Happy Easter!

We didn't have time to set up the tripod for a family Easter picture so we have three!  So thankful for these ladies!  So thankful for Jesus who died and rose again for sinners like me!

 

Easter Fun

Jack and Grace are home!  First time they have both been home since Christmas!  I asked if they would be interested in dying Easter Eggs and they were excited to join us.  We had the most fun!  Once the eggs were dry, we had an egg hunt.  Maggie, Grace, Caroline and Gabe...one prize egg worth a $2 bill from Uncle Greg.  You would have thought those kids were hunting for a jack pot prize!  Oh how I love to watch our big kids be little kids with Maggie. 

Such a cute tray of eggs!

On your mark, get set...

GOOOOOO!!!!!!

Sadly I didn't get a picture but Gabe found the prize egg!  It was hidden under a tarp on a pool float.  They had to look about 5 minutes for the one prize egg after they found everything else.
 

Momma, I'm sorry!

 Yesterday Caroline and I had a big blow out discussion.  She wasn't making wise choices and when I called her on it, she was pretty rude and disrespectful.  It really hurt my feelings but I stood my ground.  She had plans to attend McCall's birthday party.  If it hadn't been McCall or the fact that McCall was being surprised with a car, I would have totally kept her home.  To add insult to injury, she called about 5 minutes later and said "I need gas" to which I responded "What would you like me to do about that?  You seem to have all the answers why don't you figure it out?"  So it wasn't my best moment and I sent her $10 for gas.

When I walked in today from the egg hunt, she met me in the den with these flowers and said "Momma I'm sorry."  We talked about the situation now that we were both calm.  She said "I knew I was in trouble when you wouldn't talk to me and when you didn't want to send me gas money!" :-)  

Parenting teenagers is hard.  But this is a big example, they aren't always big ones, of when you know that you have done your job.  She knew she was wrong in her actions and words and asked for forgiveness...isn't that what life is all about?

Church Egg Hunt

What a gorgeous day for our church egg hunt.  Our first year in our new location, we had rain off and on.  Last year we cancelled all together because it was 100% chance of rain.  Today, we could not have asked for a better day or better group of kids.  It was so fun to see us utilize our space in such a sweet way!!

 

Who is this lovely young lady?????

Earlier this week Caroline informed me that she and Amelia were planning to straighten her hair today.  I was extremely nervous.  This is the first time in 15 years that her hair has been straightened.  According to her, they did a lot of research on how to do it carefully.  It took over 2 hours but she looks amazing.  We all agree that she is our curly Sue but that this was a nice change.
 

A trip to Target

 I received this picture from McCall's mom that said "I don't see Bridgett or Rita anywhere close!" These girls took Bridgett's Target list and accomplished everything on it, including getting Starbucks before they started shopping...mercy percy, how did we get here so quickly?

Her first Hat trick!

 So tonight I learned a new term...Caroline scored 3 goals in one game which equals a hat trick!!  She was so excited and we were so proud!!  This is a picture of her talking with her JV team during halftime.  She takes her job as one of two captains very seriously!  I love watching her leadership skills blossom.

Concert Time with the parents

 Andy and I took Caroline to see Rick Springfield and REO Speedwagon.  What we didn't realize was that the few songs that we knew and liked, were the only songs we knew and liked!!  So all in all it wasn't our favorite but we sure had fun with our big girl!!

Birthday Breakfast with Jill

 Jill and I met this morning for our annual birthday breakfast.  We sadly didn't get our annual picture...slackers we are!  Guess that means we will have to go again!  We met at Eggs Up Grill and had a delicious breakfast along with great conversation!  So thankful for this dear friend.

Huge goal!!

Tonight South played West.  West is know for being a great soccer school and tonight wasn't any different.  It rained the entire game...we sat with rain coats and umbrellas...the things we do for our girl!  We will certainly be looking to invest in a blue and white large golf umbrella for future events. Caroline played Varsity tonight.  The really cool thing was that the final score was 5-1 and OUR GIRL scored the ONLY goal!!  I love the pictures of her celebrating with her teammates.  Sweet memories!

 

They went without me...

