note of her perfect little self!

We are two months shy of FIVE years with Maryn. That seems crazy.

Two of our girls were exclusively in a orphanage for the better part of their first two years of life, Maryn being one of them.  This baby girl came to us at 22 months old.  She was SCARED of everything - people (men!), noises, outside - I remember trying desperately to hand her over to the Nanny  on Gotcha Day just so the poor thing could catch her breath from all of the screaming!  But, the Nanny wasn't having it....nope, she nodded and smiled at me while asking, "Do you have the candy??? She like the candy! Give her the candy!" Ha. 

Thankfully, almost five years later, she is all settled in.  Honestly, this time last year I would have told you she was still catching up, not everything was quite as it should be with her emotionally.  She was still trying to grow into her age per se.  Last year is when it really hit me that she missed almost TWO years of growth that all of her peers had and it was apparent in her daily life.  While her friends were diligently coloring their school papers as they were asked to, Maryn was scribbling a line or maybe two and she was done!  I wasn't so sure she could count to 20 let alone 100....she did know her colors but not all of her letters were recognizable and she wrote her first name only while using all caps.  She was fine....she was happy....she was a fabulous, five year old little girl that if no one knew her beginnings in life, they would not have thought twice about it.  But I did.  I knew and I really saw just how devastating it is to a child to go without love and attention and interaction for almost two years of their life even years later.

Fast forward until now....

this girl is on FIRE.  She hit Kindergarten with her wings up and ready to fly and she hasn't looked back.  She is reading like a boss....she is reading books her siblings read in 1st grade.  She does math in her head, addition and subtraction and she is trying her hand at multiplication which is unbelievable.  She craves puzzle time, loves a good game of matching, she rides her bike like a boss - no training wheels, she taught herself in one try! - she is a fierce competitor, a graceful ballerina like her two big sisters, she has the best little laugh, she colors so beautifully now paying close attention to detail - she even did a program at school where she chose to be an art teacher! - she is a fish in the water and cannot wait to participate in her third year of swim team this summer....she loves new things, loves to taste all the foods, including the candy....

This girl who was once afraid to tell others what she was thinking is now more confident and doesn't hesitate to speak up with words that are carefully chosen. 

This girl is thriving.  She knows she is loved beyond measure.  She is no longer afraid, no longer scared of all things new.  What a pleasure and honor it is to have a front row seat in her life and be her biggest, loudest cheerleader!

We love you Mar!

Spring Break 2019

Spring Break 2019

This spring break looked a tad different than our past spring breaks....with our big C being away at college, and our P serving on a mission trip in Nassau, Bahamas, the girls and I made memories by just relaxing and taking in some valuable time with grandparents, each other and cousins.

Our week did begin with the boys....we said an early goodbye to P and his team on Saturday and then headed into Columbia for a lunch date with our friends Nancy and Marion from Boston who visit several times a year.  Zestos is their favorite place to be so it was an ice cream/corn dog kind of lunch for us!  Following lunch, we met up with Aunt Nellie for a kid exchange - they took MK and we took Jay.  Home we came for a night of bike riding, park playing, pool dipping and macaroni eating - all things kids!  Meanwhile, MK and Emma enjoyed a relaxing day at the spa getting all made up and enjoying some good cousin time. And, in even larger news, Colin, Ryan, Chapman and Kayla took to Clemson for the Spring game....it was Chapman's first visit to the orange town and I am told she really was impressed by the tiger.

Sunday morning Jay, Colin, myself and Ryan headed out for a day at the Augusta National for the Drive, Chip and Putt competition.  We were beyond thrilled for this day!  It was a day of watching some amazing young athletes nail the little white ball, while shopping lots and eating lots more.  There is nothing like a Master's menu for the day....it is cheap, good eats.  And, the bonus, was seeing some of our favorite big-time golfers as well....Bubba Watson being the top one on our list.  

Monday was a slow, relaxing kind of day....the girls and I cleaned a bit for our guests who would be arriving on Wednesday and then we headed out to our local favorite getaway spot, the Augusta Canal.  Bike riding and exploring on a gorgeous day....it was perfect.  

Tuesday we packed up our things and headed out to Gran and Pop's house for the remainder of the week.....we spent time with Gran and Pop, time with G-Mom and G-Dad, we went golf cart riding, zoo tripping, water hole exploring, children's museum visiting, card playing, Easter egg dying, woods tromping, critter catching....it was a fun-filled week just being in the home that I have known for 40+ years with my parents and soaking in the many childhood memories that come to life when I am there. 

Spring break was the break we all needed!