Gymnastics Program

Warming up!Still warming up!
Jumping on the spring board!
Look at that handstand!
Walking the balance beam!

Last Friday, May 19th, I got to go to Drew and Mikayla's daycare to see what Drew has learned in gymnastics this year. If you remember from an earlier post, Craig was not real fond of his son taking gymnastics. When everyone else in his preschool class was taking except him, Craig gave in! I assured him that there would be no leotards, and that Drew would learn coordination and balance. Drew has thoroughly enjoyed it this year. This will be the only time he takes gymnastics as he will not be at preschool next year. Here are some of the pictures from his program. Notice all of the little boys...this definitely helped Craig to feel better about our decision!

Drew's Baseball Banquet

Mikayla with her Aunt Jennie!
Drew walks with his Poppi!

Drew receives his trophy from Coach Tim!

Peyton and Drew have a good time while enjoying their supper!
Mikayla with her Poppi!

On Thursday, May 18th, we went to Fudruckers with the players from Drew's baseball team this year. We were having their end-of-season banquet to celebrate all of their hard work! It was really nice because we had reserved the whole back room and the players could invite as many people that they wanted. We invited Mimi, Poppi, Jennie, Josh, Jonathan, and Jessica to come celebrate with us. We were thrilled that Poppi and Jennie were able to make it. The others would have loved to have been there, but were unable to due to work or other conflicts. It was very nice to have all of our families together to celebrate. We were able to get some dinner, talk about baseball or just our kids in general, and enjoy cake. The team members and coaches were awarded trophies, and the children (and some adults) were able to play some games! We all had a wonderful time at the banquet. It was a terrific season, with all of the players learning a lot! We can't wait until next year!!

Dance Class

This is one of the last dance classes for Mikayla before her recital! (Expect lots of pictures from that!!! We will also be videoing it!) Mikayla practicing her tap routine with her lollipops. If you remember from an earlier post, the theme for this year's recital is "Dancing Through Oz" and her tap routine is danced to The Lollipop Kids. Her once black tap shoes have been spray paited white to match her costume. Yes, I said spray painted. That's what her teacher told us to do and it worked. We will probably be buying her new white tap shoes though for recital as these are becoming a little small on her feet. Our whole family, as well as Mikayla, can not wait for this recital. Craig says she probably won't do anything once she gets on that stage. We shall see!!

Four Generations

While in Greenwood on Saturday, May 13th, we were able to spend time with Craig's mom and his Nanny. While there, I wanted to make sure we got a picture of Nanny, Nana, Craig, Drew and Mikayla. This makes four generations on Craig's mom's side. When we went to Florida back in 2002, we were able to get a four generation picture from Craig's dad's side. GG Pa, Grandpa, Craig, and Drew were all in that picture. I will have to see if I can post that picture later as it is not on my digital camera.

Claudia Grace's Birthday Party!

That's the birthday girl behind Drew in the pink!

Drew first tries skating with "fast" skates. These are not speed skates, just regular ol' skates. As you can see, he hasn't gotten the hang of it yet.

Back on the carpet, Drew is more comfortable using the "fast" skates!Drew sits beside his cousin Rob while eating his pizza!
Mikayla enjoys her pizza while sitting with her cousin Katie Beth!
Craig traded out the "fast" skates for platic ones, and Drew is able to skate by himself with these.
Mikayla tries skating for the first time with the help of plastic skates and daddy!
Mikayla skates with Mommy, although she's still not too sure of this!
Drew puts the "fast" skates back on for the last time. He began to get the hang of it. Sorry for the quality of this picture, but we wanted to show him off!


Last Saturday, the day before Mother's Day, we went to Greenwood, S.C. to spend the day! It was nice because we were able to attend Claudia Grace's (Craig's cousin) birthday party and visit with Craig's mom (Nana), who was also there spending the weekend with her mom, Nanny. Claudia Grace was having her birthday party at a skating rink. I was so happy because this would be Drew's second trip to a skating rink and Mikayla's first. Since I was not able to go with Drew the first time he went and didn't get pictures (if you remember from an earlier post he went with Extra Edition on a field trip), I was pretty excited about getting some pictures of the two of them!

Drew and Mikayla were both pretty funny. They both tried skating, enjoyed pizza, and had some cake and ice cream!

