Days Are Fleeting, Memories Are Forever- May

Days are fleeting, memories are forever- a monthly collection of snapshots, mostly iPhone pictures, often selfies of the kids, that capture our day to day random adventures....

Trainer or Marine Biologist in Training

Hudson is rolling the house

The (Last?) Recital

Chloe has decided that she does not want to dance next year. She says she may go back to it one day, but she wants to take a break from it. It made this year's recital a little bittersweet, knowing that it might be the last one. I have loved watching my little ballerina dance, but I will love watching her do whatever else she wants to do, too. She did great this year! Definitely the best year, yet. She was very confident, graceful, and sassy (during the tap number). It was a wonderful show as always!

Dress Rehearsal

Daddy pulled off another dress rehearsal by himself while I was at the school board retreat. I think he had a little help with her hair, but he got her there and she looks great and that's all that matters!

Birthday Lobster

Evan's birthday would not be complete without his annual birthday lobster!

Happy birthday, Buddy!

Dear Evan,

Well, this is a big birthday. Double digits! I cannot believe you are 10 years old! This has been a great year. I've really seen you mature and when we've had your friends over to visit, I've noticed they have really matured as well. You guys have great manners and you are more often than not, respectful and polite. You occasionally still have your moments, but they are really few and far between. You've also matured in taking more responsibility for your school work. You've had a great year in school and you ended the year with A averages in every subject! We are so proud of you. You had another great year in sports. You played soccer, basketball, and continued to work on swimming in preparation for the summer season. You have worked very hard in all of those sports and shown great improvement. But, you are really on fire in swimming and I'm really looking forward to this year's season. It is so much fun to watch you compete in all your sports. Sometimes I am so nervous for you, but not because I worry about how you'll do. I just don't want to see you disappointed. But that is part of sports, too, and it's been interesting watching your competitiveness grow and also watching you learn to deal with losing or the disappointment of not doing as well as you'd hoped. It has also been a blast watching you win! You competed in your first Robert Towns Track meet this year and you did great! The hard part for you may be choosing what you will really focus on since you seem to enjoy many sports and activities and show promise in many of them as well.

Now, it's time to get serious. You are going to middle school next year. Seriously. Middle school. I don't know how this is even possible. I'm not nearly as nervous and upset as many parents are because I know you'll be with your dad, but that doesn't mean it is easy for me to accept. As I wait for your baby sister's arrival, I've been thinking a lot about when you first made me a mother. I will never forget holding you in the hospital room and being overwhelmed with emotion and gratitude for you. You will always be my first. My first pregnancy. My first baby. My first toddler. My first to go to preschool, to kindergarten... and now my first to go to middle school. You are so special because you are the first, but we also have to learn from you because you are the first. Right now we are learning how to navigate through the "tween" years. You are becoming more independent, more capable, but still are learning how to be on your own and we are still learning how to let you go and let you be on your own more. We will have to learn together and sometimes that means that you will not always agree with us or appreciate us or even like us, and the truth is that sometimes we will be wrong about things. Sometimes we will make mistakes. Sometimes you will make mistakes. I hope that we can both be there for each other to support each other, forgive each other, and love each other through the mistakes. I am looking forward to this next chapter, to seeing you grow even more, to seeing all you will become. I will think back on your elementary years with fond memories, but I know the best is yet to come. Time has proven that to me. As always, I encourage you to keep God in the center of your life and to focus your eyes on him and seek His will in all things. I know that will become harder and harder for you to do, so I will pray for you each day that you will be able to keep your eyes on Him. I am so proud of you Evan, and love you so very much.

Happy birthday, buddy!

Evan's 10th Birthday Party

Evan had a few boys over for a sleepover for his 10th birthday party. It's not really very cool when your mom follows you around with a camera on your 10th birthday, so I didn't get very many pictures. The boys had a great time. They jumped on the trampoline, played basketball, swam, and played video games all night. Happy birthday, buddy, hope you had a great party!

Walk of Fame

It was Evan's turn to take the Walk of Fame at Eaton Elementary. This is a tradition where "graduating" 4th Graders take one last walk around the school, visiting all their teachers and younger school mates (and collecting candy), and culminating in a fast-paced trot through the cafeteria where all their parents are cheering and crying and desperately trying to snap a picture. Finally, the rising middle school students exit Eaton Elementary and walk through a tunnel of North Middle School kids and faculty across the parking lot to their new school. It's an exciting time for the kids and an emotional one for the parents. It's definitely hard to see Evan's years at Eaton Elementary come to an end. We are so thankful for a wonderful school, teachers, and friends, but I know he will have just as wonderful an experience at North Middle!

Robert Towns Track Meet

Evan was so excited to be invited back to the Robert Towns Track Meet this year. He was invited last year, but it got rained out and he was so disappointed not to be able to run. This year it was a beautiful day and he had a great time! He even came in first in one of his heats!

The Eaton team cheering their runners on.

Getting Ready for Miss Caroline!

We are so blessed and fortunate to work with such wonderful people in each of our school families. We had a wonderful baby shower at both Lenoir City Elementary and North Middle to help us get ready for Miss Caroline!

LCES Shower:

And NMS shower: