Grace's Ice Cream Party

The last couple of weekends we didn't really do much, but this weekend was a very special weekend. We celebrated Grace's 6th birthday party with friends & family. She invited several of her friends to enjoy an Ice Cream Birthday Party with her. We started with her and her friends playing in the backyard on the swing set, while we were setting up the ice cream shop. We had layed out bowls, spoons, cups, and straws for ice cream sundaes and milkshakes. The only problem we ran into was getting the ice cream out of the tubs, they were frozen solid. Guess I should have let them dethaw alittle bit, ugh???

Grace's Sweet Shop, Now Opened:)

The Candy Buffet...Yummy!!! We used these for the kids' treat bags.
Happy 6th Birthday Grace!!!

Happy Birthday day to you...

Grace playing one of the water balloon games.

Matt after getting a bucket of water dumped on him. The kids really enjoyed that, Matt not so much. Haha:P

Playing the sponge game. They had to run to the bucket, put the sponge in the water and squeeze the water out into their bucket. This was fun watching them.

We had a blast having Grace's friends over to celebrate with her. For a mom it was a really great way to see Grace interacting with friends that she met in school and friends she has had pretty much her whole life. It was a great time visiting with some of the moms too. I got give a shout out to my mom, sister, and Amanda for coming up and helping with the ice cream shop. It was a blast and I think the kids enjoyed it, too.

Later that evening we had the grandparents, siblings, & their families over pizza and of course ICE CREAM.

Grace and cousin Jaycee. They are 6 years apart but really enjoy each others' company. Jaycee is pretty much like a little sister to me, too. She helped with the games at Grace's Ice Cream party, too. She also got Matt soaked with the bucket of water. hehe!!

Grace, Jaycee, Tristan

After pizza and ice cream the little girls were having fun playing in the sandbox, dolls, and just running around. Well Izabelle had fallen and got her knees all dirty, so we headed to the bath, so I asked B if she wanted to Bubbles, too. She said "yup", so off we went. Then Emily came in to see what we were all doing, so I stripped her down and put her in too. So the 3 littl girls had fun playing in the tub. It was fun.

Iz, B, and Em enjoying their bath.

It was a great day and the weather was BEAUTIFUL. We couldn't ask for anything better.

Until Next Time...

God Bless

Jess

Happy 6th Birthday, Grace

That is Right, today is the day for CELEBRATING Grace's 6th Birthday. I can't believe that Grace is 6!!! Where did the time go from when she was just this size:

And NOW she is 6 and going to SCHOOL.

Alittle bit about Miss Grace: She is so tenderhearted and FULL of LIFE. She loves her family more than anything. She loves to draw and color. She loves that she is learning new things everyday. She gets soo proud of herself when she accomplishes new things and can't wait to let others know. She is not afraid to be by herself or play by herself (although mommy would love for her to play with other kids, she is not afraid to just be by herself). She can make a new friend from the minute she meets them and they are her Best Friend (even if she doesn't see them ever again). She is a wonderful daugther to Matt and I and is starting to realize that she is the daughter to the Almight Father. I love how her love for Christ comes out in the most awesome ways and I love how she is helping Izabelle learn about Christ as well. She loves to teach her little sister new things, some not the best thing to teach her, but it's not that terrible. For instance she taught her sister to roll off the couch onto the bean bag. But I love that good stuff she has taught her too, she got Izabelle to say I love you. Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and start all over again.

Happy Birthday Grace. I love you!!!! Can't wait to spend the weekend celebrating your birthday with your friends and family:)

Until Next Time...

God Bless...

Jess

Story behind the UGH!!