 These girls enjoyed Friday Starbucks without me...and they don't look a bit sad! :-)

Beautiful Sunrise!

 I thought yesterday's sunrise deserved it's own post.  I mean how spectacular is this???  To think that our creator, our Father, loved us so much, he gave us such a beautiful world to enjoy! I've said it before but being at the beach always draws me closer to my father...thank you Lord for giving us this beautiful scene every single day...thanks for allowing me to live close to the beach to enjoy it often!

Birthday Fun at the Beach

Caroline's Friday night soccer game was a great reason for us to spend the weekend camping at the beach.  The weather was gorgeous!!  We loved our time.  Maggie played at least 4 rounds of putt putt and got a few "one in one" shots.  Caroline and I enjoyed a lovely walk on the beach on Saturday.  This morning I enjoyed the most gorgeous sunrise!!  And to make my beach weekend absolutely perfect, the ice cream shop my favorite Oatmeal Cream Pie ice cream!

 

Friday tradition continues!

 Or at least for today it does!  Because we are camping at the beach, I took Caroline to school today so that her car wouldn't be at the school all weekend.  And guess what, we got to enjoy another Friday at Starbucks!!!!  She was able to use my points for a free drink and decided to go big or go home while I enjoyed my teeny tiny sample!

The Tea with my girl

We're heading to the beach tomorrow for a soccer game.  Andy and Maggie went down a day early which left Caroline and I home alone.  She wanted to go to CookOut for dinner.  We had the very best time.  She was also impressed with my knowledge of information concerning a young man who according to him dated her but it ended badly...I also knew about an incident where a girl in her class was saying unkind things about her...she was shocked!  I reminded her that I have eyes and ears everywhere!! SO thankful for this time with her!!
 

A huge blessing from an anonymous person!!

Today I received a call from our local outdoors shop.  Buddy started with "I promise this isn't a scam..."  Somebody called and left payment information for me to come to the store and pick out a BRAND NEW pair of tennis shoes!!  I was like "Are you serious????"  I was in complete shock!  What a generous and kind gift!  The only problem is that I have NO idea who would do something so sweet for me!  I somehow hope that they see this post or interact with me on a regular bases and see me enjoying my new shoes!!!!

 

A whole new season of trusting!

Today Caroline's driving instructor signed her out of class around 2:00 for her final hours of driving and to complete her actual driving test.  We met them at the DMV at 4:00 in hopes that if she passed, we would be able to get her license today.  She did!  Lots of paperwork, eye exam and a cute picture, she is a licensed driver!!

Andy and I both drove her car to a business not far from the school.  We dropped her off on our way back from the DMV so that she could drive to soccer practice. That was the oddest feeling watching her turn into the school without us!  As I have said, I believe that she is a really good driver.  My prayer is that she continues to be a focused driver and that the Lord places a hedge of protection around her as she travels!!

I got distracted inside and lost track of time.  Before I even knew to worry that she was on her way home, she was home.  Thank you Lord for watching over her on her first trip!

UPDATE:  The next morning, I followed her to school to get her parking pass for her car.  Talk about strange...I've decided over the last two days that I don't like following her driving...people either pull out in front of her OR she changes lanes with a car a little too close to her! :-)

 

Annual Birthday Fun

It's my favorite night of the year with my family!  So thankful for this tradition!!  For many of us, it was the first time meeting Baby Turner!  This little guy was just what our family has been missing!!We all took turns loving on him and enjoying him.  He is so sweet and so precious!!  Definitely a gift!  It's not a family function until somebody, usually one of the boys, does something crazy!  This year it was a foot through Uncle Daniel's ceiling from the attic.  The older kids were playing hide and go seek in the attic.  The boys thought it would be fun to hide in the rafters.  Except they didn't think about how they would get down...until Gabe went down first and put his foot through the ceiling...bless his heart, he didn't realize it came all the way through, he thought it was only the flooring in the attic.  Daniel got upstairs in 2.2 seconds and Wilson threw his hands in the air, still in the rafters and said "It wasn't me!!!"  I think Gabe has a friend for life for once, Wilson wasn't the one in trouble.