Has This New Fad Caught On Where You Live?

Feathers? Yep, that's the current rave right now.  It seems like EVERYONE is getting them or wants them, including my two girls.  They have been BEGGING for feathers since before school let out, and because the school requested they not have them, they had to wait until summer officially started to get them.

*Photo courtesy of Google Images

The salons here have been selling out of these things as fast as they can get them!  Luckily for my two girls, their Aunt KK is a hairstylist, and she held several feathers out for them (colors of their choice of course!) as soon as a new shipment came in.  Sooo, we went on over there yesterday, and the girls FINALLY got their feathers!

They each took turns getting them, and I had to take pics with my cell phone so I apologize for the quality.  They're a bit hard to see, but they both chose hot pink and teal.  Each of theirs look different even though they're the same colors so it's perfect.

Yep, she definitely spoils them...but they love every minute of it! 

Thanks KK!!



Ellie Kate's Circus Birthday Party

The girls went to their cousin's 3rd birthday party this weekend and had sooo much fun! It was a circus theme complete with games, a photo booth, face painting, and LOTS of fun food.  They had a GREAT time and are still talking about the fun they had.

Makenzie and Emma Grace in the photo booth...

Presley loved the face painting! She had a butterfly on one side, and a rainbow on the other.

For more details and pictures of the party along with "how-to's" for a circus theme, visit If You Think Our Hands Are Full, You Should See Our Hearts. 



Ready for a Vacation!!

We are overdue for a MUCH needed vacation, and thanks to my parents who gave our family a trip to Gatlinburg for Christmas, we'll be headed that way soon enough!  We usually spend our summer vacations on a beach somewhere, but our girls have never been to Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg so this will be something new for them.  They are sooo excited!!

I just love all the nature trails and waterfalls that you can see during the summer!  We have a day planned at Dollywood, and we're seeing a couple of shows as well.  THEN, after a few days in Gatlinburg, my parents have graciously agreed to take our girls back home with them so that Wayne and I can have a couple of days to ourselves.  We're going to head up to Ashville, NC and visit The Biltmore Estate.  Neither of us have ever been and have always wanted to see it!  It will also be Wayne's birthday so it should be a fun day.

Here's the thing...since neither of us has ever been to The Biltmore, can those of you who have give us some tips on what to do/see and how to use our time there most effectively? 

Thanks!!

***Images courtesy of Google Images



Last Day of K4...

What a sad day for Mommy! My little girl has finished a whole year of school, and she learned sooo much!  We were invited to come to her classroom for a final pizza party, and her teacher gave each student an award for the year. 

Makenzie and Ava with their awards...

Mrs. Carr gave Makenzie the Helpful Friend award, and on each award she wrote a Bible verse that reminded her of each child.  Makenzie's Bible verse was Ecclesiastes 4:10 which says, " For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falleth for he hath not another to help him up."  Mrs. Carr went on to explain that Makenzie is the "little Mama" of the classroom. She takes care of everyone and let's Mrs. Carr know if there is a problem or if someone is hurt, angry, sad, etc.  It really describes Makenzie to a "T".  She is such a mature soul for her age, and she can be so helpful and caring towards others.

I am SOOO VERY PROUD of you Makenzie!! You have had amazing grades this year, and you were the only student in your class who could count to 100 without looking at the numbers (something else your teacher shared with us during the awards).  You can read amazingly well, and you have excelled in everything you've done so far.  I have loved hearing you come home and recite the memory verses you've memorized and sing the praise songs you've learned.  You are a blessing to us in more ways than one, and we love you very much! We are so excited to see what you'll learn next in K5.

Love,

Mommy



Last Field Trip of the Year!

Makenzie's class took a little field trip to the park last week, and the kids had a BLAST! She loved getting to play outside with all her little friends.  They had a picnic snack at the park, and then we loaded them all up and took them to McDonald's for lunch.  To five year olds, that makes for a pretty fun day!

Makenzie and her friends Ava and Caroline having their snack

Makenzie, Ava, and Rose playing at the park



Presley's Birthday Gifts...

  In my previous post, I told you guys that the only two things Presley really asked for this year was a wheel barrow with a shovel and a John Deere Gator (battery powered of course).  Well....her Aunt KK and Uncle Brad made sure she got the wheel barrow and shovel, but they took it a step farther and made sure it was pink!  They also painted her name on it along with "Daddy's little helper".  It is adorable! And they didn't just get her a shovel.  They got her a hoe, small gardening tools, and gardening gloves too.  She LOVED it! Here's a picture of her seeing it for the first time.