Soooo, Grace hasn't had the best first week of school. With the second day of school she was moved for talking, then last week she got a note home for hitting another student and that is not the only part, in her note she said that this wasn't the only time Grace couldn't keep her hands to herself, here's where the UGH came in at. I am torn! I was really upset to see that Grace had a note sent home in the 1st week of school. The reason was basically that Grace brought a hula hoop out to play with and when she laid it down to play with something else another child picked it up and Grace came back for it and got upset and hit her. UGH!!!
We have seen this kind of behavior with Grace and Izabelle when they play together, but I just thought it was a sibling thing. But now she is taking it to the playground...UGH!!! When she told me what had happen, I was very disappointed and I told Grace that not only did she hurt that child, but she hurt her own heart and God. Am I wrong for saying that? I wanted to let her know that she is not the only one that pays for the things she does. Also, I told her that she needed to go to her room as soon as we got home, she needed to pray for forgiveness and direct her heart to love. When she got home she did as I ask without throwing a fit, so I was happy about that. She was only allowed out of her room for supper and shower, so she actually wasn't in her for the whole time, then she went to bed earlier than usual. The next morning she said she was going to tell the child she hit sorry and her teacher, now I don't know if she did that or not.
She is still having some of the sibling rivalry things, but it was subsided somewhat, now I have to work on Izabelle she likes to swat or pinch...UGH!!!!
I just feel really bad that Grace has done this and now Izabelle is starting to act this way too. I feel like I am the worst mom and that I didn't do my job well enough when she was younger. I keep asking "Where did I go wrong at", "I should have stayed home with her", "Why did I start working full time"...UGH!!!! Why didn't I realize what was going on or only if I would have done things I know now, then maybe things would be different.
So, mom's out I am asking for some advice on what type of discipline that you use with your child when they act out aggressively or have tantrums that could possibly work for us.
Because apparently what I am doing is not working, I have talked, until I turned blue in the face, time outs galore, and/or spanked. Grace is old enough to know that if she gets in trouble at another location that she will get punished when she gets home, now Izabelle on the other hand she looks at me in that "what'd I do". So, it's hard to punish her when we are in the middle of WalMart, but I have done it.

Until Next Time...

God Bless

Jess

UGH!!!!!

And that is ALL I have to say for now...I will post more when I can get my mind settled before blogging about this.

God Bless

Jess

Prayers & Praise

I have find it that the more I talk to God in prayer or me just jabbering away knowing that God is listening and already knows what I am going to say, it brings great comfort to soul knowing that God is always listening to me. I have some opportunity to speak about God to some of my loved ones, telling them how much I feel I have changed since growing closer to this Almight God. I do have to admit that I am not perfect and I do sin, but I know that God is all powerful that he is with me no matter what.
I have a couple of prayer request, if you have a few moments to pray for these people, I would appreciate it.
I have a close friend that is struggling in her personal life, she is in the admist of consulting a specilist with this problem that she is having. I love her dearly and my heart breaks to hear what she is going through. She has been praying for some relief, but her mind is not letting her rest to fully focus on God. Please pray for relief, support, comfort, and knowing that God is with her, she is not alone.
I also would like to pray for school children, that they are getting comfortable in going to school, finding/making friends, and those that are new in school or beginning their school years, that they are making friends, getting along with their teachers, and are finding comfort in their parents when they get home and with God.

I do have some praises:
My sister came to our church a few Sundays ago, because she would really like to find a home church. She was very much like me and not knowing where I wanted to worship at and where our family love of Christ will grow. I love where I go to church at and my sister has seen this, so she has asked to join us one Sunday. After she attended she went home and spoke to her husband about what the sermon was about. She likes the way we praise God with our praise team leading the way, she liked how the sermon is directly from the verses in the bible. She is planning on attending more services with us. I pray that she finds the church she can call home, where she and her family can grow to love Christ more each day.
Another praise/prayer came last night when my sister called about her friend and that her friend has grown distant to Christ and she wanted to start going to church again. My sister was telling her what she heard during the sermon she attended. Her friend is wanting to come up to our church to see and hear the word of the Lord. I pray that she can finds the way to the Lord again.

Again if you can find a few moments to pray and praise God for these individuals.

Until Next Time...

God Bless

Jess

Talking

*Update: So this evening we went to the School's Open House and met the teacher and checked out Grace's school. When we got there, I asked the teacher "So, what's this I hear about Grace talking and getting moved". Remember I know this teacher as well as my husband, so we were giving her a playful hard time. She said that it wasn't all Grace but she just moved her, Grace must have been the ring leader;) I told the teacher that she needs to give Grace some slack, she does have a lot of her dad in her:p But all in all Grace is adjusting well and I was very happy to see Grace showing us her room, desk, lunch room, and where they have music class. Grace even sang us a song. She really likes to sing and I am a little bias but I think she is really good.

I don't really have much to say today, Imagine that, uh? But I would like to post little about another lil lady and her speaking abilities. I am not speaking of Izabelle, although her vocabulary has increased quite a bit and I love hearing her talk. Last night I was rocking her and she was telling me all sorts of things that happened throughout the day. She said she helped Treva (Reva in toddler talk). She tells Treva "I throw diaper way". She is such a big helper.

Okay, I am getting side track, when I picked up the girls Miss Grace was in sort of a foul mood. I asked her about school and she was that eager to tell me about it. Apparently Grace has been showcasing her speaking abilities in school and not during the appropriate time. According to Grace, her and another student were talking during class and her teacher told them to stop and Grace said they did stop but the teacher kept saying it, so Grace had to move. Oh NO...not my baby girl! The 2nd day of school and she had to move to another seat. My heart just breaks to listen to her talk about it and that she didn't want to go back. I told her that tomorrow is another day and we can start fresh when the morning light shines, this morning she seemed to be ready for school, so I can't wait to hear about her day. Tonight, we have an Open House at school, so I am interested to see what is said and what Grace has been doing the past 3 days. I have a feeling this is going to be a long year. O'my!

