Happy Birthday, McKenzie!

Today is McKenzie's 15th birthday!  She will soon be taking her driving test and learning to drive.  Yes, we are all getting old!

We celebrated her birthday with a weekend trip to Birmingham and had a great time with her!  She is a nut and is a lot of fun to be around!  So, Happy Birthday McKenzie!  Enjoy your video!

Matt's Birthday Trip

During the kids' spring break week, we took a couple of days and went to Memphis to celebrate Matt's 10th birthday a little early. He wanted to go to a Grizzlies basketball game for his gift. We had a great time! We ate an early supper at The Side Porch, then on to the game. We stayed downtown, so it was nice just to walk to our hotel after the game. The next morning we walked to Miss Polly's on Beale St. for a great breakfast. Here are a few pictures from our trip and yes our kids love food just like me and David!!

Happy Birthday, Matt!

Today is Matt's 10th birthday!  We can't believe he is in double digits!  He is growing up too fast!  Here is his birthday video.  We hope you have a great day, Matt!

Easter eggs

I love how McKenzie and Matt's Easter eggs turned out this year. Old Tyme Commissary did a great job as usual. I chose a Visions singer bunny for McKenzie since that has been a big part of her life this year. Matt's is a golfer bunny showing his time on the Coca Cola Jr. Tour this past summer. My favorite Easter decoration is my Peter's bowl full of all of their eggs from each year!

Visions finished up a great competition season last weekend in Hattiesburg. They received 1st runner up at the Magnolia Show Choir Invitational.  They made history in that this was the best competition season they have ever had! The placements and caption awards were the best Visions has ever done. We are so proud of this group because they had obstacles to overcome.  Jenni, their director decided to move up into large group division this year, so that meant adding more new members. Half of our group was made up of freshmen. They had a lot of work to do but gave 100% and did their best. Our seniors led this group well and showed them what hard work is all about. We have enjoyed our time traveling and watching the competitions. Can't wait to see what next year holds for this talented group. So thankful for the many lessons McKenzie has learned being a part of Visions this year.  David was helping backstage with the set at the last one so he was able to take quick video of McKenzie during the song "Enter Sandman".

Catching up

Beware this is a long post!  It's hard to believe spring is right around the corner. We have been busy with Visions show choir competitions, Upward basketball and science fair. Matt has enjoyed his basketball season so much. We had a good little team with some great boys. David was the coach  of our team, the Heat. Here is a short little video clip I took of Matt playing one Friday night.

Team picture with Coach David at the closing ceremonies. 

I have to say that David is one awesome coach! He teaches not only the skills needed to play the game but about God. These boys also learn sportsmanship. So thankful for Upward and what it means to Matt.

We always ended up at McAlisters for nachos after the game!

Matt recently entered the GUES science fair last week and received 5th place for his project...Are your Chips Greasy? It was a really interesting project. We now know what chips we don't need to eat! Here he is after the awards ceremony.

Matt also was awarded Principal's Breakfast for his class this month. It is given to students with good behavior and grades. He got to have breakfast with the principals and received his certificate and a pin to wear.

The winter months is the time for show choir  competitions and Grenada Visions has already competed in two in Jackson and we have two more in Hattiesburg. They are doing great and we have had fun going to the competitions. We have 40 singers and dancers, a band and crew. McKenzie is loving every minute. It's a lot of hard work for the kids but worth it when they get to perform on stage for an audience and judges. The theme of the show is Forever Falling inspired by the Tower of Terror ride at Disney World. It is an awesome show and the audience always seems to love it. This is usually our view...

This is the cute button David and I get to wear at the competitions. All the parents wear one to support their favorite Visions member.

I wanted to show one last thing that I made for McKenzie for Valentine's day gift.  She made one for her best friend's birthday back in January and had wished someone would make her one,  so I did!

You take a mason jar, paint glue on the inside and then sprinkle glitter in the jar. I found bible verses and inspiring quotes that would be good for a teenage girl and wrote them on popsicle  sticks. Next, I placed the sticks in the jar after the glue dried. Each morning she picks a stick out to read for the day. I thought it turned out so cute. And what a great way to encourage someone.