Update on New Year's Resolutions

1. Read a chapter daily in the Bible and another book from my book list, at least. I am enjoying so much more time in God's word.  I am so thankful for the sweet season leading to Easter to get me back into a more consistent time in the Word!
2. Use my camera often. Blog at least once a week. Little by little...
3. Go on some type of date, even for coffee, with my husband once a month, at least. We are REALLY enjoying our time together.  Date nights are so much easier now that we live in the city!
4. Take one of the children somewhere special once a month. Each child gets four special dates.  Lydie and I had a shopping and lunch date.  I would love to find some time alone with the boys soon!
5. Follow my fitness plan. (Use my fitband to follow plan. 40 week challenge) I have hit a bit of a plateau.  I have lost 35 pounds since Dec. 26th and hope to lose 16 more.  I am still exercising 5 or 6 times a week at the Y.  And I have continued to eat healthy.  I have struggled lately to drink the water!  But I am committed to pressing on until I reach my goal!
6. Be intentional with extended family relationships. We have enjoyed the beginning of birthday season and Easter together!  And soon summer will come and provide a lot of time for fun memories to be made!
7. Spend more "fun time" with friends. Join a Bible study. I have enjoyed some fun lunch dates with my "school besties".  I am hoping to develop some friendships at our new church this summer.
8. Try 4 big art projects this year.  This area will be neglected until I get to my ideal weight, probably.
9. Complete at least 5 house projects.
-ZILCH!
10. Complete all papers for level 1 classical education certification. I completed two papers, two to go!

My sweetheart

A few pictures before a date night.  The most AMAZING thing about living in the city is more date nights!

Time together is such a blessing.  I cherish every.single.moment. with this man!

I convinced him to try sushi and he loved it.  We have to wonderful sushi restaurants nearby.

Simple Truths

I saw in Lydie's Bible her little sticky note by the picture of Jesus on the cross that said,
"Jesus Loves Us."  That about sums it up.

Sweet girl's Bible

I try during the week of standardized testing to complete several Easter crafts.  This one is a favorite:

"We love because He first loved us."

What a special season of worship and joy we have had this year!  God has been so gracious to draw us deeper into our faith and love for Him.  I am overwhelmed with His love for us!

Our family pictures on Easter afternoon

Our children with all of our nieces and nephews

Our family

Ben, Kim, Zoe, Clay, Megan (Kids, age 10)

Mom and Dad with all of the children (I accidentally erased my only picture of Mimi and Papa with the children!! And my sister-in-law's Mom, Gigi, is also not pictured!)

Rick and Chelle with the kids (ages 12, 11, 8)

My darlings

Lydie, age 7

Josh, age 11

Jack, age 13

We had a sweet afternoon at our house with 15 of our favorite people.  Grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins all came over to celebrate with us on this special day!  These family gatherings are some of our most cherished memories together!  I am so thankful for God's work in our family!  He is risen!

Easter at our house:: Celebrating new life!

"For anyone who says yes to Jesus
For anyone who believes what Jesus said...

Then God will give them this wonderful gift:

To be born into NEW life

To be who they really are

Who God always made them to be-

Their own true selves-

God's dear Child." 

~excerpt from The Jesus Storybook Bible~

Mom and Dad's birthday celebrations

My mom turned 70 and my Dad turned 67 this month.  We had a special night to kick-off Mom's new decade at my brother's house.  It was simple and quiet because my Mom does not do well with loud, crazy, or noisy.  I think she enjoyed the evening.  The children definitely enjoyed celebrating their Nana and Poppy!

Spring Break Staycation

We crawled across the finish line of winter quarter and into spring break.  Wow, it has been a busy, cold winter!  As always, and even more so, I am so eager for spring.  I struggle to enjoy the season of winter every year!  We had some beautiful moments, though.

I had a list "a mile long" of neglected projects and fun ideas, too.  Unfortunately, Jack got strep throat mid-week.  So we had some fun times but some things had to be cancelled.  The home time was disappointing for the children, but such a blessing to me!  When you are a teacher who LOVES homemaking, you can hardly ever get enough time at home.  So I was secretly excited, but hated that it had to be at the expense of Jack being sick and the children's foiled plans!

Anna, Greyce, and Lydie had a lemonade stand!

It was so adorable!

This is what made me giddy...my completed projects list!
Organized, cleaned closets....CHECK!
Organized pantry....CHECK!
Organized and clean frig....CHECK!
House deep cleaned....CHECK!
Put away winter clothes that were too small....CHECK!
Spring clothes that were too small were taken to charity or consignment....CHECK!
New spring clothes were bought....CHECK!
Lydie's Easter dress was bought and sent to monogram....CHECK!
Car was washed, organized, restocked with essentials....CHECK!
Framed some favorite photos to add to some rooms....CHECK!
Basement was organized....CHECK!
Laundry all caught up and put away....CHECK!
Goals were made for house projects this summer....CHECK!
And finally I am so thrilled to have....PAINTED MY POWDER ROOM!