Until Next Time...

God Bless

Jess

Grace's First Day of School

I can't believe that my baby girl is now a Kindergartner. Ugh!!! I know this is something that we all have to go through and I remember going to school on the first day and having my mom follow us around with the camera to capture the moments, now I am in her shoes and I can TOTALLY understand how she felt watching her babies go to school.

So, enough of this, let's go back to Grace's first day...It started off with me trying to wake Grace up...She is so much like her momma and LOVES to sleep, so when her buddy Shane called to talk to Grace, it was a perfect way of getting her up.

Here is a picture of her talking to Shane:

Then it was off to get dress and breakfast, blueberry waffles...Yum!!! After breakfast we got her lunch from the fridge, backpack on and headed to the van to take her to school. When we got to school it was like she didn't need me anymore and was ready for this new chapter in her life, whether or not mommy was ready for it. She did pose for me in front of the building and at her desk.

Grace ready to go in her school Grace at her desk.After some hugs and kisses, Izabelle and I headed to Memaw's to keep ourselves busy. So we helped pick some beans, played with Brynnlee, then we realized that it was close to 1st recess, so we all hopped on the golf cart and rode up to the playground. We had sometime to spare so we talked with Greta at her work, then headed back out to check to see if it was time for them to come out. Before we knew it all the kids came rushing out of the school ready to PLAY. It took us a while to find Grace, but once we did, I kind of got teary eyed watching her play with new and old friends. We totally felt like little spies and Grace didn't believe me when I told her that we saw her playing at recess. Then I had to show her this.

After this we went back to Memaw's and Izabelle and I headed to town for lunch and to get my van fix (a story for another time, let's just say it involved a speed limit sign and my mirror). So, we ended up not getting the mirror fixed because the new one needed to be painted. Izabelle and I headed to get groceries and then headed home. After Izabelle's nap it was time to drive up the drive to pick Grace up.

Here's Izabelle eating an apple and waiting:

I love her facial expressions
CHEESE!!! Here is Grace coming off the bus

I asked her how her day went and she said "It was fun, just like Daddy said it would be". The rest of the afternoon and evening she rested and talked with family about how her first day at school went. After about the 3rd phone call she asked "Why do they keep asking me that?". I told her that we were all excited for her and wanted to know how everything went. She likes school and hopefully continue to like school throughout the years, but only time will tell.

Some details from her big day:

• She met a new girl in her class that sits right in front of her, says they are best friends but doesn't remember her name.
• She saw some of her friends in 1st grade
• She saw some of her friends that are her age, but didn't get to play with all of them
• She pointed out to me that I forgot to pack a spoon for her pudding but that was okay because she got one there.
• She colored a picture of a bus
• She had 3 recesses

Hearing all of the excitement coming out of her and knowing that she was okay really put my nerves at ease. Now, I just hope that she gets on the right bus and gets off at the right place because she is going to Treva's today after school.

But I can't wait to hear all of what went on today.

Until Next Time...

God Bless

Jess

Swimming and Birthday Party Part 2

Continuing from the post before this, Saturday we continued our swimming fun. Matt had to work in the morning and was home by 10 am, so we packed our lunches, pool towels, & extra clothing for the day and of course our bathing suites for the day we had planned. We headed to Burdette Park in Evansville. Have you heard of this place?? They have a really nice Aquatic Center, camping groups, and whole lotta fun things to do. We enjoyed our lunch on the tailgate of Matt's truck and soon headed into the Aquatic Center. They had 3/4 different pools, pools for big kids/adults, a pool for the slides, pool for the little kiddies that had lil slides for the tike, and a splash park. We had a blast!!!

Here are some pictures of the girls and Daddy, sorry for the poor quality I was using Matt's camera off of his phone:

Izabelle running in the water...she liked this the best

Grace, Izabelle, and Daddy (the water was about 2 feet here)...this pool started out about a foot of water then gradually got deeper as you walked further. Also notice the slides in the background.

Grace
Splish Splash

After we finished with this, I wanted to check at Once Upon A Child to see if I could find somethings for Grace and Izabelle. I am the worst on finding anything for Grace in that store, but Saturday I found several Gymboree outfits for under $10...They looked brand new. AWESOME!!! Then Daddy took us to Chic-Fil-A for some supper, then we headed home.

