March Madness and April Showers

March brought with us warmer weather and lots of special moments and memories.

{eating oranges on momma mac's back porch}

{special visit from our mamaw - mattie rose loved helping her sew}

{walks by the pond with our momma mac}

{always waiting on daddy to get home}

{fun times with our friends}

{lots of nick's italian ice - our favorite in-town treat}

{kristen (one of the girls in my small group) got baptized}

{post dunk}

At the end of March, we took a trip with the Siscos and both of our staffs to Atlanta for the Hinman Dental Conference. Lots of teeth for the guys. Lots of shopping for the ladies!

{dinner with the hubs}

{after dinner drinks}

{it was way past our bedtime}

{proof that we "went" to the conference}

{buddies}

The first weekend of April was a busy, but fun-filled weekend spent with ladies I love! Friday night, the women's ministry hosted a Pinterest Party for the women of the church. Several very talented women taught seminars on topics from lamp making to jewelry making and knitting to painting. Each women attended two seminars, followed by dinner and two more seminars. Saturday morning, I hosted a baby shower with several friends for my friend Lacey who is expecting sweet baby girl Greer any time in the next few weeks! Lacey is a Memphis-transplant like myself and we have become good friends as we continually try to adjust to life in this small town of Crossville.

{love serving with these women}

{cake decorating class}

{jewelry making}

{lamp making}

A few pictures from Lacey and baby Greer's shower:

{a love a reason to craft. particularly new babies.}

{yummy punch}

{invitations}

{mrs. mary has the best serving pieces}

{the spread}

{love making diaper cakes}

{can hardly tell which of us is the preggers, because lacey looks so great!}

{hostesses and mama-to-be in gray}

February

Not too much went on during the month of February because of this:

{snow. everywhere. it was a cold month.}

{mattie rose loved being outside while it snowed, but she definitely didn't like walking in it}

Daddy made sure both Mommy and Mattie Rose felt loved on Valentine's Day. We both received special flowers and chocolate and sweet words in a card that made Mommy cry. 

{"which one should i try first?"}

{pure joy}

{sweet girl even shared some with her brother}

{valentine's day at mdo. clearly she's concerned that i'm leaving.}

{brother shares her sentiments}

We headed back to Memphis again in February to celebrate Isla's (by bestie Alicia's daughter) baptism. No way I was missing that!

{smiles with my godson declan and his coco}

{aunt coco's kisses are the best}

{she did so great}

{best friends}

{she's thrilled that her aunt coco wanted to snuggle so long, ha!}

It had been so long since my 9th and 10th grade small group had gotten together outside of church functions, so we decided to hit up the Cumberland County Playhouse for a Sunday matinee of Grease. It was so much fun to share a timeless classic with this bunch!

{love these girls}

January Happenings

I figured since it was May, now would be a good time to tell you what went on in our lives in January! Ha! We have been crazy busy these past few months and blogging has taken a huge back seat...

January started off with a trip to Chattanooga with our youth group at church. We went to see the WinterJam concert, full of fun Christian artists and lots of really good music. The kids got to get into the building early, rather than waiting in long lines for hours, because we had the opportunity to volunteer with Holt International to try and find monthly sponsors for kids across the world waiting on their forever homes. It was a great teaching moment for the kids to get them thinking outside of their immediate world.

{this wasn't even all of the available children}

{learning about holt international}

{part of our youth group}

{an unexpected surprise - my childhood buddy leonard works for reach records and happened to be working at this show}

{lecrae was our favorite}

A couple weeks later, James, Mattie Rose, and I headed to Memphis! I was helping to host a baby shower for sweet baby Ella Grace and her awesome mommy and my friend, Lee. Our discipleship group hosted at Kathryn's house with a few of our other friends as well. 

{favors for guests with scripture attached to pray over ella}

{showering ella with blessings}

{the yummy spread}

{got to spend some sweet time loving on baby david}

{hostesses with the mama in the middle}

{such a special friend to me}

Sadly such a fun day came to a close with lots of sadness and scariness. My Poppy (dad's dad) had been in the hospital for a while and things weren't looking like they were getting better anytime soon. So after the shower, I headed back to mom's house, picked up the kiddos and Mom and we loaded up to head back to Crossville. We spent the night and got a good night's rest, and then we made our way (slowly, but surely) down to Ft. Lauderdale. Though the circumstances for the trip were no fun at all, it was really enjoyable for me to watch James and Mattie Rose enjoy Gigi and Poppy's condo the way my cousins and I did our entire childhood. Fortunately, Poppy has been out of the hospital for weeks now and though not back to where he was prior to admission, he's doing well. 

{james holding down the fort as the man of the house while poppy was away}

{mattie rose helping meme wash dishes}

{first visit to my favorite man}

{mattie rose found gigi's vanity very quickly}

{makeup and octonauts. life doesn't get much better.}

{sweet moments together}

{poppy usually takes kia for a walk, so mattie rose took it upon herself to chip in}

{first long walk around the hospital - physical therapist granddaughter had to kick some butts in gear}

Lots of miles put on the car in January, but every single one of them was worth it.