BEFORE

AFTER

Thankfully my sweet children made some fun memories, too!  We used a gift certificate Joshua won as a door prize a while back and went to play mini golf.  Also, our cousins came and spent the day and the girls made a lemonade stand.  This project was darling!  We rented a few movies and the kids played all kinds of games.  We saw grandparents on both sides for lunches.  And we met cousins and went to a new movie and the dollar theatre.  The children really wanted to have friends over, but it didn't work out. I think they still had fun.

It feels so amazing to begin spring organized, without so many things I need to attend to.  I am hoping to enjoy my family, friends, students, and our new church this spring.  I am looking forward to these last eight weeks of school, our Easter party, and warm weather!

"April hath put a spirit of youth in everyone!"

William Shakespeare

Revisiting resolutions...progress in February

1. Read a chapter daily in the Bible and another book from my book list, at least. I am doing awful with quiet times!  Prayer and the Word...going to improve, by God's grace!
2. Use my camera often. Blog at least once a week. Much improvement in February.
3. Go on some type of date, even for coffee, with my husband once a month, at least. Yes, I think we have been on a date.  I think I'll plan another one now!
4. Take one of the children somewhere special once a month. Each child gets four special dates.  Joshua and I went to the mall and for dessert.  Lydie and I are going to the SEC gymnastics meet on Saturday.  And Andy and Jack just got concert tickets.  We've finally begun to enjoy some one-one-one time together!
5. Follow my fitness plan. (Use my fitband to follow plan. 40 week challenge) Again, I am most pleased with this area. I have lost 26 pounds since December 26th.  I am exercising each week six times and eating healthy/drinking water.  It has been a huge time commitment to exercise this much, but it will be worth it!  I hope to start the next school year at my ideal weight.
6. Be intentional with extended family relationships. We have had wonderful time with both sides of our family- cousins, grandparents, aunts, and uncles.  And soon it will be Easter and then birthday season begins!  There will be many family get-togethers!
7. Spend more "fun time" with friends. Join a Bible study. I had a fun night with friends over spring break, and love working with my close friends every day.  I also have a secret trip planned.  I will not be joining a Bible study until the school year is over.
8. Try 4 big art projects this year.  This area will be neglected until I get to my ideal weight, probably.
9. Complete at least 5 house projects.
-Paint powder room Check!
-Hang chandelier in kitchen and Lydie's room
-Hallway collage
-Master bedroom makeover
-Hang more pictures in basement
*Maybe...paint kitchen cabinets* *
10. Complete all papers for level 1 classical education certification. I am working on it!

AREAS THAT NEED MORE CONSISTENCY IN MARCH:

-DAILY Bible reading

Colonial day in fifth grade::Joshua

Days like these make me feel so thankful for our wonderful school!  I could have never provided these wonderful experiences at home!  Josh loves history more this year than ever before!

Refreshment

Andy and I had an extraordinary weekend together.  The children spent Friday night with their cousins at Mimi and Papa's house.  We decided to stay home, avoiding the Valentine crowds, and cook our own meal.  We had a delicious meal together with candlelight and wine.  I am so thankful for this special evening together, really enjoying one another romantically.  We need this type of time together as often as possible.  It was pure bliss.  We recounted that this was our 21st Valentine together.  Not all Valentines have found us in such a sweet place in our relationship.  But by the power of Christ alone, our marriage has been and continues to be strong and true and I am looking forward to moving forward together.

Saturday night my sweet teacher-friend had us over, along with three other couples, for a Valentine meal and "The Newlywed Game".  She and her husband served us all night long.  Her entire family is such an example of godly servanthood!  We had such a great time with friends!  And then the newlywed game was hysterical.  Haven't laughed that much in a long time!  It was such a delight to see my closest friends' husbands getting to know one another and laughing together.  They all got along well and seem to have a fun night together!  Andy and I put on our game face for the newlywed game, but came up short.  Our sweet friends won the grand prize- a $50 Bonefish Grill gift card!  So generous and fun!

Last night I came home thinking about how lonely I was just a year and a half ago.  I felt completely misplaced when we left Atlanta for the farm.  And here I am, surrounded by a group of amazing, godly, FUN friends!  This is a good reminder that I can never know what a difference a year will make and to press on through adversity! Praise God!  I am so thankful!

"Love is the greatest refreshment in life."

Pablo Picasso

Special Valentine: Don't want to forget!

