Sweet Sarah

Look what we got in the mail today!!  

The newest member of the James family surprised us all and arrived 6 weeks early! We are so thankful that she is home and is strong and healthy! We can hardly wait to meet you baby Sarah!!

Hello Gushing Geyser

We finally convinced Dan that it was time for the Gushing Geyser to be rescued from winter storage in the garage today. Oh, how we have missed you!

We Will Miss You Cournoyers!

Good buddies, Daniel, Jake & Joseph  

We are so sad that the Cournoyers are moving (but so excited for this opportunity for their family)!! We met them & the Filasiks today at Fox's pizza for the boys to have one last hoorah before their move. Thankfully, they are only going to Guntersville, so we will still get to visit with them often!

The Compton Clan's Annual Beach Trip

Another Compton Family beach trip is in the books and it was a blast! Daniel, Laura Ann & Kate lived up every minute together on the beach, in the pool & in the bay. The food was good & the weather was beautiful. It was a great visit and we are already looking forward to next year! THANK YOU GRAN & PAPA!!

Randoms from this week

Laura Ann has started eating her breakfast on this stool that Papaw made for us.  I used to eat my breakfast when I was little on one exactly like it that he made for me.  Flashback!!

Laura Ann picked our first squash this week!!  Woo Hoo!!



I so will NOT be missing these being in the laundry!!!!


8:00 a.m. and the driveway is in full swing!  Sweet Summer Time!!!

Daniel's Baseball Pics

Celebrating Summer AND a LOOSE TOOTH!

We went to Chuys for dinner tonight to celebrate the start of summer AND that Laura Ann has her first VERY loose tooth!!

Daniel's Last Day of First Grade

Daniel left this morning for his last day of 1st Grade!! The year has seriously flown by! He has had a fantastic year, mainly because he has had such a fantastic teacher. I will be forever grateful for Mrs. Johnson and the impact she has had in his life. She has been such a blessing! As great as this year has been, Daniel is pumped about summer and so am I. We are looking forward to lazy days and lots of outside fun!! Just a note: My little tough guy does have a sweet side. He runs down the sidewalk every morning, jumps in Dan's truck, immediately rolls down the window to wave & blow me kisses. He hangs out the window waving until they turn the curve up the street. It is the sweetest thing! Love him to pieces!

Meeting Anna Collins

We were so excited that the Karrs visited from West Virginia and we got to meet Anna Collins! She is a doll.....looks just like her mama! We are also excited that Aaron is looking at jobs in the B'ham area and that we may get to visit them more often!! :-)

Preschool Summer Celebration!

Laura Ann had some of her favorite friends over today to celebrate the start of summer. They had a picnic lunch, played in the sprinklers & ate popsicles. Such a fun group!

Growing, Growing, Growing!

Dan rearranged the stone pavers into a path and layed sod around them. So far, the garden is looking good!

Laura Ann's 4K Graduation

Well, I'm happy to report that after a very emotional day, I managed to pull myself together this evening for 4K graduation and didn't shed a single tear! It really was a happy time because Laura Ann was SO EXCITED and happy to be on stage performing & then get her certificate. She just beamed when she walked in and saw all of us sitting there. She even gave Daniel a high five when she passed by him. The program was precious and I savored every minute of hearing those precious little preschool voices. Laura Ann enjoyed all of the 'after' celebration too with her friends and the grandparents. She has had an absolutely wonderful preschool experience, and even if I'm not ready, I know that she IS ready for big school. We are so proud of you, Laura Ann, you are beyond precious and we know that you are going to do great in Kindergarten! So........gulp........Paine Primary.......look out.....here comes Laura Ann James!!

