Graduation and Daisies

Another year is over, already! I don't know if it was due

to my first year back at work, or because "they" say that as you

get older the years go by faster, but this school year FLEW by!

Kenzie wrapped up first grade with great grades, an academic

award in Social Studies and the character award for

Resourcefulness.

Emi wrapped up Fourth Grade on the Teacher's Honor Roll
(all A's and B's for the whole year!!!) and the character
award of Faith.

Later that same night, Kenzie had her end of the year
party with Daisies. Kenzie has never been skating before
(don't know how that has happened!!) so she was real
excited about this party!

She was a little wobbly at first, and hugged the wall alot.

Until Kylie got there. Kylie is an "expert" skater and helped

Kenzie get off the wall.

Of course, Kenzie had to thank her by bringing her down!!

Kenzie has now "bridged" to Brownies!!

Jenny turns 1

Jenny invited us (and a bunch of others) to help celebrate her

first birthday at Build a Bear.

The party finished up at the Girberts house with yummy food!

Happy Birthday, Baby J!!

Mother's Day Cookout

Aunt Trishy hosted a Mother's Day cookout at her house.

Just a time of fellowship, food and fun in the water!

Kenzie's become a pro at the slip and slide!
Eli had to try too!

Nothing comes between a girl and her cheetos!

Jenny loved Taylor's Wow Wow Wubbzie doll

I'm not sure what to say here, except "that's my girl!"

The girls took the fun inside

Mother's Day Goodies

Chris took the girls to Lowes the Saturday before

Mother's Day to make something special for me. Aren't I

the lucky one? They made planters boxes all by themselves

(o.k., maybe with a little help from Daddy!!), planted a

nice little houseplant in each and received a

certificate, a badge, safety goggles and an apron all for

FREE!!

They did a great job and it's something I'll keep forever!

Cousin Taylor turns 2!!

Cousin Taylor had her birthday party at Events in Knoxville a

few weeks back. I can't believe she's 2!! Where has

the time gone?

Yeah! I did it!!

Awwwwwwwwwwwww!

Yummy cake that Jolie designed all by herself!

Chick Fil A night

Every wednesday night we head out to Chick Fil A for free

kid's night. Last week was Princess Night with a "real

life princess" who painted the kids faces.

She was quite talented, as you can see here.

Dads and Daughters Tea

MCS hosted a Dads and Daughters Tea May 1st.

We have a little attitude, here...

But, more so here!!

Chris came and joined the shoot...

Isn't he a gentlman?

They had dessert and tea (of course), enjoyed

some fellowship with other dads and daughters and

had a ballroom dance lesson. They all had a

great time!

Firehouse Field Trip

Kenzie's class took a field trip to the Alcoa Fire Department

a few weeks back. I actually took a day off of work

to attend!

We started the day in the conference room.
Then moved to the garage

The students got a first hand tour of the trucks and all

their bells and whistles.

Then, we went into the living room to have a discussion

about fire safety in our homes. Kenzie knew alot of the

answers...

Then, we went back to the garage where Kevin showed

us all how he put all of his gear on.

He was generous enough to allow the students

to try on his helmet. It was really heavy!

We finished outside for some pictures in front of one of the trucks

and with one of the tallest fire fighters Alcoa has on their

force...Larry!

Larry dancing with the students.

Karate Kids

Somehow, I forgot to post these pictures from a few wees ago when the

girls tested for their belts.

Kenzie was promoted from Tiger's Purple to Tiger's Brown.

Emi tested for her red tip. She is now 3 tests away from her black belt.

Fortunately, that's 2 years away!

Easter

We celebrated Easter at Dad and Alana's this year. After a super

yummy meal, we all headed outside for an egg hunt. The kids

chose colors that they were to find...and off they went.

Emi and Kenzie found the coveted silver and gold eggs. Each

of these held a $20 bill!!

Taylor liked her eeegs!

I don't know what was in this egg...but Jolie was excited!

Trying to get a group shot...not so successful.

Jenny's cute little outfit!

After the hunt came the games!!

Eli took a tumble off the bac of the wagon!!

He recovered well!!!

Even the grandparents got into the games!!

Spring Break: Cades Cove

The girls and I are on Spring Break this week. Mamma and Pappa

came to spend a few days with us. Since the weather was so

beautiful we decided to drive out to Cades Cove for a picnic. Here

are a few pictures of our trip.

John Oliver House

DEER

A tree had fallen across the creek and the girls wanted

to walk across it. I wasn't so sure at first, but they went right

across, no problems! There was a boy there the same age

as Emi...his grandfather asked him why he wouldn't walk

across the tree, where were his guts? He replied, "I don't

have any, I don't have any!"

A little mishap

Kenzie and Emi were playing around in the bathroom this morning

and Emi accidently poked Kenzie in the eye. We didn't think it

was any real big deal since she didn't cry real hard. But, on our

way to church she started feeling bad, complaining of pain,

stinging in her eye and she said it felt like something was in her eye.

So, I called the on-call nurse at the pediatrician and she recommended

we go have it checked out. Off to Children's we went. After 3 1/2

hours, they told us she had a corneal abrasion. For the next

day she has to wear an eye patch to protect her eye, and she has an

antiobiotic I have to put in her eye 3 times a day. When we returned

from the hospital, Kenzie was exhausted. She napped on the

couch for almost 3 hours! She hasn't done that since she was little!