My 13 year old melted my heart on Friday at school.  When the bell rings to dismiss him for the day, he always come down to my classroom.  This day I was in a friend's room with a couple of teachers.  We were talking, along with a girl from his class.  He walked in with a smile on his face.  He said hi to the girl from his class.  Then he said, "Mom, happy Valentine's day!  I bought this for you!"  It was a Diet Coke from the vending machine.  Melted.my.heart.

Here he is, that morning, with a little gift from us.  Sweet, sweet boy.

Unexpected: 5 snow days in 2 weeks...in Alabama

The kids with our sweet friends who left us spend the night when we were stranded!

Do snow angels EVER get old?

Our trip home after spending the night with friends- ALL of these cars are abandoned on the ice!

Our house in the ice and snow

Community: Jack's friends

Best buds, these guys are iron-sharpens-iron buddies

Three other kind boys who are lots of fun!

Most of the 7th grade boys.  Very sweet boys from godly families!

Are there words?

These pictures represent prayers answered.  Community was the first and most important reason we left homeschooling.  And God has blessed exceedingly and abundantly!  I love Jack's friends.  There are some amazing, godly families in our school.  And Jack's class is particularly dear.  So thankful and happy for Jack to have these boys in his life!

Little steps: Jack's Cotillion

There are so many things that I admire about my oldest boy.  He and I are so different and it is wonderful.  He has so many qualities I never will- calm, collected, witty, loves the unknown.  This year was his second Cotillion.  There were no nerves.  It was old-hat now.  All fun, no worries.

Just before we left him for the night

We made shopping for his outfit a family affair at the mall.  He was slightly more opinionated than last year, but still mostly just had a "whatever you think, Mom" kind of attitude.  It was fun.  We thought maybe a bow tie this year would suit him well.  But ultimately, stripes it was.  He decided his uniform khakis would do just fine.  We borrowed a sports coat.  So off we were to buy shoes.  I really love what we got.  A little different than the norm, rugged but classy, good-looking.

The girls waiting to fill in their dance cards and be asked to dance

Beautiful tables

Sprucing up the gym

Our school does an excellent job of training the children in ballroom dance and etiquette before the dance.  They spend a couple of months in p.e. class learning the basic dances.  And they spend time during school learning table etiquette.  When they get to the dance, the students have a dance card at his or her seat.  Half of the dances have assigned partners.  There are 5 or 6 blanks where the boys have to get the cards filled before dinner begins.  Jackson was off with his friends, taking pictures and talking about the food they would eat.  I noticed everyone had almost gotten their cards filled and he hadn't even looked at his.  No worries, I'm sure he thought.  Or most likely, he hadn't even noticed.  But I told him, just in case, he might want to get to work.  He disappeared for 3 minutes and came back with a full card.  Perfectly Jackson.  By this time, the faculty and chaperons asked the parents to leave and come back four hours later after dinner and dancing.  I have a seventh grade, thirteen year old.  It's really surreal, and so is leaving him at a dance.  But off we went, and he didn't even notice or care.

i ::LOVE:: this boy

In the car...excited!

The redeeming factor?  He is a kind, well-mannered, innocent boy.  I really love his friends, who know and love the Lord, as well.  So off we went feeling a little emotional, but mostly extremely happy and confident that he would have a wonderful time. The younger kids were invited to go to a movie with their Poppy. So Andy and I found ourselves on a date.  Alone.  These are good days.

Post-dance

Later that night, the parents were invited to come to the dance at 15 minutes 'til 10 to see the last few dances.  I watched Jack dance, chat, smile.  He was enjoying the girls in his class in the sweetest, most innocent of ways.  I love that he danced the last dance with a girl who might not have otherwise been asked.  He enjoyed the night and remembered that I told him to have fun with his friends, but be mindful of the girls who need a partner and friend.

Last dance with a friend

Some teachers joining a line dance...Ha!

Parisian theme

He said last year was a little more exciting because "everything was new and he didn't know what to expect".  That statement proves again how different we are!  New and unknown does not equal excitement for this Mom.  I love that it does for Jack! His friends ran up, along with a parent that we respect and know well, and asked if he could go to IHOP.  Another Mom friend who was going offered to bring him home.  So we came home, put the younger two children to bed, and fell sound asleep.  It took the sound of the doorbell to wake us up when he got home at midnight.  This sweet boy and his friends and school are every bit a dream come true for me.  While not perfect, and I wouldn't expect so, truly IDEAL. I cannot believe we are at this stage in life.  But I am deeply grateful for all that the Lord has provided for Jackson and what he is doing in His life!  These little steps will amount to big ones, one day.

At the end of a dance, clapping, and then walking his dance partner back to her seat

Another dance with a friend