Happy Birthday Claudia Grace!! We had a great time!

Catching Up!

We have been so busy these last few weeks that I have found little time for blogging and scrapbooking! With the end of the school year upon us, and with all of Drew and Mikayla's activities coming to an end for this season, it seems I have lots to blog and scrapbook about just not enough time! I will be using the next few days to catch up, so there may be lots of new things to read about.

I'll start with something that happened two weeks ago that really made Craig and I proud that Drew is our son. At church on May 7th, some of the children that go to Children's Church (4-6 year olds) got up and did interpretive movement to the song I Can Only Imagine! There were five children, including Drew, that participated in this under the direction of our youth director's wife. This was the first time that Drew had gotten up in front of our congregation to participate with his peers! He did an amazing job, and mommy had tears in her eyes! We were so proud of him. I was upset because I had forgotten that this was the Sunday that they were doing this, and I didn't have my camera with me. (They were supposed to do this the Sunday before Easter, but it was delayed due to many families being away that week for Spring Break.) Craig also missed that Sunday due to work, so he didn't get to see it. I did take some pictures using my cell phone so that Craig could see how well Drew did. I do not currently have a way to get pictures from my phone onto the computer, but that is something that we are working on. I hope to have pictures of this on here soon!

Surprise!!!!

Craig definitely got me good today! We are not allowed to have flowers, balloons, etc. delivered in the district that I teach in. I was sitting at my computer working on next week's newsletter while my kids were at their activity and I heard Craig's voice at my door. I looked up and Drew and Mikayla were coming into my classroom each carrying a balloon that read Happy Mother's Day. Craig followed behind them and he was carrying a dozen pink roses! I was so surprised because I had just dropped Drew and Mikayla off at daycare two hours before. Craig went and got them just so they could bring my gifts to me. He is such a thoughtful man. I count my blessings every day, and I thank my Lord that he is a part of my life!!

I was able to have my two balloons and beautiful pink roses that smell so good in my classroom all day! I didn't have my camera at school, but I did take a picture once we got home!!

Recital Costumes

This is her tap costume...I couldn't resist this picture!! With this costume, the girls will be wearing their hair down. She will have nude tights on with white tap shoes. I can't wait!!
Showing off her gloves...still in her tap costume!
This is her Ballet costume! With this, the girls will wear their hair in buns - they will have pink tights and pink ballet shoes.

Today at dance class, we got Mikayla's tap and ballet costume for her upcoming recital! We were thrilled to finally see them, and of course, we had to come home and try them on. Mikayla wanted me to open them before we left the studio. I was able to keep her out of them until after her bath.

Greenville Drive

This is the player that gave Mikayla her ball! Thanks #24!
Drew and Mikayla pose with Turner, one of the players that signed their balls!! Thanks Turner!
Mikayla takes a rest with Cathy! Drew shows off his "professional ball"!

Mikayla and Drew enjoy ballpark food!

Drew and Mikayla were really into this game! The player standing in the coach's box (with the blue jacket on) is the one that gave Drew his ball!


Monday night, a friend of our family sang the National Anthem at the Greenville Drive Baseball Game. Emiline is in the eighth grade and was chosen at an audition where she, along with several (in the hundreds I think) other people were vying for the chance to sing. We were delighted when Cathy, Emiline's mom, invited us to go with their family to support her! Emiline's sister, Tina, and I have been friends for almost 15 years - most of the time I feel like part of the family.

This was the first "big" baseball game that Drew and Mikayla have been to, so we were pretty anxious to see how they would react. When we got to the stadium, the first thing Craig did was buy Drew a blue Louiville Slugger bat and Mikayla a pink one. Who's the softie here?? We were pretty excited when we found our seats with the rest of the group (there were about 20 family members/friends there to support Emiline). They were on the first base line - front row. I must say though that I was a little nervous to see a sign that read Caution - please be alert for foul balls or slinging bats. It also didn't help to hear Craig say "you better be watching...and if I say duck, you better duck". Drew and Mikayla were just excited to be that close to "big" baseball players practicing on a BIG baseball field.

