VBS at Foundry UMC

It's blog catch-up time, in case you were wondering!! ;)

I had the incredible privilege of getting to document this year's VBS at our church. This program is for kids who have completed kinder-5th grade. However, if you volunteer, then your preschoolers get to attend their own modified program.

Last year, I was a group leader for a bunch of adorable kindergartners, and I rotated through each section with them, but this year I had the BEST job! I got to see every single thing that went on, every rotation, every group, every story, every craft. I just floated from place to place like a fly on the wall. Wow, what an experience!

Children were led to Christ, personal stories were shared, relationships were solidified, people were inspired ... it was just incredible. I am so proud of my friend, Brigitte, who coordinated the whole thing, but also humbled and amazed by every single person who worked to make it all come together.

I took hundreds of pictures, but here are a few of my faves:

volunteers praying

God sightings (where kids wrote down all the ways they saw God's goodness)

my favorite (Laurel is my friend, Mel's, little girl)

praying over blankets they made for children in the hospital

This one had me crying. The kids had their "sin" wrapped around their arms. One by one, they removed their sin and placed it on the cross, giving it over to Jesus.

speaks for itself

music time

one of the many amazing Bible stories I saw

I was so blessed to have been a part of this incredible week!!

Dance Class

Avery is taking ballet and tap this summer and really loving it. Here are a couple of pictures from a few weeks ago.This was right after her birthday party, so of course she had to wear her new princess earrings! I love that she's so girly!

{P.S. These pictures look strange because I had to shoot with no flash through a one-way window.}

Avery's 5th Birthday

This was such a fun birthday! Avery had been anticipating it for at least the past 6 months. After changing her mind several times, she finally settled on the theme "Pinkalicious" after one of her favorite books (and her very favorite color, of course!) She also knew she for sure wanted to have her party at "the gymnastics place", so that's what we did!

It was a ton of fun, and she had a ball being the center of attention.

(That's her, being thrown way up high into the foam pit.)

Ella had lots of fun, too!

Happy birthday to you!



We had 17 kids there! The coaches were busy!

On the day of her actual birthday (the following Tuesday) we had an all-about-Avery day. Boy, did she know it and milk it! She would say, "Since it's my special day today, can I ______?" Of course, how could I say no to anything she asked for?

She spent the morning at our church's incredible VBS, then went to Studio Movie Grill to eat lunch and watch Charlotte's Web. That night, the four of us went bowling, followed by dinner at Chick-fil-A (her choice of course). I'm not sure why Ben and I even paid for shoes, because Avery bowled for all of us.

I LOVE these pictures we got! They totally capture the mood of the evening.

It's really hard for me to believe my baby is FIVE already!

Dancing Queens

Avery loves to sing, dance, and be silly, and Ella loves to do whatever Avery does.

Last night, Avery was getting her groove on, singing, "Shake your booty, shake your booty!"

Ella, wanting to be like Avery, got her own little groove on, singing, "Shake your boobie, shake your boobie!"

My Heart Melted Tonight

I have to write this while it's fresh on my mind:

After putting Ella down for the night and setting Avery up on the couch with a movie (Ben is out with friends), I jumped in the shower.

I was completely uninterrupted, which is a miracle. It wasn't until I got out that Avery came up to me and said:

"Mom, Ella was crying and crying. So I went into her room and she said, 'I want Mommy.' I told her that you were in the shower and she kept crying. So I asked her if she wanted me to lay down with her and she said, 'Uh huh.' She was so, so sad. So I got into her crib and rubbed her back and sang her You Are My Sunshine. I just kept rubbing her back and she stopped crying."

Oh, I wish you could have seen the look on her face! It was so incredibly sweet. It's a good thing you couldn't see the look on mine, because by this point I was all teary-eyed and emotional. Of course I gave her a huge hug and kiss, told her how proud I was, how proud God was of her, and what an incredibly wonderful big sister she is.

Avery has given us our fair share of challenges, but one thing we've never doubted is her childlike sweetness and loving heart. I LOVE it when that shines through!

Ella Turns Two!

Wow! April has been so busy, and I am very behind on blogging!

The highlight of this month was Ella's birthday on April 10th. Despite having grand plans for an outdoor party at a park, the weather didn't cooperate, so we moved everything at the last minute to our house. Ella seemed a bit overwhelmed with all of the activity at first, but eventually settled in and really enjoyed herself. I'll let the pictures tell the story.

sampling the cake

See the blue lips?

eating lunch with all of her friends

getting some love from Mimi

swinging with Pawpaw

rockin' her Kai Lan outfit

opening presents with an attentive audience

blowing out her candle all by herself

checking out the gifts

with a very proud Mommy and Daddy

It's so hard to believe our precious angel is two already! We have been so incredibly blessed with her in our lives, and she is just an amazing, wonderful little person.

Easter Weekend at Mimi and Pawpaw's

While Ben was in Georgia, the girls and I headed down to spend a fun couple of days in Lake Jackson.


The kids dyed Easter Eggs,







cooked hot dogs and s'mores in the backyard,



got visited by the Easter Bunny,






hunted for eggs (which was really fun this year with Ella knowing what to do ...







and Avery being so excited about the Easter Bunny),





jumped a ton on the trampoline,



spent time with Jeff and his girlfriend, Kristen,



and tried (and failed!) MANY times to get a good picture together.


Oh yeah, I was there, too, but the existence of mommy is never recorded!

My Sweet Girls!

I finally got the girls to let me get some pictures of them ... together!

Thanks, Mom, for the cute matching outfits!


(Oh, and if you're on FB, you've already seen these. Sorry!)

Ben's in the background making them laugh.

Ella is trying to pose like Avery. I love this one!

Big, long sisterly smooch