March At a Glance

March is always a busy month for us. We have 2 birthdays to celebrate and Spring Break. We have also been working on a new room for Mari Morgan and moving some rooms around. Working full time makes it hard to accomplish anything, but we take it a little at a time. Below are some things that we have been up to...

Nathan's birthday was March 27th. He is going to have his party at Skyzone in Memphis this coming week. He turned 11 and I can't believe it. Nathan is really growing up, and has such a sweet heart. I love this kid!!

We got him a new t.v. for his room, so he can play his X-Box in peace..Ha! He can only play X-Box and watch Netflix movies on it, which is good.

We also got him this bean bag chair. It is very comfy!!

Mari Morgan lost her other front tooth. She talks so funny, now.

I have been cleaning my kitchen grout...don't you think it needed it?

Much better!! :)

MM's new room started out blue, this was our t.v. room...

I had some great helpers priming

All primed!

Now it will be ice pink

We stopped in the middle of painting, which I hate to do, but it was unavoidable, to visit our parents in Mantee and Houston.

When we got to my mom's, we got to visit with our cousin, Winters. She is 1 now and so beautiful! MM loves it when we get to see her. They had a good time playing together, and of course MM was a little mommy.

We also rode in my aunt's gator...always a favorite when we go to my mom's. This is our other cousin, Olivia.

Mari Morgan and my niece, Edie, are just 4 days apart. So they always spend the night with Grandma during Spring Break and have a little party. Here, they are playing with a tea set my mom gave them.

My mom made them a Barbie cake. They decorated the skirt on their own...turned out so cute!

Silly girls

Another exciting part of our March was that MM got to go to the State Science Fair at Ole Miss. She won 2nd place in her division at her elementary school, so she advanced to Oxford. She received 5th place in her division at Ole Miss out of 538 students!! We were so excited for her! Yay, Mari Morgan!!

Judge talking to her

And....here is MM's new room. She loves it. We are still not finished with it, but we are getting close.

My big girl, reading in her new bed

She labeled her boxes with paper... hehe

Nate even thinks it's cool!

This bench was on our front porch in pretty bad condition. A little spray paint did the trick. We have to get some matching pillows, but for now, MM decorated. :)

We had a circus at our school for the students that certified in AR. Brian was asked to be the juggler...:) He did a good job!

He was also the mystery reader for MM's classroom. She was so surprised!

Look what she got painted on her face??? That's my girl!!

I love March. I love my kiddos. I love Spring, and there are only 7 more Mondays until school is out!! Can't wait!!

James

As some of you know, I have been trying to memorize the book of James. I took a break from it, but have now taken it back up. It is such a practical book and so applicable to where Brian and I are in life right now. Here is what I have memorized so far;

James, a bond servant of God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ; to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion, Greetings

Consider it joy my brothers when you face trials of various kinds knowing that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have its full effect so that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given to him. but, let him ask in faith with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. That man should not suppose he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation , and the rich in his humiliation. For like a flower of the grass he will pass away. The sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass, its flower falls, and its beauty perishes.

We are searching for answers right now in many areas. These remind me to ask in Faith!

It's Birthday Week

It always ends up like this. Because Mari Morgan's birthday is during Spring Break, we always end up celebrating all week. Her birthday is actually on March 16th. We needed to have her sleepover on the 9th because friends that were out of town would not be able to come. She received some money and a Justice gift card from one of her friends, so we went to Justice yesterday to buy something. We are leaving tomorrow to go to my mom's house. Her cousin, Edie, has a birthday on the 20th. So, Mom always has a party for both of them sometime during the week. Then, on Friday, her real birthday, we will go to Brian's parents and she will open more gifts. I love to celebrate birthdays, but this is a little much. We will have to plan better next year. I don't mean to sound negative. I love her and am so thrilled at the sweet young lady that she is becoming. My prayer is always that she will love the Lord more that ANYTHING else! Thank you God for our little girl!

Our friend, Kate Walker, made her these cookie cakes for her party

Mari Morgan with Kara and Kate

Singing Happy B day!

Making a wish

Here's the clan

MM and Julia Kate--they were in 1st grade together

MM with Harper...She lives down the street from us, and they are in 2nd grade together now

With church friends, Maddy and Morgan

With long time friend, Karis---they have been friends since 3 years old

Sweet Maggie painting her bag

Morgan

Kara

Duck tape art

Emma Kate painting her nails---she and MM were in 1st together and now in 2nd grade together

More duck tape--this kept them busy for hours

We had a wonderful party!

The Tooth Fairy Has a Bad Memory

Finally lost them both. She will be 8 years old in 2 1/2 weeks! She woke up this morning pouting and said, "Mom, the tooth fairy did not come see me last night". I asked her who the tooth fairy was. She replied, "You are". My reply was...."Sorry, I forgot!" :)

A Day to Celebrate

Today, February 25, marks the first Saturday that I get to drive for the first time in over a year! Mari Morgan and I were able to go out and shop for a while this afternoon. It was so nice to be free to go and do what we wanted. I am so thankful to God for His blessings to me.

First, we went to C&J nursery. We love to go here and look at the flowers. I was in search for something springy to place on the front door. We got a precious bow. I am excited to put it up.

MM was acting goofy!

Next, we went to lunch to Mari Morgan's favorite fast food place(not my choice), but it made her happy. Her other tooth is just dangling. She looks like a cute little hillbilly! ;)

Then, we went to one of our favorite places; Jeremiah's Journey. It is like an indoor flee market, filled with items from local people. Very good stuff, and very good prices!

Of course, it wouldn't be a trip without a trip to Wal-Mart. MM got some money from her Pop, so she wanted to go get a toy. Here she is feeding her new puppy a bottle.

A Special Visit

Our friends, the Fields', came down from Johnson City, TN to visit. It was great to see them. We miss them a lot!

Lil' Dave came to watch Nate play basketball.

Maddie and Kathryn doing surgery on lil Dave

The crew

Beautiful McKenzie, Hannah, and Anna

Toothless

Mari Morgan has been waiting for a long time to be snaggle- toothed. She is now awaiting the tooth fairy at age 7 1/2!

Update!

Sorry! It has been a while once again. Hoping I can get back to this on a regular basis!!

We are excited that there are only 3 1/2 more months of school left. 15 more Mondays! :) This has been a rough year for us all! I'm loving teaching, but not so fond of everything that goes along with it!! Nathan and Mari Morgan are doing very well in school. Nathan has made honor roll both 9 weeks, and Mari Morgan has made Principal's List. We are so proud of them. But, Nathan has had some organizational issues that sometimes keep him from doing his best. Mari Morgan has had some sleep issues, making it hard for her to wake up at 6:00 each morning. But, overall, we have been blessed and trust God to get us through!

Nathan has moved on to basketball now. Brian is coaching. It has been a very challenging season. We have not won a game. Today, however; we came very close. Nathan scored 4 of the 10 points, but we got beat at the buzzer, 12-10. Very disappointing!! Nathan is having a blast, and has really improved!

Mari Morgan has become the girliest of girls. She wears my high heel shoes all over the house, and wears stick on nails, and will not let me fix her hair anymore. She is all about independence!! :)

She is doing very well in gymnastics, and flips all over the house. She is on a silver team right now, but her coach says in a few months she will be ready to move to gold. We are proud of her and I personally, LOVE gymnastics!!

Below are a few pics of Nate and his basketball skills :). I tried to post a video of Mari Morgan's gymnastics, but it failed.