Friday Flower Fix

Oh my goodness...this is SO unlike me. The last time I updated my blog was on Monday! What's up with that? I bet you guys are kinda glad though, huh? I guess I wasn't the only one who got a little break...lol.

It's been a crazy week! I have been doing my daily blog reading, just haven't had much to write about, I guess.

Anyhoo...It's already June 1st and how cool that it's on a Friday...seems like that's the day all months should start on.

Well, here's your Friday Flower Fix...ENJOY!!!

"The richness I achieve comes from nature, the source of my inspiration."

Have a beautiful weekend.

Inspired to INSPIRE...Memorial Day Special

Happy Memorial Day!

"There is nothing so wrong with America that cannot be cured with what's right in America."

Friday Flower Fix & Last day of school

Happy Friday everyone!

"Nature is too thin a screen; the glor of the omnipresent God bursts through everywhere."

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Well, today is the last day of school for our kids. What a L-O-N-G school year this has been. But it was exciting too. Jayla totally enjoyed being in school everyday and learned SO much. She's so funny...as she's NOT looking forward to the summer break. Poor thing, just has no real concept of time and doesn't understand why she can't go to school for 2 months. She said to me earlier this week, "But mommy, I don't WANT another Spring break!" lol. Little does she know, the upcoming break is alot longer than the week she had off in the Spring. I sure hope she keeps this attitude about school.


Yesterday, they had their last field trip and went to a local park to play. I met her there and ate lunch with her and her classmates. I even let her use my camera to take a few pix of her friends. I'll have to show those later, as I left the camera with her teachers this morning so they can take some pix of the kids enjoying an ice cream party on their last day.


Markell, on the other hand is really looking forward to getting out of school. He successfully survived 6th grade and his first year of middle school. Although it was a VERY rough road for him (more on that in another post).

Lastly, I ask that you guys keep us in your thoughts and prayers over the next few weeks. Not only because it's going to be a chore to keep both a 12 year old boy and a 5 year old girl entertained for 2 + months :-). But because some major changes are about to take place in our home. My heart aches when I think of what's forthcoming. But I know that God will take care and will see us through. I do plan to share this with you all soon...when the time is right.

Have a beautiful weekend everyone!!!

We've got guests...

Now those who know me know that I'm not much of an outdoorsy type person. Nor do I like "uninvited" guests on my deck or in my yard....more specifically, things like bugs, spiders, bees or possums, etc. Note: I DO, however, realize that some of the aforementioned visitors are just part of life, so to speak...they are GONNA be around. And believe it or not, I'm ok with that...as long as I am inside and they are OUTside :-).

But today, we had some outside guests come and visit and we actually invited them. Jayla has been worrying me to death about getting a hummingbird feeder. We've had one for quite some time, but I never put it out. When it was given to us, it also included a box of the nector mix. But to make a long story short...our sweet little doggie, Trae, got into that box one day. He was less than 6 months old when he stumbled upon this sweet delicacy. And needless to say, his little snout was bright red and he was bouncing off the walls!!! I guess sugar has the same affect on dogs as it does kids.

ANYWAY...back to the topic at hand. Jayla asked for a feeder about a week ago while we were out shopping. Fortunately, I didn't buy one because I remembered that I still may have one laying around. I found it and in turn, found a recipe for the nector. I bought a little hook for it and put it out on our deck about 2 days ago. And today, we had some little visitors. They are amazing. Take a look....

Aren't they cute? Jayla was SO excited! She kept asking me what time they'd be back, cuz they had bunches of water to drink before darktime :-). I told her that he was going to tell his friends about what he'd found and that he'd be back later.

Welcome visitors!!

The GRADUATE!

I can't believe that this coming Friday is the last day of school. Markell successfully completed his first year of middle school and Jayla, her year of Pre-K.

For some reason, the county we live in is no longer allowed to have graduation ceremonies for the Pre-K classes. Bummer!!! I remember when we first moved to Cobb County back in 1999, Markell had one...talk about cute.

Well, even though Jayla's class isn't going to have a ceremony, they did get to take cap & gown pictures....

Look how happy and proud she is! Besides the fact that this girl LOVES taking pictures, she was so excited to wear this "crap & gown" lol. See, she even had her little nails done :-). As tradition would have it, we'll be taking Jayla out to dinner this weekend at the restaurant of her choice. Markell chose Applebee's. And we think Jayla is leaning towards Red Lobster. Not because she loves or even LIKES seafood. But because she says they have the BESTESS macaroni & cheese :-).

