Independence Day

Happy 4th of July -

have a great day celebrating our country!

Thank You

Photo Source

Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid.  They have earned our undying gratitude.  American will never forget their sacrifices.

President Harry S. Truman

Valentine's This and That

Isabella partied Valentine's-style with her class yesterday since she doesn't have school on Thursdays.  A sweet momma snapped the shot above since Bill and I couldn't be there, and she made these fantastic personalized bins for the class (Thanks, Robyn!).  Isabella and her teachers made the box behind the bin to hold all of their goodies:
 
Yesterday afternoon, I found these on our porch (in a box) with the sweetest message ever inside:

 Bill set these out before everyone woke up.  My favorite is the homemade card and the special message for each of the girls inside:

Mom came by this morning to bring flowers (from her and Dad) and a special treat

for the little ones:

Last year, I made these adorable valentines for the girls to give to their classmates.  This year, I thought we were still in January - and then all of a sudden we weren't.  I bought a box of Angry Birds, Brave, and Lalaloopsy cards for them to pass out to their friends.  They came with cool pencils so I'm hoping that makes up for my lack of creativity.

I still had time to make a little something special that the girls could give to a few people.  Since the program I used for our other valentines is no more, I found an editing tool online (befunky.com) and made these to share with our family and the girls' teachers:

 

We stuck these valentines on big Reese's Hearts for our amazing teachers:

We were allowed to bring treats to Espy's class today (Gianna's class has too many allergies and a no-candy rule at her school, and Isabella already had plenty of goodies at her party) so I tried my hand at some "homemade" goodness.  I'm a big fan of chocolate-covered pretzels.  I've never made them so I was pleasantly surprised at how simple they were to put together.  It probably would have been easier if I wasn't talking on the phone at the same time, but catching up with a friend (love you, Abbey!) was definitely worth the stiff neck I got while dipping, spreading, and sprinkling.

I'm thankful that only a handful of these are left in the house - as is my waistline.

Celebrating the Fourth

SUPER THANKFUL FOR

hamburgers  ~  corn on the cob  ~  hot dogs  ~  cornhole

fireworks  ~  ice cream  ~  friends  ~  family

our military  ~  and our country

 The night before the 4th, our family enjoyed a night together at Busch Gardens.  Bill and Espy rode Verbolten, and Isabella rode Le Scoot Log Flume for the first time.  She wasn't a fan of the big

Red White and Blue

Happy Fourth of July to you and yours -

have fun celebrating!!

Go-den Egg

Easter 2011

Jesus is alive...

so let's party all weekend long!

First, let's have all our family over and eat lots of food like:

macaroni salad
ham

cauliflower salad

mashed potatoes

Undeserving

Photo Source: D Sharon Pruitt
...the same power that conquered the grave lives in me...
So thankful.

Valentine's Day

How adorable is this couple?

Happy Valentine's Day!