S is For Savior...

P is for Power.

A is for According to the Scriptures.

R is for Rose Again.

K is for Keep.

S is for Saved.

Lily participated in the AWANA Sparks Club this year at our church, FBC Powell. Wednesday, May 20th was the Sparks Awards night and it was held in the church sanctuary. She had a great time in Sparks this year and looked forward to going every Wednesday night. Before she could begin her book, she had to memorize John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (That is a big verse for a 5 year old!) Her Daddy helped her and she was able to memorize it the first week of club! Lily worked so hard this year and completed her HangGlider book which included memorizing over 30 bible verses and reciting the books of the New Testament in order! She and just a few others received an award for completing Book 1. Here is her Sparks leader, Brian Hicks, helping her up the steps: Ms. Vanessa gave Lily her first book ribbon: Lily was so proud! We love you, Lily and are so happy that you are learning to know, love, and serve Christ!

...The Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 1 John 4:14

Wild About Watermelon!

Lily's End of the Year Party was on Friday, May 15th. (Yes...I'm a little behind on my posts!) To celebrate the ending of the year, the Kindergarten classes had Watermelon Day. My three little ones got to tag along and watch all the fun:Katy was so excited to see her "sissy!" There were lots of stations set up for the nine classes to rotate between. The first one was the watermelon seed spitting contest. Lily is so girly and instead of trying to spit far, she just leaned over and spit her seed out on the ground very carefully! Then each of the kids got a huge piece of watermelon gum to chew and blow bubbles with. Lily's mouth was full of gum! She didn't quite get a bubble, but we're working on it! All the classes had to dress a watermelon up like a baby. Aren't they cute? Then they had a stroller race with them! Lily was good at this since she's had LOTS of practice pushing babies around in strollers! They also had watermelon crafts and water painting on the sidewalk:

Lily enjoyed getting her face painted:

And last but not least, she got to have some yummy watermelon to eat! What a fun way to end the year!

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

10 Months and Counting...

Parker turned 10 months old on May 4th and he is so much fun! He is extremely active and is moving all over the place! It was hard getting him to stay still for his monthly pictures. He thought it was a game and he kept trying to get away!

With some help from my sweet Maddy Faith, I finally got a close up and then a body shotso I can have them for each month of his first year to put in his baby album.

Parker loves his toy that he can walk behind:

He is getting pretty fast pushing it around and he and Katy like to play "Crash" with each other. He also loves to play with cars and he crawls around the floor pushing the cars all over the bonus room. Unfortunately, all he has is a DORA van and a pink Barbie car to play with!(Poor thing needs some BOY toys!!!)

Parker was evaluated on the 8th for Speech and Physical Therapy. He passed the Physical Therapy with flying colors! They said that he was doing things on an 11 month old level. He is cruising very fastand has started to let go. He can stand alone for several secondsand even "dance" without holding onto anything!The Speech Therapist recommended that Parker have 6-8 weeks of speech therapy to work on his eating habits, but we are waiting on our insurance to see if they will cover his appointments. Please pray that they will approve him so he can begin therapy very soon. We are so very blessed that he is a happy and healthy baby boy!

All you have made will praise you, O LORD. Psalm 145:10a

A Great, Big Bear Hug For Maddy!

This was Maddy's first year participating in AWANA Cubbies at our church. Each week she had to complete a Bear Hug section in her Hopper handbook which included memorizing a Bible verse. Maddy knew all about Cubbies from her big sister, Lily, so she was very excited to go every Wednesday night. She had two really great teachers, Kim Sikes and Kristi Hopwood, that made Maddy feel very special! Last Wednesday, May 13th, was Cubbies Awards Night. Maddy memorized Matthew 28:6 "He is not here; He has risen, just as He said." and recited it in front of everyone: Ms. Kim gave all the cubbies their awards:and a certificate: We enjoyed helping Maddy memorize scripture and look forward to sending her to AWANA Cubbies again in the Fall.

Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him. Matthew 3:3

All Lily Really Needs To Know...

she learned in Kindergarten!

WOW!! We have had the best year in Kindergarten! God truly blessed us this year by giving Lily such an amazing teacher and godly role model for her. Mrs. Bounds is incredibly dedicated to her students and teaches them in a special way that they absolutely love to learn. Tuesday, May 12th, was the last "Parent Night In" at Brickey for all of the Kindergarten classes. It was an emotional night, as it marked the near ending of the school year. Lily gave Mrs. Bounds some lilies so she could plant them at home and always remember her:We have done this every year for Lily's teachers since she was 2 years old! Mrs. Bounds put a slide show together of pictures that she had taken throughout the year. Lily and her best friend, Grace, sat and watched it together: We enjoyed looking at all that Lily has accomplished this year, and also got to take home their class book that Mrs. Bounds got published called, "Kindergarten Rocks!" (Lily is a published author!) After we were done, we went to celebrate Lily and treated her to some yummy ice cream at Bruster's: I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. We are going to miss Mrs. Bounds and all she has done for Lily. She far exceeded our expectations for Lily's first experience in Elementary School. Thank you, Mrs. Bounds! You are the BEST!

God will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people. Hebrews 6:10

Field Day Hero!

Monday, May 11th was Kindergarten Field Day at Brickey Elementary. My mom was visiting from VA, so she stayed with the 3 little ones while I went and spent the entire day with Lily! The gym teacher, Mr. Israel, designed special T-shirts for field day, so everyone was a "Field Day Hero!" Unfortunately it was so cold and windy, but we had lots of fun anyways! There were ten centers set up for the nine Kindergarten classes to rotate between. You can tell from the pictures that Lily enjoyed her first Field Day!

Here she is shooting hoops: doing a water relay:doing an egg walk: bouncing: playing Frisbee golf (love her form!): throwing rings in a ring toss: doing a chicken walk under her chin:and then between her legs!:running in a hamster wheel: throwing a real egg in the egg toss: attempting to hula hoop: giggling in the sack race: and using all her strength in the final event-tug of war in which her class came in 2nd place!:

I was so proud of Lily! There were lots of things that she wasn't able to do very well, but she kept such a happy spirit about it! What a fun day!

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Butterflies and Bunnies

Lily danced in her 2nd Dance Recital on Saturday evening, May 9th. She was so excited! She has really enjoyed taking tap and ballet this year at TCFA, and couldn't wait to perform on stage, especially since her Grandma came in from VA to see her dance! Her recital was at Pellissippi State Performing Arts Center, and I took Lily's picture with the marquee announcing her recital:She looks so tiny!
Her ballet dance was in the first Act, and she was a butterfly: Here is my Lily Ballerina dancing:

Her tap dance was in the 2nd Act, and she was a Bunny:

The five girls danced to the "Bunny Hop":

After the recital Lily got roses from her Grandma (my Mom) and from her Gramps (Jonathan's Dad):She was so proud! I loved watching Lily dance and am so excited that she is going to be taking dance again in the fall! I can't wait until her next performance. I love you, Lily!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17