 

Presley's in the purple...we'd come directly from her birthday party :)  She pushed that wheel barrow all over Uncle Brad and Aunt KK's yard, and dug some holes with that shovel too lol!

Mommy and Daddy got Presley the Gator she wanted sooo badly! Yes, she's spoiled...we know! BUT, I have to say, this poor child has lived with hand-me-downs and shared EVERYTHING with her sister since the day she was born so when she asked for her own "car", I hated to tell her no. Especially when we bought her sister a Barbie Jeep for one of her birthdays. It just wasn't fair.  Her excitement was worth every penny too! She has been on this thing NON-STOP since we gave it to her, and she doesn't want to leave home because she just wants to play with it.

She actually was nice enough to let her sister have a ride...

 

Then they had a race! They are having sooo much fun riding around our yard.  Love seeing my girls so happy and having a great time.

Presley's 4th Birthday Luau Party

For Presley's party this year we decided to have a luau by the pool.  Unfortunately after having 90 degree temps for a week, we had a cold spell that took the temps into the upper 60's, lower 70's, and it was FREEZING!!  Those crazy kids didn't care tho! Most of them jumped in the pool anyway.

 Makenzie, Presley, and Addison ready for the luau

The party food and drinks...

The cake...

AND the pinata and candy...lots of fun even though the pool was freezing!

We Have a Winner!!!

Wow!! Thank you guys so much for all the support you gave this blog while we worked toward reaching our goal of 300 followers! We were sooo close-by deadline, we were at 299 followers! Amazing! AND...there were 267 entries into the giveaway!  It took me a couple of hours this afternoon to sort through entries and add extra entries in.  You guys really took advantage of those 5 extra entries lol! Love it!  We had several ladies who earned anywhere from 10-20  (some even more)entries alone...that's huge!  I know it was a lot of work on your part, but it was greatly appreciated ladies!

And for one of those ladies, all those extra entries paid off!  Random.org chose entry number 112 which was....drum roll please....Jolanthe from Homeschool Creations!!!

Congratulations Jolanthe!! You have been sent an email and have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

I can't wait to send you this gift basket...I just hope it all fits in the box lol! You have some GREAT things coming your way.

Thanks again everyone!!!

We'll have more giveaways coming soon so please check back often!

Jessica

**None of the items in this gift basket were donated or sponsored.  Each item was  purchased by me specifically for this giveaway.



Last Chance to Enter the Gift Basket Giveaway for Moms!!

Today is the LAST day to enter our giveaway!! Thank you to all who have helped us reach our goal of 300 followers! We are only FIVE GFC followers away from our goal so please tell your friends to come over and help us out! I'll give an EXTRA entry to the next 5 people who follow our blog on GFC :)

Click on the picture above to go to the post with the Google doc entry and rules!

The giveaway will end tonight at midnight, and I will be selecting a winner via random.org in the morning.  I will email the winner, and she will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.  Good luck to you all!  This basket has some GREAT things packed in (in fact, it's overflowing!), and I can't wait to ship it out to one of you lucky ladies!

Again, thank you all so very much!!



Presley is 4 Today!

My baby is growing up on me...sigh.  How funny is it that I'm emotional today because she's 4?  It's like I blinked, and my sweet little baby went from being a fussy (and I do mean FUSSY) newborn to a happy, beautiful 4 year old.  Seriously, I've battled tears all day long! What in the world?  Maybe my hormones are still out of whack lol...or maybe it's a combination of her birthday and Makenzie finishing her first year of school...no clue..but I've really been on the verge of tears all day!  Anyone else had this experience lol?

Here's a pic of my precious girl just barely a day old...

And here's my sweet girl today on her 4th birthday...my how she's grown!

What a day we've had...we picked up "birthday donuts" before going to take Makenzie to school this morning, and we're taking her out to eat tonight (oh the fattening foods we've eaten- we'll be recouperating Sunday lol).  Then she has her party tomorrow, and she is sooo excited! We're just praying the weather gets better and the sun will come out!

Happy Birthday my sweet Presley!!!

We love you so VERY much, and while we would like to keep you our baby forever, we're excited to see what the future brings for you as well.  You are so excited about starting school in August, and we know you're going to love it! Mommy is so sad that this has been my last year to spend with you at home, but I have enjoyed every last minute of it!  You are such a blessing to me and you make me laugh each and every day.  Thank you for being such a loving sweetheart.  Mommy will miss our snuggle time, but I look forward to the adventures we'll have.  I'm going to hold you to your promise that you'll always be Mommy's baby girl. I love you!

Love,

Mommy

We're Getting Closer to a Winner!

