Friday Night~Rehearsal Dinner

 Anna at the church.  We got there early so she could start getting acquainted with everything.  Mollie and Jonathan got her a soap shaped as ballet shoes and that was the highlight of the weekend for her!

 The groom above and below Uncle Ron is saying, "You know this place is going to go up in smoke if you let her carry the candle!".  Just kidding, I have no idea what they were talking about so let's focus on Aunt Deb's hot legs!  Whoa!

 And, here they are in the practice round.  Brice, who has far less pictures on this post than Anna was the true rock star of the weekend.  The boy took such good care of his little sister all the while keeping himself in check.  We didn't worry one little bit about him, he showed maturity beyond his years for sure.

Mollie wore her mother's wedding dress to the rehearsal.  I thought that was so cool.  She did jazz it up a bit with a belt and some cute shoes.

 As you can see, above, Anna was quite shy and not too sure about all of these people coming up to her and wanting hugs and telling her how darling she looked.  Even Jonathan couldn't get a smile out of her the first night.  She did warm up by the end of the night and spontaneously ran over to Aunt Deb for a hug.

 And then chocolate cake was mentioned and the girl got all googly eyed with her fork all ready to go!

 I just loved this dress on her!

 Here is the one solo picture of Brice I got from Friday at the church.  Will post again tomorrow!!

Jonathan and Mollie

They did it!  They got married and it was beautiful.  They had perfect weather, they looked perfect and they are now off on their honeymoon.  It was so nice to be able to share in their wonderful day.  Here are a couple pictures from the weekend...because I know some cannot wait to see!  Brice and Anna were model children, in looks and behavior.  One proud mama, right here.  I took 143 pictures throughout the weekend.  I will get those up over the week along with a couple of videos.  But, in reality, I know the following two are really the only ones people want to see!

Hall County Champion!

About two months ago, Brice informed me that his writing assignment from his class had been chosen for judging against all of the first graders at Spout Springs Elementary.  I, of course, knew he was a good writer and know that he enjoys sharing stories or learning about something and then putting down what he has learned on paper.  His writing was titled "The Rainforest".  A couple of weeks after that, we were informed that his writing was chosen for Spout Springs's first graders and would be competing at the County level! 

And then, two weeks ago, we received an email that he had won!  Our little Hall County Champion of the Young Georgia Author's Writing Competition.  There are 20 elementary schools in Hall County and Brice won out of all those first graders.  To say Justin and I were excited is an understatement.  This past Monday, the Board of Education had an award presentation for all of the winners.  The place was filled with all of the recipients and their families.  Brice was very nervous as he does not like to stand up in front of people.  But, I do think he was very proud of himself, as he should be.  His writing will now go on to compete at the state level.  Holy Moly!

 Accepting his award with his teacher, Mrs. Grimes.  She was so sweet to take time from her afternoon, along with her own two daughters to come and support Brice.

A Sure Bet

When Brice is around, you can be certain that Kyle will be laughing.  It's A Sure Bet for some giggles.

Bling on the Next 10!

Justin and I celebrated 10 years of marriage on Friday the 13th...and the only thing spooky about that is that we don't feel old enough for 10 years to have gone by (and the fact that this post is my 413 post which is our anniversary date!).  I can honestly say that Justin and I are better than ever, still enjoy each other's company, can make each other laugh, are a great team when it comes to the kids and are so proud to say we are happily married after 10 years.  I always think of Justin as the better person in our marriage...more patient with the kids, works hard in and out of the house, keeps me happy, always thinking of me.  Makes a girl very thankful and kind of feel bad about not upholding her end of the bargain.  He really does deserve a prize for putting up with me.  And, just when I think I am not worthy of this guy, he piles it on a little thicker with this...

Guess I'm good for something or he wouldn't want to keep me around by giving me such a nice gift, right??!  I love you, Justin.  Happy 10 years!  Bling on the Next 10, baby!