Congratulations baby!!!

Spring soccer is officially OVER!!

...well almost! We stil have to do the end of season party for the boys this coming weekend...THEN we'll be done. Can you believe that registration for the Fall season has already started? I have a feeling that this summer break is going to go by quickly and we'll be right back on those fields...this is the life I live :-). (love it!)

Ok, I'm sure you're wondering how the boys did at the State Championship? Well, the road ends here. They played their little hearts out...and so did the teams they played. However, I will say that we had some AWFUL referees and they made some TERRIBLE calls. We had quite a few goals taken away because the refs were listening to the "other" parents whining and complaining. There are line judges and that's who the refs are supposed to get the TRUE calls from. But you know what they say, "the squeaky wheel gets the oil". Funny how those "speaky wheels" didn't squeak so much when their team caught up to us. Every game, we started off ahead. Then the ref started listening to the parents and in turn, making bad calls.

ANYWAY....no need in traveling back down that road. What's done is done. The Stingrays have SOO much to be proud of. They obviously did something right to have gotten this far. The district tournaments is as far as we've gotten in past seasons. But this time, they made it all the way to the State championships. That's something to be proud of! Remember the Mustangs? Well, they made it to the finals...but they had to play the one team with all the "squeaky wheels"...so they lost too. But again, Cobb FC was very well represented and those boys played their hearts out. Congratulations to the STINGRAYS and the MUSTANGS!!! You guys ROCK!!!

Now, for some pix from our fun weekend.

Cheryl, these first 2 are for you! I think you've found us a new tradition. As SOON as we got to the hotel, Jayla found the bed and HAD to jump on it. Now that she knows I don't mind AND I've got a camera in hand...all is right with the world :-) lol.

The next few shots were taken after the first game on Saturday. The boys played at 8am so they didn't really have time for a big breakfast. So between games, we all went to McDonalds. Have you ever been to a fast food restaurant with 11 pre-teens, 4 pre-schoolers/kindergardeners & about 12 adults? Talk about FUN!!! LOL.

The next game wasn't until 12:30pm...so the boys just chilled out on the McD's playground. Did you know you can climb better with cleats on? LOL (Yes, that's Markell laying on the top...hee hee)On Saturday, our "soccer" day was over around 2pm. So now the boys were ready for some down time. Several of them wanted to ride with us (Coach Marque), but we could only take four. The boys say that Coach Marque's ride is always "CRUNK" and bumpin the latest (clean) hip hop music :-). So here are the boys and Jayla getting "crunk" on the way back to the hotel.

The weather was GORGEOUS over the weekend. Ok...it was HOT!!! I found a way to rig up a supersized umbrella onto my chair. Here's some of the girls enjoying the shade that I'd created.

Well, that's about it for the pictures. Markell was a little too disappointed to let me take a picture of him after the game yesterday. But once we got some food in him, he was fine :-).

Lastly, let me take a minute to share one more thing with you. If you find time in your busy schedules to go to the movies...be sure to check out Shrek 3! It was SOOO cute and SOOO funny! We took the kids to see it Saturday night. Everyone loved it!

Have an awesome day!!

Inspired to INSPIRE...

"Things turn out the best for the people

who make the best out of the way things turn out."

Be inspired...I am!!!

What happened on my birthday?, week wrap up & Friday Flower Fix

Ok, I'll be honest...I about passed out when I saw that Lynilu tagged me on her blog :-). She gave me a stearn talkin to when I tagged her a little while back. So that's why this shocked me so much...lol.

But I have to admit, the tag she gave was pretty darn interesting. The rules were for me to go to the Wikipedia site and type in my birthday, minus the year in the search bar. List 3 events, 2 births, 1 death and 1 holiday from my DOB, then tag 5 friends to do the same. Well, no one has ever said that I don't follow directions. SO...I did as I was asked...and here are the results:

November 17th

EVENTS:
1939, The Rome - Rio De Janeiro air connection is created.
2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger is inaugurated as Governor of California.
2004, K-Mart Corporation announces it's buying Sears Roebuck & Company for $11 billion and naming the newly merged company, Sears Holding Corporation.

