Glad I Saw You!

Yesterday, I took a group of first and second graders to the McWane Science Center and Oak Mountain Lanes in Birmingham. We had the best time doing all of the hands on stuff and bowling our arms about fell off. My cousin, Sarah, lives in Helena, which is right outside of Birmingham, and she met us at the bowling alley. I enjoyed getting to catch up with her!

How Cute!

I was cleaning up some files on my computer today, and I found this picture of Ritchie and Kelly's little girl! Isn't she adorable??

A "Must See!"

On Saturday night, a couple of friends and I went to see Mamma Mia. Talk about a great movie...it was everything I hoped it would be and more. Meryl Streep was AMAZING and she could even sing too. Go figure! The whole movie was an absolute "hoot" and the cast looked like they had the best time working together. If you like singing and dancing, you'll LOVE this movie. Go to the theater now! It's worth every penny!

K.I.C.K. Goes to a MS Braves Game!!

Last night, I took a group of 30 to a MS Braves Game in Pearl. We pigged out on the BEST ballpark food, had great seats and even got to see a wonderful fireworks show. I have taken the kids for the past three summers and they keep wanting to go back!! After several attempts, we managed to get a decent picture.

(L to R: Leland, Seth, me, Ethan)

...And the Friday Night Fireworks...

Look Who I Ran Into to...

I was at the office finishing up some work this morning and when I left, I ran into The Long children...each dressed as a superhero for a birthday party they were going to!!

How cute are they?!

A Night with the Girls...

Last night, I had the chance to have dinner with some of the girls I graduated with. We had so much fun catching up, talking about their new jobs and ideas for decorating their very first classroom. I couldn't help but become just a little jealous because I won't have a classroom to call my own since I'll be in Seminary. However, listening to them talk about not having a desk or a place to keep their personal stuff and having to attend workshops, spend their weekends making lesson plans, etc. didn't make me regret my decision one bit! Haley, Lindsey and Amber: you three girls will be FABULOUS teachers. I cannot wait to hear about the wonderful things going on in your classroom. I'll definitely be stopping by to see how adorable your rooms will be!! See you again soon!!

(Left to Right: Haley, Amber, me, Lindsey)

15 down, 9 more to go!!

Yes...I'm still painting. I'm almost finished!! Yippee!! Here is a quick glimpse at a few of them so far!!

A Weekend Full of Fun!

For the few of you who read my blog, you know that I am now in the process of painting canvases for Mississippi's Jr. Miss next week. I spend my Friday evening in Hattiesburg, searching tirelessly for enough canvases to make this deal work. When I need art supplies, I flock to the nearest Hobby Lobby (my all time favorite art supply and home decor store). I also had the chance to have dinner at Chesterfield's. I haven't eaten there since we lost our restaurant in Meridian. It was delicious.

Saturday morning I found myself painting away. As of now, I have finished 11 of the 24 canvases...almost halfway there :) After a busy morning, McLain and Anna Kate joined me for an afternoon at the pool and I was able to catch up with an old high school friend of mine. My absolute favorite part of the weekend was being able to have dinner with one of my best friends!! Lauren Herrington, you are absolutely amazing in so many ways. I am so glad that God sent your family to our church several years ago. We are inseparable and I love you so much!! I enjoyed our time together more than you know.

(Pictured Below: McLain, me and Anna Kate at the pool)

(Left to Right: Lauren Herrington, me, Lauren Denham at the HBC Thanksgiving Harvest Meal in 2007)

Happy Birthday, Kelly Hall!!

I hope you have a wonderful day!! Celebrate big and tell Rictchie and Mia Katheryn I said "hello!"

A New Adventure

A while back, I started developing a hobby for painting canvases. I would give them as gifts and people started asking me to paint things for money. I really did enjoy painting...it was pretty much a stress reliever!! However, I entered the world of my junior and senior year in college and could barely keep my head above water trying to student teach, work, stay involved in church, carry on a social life, try to be a responsible adult and make time to paint. I painted a baby canvas last week for a friends sister-in-law and decided to put the hobby away. It was too time consuming. Well, that's what I decided last week until I received a phone call from a local florist yesterday that wanted to hire me to paint picture canvases for them to sell for Mississippi's Junior Miss gifts. I couldn't turn down the offer. So, after my exhausting day with the kids in Gulfport, I ran home and got the paint and brushes out and began painting away. What do you think??

Lynn Meadows Discovery Center

Today I took the FBC kids to the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center in Gulport!! AMAZING!! This was such a fun trip. I read about it in an add in Mississippi Magazine back in April and booked a trip immediately. This is a hands-on children's museum where the children can play in a grocery store, dress up and have tea parties, perform a news broadcast, play basketball in wheelchairs and much, much more!! Listen up teachers, if you need a field trip for your class, then this is the place to go. We came back up through Hattiesburg and visited the zoo. That was a cute little place too!!

Hannah, Anne Tyler, Anna Kate, Me and Rachel before the "tea party"

Anna Kate and McLain

Centri-Kid 2008

I took a group of 4th-6th graders to Centri-Kid this past weekend at the Shocco Springs Baptist Conference Center in Talladega, AL. This was our first experience at camp and it definitely won't be our last. It was truly amazing to see God at work in so many lives. We joined together with 350 other campers each night for amazing worship and the kids all were able to get out of their comfort zones and study His word with other children they didn't even know. I was nervous about taking the kids at first becuase I didn't know if they would like camp or not. However, on our ride home, they couldn't quit talking about what a great time they had. They all want to go back next year, except they want to stay longer and go further away.

Our Centri-Kid Campers!!