Terrific Kid

I knew moving during the school year would be difficult for the girls, but we didn't have an option. Brandon's company was being very generous to us regarding the move, and in order to take advantage of those benefits it was best for the girls to start school in Arkansas before we moved to Charleston. We prayed daily for the Lord to go before the situation & put our trust in Him.

Caylee has had a wonderful transition. She has a great class and has become quick friends with a sweet girl who also lives in our neighborhood. (Answer to prayer! We prayed very specifically for a neighborhood friend. Thank you, Lord!) There are several girls in her class who have common interests and it's made the school year very enjoyable for her.

Baylee, on the other hand, hasn't been so lucky. She hasn't clicked with anyone in her class and comes home defeated a lot of the days. She is such a sweet, sweet girl & it breaks my heart to see her hurt. We are so very thankful for her teacher. Baylee adores her and I don't know what we would do without Mrs. D.

Last month, though, Baylee was given a little encouragement. She was selected as the "Terrific Kid" in her class and it couldn't have come at a better time. She was chosen based on her character, responsibility, and because she is an all around good student. Just what she was needing -- reassurance!!

Waiting on the ceremony to begin.

Look at her stance! It cracks me up. I think she's standing like that to not tower over everyone so much. These girls are TALL!!!!

The ceremony was very neat. One by one, grade by grade, the counselor read a short letter to the student written by the teacher. It wasn't just a "You're the Terrific Kid, here's your certificate, get back to class" kind of ceremony. Instead, each student was singled out and praised for their outstanding achievement. I'll be honest, that made Baylee incredibly uncomfortable, but it was very needed. She needed to be reminded that even when she's having a tough time fitting in in her class, her behavior and character is being rewarded!

I have to admit, she's a pretty terrific kid. ;)

And because I want to keep it real, I have to share this sad/funny moment...

When Baylee was selected she came home with a paper explaining what it means to be a Terrific Kid and information about the ceremony. As she handed me the paper, before I could even read it, she said "I don't want you to come. You'll embarrass me". Lol!! What?! Are we already at that stage where she's embarrassed by me? I laughed and said "I'm sorry, but there's no way I'm gonna miss this!". And so I proudly took my big camera and camcorder and documented the entire thing. But I did so quietly. I didn't want to embarrass her too much. ;)

I'm back!

Hey, y'all! Guess who rejoined the 21st century and has a working computer again? Me!! Finally! Two moths computerless wasn't my idea of fun. I never realized how much I used our computer until I was without one. Hopefully that won't ever happen again! (I'm still working on my phone issues. Long story, but I think it's shot in the picture department. So sad. We even plugged it into this new computer and it didn't even recognize I had any pictures on the phone. I'm living in denial for the time being and pretending all my pictures are fine....)

February was a fun month. Valentine's Day and Brandon's birthday are always fun to celebrate and they're only nine days apart! Let's just say we barely finished the Valentine's Day sweets and then it was birthday time! Yikes! We were on sugar overload. Oops.

Okay. I'm going to do a review of February (I'll try to keep it short and sweet, but I have a feeling it might be picture overload) & then hopefully I can get back into a regular habit of blogging. Hey, a girl can dream, right? ;)

Valentine's Day

The morning started with homemade waffles (my dad's recipe) and I cut them into hearts with a cookie cutter. Very easy, very fun. After the girls were whisked off to school I had work cut out for me! I had to decorate the dining room, bake and decorate a cake (red velvet with classic cream cheese icing), decorate a few sugar cookies (I had been asked to make 50 heart shaped, unfrosted sugar cookies for the girls' classes to decorate for their party. Those were already finished, but I wanted to give each teacher a "real" cookie. And we needed a couple ourselves. Ha!), clean up the messes, do some dinner preparation, and get to the school for what might be the very last school Valentine's Day party. :( So it was a busy, busy day! But I did it!!

Our table. The theme was "Have a sweet day" and good grief there were a lot of sweets!! My favorite cookie, you can barely see it, said "BCBCB 4-ever". Ahhh! Love it!

The girls at their parties. Caylee snuck into Baylee's class and I snapped this pic!

Brandon and his girls. Funny thing.... He bought the girls these frames for their rooms from the market in Charleston. Sweet, huh?

Except I had bought him practically the SAME thing!!!! Hilarious! Oh, and Bran bought me a gorgeous new canvas from my favorite local artist at the market. It was a Charleston themed gift exchange. Ha!

Dinner was muenster chicken, rice, corn, salad, and a roll. Mmmmm!!!

It was a very sweet day, indeed. :)

Brandon's 30th Birthday!

Bran has dreaded this day for five years. He just doesn't like the idea of being 30. I think it's something to celebrate, though!! I had big plans (and had we still been in Arkansas there would've been a big party!), but I kept it pretty low-key. The theme was simple: "Celebrate the life of Brandon throughout the years". I'm pretty happy with how things turned out. I hope Brandon felt extra special. :)

Poor guy. When he pulled up from work he had to have 30 screaming at him! Ha! Baylee also tied balloons to the mailbox and she also took this pic.

Of course we had streamers hanging down! His face kind of says it all. Haha!

I had tons of pictures out of Brandon from birth until now. I didn't have enough frames for them all, so at the last minute Baylee and I just slapped these on a picture I have hanging in the dining room. Spontaneous!

Here's a glimpse at the tower frame I had. Every picture was Brandon!! And look at his itty-bitty Peggs Panthers jacket draped over the side! :)

The birthday boy and his present -- our computer! So nice of him to share. ;)

Aww. It's us! I love that his high school football jerseys just happen to be the year he was born. 82! Went perfect with the theme! :)

Birthday dinner! He ordered brisket, au gratin potatoes, baked beans, corn on the cob, and rolls. It was yummy! Good choice by the birthday boy!

Look at all of those candles!!! ;) And see the picture to the right of him? That's Bran on his very first birthday!! So sweet. The cake, by the way, was just classic white. Again, his request.

So. There we have it. Two of the main highlights from February. Wowza this got lengthy. If you made it all the way through, woo-hoo!! This was a lesson to myself -- don't get behind if I really want to blog about it. ;)

P.S. - I just viewed this and the captions under the pictures are messed up. Sorry!