Laura Ann's Last Day of 4K

Laura Ann's last day of 4K was today and I made it fine until she got out of the car. I completely lost it at that point & cried most of time she was at school. I, for some crazy reason, thought I would be fine to walk in to pick her up and drop off some end of the year gifts in the office. Not so much! Our director, Mrs. Cynthia, isn't coming back next year & as soon as I walked in her office she said, "You tell my Daniel that I just packed up my Spiderman picture from him and it is still in it's frame (she framed it). I'm keeping it forever." (Daniel had a very special relationship with her since he went to the office LOTS of times in 3K! She somehow managed to give him lots & lots of love through all of that & he adores her! :-) Anyway, I had a major breakdown at that point and never quite pulled myself back together. Yep, it was the ugly cry in front of half the preschool. Geez! I am just heartbroken, not only that Laura Ann is going to big school, but that the preschool years in our family have come to close......and WAY too quickly!!! That said, I am so very thankful for the WEE Center......Mrs. Cynthia, and all of the teachers who have loved on my kids over the past 5 years. Daniel and Laura Ann have both left this program feeling so very loved and with a love for learning. They have both had such great preschool experiences. So blessed!

Oh, I should mention that Laura Ann didn't think there was a single sad thing about her last day of preschool.....she was all smiles all day!

The Appliance

Our busy week of big events rocked on today. Daniel had an orthodonist appointment and had his appliance put in. I've been really worried about how he would handle this, but he did great! He honestly was excited about getting it & thinks it is pretty cool. We have to tighten it every day with a special 'key' and Daniel can't eat any of his favorite junk foods for the next year or so until the appliance is taken out. I guess this is a great time to work on a healthy diet!

After we got home, he & Laura Ann played outside in the sprinklers. Daniel is having a water wars birthday party in a couple of weeks & I got a good shot of him with his water gun for the invitation.

So hoping his attitude stays good about all of his orthodontic work because it looks like he will have some sort of appliance, headgear, retainer and/or braces for the next several years. Bless him!

Our MVP

The Braves won their game last night by a big margin (we missed it because we were at Laura Ann's recital) and that put them in the final game of the end of the season tournament tonight.  The game didn't go so well.......the Braves were trailing most of the game.   For the first time this season, they found themselves in the last inning of the game down by 1 run, 9-10.   When it was time for my favorite player to bat, there were 2 outs, with runners on first & second.   Not to worry though, #4 just hit a line drive right down 1st base line to the fence that ended up being a homerun!!!  Not only did his hit save this game & win the tournament, but it also saved their undefeated season.  14-0!!  GO BRAVES!!!  What a way to finish!  Daniel was beyond thrilled to get the game ball & even told Papa on the phone to be watching ESPN....that he just may be on there! Ha! :-) There are some awesome players on this team and they have all worked so hard all season to earn this undefeated status. And the players are led by a group of dedicated coaches who have also worked very hard. Coach Jason told them tonight, "Individually we are all flawed, but together we have been perfect." It was definitely a team effort.
After videoing Laura Ann's recital last night, it occurred to me that I hadn't videoed Daniel playing baseball all season, so I brought the video camera tonight & got his hit on video. It may just be my favorite video yet.....love it all..... Laura Ann with her fingers in her ears, Nanna screaming, the look on his face after he crossed home plate, and most of all, Dan throwing him in the air. It was the sweetest moment for them.   And yes, they were both over the moon!

This season hasn't been without slumps & struggles for Daniel, which is what really made tonight so special.  He has grown so much and learned a lot about sportsmanship, hard work, not to give up when you aren't having your best game, the game of baseball itself, and life in general.  It is just really neat that in the first game of the season, he struck out all 4 bats and was convinced he shouldn't be on the team and in the last game of the season he went 4 for 4, finishing with a game winning homerun.   What a blessing and answer to prayers (improving in baseball has been on his prayer list for the past 2 months).

And, lastly, I want to say how thankful I am that Daniel has a Daddy who remembers on the field that he is dealing with 7 year old LITTLE boys who are NOT in the major league.  He has loved, encouraged & supported Daniel and his teammates throughout the season.  Great job Coach Dan!!!

Our Ballerina

 
Laura Ann's ballet recital was tonight and she did a great job.......was totally 'in her element' being on stage & dancing.  She was all business during the recital with her serious face.  She cracked us up because she kept those shoulders back!  She is supposed to keep her shoulders back, but she automatically sticks her belly out too......so funny!   She was pumped about getting flowers after she danced and was equally pumped that her bff from her class, Fallon, was there.

I convinced her to do a photo session with me after her recital & ended up getting the
whole dance again!