Emiline took the field and did an amazing job singing! Drew watched in amazement as the game began. Mikayla wasn't real sure if she liked this new situation or not and stayed in my lap most of the first two innings. During that time, a few foul balls were hit and some lucky fans recovered a few of them. At the beginning of the third inning we went up top to get something for dinner. While we were enjoying our Papa John's Pizza, Drew managed to get on the big screen as he danced to music that was playing. He also got to dance with two pizza slices (people in costumes). I couldn't believe that I had left my camera down at our seats. A funny side note to the pizza slices...when we were leaving the stadium after the game we were asking Drew and Mikayla if they had a good time and wanted to come back. They both said yes, but Mikayla said "I can't like that french fry". She was talking about the pizza slices - she's not real fond of people in costumes. I laughed until I cried about that!!

When we went back to our seats, the game started getting good. Until this point, the Drive were losing 2-1. During the middle of one inning, Craig told Drew to wave at one of the players standing in the dug out with a ball. Seeing Drew waving at him, the guy decides to come over and give Drew the baseball. This just made Drew's day. He said "I got a professional baseball now!" The player even gave Drew a "high five"! You would know I didn't have my camera ready for any of this, but I did get plenty of other pictures...as you can tell from the top of this post! The Drive finished the game by coming back to win 5-3 and we were all screaming like crazy. Mikayla got a game ball as well when the players were walking by our seats after the game. She was waving at one of them and he pulled a ball out of his pocket and gave it to her. These men were so nice to do such a little thing for my children and it is something neither of them will forget! They even got their balls signed by some of the players before we left! This was a wonderful trip for our family, and I'm sure we will be going back many, many times!!

Our Little Teacher

After Mikayla got out of the bath the other night, she picked up one of her books. There was really nothing unusual about that because she loves her books and she picks them up to read several times a day, especially at bed time. She started "reading" the book to Craig, and then to our surprise started showing him the pictures just like a teacher would. She was holding the top of the book and moving the book around from left to right so that "all of the children could see". I'm sure that she has learned this from her teachers at preschool. Do you think we have a little teacher on our hands? Mommy wouldn't mind that at all!!

Painting Fun

We had to go to Walmart tonight to get Mikayla some new tights for dance class tomorrow.

Before we went, we went over to Mimi and Poppi's house to see Poppi. He had just gottn back today from a golf tournament near Charleston (Wiboo [sp?])where he won first place!!! Yah, Poppi, we are so proud of you!! Poppi had given Drew and Mikayla each two dollars to spend if they wanted to or to put in their banks. While we were searching in the toy area (of course) for something to spend two dollars on, we came to the aisle with coloring books and such. I spotted a Thomas the Tank Engine paint book, and a princess paint book! Once I showed Drew and Mikayla of course they were ready to go. Luckily we had saved that part of our trip for last, so once they decided this is what they wanted we were ready to check-out.

As soon as we got home, they got right to painting! I thought this was so cute. Since they were painting on our living room floor (watercolors), I put a towel down to try to protect the carpet as much as possible! They did a great job, and nothing spilled!!

What fun!

On Thursday, April 20, Drew went on a field trip with Extra Edition (the after-school program at our school). They took the kids to Skate Palace. I wasn't sure about Drew going at first because he had never been skating before. We knew that the Extra Edition teachers would take care of him and since he really wanted to go, we let him go!

While he was gone on his field trip, I picked Mikayla up from daycare and took her to dance class! The whole way to dance, she kept saying "I'm going to dance with Miss Andrea". When we got there a new teacher came into the waiting room (a little room that leads into the studio) to get the children. All of the mommies that were sitting there were looking at each other with strange faces as if to say "who is that?" Ever since Mikayla has started taking dance we have only seen Miss Andrea, who is the owner of the dance company. I thought "oh no, Mikayla will not want to go in today", but to my surprise she went running right into the room just like she always does. I'm not sure if it was because she saw Miss Andrea who was in the studio, or if she wasn't bothered by someone new. The new teacher, Miss Haley, introduced herself to the mommies that were out there and they went in to start class. After the class was over, I went in to get Mikayla's tap shoes. Miss Andrea was talking with another one of the mommies, but Miss Haley started talking to me about how well Mikayla did in class. She said "you know she's the youngest one in here, but she does just as well as the other students". She also said "when we ask them to find their spots she's one of the first ones at her spot, while we help some of the others". I thanked her for her kind comments, and again let Mikayla know how proud I was of her. We are so proud of her for taking to dance the way she has and trying her best!

