A Frosty Friend

On Tuesday, January 26, the first grade teachers at Brickey-McCloud Elementary School hosted a special event for their students called "Build-a-Snowman Night." Once again Lily and I got to spend time together doing crafts and she was so excited.  Lily loves her school and God has blessed her with amazing teachers the last 2 years that have not only pushed her to excel academically but have also encouraged her walk with the Lord!  God is so good!  Lily wanted me to take a picture of her in front of the school because she is so proud! 

The teachers set up the "Build-a-Snowman" event very similar to the Build-a-Bear workshop.  When we entered the gym, Lily got to choose a snowman:

Then we went station to station adding the different parts.  Here she added some wiggly eyes:

Then a "pipe cleaner" carrot for the nose: 

Then she added a pretty pink scarf:

She glued on cute little orange feet in the shape of a heart:

Then she filled out a birth certificate:

 

And here is my sweet Lily with her new frosty friend that she happily named Snowflake:

Lily and I had a great evening together and we are both so thankful for the wonderful teachers at BES and all of their hard work and dedication to their students.

God will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people.

Hebrews 6:10 

Our Pretty Picasso

Lily's Daisy Troop went to the Children's Museum of Oak Ridge, TN on Saturday, January 23rd.  They had a special event just for the Girl Scouts called "My Place in the Arts."  I was so happy to spend the day with Lily doing her favorite thing, arts & crafts!  We had a wonderful time with her sweet troop: 

There were three sessions for them in which they learned about art and got to experience it hands on.  The first one included collages, crayon resistance painting and weaving: 

Then Lily had fun sculpting with real clay:

She started off wanting to make a bowl,

but then ended up making her favorite fairy tale animal, a unicorn:

We had a picnic lunch, and then the final session was tie dye, stamping, and painting with water colors.  The Children's Museum is so earth friendly and they taught the girls the importance of recycling and using household items.  Here is Lily in her garbage bag smock:

They were taught how to tie dye using food coloring and paper towels:

Lily enjoyed stamping:

and painting with water colors:

What an exciting day getting creative and making masterpieces with beautiful colors!

And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:  I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.  Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind.  Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.  Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

Genesis 9:12-16

Beaming!

My Katybug had her first gymnastics class on Wednesday, January 13th, and she was beaming! 

She has waited for this day for a long time, and she was beside herself when the time finally arrived!  She was so proud of the "favorite blue" leotard that Maddy let her borrow:

Katy told everyone we saw that she was going to "nastics!"  That is one thing I love about Katy, she is not shy!  She will talk to anyone that smiles at her!

Katy's teacher is Mrs. Lisa, and she is wonderful!  She has been teaching for years and years and is so good with the little ones.  Here she is helping Katy on the beam:

And then Katy was on her own:

Mrs. Lisa brought them all in together for a pep talk:

Katy and the girls running across the gym to get their body warmed up:

They did lots of stretching and I was amazed at Katy's focus.  Here she is touching her toes:

Then Mrs. Lisa helped show Katy the correct position for a headstand:

Katy's favorite part was jumping on the trampoline:

Lisa taking the time to talk to Katy and explain the rules:

I love how she got down on her level to speak to her. Mrs. Lisa is so patient and I am thankful that Katy has her as a teacher not only to teach her gymnastics, but to help her grow as a person!  We were able to make it out of the gym with only one meltdown and thankfully the class was over.  Those of you that know Katy, know that she is fearless, has a great deal of energy, and likes to be in control of situations (it's her way or No way!)  Although it is a daily struggle, I am thankful because it has drawn me closer to the Lord.  It is by God's grace that I get through each day being a stay at home mommy to four little ones.  And I realize that I can not change my child's heart.  Only God can!  Please by in prayer with me for all of my babies and that they will come to know the Lord and seek His will.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you;

I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

Ezekiel 36:26-27

Oh Brother!

The girls absolutely adore their baby brother.  Of course, who could resist this face?

Yes, he just enjoyed his first white powdered donut (or "nut" as Parker calls them) that I left for the kids while I went away to the Children's Pastors Conference in Nashville.  Little P turned 18 months on January 4th and he had his well check this Tuesday.  We got a healthy report!  Praise the Lord!  He weighed 27 lbs. and is 34 in. tall.  He has such a sweet disposition and is already "teasing" the girls!  I want to share something with you that happened recently. I've got all of the girls' hair accessories neatly organized in their bathroom:

Parker is always standing in the bathroom watching me fix the girls' hair.  Well, the other night while I was fixing supper, he managed to get into the bathroom, climb on the stool, and dump all 3 of the drawers onto the floor!:

OH BROTHER!!!

I guess he felt left out and wanted to take matters into his own hands! 

We are so thankful for him and don't know what we would do without our sweet baby boy!

I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.

Matthew25:40

A Winter Wonderland

School was closed on Friday, January 8 because of snow covered roads, and kids and adults of all ages came out for some sledding fun down Cider Lane!

The girls were begging to join in the fun, so after some sweet talking, my awesome hubby left work early in search of a sled, and he will tell you that it was the best $14 he has spent!  It was hard getting good pictures because I was laughing at their squeals and laughters and because they were going so fast down the hill!  Here are my snow angels enjoying their first sledding experience:

Here comes Maddy!:

And Katybugs!:

Parker watching and waiting patiently for his turn:

 Maddy being a sweet big sister and holding on tight to Little P:

Love this one!

Lily and her sweet friend, Elayna:

Lily's turn!:

3 Giggly Girls!:

Going back up for more!:

Not sure who had the most fun!: 

This will be something that our whole family will always remember!  Thank you, dear Lord for giving us winter, the beautiful white snow and fellowship with my family!  I am praying we will get to enjoy it again soon!

The day is yours, and yours also the night;

you established the sun and moon.

It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth;

you made both summer and winter.

Psalm 74:16-17