MOTHER'S DAY

My greatest blessings call me mom......... Love them both to pieces!!

Happy Birthday, Amelia!

Amelia had the cutest ice cream birthday party today at the Three Earred Rabbit. Laura Ann had a great time with some sweet friends!

Dog Daze 2012

We enjoyed another Friday night session of Dog Daze tonight. Lots of music, dancing, running & eating for our group. Love our town & our friends!!

Laura Ann & Kate dancing in the background.  Laura Ann is in the blue outfit & Kate has on a hot pink shirt.

Last Lunch with my 1st Grader!

It has been busy with Teacher Apprecion Week at Paine these last several days, but I couldn't have been happier to be so busy, because Daniel has the best teacher ever. I took the class to lunch on Friday while Mrs. Johnson went to a TAW luncheon & realized while I was sitting there that it was my last time to eat lunch at Paine with Daniel as a 1st grader. There's only 2 more weeks of school & parents are asked not to come in the lunchroom those 2 weeks. So, this is it! How sweet is that face? He's growing up SO FAST!

In Bloom

How happy am I that our hydrangeas are blooming this year? VERY happy! Not sure why, but they didn't bloom last year and I was so bummed! They are my most favorite flower & our backyard is full of them right now. So pretty! Daniel & Laura Ann were running around the backyard, so I snapped a few of them too.

Fun Day for 4K

Dan & I went to the WEE Center today for Laura Ann's 4K Fun Day. It was raining (as it has for every fun day since we've been at the WEE Center), so Fun Day had to move inside. The kids didn't seem to notice the move and had fun rotating through stations......free play in the gym, bubbles, dancing & face painting. They topped it off with Chickfila for lunch. I'm trying not to be sad that Laura Ann is winding down her time as a preschooler. One thing that gave me extra assurance today is that she opened everyone's ketchup at her table during lunch. That means she's totally ready for big school, right?

1st Grade Fieldtrip

Daniel & I had a great time on the 1st Grade fieldtrip to McWane today.  He has the best class this year.........a sweet teacher & such fun friends.   The mamas aren't bad either!  :-)

'God's Retecting You'

It came a really bad storm today while Laura Ann was in ballet and on the way home she was telling me that it scared her. We had the conversation about praying when we are scared to ask God for protection, and that we can always feel safe with Him. She immediately said, "Well, I think we should pray right now." So I told her to go ahead and pray.  She let me know that it was ok for me to keep my eyes open since I was driving & needed to see the road.  Ha!

A little background.....Laura Ann sings a lot of her 'prayers' and they are so sweet and innocent. She just makes them up as she goes.  Sometimes they are petitions, but most of the time, they are praise and thankfulness for all God is and has done.  I always tell her that I'm learning so much about prayer from her because I always pray for my needs and for me, but sometimes forget to just praise God.  Laura Ann never forgets the praise.  I've been trying for awhile to get them on video without her knowing & just haven't been able to pull it off, but I had my phone handy & turned on the recorder for this. Here it is.....

"Lightening and thunder, it's nothing to be scared of
lightening and thunder, it's ok
God's 'retecting' you, God's 'retecting' you
It's ok, because God's 'retecting' you
Amen."

Braves are #1

The Braves received their 1st place trophies today for going undefeated in the regular season at the TBA Awards Ceremony. Way to go BRAVES!! The season isn't completely over yet, though. The 'end of the season' tournament is next weekend. It will be interesting to see if the Braves can hold on to that undefeated record.....
.

Braves Last Game and Party

The Braves won their last regular season game today finishing with a 12-0 record. Wow! Daniel was excited to have lots of fans there today......Big Daddy, Nanna, Gran, Papa, Uncle Sam, Aunt Heather, and best of all, KATE! We all enjoyed watching our favorite center fielder play. After the game, it was time to celebrate a great season with the Braves and their families, and what better way to do it than a backyard barbque complete with waterslides?? The boys and all of their siblings had a ball!

Lunch at Paine

I had lunch with my favorite first grader today.

Daniel & Braden

Baseball Fans

Guess who came to see Daniel's game tonight?? Uncle Buster & Aunt Reta! He was thrilled!