As of this afternoon, our followers are at 281!!! Can I just say how much I appreciate all of you!?! Thanks so much for helping support this blog and for reading our posts.  It's great to hear from so many of you, and I have LOVED visiting your blogs and reading what you have to say as well.  I can't tell you how excited I am and how much I'm looking forward to selecting a winner via random.org! This basket is overflowing with great things any Mom would love to have...I wish I could keep it for myself actually! LOL!

Sooo...if you haven't entered the Mother's Day Gift Basket Giveaway...hurry and get your entry in!! We'll be selecting a winner by the 15th of May at the latest.  And, please send your friends on over and tell them to enter as well!

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I hope you all had a WONDERFUL Mother's Day! My girls were so sweet, and each of them made me a Mother's Day Card that I will keep forever.  Poor Presley kept getting confused and telling me Happy Valentine's Day all day long ha ha! I kept getting so tickled at her! That child has brought so much joy to my life, and I can't imagine my life without her.  We never know what she will say or do, and she keeps us laughing.  She was my little surprise baby, and I have to say God definitely knows what we need when we need it because he sure blessed me when he gave me that precious baby girl.  

Presley will be 4 on Friday, and I am holding on tightly because I can't even imagine her growing up on me!  I have LOVED every minute of every day that I've had at home with her.  She is a Mommy's girl, my snuggle baby, and my sweet tender-hearted girl.

With her birthday approaching, we've been asking her what she'd like for her birthday, and I have to admit her answers were a bit surprising!  While she can be a little princess who loves dressing up, painting her nails, and wearing make-up, she's also a bit of a tomboy who doesn't mind getting dirty.  She LOVES playing outside and spending time with her Daddy.

Sooo...what topped her list of birthday gifts???  She really only asked for a couple of things....

How funny is this??  I asked her why she'd want the Gator, and she said because she really wanted a pink dumptruck, but they don't make those so the Gator was the next best thing. She likes it because the bed "dumps" lol.  Then she wanted the wheel barrow and shovel to help her Daddy in the garden.  How sweet is that??  Her sister would never have asked for those things lol...it's always been baby dolls and Barbies, jewelry and makeup, clothes and shoes for Makenzie! I just LOVE that they have their own little personalities!

Speaking of Makenzie...this is her last week of K-4! I can't believe she has finished a whole year of school already.  It flew by! She has learned so much this year, and was even reading by Christmas!  She memorized a new Bible verse each week and came home singing songs I'd never even heard of...so much fun for her!  She has a field trip on Thursday and a party on Monday (her last day) so I'll be sharing pictures from those days as well over the next few days.

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Tueday Hops:

Blogger must be having issues because the buttons wouldn't show up tonight, but I'm participating in Classified: Mom's Tuesday Giveaway Linkup and Just Married With Coupons' Blog it Foward Tuesday.

For Moms Who Mean the World to Us...

Meet my Mom (she's going to kill me for putting her picture on here lol)...and yes, I know she looks incredibly young to be the Mom of a 28 year old.  How lucky is she??? 

Seriously, I could never thank my Mom for everything she does for me.  She raised me in church and prayed for me, she made sure all my needs were met, and she has been there for my children when I couldn't be due to work or school. I hope my girls will know how blessed they were to have their Onda keep them instead of having to go to daycare, and I hope they appreciate her sacrifices as much as I do. Mom, we love you more than words can say, and we are so very thankful for everything you do for us. 

The Bible says  "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. Her children arise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all."  Proverbs 31:10, 28-29

If I were only allowed to say one thing about my Mom it would be that she loves the Lord.  I truly believe God has given her the gift of servitude.  She goes out of her way to show love to others by the many things she does each day whether it's helping a family member, talking with a friend, sending a card, taking food to those who are sick, teaching Sunday School classes, or taking care of her grandchildren even when she is beyond exhausted. It really would take me forever to list out everything she does! 

So, Mom, I hope you know that your works do not go unnoticed or unappreciated.  I am proud to call you my Mom (even when we have our differences), and you truly are more precious than rubies.  I love you.  Happy Mother's Day!

I can't end this post without mentioning the other Moms in my life as well.  I have two amazing Mother-in-laws who are wonderful themselves.

Thank you both for being generous of your time and love, and for helping us raise our children to know and love the Lord.  We love you both VERY much and we are extremely blessed to have you both! 

Happy Mother's Day to you too!!

It's Time for a Social Parade (and a ramble about my life in general)!

Join in the fun and link up for the Social Parade!

The Social Parade is a GREAT weekly hop that you can join to find some awesome new blogs to read, socialize, or meet new followers.

Hope you'll take the time to head over and make some new friends!

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Birthdays Galore!