Sunday, we had to attend another birthday party for another sweet lil gal. Matt's neice turned 2 on Monday, so Greta and Rob had a birthday party for Brynnlee on Sunday night. It was a BLAST. Grace and Izabelle really enjoyed themselves, well Mom and Dad did too. I didn't get any good pictures of that celebration. The girls were exhausted by time we got home, but that didn't stop them from helping Matt shuck corn, in preparation for Monday morning. Patty came over to help cook and bag the corn for winter.

Then we headed to the park to meet up with Greta and B for some swinging, sliding, smacking, and screaming, our favorite Ss'. B and Iz fight like they are sisters or something, one time Izabelle was headed up the steps and B smacked her lil booty. I couldn't help but laugh. Hey it was right there in front of her, anyone of us would have done the same, right??? Izabelle ended up getting back at her later with a lil pinch. That reminds me, anyone have any tips on stopping Miss Izabelle from pinching, she has been starting that lately.

Until Next Time.

God Bless

Jess

Swimming & Birthday Party

Last Friday July 24th (I think that is the date), we met up with my cousin Lindsay and her 3 kiddos at her mom & dad's to have lunch and swim in their pool. Beginning of summer we both agreed that this summer we needed to get together and a lot more and do stuff. And the end of July we FINALLY were able to do something. But let me tell ya we had a BLAST!!! We got there around 11:3o and Izabelle was ready to eat (Imagine that), so she ate while Grace, Hannah, and Nolan played in the pool. Once she ate and checked out Lindsay's youngest, Will, she was ready for the pool.
Here are some pictures of the day:

Girls jumping in the pool

Say Cheese!!!

That following Monday, I decided whether the weather was nice or not we were headed to the local pool. Lucky for us the weather was NICE & we pretty much had the baby pool to ourselves. I loved being able to just sit there and soak up the sun, while watching the girls splash around. Grace and Izabelle was excited to see some friends come through the door of the pool house...Ava and Jake!!! It was nice to see them, as well as Jamie and her mom. We stayed there for about 3 hours. The time sure did fly, but we did get some nice tans. Wednesday, the weather was not so nice, so we stayed home, watched movies, and played with Gizmo (our puppy)...By Friday we were ready to get out again and enjoy the weather.

So, that is what we did, we headed to the pool again with our lunches packed and ready to meet up with Abby & her kiddies and Brooke & her kiddies. Grace teamed up with her friend Lillie. Izabelle wasn't too much for getting in the water, she was more into checking up on Pierce and Miller, she sure had a blast. A couple of other friends joined the fun as well. It was good to have some adult conversations, but still be able to have fun with the kiddies too. I didn't get any pictures, well except from my camera on my phone, but those were not that great. So, I will have to get some when we go again tomorrow.

After the pool we headed home to get ready for my neice, Emily's 2nd birthday party at the park. What a nice day, too. We were a little late, fashionable late, but we didn't miss the important part of the celebration, the cake and presents.

Here is the birthday girl and her new ride...My sister and brother in law are really into cars and are in a car club, so this little gal will be driving in style...Oh, and it comes with a remote control for the parents...How awesome is that??? Best part was they didn't break the bank either.

Grace and Tristan

Okay the next 2 pictures are of my brother and his girlfriend. Grant has been letting his hair grow out, prolly because when he was in the military he had have short hair.

Here is him with his hat on...Pretty good looking couple, uh???

BEWARE, if you are afraid of hairy beast please turn away!!!!

Release the beast...Poor Amanda!!! I don't think she really knows what she is getting into...Just Kidding. I love these two:) Since we were at the park, we decided to go across the parking lot to check on our duck, Moey the Moey Hawk.

My parents with Izabelle

Moey The MoeyHawk (the one with the fro)
A couple of weeks ago, the girls and I came to see the ducks and noticed another duck with a "mohawk"...Meet Mo's friend. We think he might be his brother.

After checking on the ducks we headed back over to the playground to let the kids play alittle longer. Izabelle wanted to lide (slide), so she got Uncle Grant to take her to slide. He is going to be such a great daddy, one of these days.

Goin down the slide

Then the little girls wanted on this, so we decided that the biggest kid should join them and guess who that was...You guessed it Uncle Grant. He is soo cute with these girls.

As you can tell we had a fun filled week, and that is not all of it either. It is getting late and I am keeping my loving hubby awake by blogging, so I will have to post about Saturday and Sunday on another day. Bummer, I know, right!!!!

I am hoping that everyone is enjoying the last bit of summer before school starts as much as we are. I can't beleive we have to register Grace on Thursday, but I can't think about that right now, I need to focus on the right now, which is getting to sleep because tomorrow is filled with getting my corn done and taking the girls back to the pool.

Until Next Time...

God Bless

Jess