We left dance and headed back to the school to pick up Drew from his field trip. He was to get back to the school at 5:45 and his baseball practice started at 6. He hadn't had baseball practice in a few weeks, but since we went two weeks without a game, the coach wanted to practice some in-between. When the bus arrived back at the school, I got out to catch Drew before he went inside. When Mrs. Kimbrell, a fifth grade teacher at our school who is also involved with Extra Edition, saw me she said "I laughed at him the whole time". She said "he was all over the place". I asked her if he was good and she said he was, he was just real excited. Once I got Drew and Mrs. Kimbrell walked off to help other students find their rides, Drew pulled a sticky ball out of his pocket. I hadn't given him any extra money to spend so I asked him where he got that from. He said "from skating". I asked him how he had gotten it since mommy hadn't given him any extra money. He said "she got it for me" and pointed at Mrs. Kimbrell. I couldn't believe it. I asked Kimbrell how much I owed her and she said "for what". When I pointed to the ball she started laughing and said "I was hoping he wouldn't show you that". She never did tell me how much I owed her, but I put a couple of dollars in her box the next day with a note that said "thanks for taking care of my boy!". She spoils all those kids rotten!!

After we left the school, we raced to get Drew to practice on time. We got there right at 6, but Drew was more excited about the soccer net on the field than the actual practice. Once Craig got there, he went on the field to get Drew's attention back on the practice. Once practice was over, we went to get some supper!

Whew!! Another busy day, but what fun!! I start thinking about June when all of this will be over and I even get a little sad.

Easter!

Drew and Mikayla love their Bibles that they received for Easter! That was the first thing that Drew noticed. He said "mom I got a book with Jesus on the front"! They have taken them to church and they ask to read them all the time. Mikayla and I also read hers this past Thursday while we were waiting for her dance class to begin! Craig and I are tickled to see them enjoying their very own Bibles!!

Once Drew and Mikayla had seen what was in their Easter baskets Sunday morning, we headed to church. It was mine and Craig's Sunday to be in the nursery. We only had four children in there with us because most of the families decided to take their little ones (especially those that were older) into the sanctuary with them so they could see the Easter cantata. In fact, Mimi and Jennie took Drew and Mikayla into the sanctuary with them! Craig and I were able to watch (mostly listen to) the cantata from the T.V. in the nursery while we took care of the babies!

After our church service, we came home so I could make brown rice to take to Grandma's house for dinner! (This is my Grandma so it is actually Drew and Mikayla's great-grandma. She moved into the house directly across the street from my mom and dad at the end of last year so it is very nice having them all so close!) We went over to my mom and dad's house before we went to Grandma's so that Drew and Mikayla could get their Easter baskets from Mimi and Poppi!

Drew shows off his Easter gifts from Mimi and Poppi!

Mikayla is not letting go of her bunny rabbit as Poppi and Aunt Jennie look on. You can also see Mimi and Jessica in this picture. We were all getting ready to head across the street to Grandma's.

Many family members from my dad's side of the family were at my Grandma's house for Easter. Most of the grandchildren have children of our own now, so there were many groups of four generations!! All four of my Grandma's children were there (Mike, my daddy - Mark, Karen, and Denise) with their families. Mike and Elwanda, their daughter Kathy, her husband Hank, their children Barrett and his girlfriend Stephanie, and Holly, Hank's dad Melvin, Mike and Elwands's son Mikie, his wife April, and their daughter Keyleigh, My mom and dad, me, Craig, Drew, and Mikayla, my brother Jonathan and his girlfriend Jessica, my sister Jennie, and her boyfriend Josh, My Aunt Denise, her daughter Michelle, and her husband Tony, and their children Daffney, Nadia, and Cameron, Denise's son Allen, his wife Nikki, and their children Chrissy, and Jacob, and my Aunt Karen were all at my Grandma's house! Some members of the family were unable to make it, but we all sure had fun. After we all had dinner together, the children (Daffney, Nadia, Cameron, Drew, Mikayla, Keyleigh, Chrissy, and Jacob) had an Easter egg hunt. My daddy, Aunt Karen, and Aunt Denise hid the eggs filled with money for the little ones to find!

Drew looks in the leaves for an egg, while Mikie helps Keyleigh look for eggs behind him.Mommy and Mikayla spot an egg in the grass!

