Easter Sunday

After Maundy Thursday, I usually reserve Good Friday, Saturday, and Easter Sunday for rest. This year was no different. We rested all weekend and were ready for some great family time on Sunday.

The kids' Easter baskets look so much different now that they are older. I am not a huge fan of giving 'gifts' at Easter. My family never did big Easter baskets, so I never did it up big with my kids. As they get older I found myself wanting to focus on His gift to us more than our gift to them. I want Easter to be more about the gift of salvation rather than the gifts from the Easter bunny. 

My kids did wake up to baskets though. What I love about this age is I can 'gift' things they need! PJs, slides, t-shirts, etc. Well, they don't need chips, but it sure makes for a cheap treat. :)

The highlight of our day is always dinner at Grandmom's. Grandmom also plans a super fun egg hunt. All the eggs have coins in them, which makes the boys hunt faster. Of course, the teacher in me can't help but make them count the money after they take it out of the eggs. 

They also found a frog. I was less than enthused about this discovery.

I love this family so much! We are blessed to be able to celebrate His amazing love together!

Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday is unique to our family. John and I are involved at The Stirring. This year's service was a doozie. There were a lot of moving pieces that had to go juuuuuust exactly right for the service to get the meaning we were looking for. From a production perspective, we asked a lot of the Hope staff, and they came through!

The week leading up to this service was stressful. It always is. The devil living right there in the details...in my relationships...in my parenting...in my job...always living in the details. He almost got the better of me the night before the service. It was close. But you know what softened my heart? Something that happened at school the next day.

Evan had been asked to be a part of the Maundy Thursday service at school. Kids were reenacting the last supper. Watching and helping this crew get ready gave me all my purpose back. Watching these kids live out that momentous event which changed the course of our world, put me back on track. This is why He said, 'with a childlike faith'. These kids showing the gesture of their savior humbling himself to wash their feet.

E L E V E N

Turning eleven is a big deal! I mean...it only happens once in your whole life!

Evan celebrated with family and friends on his actual birthday at his favorite place, Urban Air.

We came home for a family only celebration. When Evan started opening his presents, Callie wanted to help!

The funniest part of the night was when Evan opened his Beats from Grandmom. Evan was so excited and Callie wanted to match his excitement. She shouted out "A SPOON!!!!" We are still laughing about that one.

Of course birthdays don't count if ALL the grandmoms aren't in one room!

Evan, you are a super special eleven year old. You are kind. You are funny. You are original. I pray you keep the heart you have right now for people in this world and always place your faith in your heavenly father. We love you and couldn't be prouder to call you son!

Memphis Musical

Second grade is full of opportunities to shine on stage, which is good for this class because they have some BIG personalities!

The Memphis musical is always a fave. The music, the dancing, the hysterical and informative videos. I love seeing each year.

Luke not only got to star in a movie, but also wish Memphis a Happy Birthday! 

Spring Break 2019

So this Spring Break is like all the others. We enjoyed a Staycation! 

One day we rounded up on SB bud, Miss Brandy and Gavin and threw in a buddy for Evan and made our way down to Crosstown Concourse. We spent the afternoon exploring! Our goal was the stay until the brewery opened so us moms could enjoy a cold beverage, but that didn't happen.

Crosstown used the be the old Sears building in Memphis. It is now a city almost on its own. Dining, shopping, art, and apartments. It's very cool to explore.

The kiddos did great exploring so we decided to reward everyone with a trip to one of the restaurants inside. The kiddos got snacks and we got bevs.

We ended our week with several geocaching adventures! We downloaded the free app and started searching around Collierville. We were able to find several. I kept telling the boys we were hunting for treasure...in the mud...lol.

Talent Show - This is ME

This year's SGIS Talent Show was a special one. You see each year the 5th grade puts on a group act at the end of the show. It's a tradition. This year it was Evan's class's turn.

Three of us moms, who actually work at the school, recruited some help that eventually fell through. We threw up our hands and do what we always do...get. to. work.

After some research, lots and lots of planning, we set the act into motion. A mom found a "Greatest Showman" montage that fit perfectly for our theme. We really wanted the kids to showcase their gifts and talents to the routine. We let each kid pick whether they were doing to sing, dance, play an instrument, or do a special trick. Each and every kid got exactly what they wanted. We had small singing groups, small dancing groups, special tricks like cartwheels and splits. We had drummers, piano players, guitar players! It culminated into what I would describe as the best 5th grade act ever.

One of the most special moments of the night was when the students revealed their special costume. We had each child bring in a white t-shirt. They were instructed to paint a word on their shirt that described them or made them special. They wrote athlete, drummer, musician, comedian, dreamer, artist, baker and so much more...they were amazing. 

We had a talented student play "This is Me" on the piano while the students sang. Chills still run down my body when I think about it! The very last "this is me" the students opened their blazers to reveal their unique word.

The entire performance was amazing and I really think the kids enjoyed each part of it. 

Evan also did a solo act on the drums. He played a 21 Pilots song that he loves. He was very specific about his costume because of the music video. He wanted a jumpsuit...but this was the best we could do.

And because I LOVE MY VILLAGE...let me say that again...I LOVE MY VILLAGE, another group of moms were working with the 2nd grade boy dance group, The Wild Boys.

These boys took the stage by STORM with a decades dance montage. Luke represented the 80s with his hip hop breakdancing style. 

I love these kids are so comfortable performing on stage. They step out of their comfort zones with the support of family and friends to keep surprising me day in and day out!

Give ma reason to PANIC!

Evan went to his very first concert!!!

A friend from work was trying to sell her Panic at the Disco tickets. I knew Evan had become a huge fan as of late. He knew all their songs and was knowledgeable about their musicians. I jumped on the chance to get the tickets.

John was out of town, so we had to get a babysitter for Luke. I was worried Luke would feel left out by not going to the concert, but in my momma heart, knew he wasn't ready. It was going to be a late night AND he's not a huge fan of loud places and crowds. Three strikes. Because of this, I wanted to make it really fun for Luke. I got one of his favorite aftercare workers to come babysit thinking this might soften the blow. 

I love surprising the kids. I mean...I LOVE IT! So I decided not to tell Evan until the night we were supposed to leave. Knowing Luke wasn't going to go, I pulled him in my bedroom to tell him the news.

Me: Hey, I want you to know that I am going to take Evan to the Panic at the Disco concert tonight.

Luke: Wait, do I have to go?

Me: Ummmm, well, no. 

Luke: whew!

Me: Well, guess what DOES get to happen??

Luke: what ?

Me: Collins is coming to babysit!

Luke: yesssss!

So this was a win win for everyone!

When Evan got home, I told him we had somewhere to go. I handed him the tickets. He was very confused and SUPER shocked!

We changed clothes and headed downtown. The seats were INCREDIBLE! We even saw some friends who were just one section over! These two friends are super musical so both us moms knew they were in for a treat.

Now it has been a long time since I have been to a concert where you don't sit down most of the songs. That's also going to age me a bit. But Panic! put on one of the best shows! Brandon Urie and his musicians were phenomenal!

One funny thing...right before the band went on stage, Luke leaned over to me very seriously and "mom... I need you to know something. They have some cuss words in their songs." Sweet boy was making sure I was going to be okay with a little cussing. I assured him I'd be just fine.