I mentioned in an earlier post that we'd be REALLY busy this week, and one reason is because the month of May is FULL of birthdays for our family.  Everyday practically for the first couple of weeks! We have birthdays to celebrate on the 8th, 9th (my Mom), 10th (bro. in law), 12th, and 13th (Presley's), and then more birthdays later in the month for my Aunt and Grandma.  Needless to say, with so many birthdays around Mother's Day, it makes for a tight schedule. 

My Mom is actually going to be out of town this year for Mother's day :( so we decided to celebrate with her a little early.  We enjoyed dinner and cake/icecream (for her bday) on Wednesday night and had a great time.  I spent all day yesterday getting invitations ready to send out to Presley's little friends for her 4th birthday party, and I also had to prepare invitations for a baby shower I'm hosting on the 21st as well.  Whew!! Looong day!

Presley's having a Luau birthday party.  Her invitations were messages in a bottle that I got from Oriental Trading for $14.99 a dozen.  They turned out super cute. Here's what they look like on Oriental Trading's website:

You can mail these invitations just like they are- in the bottle! They've all been sent out...now we're just praying our temps get into the 90's next week so the water in the pool won't be freezing!

ALSO....

One of my closest friends welcomed her new baby boy into the world this morning, and can I just tell you how precious he is???  He weighed in at a whopping 11 lbs. 3 oz and was 21 inches long...OMG!!! Good thing she delivered him by c-section!  Here's a peak at Mr. Jack Tanner...isn't he a sweatheart?  And, just look at those fat little cheeks! Makes me want to kiss all over them!

Congrats John and Julie!! He is absolutely adorable!

Now...I'm done rambling...I think! lol! My mind is going in a million different directions.  I'll try to post pics of all the projects I'm working on (and pics of the bday party of course) soon!

Have a GREAT Friday everybody!!! 

Yay! A New Award!!

Wow! How sweet was it of Miss Imperfect to grant me The Versatile Blogger Award? Thanks so much!! Make sure to go visit her blog (it's super cute)!

There are a few rules that go along with accepting this award...

1.  Thank the person who awarded you.

2.  Share 7 things about yourself.

3.  Award 15 discovered bloggers

Sooo, here are 7 things about myself:

1.  I have been a stay-at-home Mom for several years now and have LOVED every minute of it.  There's nothing better than seeing my kids reach each milestone and having that special time with them before they go off to school.

2.  I am very active in our church.  I teach Sunday School, help with Bible School, and direct a drama camp each year.  I love the kids I work with!

3.  My husband is a Journeyman Lineman for our local power company and has worked 16 hour days for the past week due to the tornadoes that came thru our area.  I'm starting to feel a bit like a single mom!

4.  My "baby" will be 4 years old in a little over a week, and it's been harder on me than I thought it would be! I don't want her to grow up!  She even starts K-4 in August! No!!!

5.  I LOVE working from home.  I partner with some AMAZING women to motivate, support, train, and help others reach their goals.

6.  I'm sick of all the rain/storms we've been having lately, and I can't wait for 90 degree weather and pool time. Oh yeah, that's right, I get to work by the pool all summer! How awesome is that?

7.  I'm a bit clumsy...I think I either jammed or broke my big toe last night when I tripped over my laptop cord...ouch! LOL

Ok...now for the fun stuff...I've awarded The Versatile Blogger Award to 15 AMAZING bloggers that I've recently come across and ADORE their blogs! Make sure to check them out and congratulate them on their award!

1.  Annie's Home

2.  Be Thou Exalted

3.  Bring The Rain

4.  Busy Mom's Tips

5.  Clutter-free Me

6.  Cupcakes Kisses 'n' Crumbs

7.  Expecting The Unknown

8.  Finding My Life In Faith

9.  Happy Homemaker and Momma

10.  Homemaker By Choice

11.  I'm a Mom Not a Professional

12.  It's ALL Good In Mommyhood

13.  Little Guess Family

14.  Rescued Via Grace

15.  When I Grow Up...

Man...it was hard just picking 15! I've been reading some GREAT blogs lately!
Congrats all of you!



May Has Arrived!!

It's May!!!

Time for some fun in the sun-but before my big girl gets out of school for the summer (only 11 school days left...ahh!), I've got LOTS of work to do!

While I'm working my tushie off, you guys can have fun with some GREAT linkies with some AWESOME giveaways...check them out and you may just win some pretty cool things ;)

Monday Blog Hops:

 

Don't forget our own Mother's Day Giveaway!This surprise basket contains over $100 worth of FANTASTIC things for Mom to pamper herself with, and it's continually getting bigger and better.
Enter today!

 

 

Have a GREAT Monday!