All Tied Into One

This post is a week's worth of post All Tied Into One.  It includes Disney On Ice, spring break activites and Easter celebrations, in that order.  If you are only interested in one of these, please scroll accordingly!  Or get comfy and enjoy a nice long post.  Or you could even read an event at a time, hey, I like to give you options!

Anna and I kicked off spring break with a girls date to Disney On Ice.  We bought the tickets last Friday for the following day and not 20 minutes later she came to me with chattering teeth and burning up with fever.  The girl slept for most of the afternoon and through the night.  Justin called the box office for me and was able to get the tickets switched to Sunday instead.  We had so much fun, just the two of us.  As soon as it was over, she asked when we could come back...

 Above, getting ready to leave and below, once in our seats.  And, yes, she is wearing 3 headbands.

 Waving to all the characters.  She truly believes when they wave, they are waving to JUST her.  Warms my heart.

 She loved all of it.  Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, all the princesses.  It is a good way to get a good Disney fix!  It was quite a show with so many different stories.

 Still her favorite, she waited and waited for Cinderella to come out.  She appeared at the very end, thank goodness!

Monday and Tuesday of spring break, I started getting ready to host Easter.  I cleaned all the china off and set the table, cleaned the upstairs and then started packing.  Tuesday, Brice had his friend Tyler over and they had so much fun squirting water guns, playing baseball and playing on the iPad.  On Wednesday we left for Charlotte to see and stay with my sister and brother-in-law.  It was such a fun visit.  Aunt Blaire and Uncle Josh have to be worn out after keeping up with us!

All packed and ready to go...

 Brice wanted to play Aunt Blaire's guitar so badly so she let him.  Well, actually Josh did.  And, whatever Brice does, Anna wants to do.  So, they pulled out this little one from Venezuela for her to strum on.

 On Thursday afternoon, we headed over to Discovery Place, a children's museum.  The museum is hosting a mummy exhibit and Brice of course loved it!!!  We were not allowed to take pictures so I don't have any of the amazing people and animals that were on display.  Anna, of course, had a funny comment while we were in there.  She was getting tired toward the end and found a bench to rest on.  I told her I would stand right next to her while she rested.  She responded with, "That's okay, you can just go look at that dead man over there."!!  Even at three, she understood what was going on.  Below are the pictures from the children's area where we got to play.

 Back at their house for some play time and baths in the sink.

 Friday morning we dyed Easter eggs...

... and T-shirts.  Pretty sure they enjoyed this more than the eggs.

 Layla, Blaire's Great Dane presented a challenge with having a crawling baby and Anna who is very nervous around her.  If Anna was inside, Layla was out and then vice versa.

 However, we found a way to communicate through the door. :)

 Friday afternoon, we headed up to Aunt Deb's house which is about 30 minutes away.  We had beautiful weather to play outside in and then a delicious meal.

 And, on Saturday morning we just hung out and then had an Easter egg hunt before leaving to come back home.

 Brice as a running blur and Anna hunting eggs.

We came home on Saturday afternoon after lunch and after three hours of driving, we were all ready to get out of the car!  Especially Anna...car sick times two as soon as we got off the interstate.  Thank goodness she waited until then to loose her lunch.  Justin helped me so much in getting the house ready for Easter Sunday.  We went to church and then came home for a delicious lunch that we all chipped in with.

Our kids get Easter presents.  I don't get it but they sure love it!  Movies, and swimsuits and books, and of course the Easter Bunny brings the baskets, which I didn't even get a picture of Kyle's first basket.  Oh well.

Kyle's Easter meal with Grandma.

Eyeing those yummy cupcakes!!!  And they were so good.  Thank you Kelly!!

The boys...

Jack wasn't so sure about Kyle grabbing onto his shirt but handled it very well.

Our fluffy little chick.

This is the best picture of the 3 of them.  I have others where Kyle is looking at the camera but Brice has a stream of snot glistening in the picture.  Nice.

Thank you to all of our family who made Easter a success!!!  He is risen and wants us to live in the Easter Sunday moment, not the Good Friday moment.  Be happy, be blessed!