Jake and Sofia with Friends

(still playing catch up) We went with our Grace friends to see Jake and Sofia a bit ago. Ross was quite over Sofia but loved Jake! So fun to go with our friends! 

The cotton candy came with Jake hats.

Can you guess the cotton candy color?

Anna Beth and Emily cheesing it up for the camera.

Big group pose with their loot from the show.

My favorite picture of the night. Swords perfectly put away. :)

Luau at School

I will be playing catch-up for a little while on the blog. I've fallen behind. 

AR Baptist had their annual luau for K-5 a bit ago and I volunteered to help. The kids loved it. They had several different stations set up for the kids to rotate to. There was a bubble and chalk station.

Ross wrote me an awesome message. 

Ethan is a friend from his class. So sweet!

A few more friends. They actually fussed as to who would get the glasses with no lens.

Photo Op by the face painting station.

Ross got sun and waves.

Fishing - they caught Swedish fish. 

Limbo!

Sand table!

Snack table. They made octopuses out of marshmallows and pretzel sticks.

Paint table.

Icing on the cake is that the ice cream truck came at the end of the luau. Such a fun day! 

Momma

As I'm sure you all know by now, my Momma, Teressa Jackson, passed away last Tuesday at 2:50 PM surrounded by family and friends.  The ordeal that preceded her death was without question the worst experience of my life and I'm sure in the lives of my brothers and sister and Pop.  I've never felt such a helplessness in my life and hope never to even approach it again.

While the circumstances were tragic I'm reminded that in each event there's perfection because of the hand of God.  It's easier to see in happier events - like the birth of a child, but even in situations like this there's good, or at least an opportunity for good.  My prayer is that the good I've seen through the last week and beyond continues.  I could spend an inordinate amount of time talking about the good, but here are just some of the things.  I know full well I'll miss some so please bear with me.

* My family has grown closer
* I'm convinced there's not a better place to be from than the communities and towns back home
* My church family is fantastic
* God is still on his throne, answering prayers, and delivering miracles
* I have my kids in the right schools, surrounded by the right people
* My faith in humanity has been increased in seeing the number of people who volunteered during the search
* I have the best in-laws in the history of the world
* My friends back home in their acts of kindness and support remind me we're more than friends

Surely there are other things and I don't want to slight anything or anyone.

This picture above is an enormous blessing to me.  My siblings and I are spread apart by many things; years, miles, families, etc.  Here's a fact of which I'm sure, however.  I love those three with me in the picture above.  I've always loved them, always looked up to them, and always been proud of them.  Today it's a little different though.  It's stronger, deeper and it will remain unbroken.  Thank you Bug, Keith, and Steve (in order of appearance) for your families and for being my brothers and sister.

Love to you all who follow this blog for your prayers throughout the last week and your continued prayers.

Don

Sparks Visit - (late on this post)

I kept thinking I had taken pictures with my good camera on this visit but I suppose all I have are cell pictures. A few weeks ago the Sparks girls came for a visit to adopt a dog so we got some play time in with them. Ross had it all planned out and of course it involved the slip-n-slide. 

Anna Beth and Mrs. Amber came over to play too! The girls seemed to love it as much as Ross! 

Aves even played a little. 

Walt - the reason for the visit. He was so good with all those kids acting crazy. 

After water play we had Chick-Fil-A and ice cream treats.

Saying bye is never easy for these lunatics but they seemed to enjoy getting in a couple of smooches.

Finally a decent pose. I have zero clue what was going on with Avery in both of these pictures but it appears that she had a bit of trouble walking. :) 

Fun times with good friends - nothing much can top that! 

Cutting Corn 2014

We made our annual trip down to cut corn. Kev was even there despite having graduated and starting a 'big boy' job so it was just like years past. 

Annual pic with the crew. Daddy was there too but not in any pics for some reason. 

Selfie! 

Favorite part is the off-load of corn to the grain cart.

Another selfie!

Some comparisons for over the years b/c who doesn't like comparison pictures?!? For some reason I don't have any pictures from Ross' farm visit when he was 2. I also didn't do a selfie with Avery on her first farming experience. Shame on me. (how good am I though that I've kept up with the same sunglasses all these years?)

 Fun times and fun memories made every year! 

Star Student!

Ross got picked for Star Student of the week! He was so excited. He got to complete a poster all about him. Plus all during the week he was able to be line leader, hold the bible, and several other fun things. 

He listed his friends as:
Josh, Anna Beth, McKenna, Emma, and Parker. 

He wants to be a Football Coach. (We had no clue where that one came from.)

His favorite color is Blue. 

His favorite book is the Bible. (I wondered what he would list and wasn't expecting Bible so of course he taught me a little something that day.)

His favorite food is Pizza. (No shock there.)

Avery is a Sophomore!

Oh she was silly her first day as a Sophomore. First off she grabbed up Ross' lunchbox and was determined to carry it with her that day. He was sweet enough to say ok since he was eating a school lunch that day anyway. 

What's that you say? Smile you say?

Let's try this sitting down.

"I'm a Sophomore!"

I had put her pick-up from school snack in the bag so she decided she'd try to sneak it out. She didn't get it. :) 

Oh how quickly time is flying by with both kids. It seems like Ross was just a Sophomore and we didn't even have Avery yet. I wouldn't cry if time slowed down just a wee bit - on the good days - when the kids are both in a good mood - and after Avery is potty trained. 

End of Year Program

I am woefully behind on blogging. Going to do my best to get caught up and back on track.

Grace had their end of the year program and it was an emotional one for this momma. Ross has been with these friends since day one and goodness seeing them all move on to different schools was tough. Of course we still play together so it isn't like they don't see each other but I miss seeing their sweet faces every day. Even Pierce came back for the program - his school started in July. 

Holdyn was back also. 

Silly boys were glad to be together again! 

Luke's school had started also but he was able to make it for the program too! 

Mrs. Leann always does a great job giving out their medals.

After certificates and medals were passed out the kids all sang some songs. Anna Beth does the best job singing! 

Avery's class just kind of grinned the entire time. 

Love her! 

I made her a bag and each kid in the senior class took it home one night and colored on it. 

Ross checked out everyone's work. 

Mrs. Leann loved it.

We decided to have everyone sign it as well.

Delicious treats served after. 

Ooooh he stole a kiss.

Avery's teachers. She had such a great Freshman year!

Aves checked out the Sophomore class and seemed to approve. :) 

One of our very favorite Mommas - Mrs. Amber! 

Such a blessed year being a Senior. Ross learned so much! He was definitely well prepared for going into kindergarten.