A Whole Hand

Somehow, our darling daughter is five years old! I am not sure how this is possible, since it feels like only yesterday that she was born. However, she has achieved a milestone and is now one whole hand old. We celebrated all month, it seemed!

Here are pictures from her official birthday party. We had it at a local gymnastics facility and invited a bunch of her little friends. It was a full house, and everyone had a wonderful time, jumping, bouncing, and playing!

Grace's class helped her celebrate her birthday as well! We had a friend make snowflake sugar cookies for Grace and her classmates, and they all sang Happy Birthday to her! It was a great end to their Pajama Day at school!

Finally, on her actual birthday, we had lunch and birthday cake with my Mom and Dad. She is wearing the shirt our friend Mandi made just for her. She loved the Rapunzel doll and gumball machine she got. She has such a sweet smile!

Happy Birthday to the sweetest little five year old I know!

Fa La La La La, La La La La!

Grace's Pre-K class joined the Kindergarten classes in performing a lovely Christmas concert at school in mid December. The kids did such a great job! The sang Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, and the 12 Days of Christmas. That one is Grace's favorite! She can sing all twelve days!

She enjoys singing so much, and really got into the hand gestures and movements. She got to hold the "12" up during the song! DJ and I are always so proud of her, and she is such a little character. She keeps us laughing!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Grace really got into the holiday decorations this year! We had two trees in our house, the family one and Grace's little one. Grace would not let DJ or I help her decorate her little one! She informed us that we could do the family one, and she would handle her own! HA! What a little diva!

With her new Ariel ornament :)

In her Santa jammies...

Grace's mini tree= happiness!

A Thankful Heart

Having only one day to celebrate everything I have to be thankful for is simply not enough. God has blessed my life, more so this year than ever. This was my first Thanksgiving with my wonderful husband, and my fifth year with my precious angel. Even with the stunning news of Dad's cancer, I have placed my faith in God's healing and love.

This Thanksgiving was a wonderfully relaxing holiday! We all slept late, and then enjoyed a delicious meal at my Mom and Dad's house. Dad and Grace enjoyed snuggling and watching the Macy's Day Parade, and after lunch Grace and I played Hi Ho Cherry-O. That afternoon we watched a movie and had leftovers for dinner. What a great day!

Showing Some Red, White, and Blue love

Veteran's Day was special this year, because we were able to actually celebrate it with our veteran! We are so proud of DJ for his hard work and sacrifice in serving in our country's military. It was nice to be able to wish him a happy Veteran's Day in person, as well as spend some time with him. Our school hosted a Veteran's Day Appreciation Breakfast this year, and DJ was able to come and be a part of the celebration. Grace's class led the Pledge of Allegiance, then the school chorus honored the veterans by singing several beautiful patriotic songs. It was nice to spend some time together, remembering all the amazing men and women who have fought for our freedom and kept our country safe. Thank you, veterans!

Family Photo Shoot

A few weekends ago we had a very dear friend take some pictures of our family. In anticipation of Dad starting chemotherapy, we wanted to get some nice photos of the five of us. Chris did a wonderful job with the pictures, and we all enjoyed the session. I'm thankful for good friends who are willing to help our family!










This last one is my favorite picture of the day. Papaw and his girl, best buddies!

Field Trip Fun

Grace's Pre-K class took their first field trip the last week in October. Twenty 4 year olds, plus myself, two teachers, and a slew of parents, all trekked over to the Sand Hill Fire Department and the Villa Rica Police Station. It was, surprisingly, a fun day!

Oh my, Grace thought she was big stuff because she got to ride a school bus for the first time.




The fire station was definitely the highlight of the trip! The kids loved checking out all the equipment!




The fire truck siren was SO loud!


She was barely taller than the tire!


Grace and her buddy, Kase, inside the fire truck


Her favorite was spraying the water hose!




Grace and her friend, John. She claims John is her boyfriend...SIGH!



We enjoyed a picnic lunch at the Mill in downtown Villa Rica.


Up next, the police station!

This better be the closest she ever comes to being inside a police car!




She and Ricky were not thrilled with the detective's speech...ha!


Grace's class with our town's police chief


Sitting in one of the judge's chairs in the courthouse




One field trip down...dozens more to go!