Easter 2017

      We started our Easter Celebrations with school egg hunts. Rylee Love had her class egg hunt Wednesday. She unfortunately caught the stomach bug and had to leave school shortly after her egg hunt, but at least she got to have fun and hunt eggs with her friends before it hit.

     Payton Joy's class party was Thursday and she had a blast hunting eggs with her friends and then eating treats with her class.

     Saturday morning, we went to the Resurrection Celebration at Mary's Chapel. We have so much fun there every year. The kids ate, participated in crafts, then went outside to hunt eggs. Rylee still wasn't feeling 100%, but she still had a lot of fun.

     Saturday afternoon, we headed over to Liz and Brandon's for our annual cousin Easter Egg hunt. The kids had so much fun playing together and hunting eggs. Rylee seemed to be back to herself and having a blast.

    After a while, Aunt Liz started riding the kids around on Kaden's fourwheeler. After Levi got tired of it, she needed to get off, so Ryan took over. Then he got off and left Kaden and Rylee to ride alone. Liz had the kill switch in her hand, and we were all outside watching them, so we thought it would be fine. Then Kaden accidentally misjudged how fast he was going and tried to make a sharp turn and the fourwheeler flipped, throwing Rylee off and pinning Kaden underneath. Thank the lord, neither one of them was badly hurt, but it was definitely a very scary moment. Liz saw it happening and pressed the kill switch, but for some reason it didn't work. We are all just glad they are both okay.

     Today is Easter! We started the day by going to church of course! It was a beautiful service. We had a special music production that was very powerful. Then Bro. Ryan preached his Easter sermon. I can never grow tired of hearing the message of Christ's unfailing love for us. It is so amazing.

     After church, we headed to Nonna and Granddaddy's for Easter lunch with the family. It was so precious to have all the kids together and in matching t-shirts. We sure have some cute kids! ;)

     The kids had so much fun playing together and Jeff taught them how to squirt each other with water bottles. They were all soaked and having a blast! The kids played and played for hours.

    Towards the end of the day, Ryan got the fourwheeler out, and we convinced Rylee to ride. It's so easy for her to develop deep anxieties after a traumatic event, and we didn't want her to be scared to ride. Luckily, she didn't resist, and she had a blast riding. We had a wonderful Easter with those we love!

Paw Paw's Birthday Celebration at Reelfoot Lake

     Yesterday was Paw Paw's birthday, so we celebrated today after church by heading down to Reelfoot Lake. We ate an absolutely delicious lunch at Boyette's and then walked over to the lake to check out the views. It was so beautiful. The girls were in awe.

     After we walked around by the lake for a while, we headed to check out the wildlife indoors. Rylee petted an owl and both girls loved looking at the different animals they had to see. It was a lot of fun.

    Family is such a precious gift. I'm so thankful for a day filled with fun and making memories with this amazing family. Happy birthday, Paw Paw! We love you so!

Light It Up Blue!

          April is Autism Awareness month, and April 2 is the official Light It Up Blue for Autism day!

     I made special t-shirts for me and the girls and a few other people who wanted one, too. I am so excited with how they turned out. I may be new to this Autism mom thing, but I know how important awareness and understanding are with this disorder.

      At church, my entire Sunday School class came in wearing blue!

     These 3 are Rylee Love's biggest fans! I sure do love them so! Kaden is starting to try to understand Autism and what that means, but his overall analysis was "I don't think Rylee is different. I like her!" Goodness, that boy knows how to melt my heart.

     After church, we headed to Olympic in Alamo to celebrate Ryan's birthday with his family. We were all in our blue!

    I also posted on social media asking our friends and family to send me pictures of themselves in blue so I could add them to this blog. I was overwhelmed with all the love and support we received. Thank you everyone who participated! I have posted this pictures below. There were so many more who wore blue, but didn't want to send in a picture, and I completely understand that. I am still so thankful for all the support in bringing awareness to autism! Happy Light It Up Blue day!

     Rylee Love, you are one very loved child. No matter what challenges you may face, always remember there are so many people in this world who are rooting for you and who believe in you. Kid, you can move mountains!

Spring Break 2017

    We started our Spring Break out right by heading straight to Liz and Brandon's house for a cousin play date Friday after school. Unfortunately, our Spring Breaks didn't line up this year, so theirs was ending just as ours was beginning, but we made the most of it. The kids played outside for hours and even got into the freezing cold sprinkler. After that they went inside to warm up with some Pizza and played soem more.

     Rylee stayed behind for a cousin sleepover and Payton Joy came home for some special mommy-and-me time. Rylee says Kaden will always be her best friend and I hope that's true. I so love the bond that these two share!

      Saturday we headed to Memphis to celebrate Ben's birthday! He got a day pass from Teen Challenge and we went to the Children's Museum. I don't know who had more fun, the adults or the kids, but it was a blast!

     Unfortunately, since she didn't sleep much at her sleepover and it had been a very stimulating day, Rylee had a pretty big meltdown as we were leaving the museum and heading to dinner. This meant I spent the first 20 minutes of dinner in the car with her, trying to calm her down. She eventually agreed to go into the restaurant, but only if I hid her under her silky so no one would look at her. She hid in my lap for another 10 or minutes, but eventually warmed back up and ate her food and was pretty much back to her happy little self. Autism is a tricky thing because once she melts down, it is so difficult for her to bounce back, but she continues to impress me with how well she copes and adjusts time after time.

    Monday we spent the day driving around, scoping out potential houses for sale and then we went to lunch and later to piano lessons. Tuesday, we spent the day at home as a family. Rylee Love cooked herself some grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch and the girls spent lots of time outside playing. Then when Ryan went to work, the girls helped me clean the house and we spent some time together watching cartoons.

     Wednesday, we had a girls' day and went to get hair cuts. The girls both did so well for their hair cuts and even behaved wonderfully while I had my hair cut and colored. I was very impressed with them.

   

    And I just love how my hair turned out. No more yellow hair! It's a beautiful shade of ash blonde! The girls thought I looked silly under the dryer, so they just had to take a pic. I sure do love time with my little princesses!

      Thursday was Ryan's birthday! We made him blueberry muffins for breakfast, then woke him up with presents in bed. He was happy to read the sweet cards both of the girls made him and he was very excited to get Zelda: Breath of the Wild and a new phone from me. We spent the day playing his new game together and making sure he was spoiled in every way. We sure do love him!

      Friday we went with our realtor to look inside some houses. This was our first official house hunting experience and it went pretty well. We are being pretty picky and are taking our time to find the perfect home for us, so we didn't find exactly what we're looking for yet. But it was good to see some houses and get some ideas of what we are looking for. The girls had a blast checking out the new houses and especially the yards. After we finished, we went for a family lunch at Pizza Hut. It was a really good day.

     Today we slept in late, and then spent the day together as a family. Ryan cooked dinner on the grill and we all ate way too much, but it was awesome. I love time with my little family. I am so thankful for this week to spend together. Now, only 8 more weeks of school until Summer Break! I can't wait, but I sure will miss my sweet class as they head on the kindergarten.