BIRTHS:
1925, Rock Hudson, American Actor (d. 1985)
1944, Danny DeVito, American Actor

DEATH:
1998, Esther Rolle, American Actress (from the 1970's show, Good Times)

HOLIDAY:
International Students Day

Oh my, sorry, was I snoring? hee hee Talk about an exciting day over the years, huh? I promise not to bring any of this up when my birthday comes later this year...lol.

Alrighty, the next step is to tag 5 people to do the same with their birthdays. Ok, Jude, Cheryl W., B.E.M., Muriel & Susie Q.....you're up!

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Tomorrow afternoon, after we check Markell out of school, we're heading to Columbus, Ga for the State Soccer Championship. I haven't been going to the practices this week, but I hear that the boys are looking great and are ready to put on their game faces (it's good to be married to a coach). I also hear that the Stingrays are going to be up against some stiff competition this weekend. So keep your fingers crossed...I'll fill you in on Monday.

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FRIDAY FLOWER FIX

The day the Lord created hope & beauty was probably the same day He created Spring.

Have a beautiful weekend!

Isn't she lovely...

Happy Thursday everyone!

A few weeks ago, my good friend Cynthia and her wonderful "photographer sister", Lisa, did a photo shoot of Jayla. I hung around for the shoot and I could not WAIT to see how the pix turned out. From what I saw that day, it was gonna be great. And ya know, I was right!

Oh my goodness, the pictures are awesome! Ok, ok...I can't even talk about it anymore...you just have to look at them.

Check these out:

Enjoy your day!!

Tribute to MOM's

I'd like to start today by wishing all my friends/readers who either are mothers...or have mothers :-)...a Happy Mother's Day!!! I hope you were all treated like queens today and actually got the day off (kinda).

I thought today, I'd do one big post to cover several things. First, I'd like to share with you the beautiful cards I received from the kids. There are times, when you think your kids don't pay you much attention and they just kinda wander aimlessly through the day. And then there are the days, like this day of celebrating mothers, where you see that they HAVE been paying attention and that they DO really love you.

That brings me to my first card. Markell made this card for me today in his Sunday School class. And I must tell you, it made me cry.

The reason this card made me cry is because, like I said, he's obviously paying more attention than I thought. When he plays soccer, more specifically goalie, he gets so embarassed when he hears me on the sideline shouting, "YOU ROCK KEEPER!!!" But he DOES!!! And not only when he's playing the goalie/keeper position. But of all the things he could've said about me as his "mother"...he chose to say that I ROCK! That means so much to me. Simply because I know how I mean it when I say it to him. And now I see that he too knows...he knows that it's a huge compliment. Markell, you DO ROCK!!! Thank you sweetie, I love you!

This next card is one that Jayla made in Pre-K. The cover is so cute to me. She says that that's me and her holding hands. But the inside just cracks me up. I love that she doesn't know how much I REALLY weigh...LOL. And what a compliment to be as pretty as a strawberry. I will say though, that I was surprised that she said that my favorite drink is tea. I mean, I DO...but by far, Dr. Pepper is my favorite. She told me that after she said, "tea", she remembered the D.P...but the teacher had gone on to the next question :-).

This last card is the one Jayla made in Sunday School class today. This one is really sweet to me because she's always wanting to plant flowers with me. So the teacher gaave all the kids a packet of flower seeds to plant with their mommies. Thank you, sweet girl...mommy loves you!!

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And now, it's time to Be INSPIRED! And of course, its a tribute to moms.

"A mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take."

""There is only one way to lead a child down the right path...that is to go that way yourself."

"The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness."

"A mothers arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them."

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This is the gift I made for my mother for Mother's Day. She's not into scrapbooking, but does have an appreciation for the craft. I took a risk by making this LO for her, as she is sometimes embarassed by this picture. Not sure how many of you have heard of or see an issue of Jet Magazine. Well, in every issue, they have what's called a "Jet Beauty". Which is a woman in a swimsuit and a little snippit of info about her. My mom was featured as a Jet Beauty in a June 1964 issue of the magazine. Like I said, today, she's a little embarassed by this picture. But I LOVE it!!! I think she looks awesome!! Not to mention, it's something she should be very proud of.

Anyway, here's the LO/gift that I gave her. I framed it for her hopefully, she won't be too ashamed to hang it in her home somewhere :-).

Well, alrighty then, that's all I've got for today. Again, I hope all you mother's have had a wonderful day and that you enjoy the rest of it.