Drew puts one egg in his basket as he spots another one on the ground.

Mikayla puts one of her finds in her basket.

It was such a blessing to spend Easter with our extended family! Hopefully Drew and Mikayla will remember and cherish these family get-togethers for a long time!

Glitter Easter Eggs

When choosing an Easter egg dye kit for Drew and Mikayla to use this year I happened across one with glitter (one could become overwhelmed with all the choices out there). I knew that Drew and Mikayla would love to use glitter because they are always asking to use the glitter that I keep with my scrapbook stuff (for shakers and such). I wasn't sure if I would be up to the mess that is inevitable when you mix kids and glitter, but I thought "how much longer will they be wanting to dye eggs" and my mind was made up. So tonight, after they got out of the tub, it was time to dye Easter eggs to put in their baskets that they will leave for the Easter Bunny to fill. Drew and Mikayla don't know this, but Mommy and Daddy spoke with the Easter Bunny and told him that we would like for Drew and Mikayla to wake up tomorrow morning and find their first Bibles in their Easter baskets. They have several of the Bible story books, but we think it is time for them to have the complete Bible. I'm sure they will have a little candy in their baskets as well, but they just do not need a lot of sweets (and they certainly don't need any more toys). What better way to teach the true reason for Easter, than have them read about it (with help of course) from their own Bibles that they received Easter morning! I can't wait to see their faces!! Drew adds glitter to one of his eggs with the help of Daddy!Sweet brother and sister helping each other!

Finished product!

Egg Hunt

Drew and Mikayla wait for the Easter Egg Hunt to start! I wish her eyes weren't closed, but they were facing the sun!
This morning Drew woke us up bright and early and reminded us that this was the day of the Easter egg hunt. Our church did not have an egg hunt this year, but another church in our community was having a community wide egg hunt/hotdog lunch! Craig and I decided that, even though we always have an Easter egg with family at Grandma's, we wanted Drew and Mikayla to be involved in an egg hunt with lots of other children from our community. We knew that it would be a fun time to fellowship with others from the community! It proved to be fun for our whole family. Before the egg hunt started, all the children and adults went into the sanctuary where the pastor of the church spoke and reminded everyone of the true reason for Easter. It's not about eggs or the Easter Bunny even though these are traditionally associated with Easter (and they are fun for children and adults alike). The reason we celebrate Easter is because of our wonderful God. He sent His son, Jesus, to die on the cross so that we all could be forgiven for our sins. He would have done the same had it been just me, or just you who needed forgiving. I am in awe when I think of that! I strive to remember this amazing sacrifice that He made for me on a daily basis, and not just at Easter. I thought this was a wonderful way to remind everyone that we were there to have fun, but we also needed to remember the REAL reason we should be celebrating! There were about 20 kids including Drew and Mikayla in the 0-4 year old group and we led the way from the sanctuary to the nursery area where their eggs had been hidden. This church hid approx. 4,000 eggs for the children of our community. The children were divided into four different age groups, and these four groups each were searching for 1,000 eggs. Most of the eggs hid candy inside, but there were some special eggs which hid a paper with a number on it. If you found one of those eggs, you would win a special prize. Drew and Mikayla had a ball finding eggs and filling their baskets with them. Their baskets were getting so full that Craig even commented that maybe we should have brought bigger baskets. Drew had filled his, but was still finding eggs, so he helped to fill Mikayla's basket a little more. After Drew and Mikayla were satisfied that all the eggs had been found, we went to the fellowship hall to see what was hidden inside. They found plenty of candy (more than either of them really needed), and there was even a number hid in one of the eggs. Technically it was in Mikayla's basket, but since we couldn't remember which eggs Drew had put in hers, they were satisfied to share the prize! Drew, Mikayla, and Craig even enjoyed a couple of hot dogs for lunch. Once they finished their hot dogs, and Mikayla and Drew received their prize (a stuffed green bunny that is so cute), we headed home for naps. We had such a wonderful time at this egg hunt, and we couldn't thank the members of this church enough for doing this for our community!

Mikayla continues her hunt for eggs.

Drew is happy with the amount of eggs he found. He couldn't believe he filled his basket!

What's in there Drew?

I wonder what it's gonna be??