Jazz Scat

I have to post this. Jamie loves being a part of the Jazz band. It is the highlight of his day at school. The band sounds wonderful. If you just heard them without seeing them you would never guess it was a handful of 9th graders. They have performed at concerts, pep rallys and some games. This is from a recent basketball game. Jamie and his friend Johnson wore suits and sunglasses to the game. They did a scat together during one of the songs. It is sort of like a small solo by an instrument but it is with the voice. It is very entertaining. The kids love it. I was totally shocked Jamie wanted to step up and do this. He sounded good. It was very cool and I am proud.

Valentine's Day

All of the traditional gifts for the ones you love.

Flowers beautiful and fragrant.

Cards carefully chosen. We love Snoopy.


Warm chocolate treats.

Romantic music provided by Black Sabbath.


I think that's pretty funny. Not pictured is a sweet little heart necklace for Sarah. Jamie was quite pleased with his CD. My flowers still smell wonderful. We went to church and listened to a fabulous sermon preached by Mark Henry on love. I am sooooo thankful for my family. Love is all around this house and it makes it a very happy place to be.

Church update- Build it and they will come. Seriously. We are having to expand the parking lot because there are no empty spots left. I show visitors around each week. The second service attendance has almost doubled. Wow. We should have built that building long ago.

First Place 4 Health update- I have lost about one pound a week. Except for this week. Snow and chocolate did not help. The change is really all due to journaling every bite. Writing it down and knowing you have to get on that scale weekly makes you serious.

ALC Olympics

The Alternative Learning Center hosted a Special Olympics event in their gym. Competitors young and old played in a ping pong tournament. They traveled from all over central Arkansas The students were so excited to be hosting the event. They organized the groups and completely ran the event. It was fun to watch and to photograph. I dodged ping pong balls and looked for good shots. ALC students did not actually compete. They are very good and practice daily. They follow the rules and take the game seriously. They keep score like a hawk. They lose patience with me quickly when I try to play. The competitors were happy to be there and smiled happily for the camera. Winners proudly wore their ribbons. The whole event was declared a success and plans are already being made for next year.

Snow

Look out Jamie! Sarah is paying him back and then some.

Sarah is holding the hand of the snowman. Unfortunately we only get the back view. I'm not walking out in that stuff.

Jamie playing outside is always a camera worthy event.

Keeping his Coke cold. Priorities in life are necessary.

In some of the pictures you can see the detail of her retainer. Oh my.

Ice cream anyone?


The phone rang at 5:45 this morning. My first thought is someone must be sick. No, Benton Public Schools are closed. Closed? Apparently it snowed last night. I had no idea it was going to snow. I don't think the weather men did either. Maybe I was too caught up in the super bowl last night. We actually got snow, not sleet or freezing rain. Fluff,y flaky, beautiful drifting snow. It was snowing so hard at times I could barely see the kids playing. Kids and dogs frolicked. Mike stressed about his flight. He ended up staying home. I cleaned out kitchen cabinets and took lots of pictures. Divine providence led me to the grocery store yesterday. Thank you God!

Sarah and Cloe opened up an ice cream shop. They opened the back dormer window for full access to the snow. All of the dolls and animals were served fresh snow. I have no idea how much the girls consumed today. This activity provided hours of entertainment and fun. Just don't lean so far out of that window. As Hannah Montana would say it was the best of both worlds. Playing in the snow inside a warm house.

Father Daughter Banquet

Beautiful little girls.
Teens and younger.

Yummy snacks.

Waiting to dance and smiling for mommy.

The girls having a wonderful time.

Daddy helps daughter make a Valentine's day card.

Some girls enjoyed the dancing more than others. by the time we left the dance floor was full.

Daddy's at the craft table.


Card creations with lots of glue.

Father and daughter together.

So sweet.


Shall we dance?

Once again this year our church hosted a dance at a local school. It is sort of a community service. It is absolutely awesome. The dad's bring in the precious little girls all dressed for the ball. Each girl receives a tiara and is officially announced as they enter. The girls are just beaming. The music is young and fun. Food, crafts and prizes complete the event. I get to be the fly on the wall with a camera. I try very hard to take candid shots and not interfere too much. The dad's are so awesome. They dance with their babies and treat them like queens. We take pictures of the couples and send them home with a copy. This event is a lot of work and worth every minute.

Sarah's favorite part of the evening was dancing with her dad. She picked out her red dress. Mommy picked out the matching red tie. They made a lovely pair.

OMG She is Beautitul!

Forgive this indulgent post. It focuses solely on two of my favorite things. My favorite hobby and my favorite model. Sarah is dressed and ready for the father daughter banquet at our church. I kept telling her how gorgeous she was. Maybe she will get tired of hearing it. Maybe she will have a strong self image. Not only is she pretty. She is smart, kind, energetic, creative and full of life. I tell her that too. Pray for me that I will be the mother she needs. Please pray for her that she will follow God's will for her life.

Sleet

The kids finally hit the jackpot today. About a half inch of sleet fell and it was declared a snow day. The weathermen threatened it could happen all week. We have learned no to trust them too much. I was scheduled to work at ALC today. Benton Public Schools played the game "How late can we wait to cancel school?" I was dressed and ready to go by the time I received a phone call to cancel. That is soooo not fair. I took advantage of the day off to read almost the entire day. I did squeeze in some laundry so I don't have to feel too guilty. It is amazing how little ice it takes to drag the bushes and small trees down to the ground. Sarah invited a friend over. Clearly unconcerned if she could make it back home or not. They are currently playing with her dishes cooking and serving the sleet.

All is well here. Mike was scheduled to work in Oklahoma this week. Weather and other issues canceled the trip. He is thrilled to be home and not worrying about the roads. He is reading almost the entire Ted Dekker series. Travel has definitely made him more of a reader. We are both drooling over the new iPad. The Amazon Kindle is tempting but Apple will crush that easily.

Sarah has me hooked on a new cd. Owl City is the name of the group and Ocean Eyes is the album. It's happy, happy music. We are both addicted.