Mommy/Son Date at Phil Wickham Concert

 Last night Jake and I went on a date...to see Phil Wickham.

Backtrack a year ago. Jon and I had gone to a concert at our church where we had Shane & Shane, Bethany Dillon and Phil Wickham. I was eager to go since I have loved Bethany Dillon since she began her career. Jon came along too...his long time friend was playing drums for Shane and Shane. We, honestly, had never heard of Phil Wickham...until that night. All artists were guitar players and pretty much played just them and their guitars. I LOVE that! But it wasn't until Phil Wickham took the stage that we sat in awe. He was intense! From his singing to his guitar playing...amazing!!! And his vocal range...wow! He sang the song, "The Little Drummer Boy" that just blew us away! The way he played his guitar made it sound like a drum. I can't explain it, but it was awesome! You just have to hear his live version (CD version has more instruments).  After that, Jon and I swore that if he ever came back to the DFW area we had to take Jake. He loves the song "The Little Drummer Boy". And so, when we saw that he was coming to the area at a local church we jumped at the chance to take Jake. We were all going to go but after Jon won 2 tickets he thought it'd be a good idea for just Jake and I to go on a date...on a school night. What a treat for Jake! So here are some pictures of our fun date night! (The best one yet-his words!)



Dressed and ready to go!



Phil Wickham singing "The Little Drummer Boy"



Phil signing a CD for Jake (if you know Jake then you know that he spelled out his name for Phil-
Jakob with a "k")
Phil also told Jake that he liked his shirt...big grin from Jake!

Jake and Phil Wickham!

Just wanted to share...

Jon and I are food lovers (him more than me but I'm getting there). We are also very interested in eating healthy as well as teaching our kids how to eat healthy foods and make healthy food choices. While browsing at one of my friend's facebook page I came across a link to a food site that sounded interesting.
It was called Raising Healthy Eaters. I glanced through it (finally) last night and came across some other sites that I am excited to read further. They were all about teaching your kids how to eat healthy and getting them involved in the process. So, I just wanted to share some sites that I found in case you're like us and truly want to raise healthy eaters!
Raise Healthy Eaters Great ideas and this site got me on the hunt for these other sites!!
Super Healthy Kids I've already used a recipe from this site! Jake actually made it and he had so much fun making it (yogurt dip). Such great ideas and she's a runner too! :)
Foodie-isms Such fun ideas for packing kids lunches! I am going to have so much fun making healthy lunches for Jake! If you have kids in school (or home schoolers too-I can think of many teaching tips for these meals!) there is a section titled "Lunchbox love series" with great lunch ideas!
Can you tell I'm excited! ;)
I hope this spurs you on to incorporate healthy foods into your eating lifestyles. :)
Have fun and happy cooking/baking/eating!

First Grade

Wow! I can hardly believe that the first day of school is upon us! Jake did great! I can't believe that he is a first grader. It's such a big deal for us because last year he was in half day kinder. If you were to ask him over the summer if he was looking forward to first grade he'd say yes, but not the 7 hour day! He was spoiled having only a 3 hour day last year and being able to come home and eat lunch with the family (yes, the entire family since Jon would come home for lunch) and have the rest of the day "off".
Now that's all changed! He is gone all day long and it is pretty quiet as I type this! :)
If there is one thing that I like about the school year it's the routine. Getting up at a certain time for me and the kids, eating breakfast together and then hopping in the car, doing our school prayers and heading off to school. I really love praying for Jake and his school. It's that one last chance to remind him to pray about his day. Sometimes he'll lead the prayer (that boy can pray too!) or I'll lead. Such a sweet time!

Here are a few pictures of the morning...and yes, I cried!

Heading to class

(with Abby leading the way)

At his table

Ready for work
(yes that is Abby wanting to color too!)

My big first grader!

Daddy & his big boy
(The card he is holding in this picture and the previous one is for his teacher. We started a tradition last year where we write a letter to his teacher and let her know we are praying for her throughout the year.)

One proud little sister

Meet the Teacher

Tonight we had meet the teacher at Jake's school. We had been anticipating this night for awhile and eagerly awaiting who would be Jake's first grade teacher. We got a postcard this week from his teacher and we quickly looked her up in his yearbook. We couldn't find her and thought she was new. (We later found that she had taught second grade last year.) Jake was pretty excited to meet her. He said that she must be a pretty great teacher (before he met her he said this).
As we walked to his classroom we saw one of his former classmates next to the room and we were excited to know that they would be in the same class together again. We walked in and were greeted to a sweet young woman, Mrs. Pinkerton. We walked around while she visited with other parents and we got to know a little about her with some pictures she had on her board. It just so happens that she has a Jake and an Abby as well as another girl. We got to visit with her a while and just felt really happy about his teacher and his class.
It's going to be a fun year for him, I just know it. For me, it will be a real transition. As simple as it seems I have eaten lunch with him for the past 6 1/2 years! Yes, I know I can eat lunch with him at school but I also want to start slowly loosening those apron strings. He's growing up and I need to let him. What an exciting time for him! I can't wait to hear about his days at school over our special snack time when he comes home!

Jake & Mrs. Pinkerton

Abby's First Dance Class

Today was Abby's first day of dance class. We enrolled her in a combination tap, ballet, and tumbling class. She has always loved to dance even when she was a baby. She and daddy would do their own little dances together. Now that she is two, we decided to see if she really enjoyed it as much as we thought...and she did. (This girl already owns 3 tutus and LOVES to twirl!!!)
There are 4 girls in her class and one dance teacher. Great ratio! And it is a Christian studio! Love that! Here is a picture I took before and snapped a few as she walked in!

Abby in her dance clothes

Abby in her class
And she's off!

And before I forget...

And here we finish out the rest of the month of May and the beginning of June (the end of the school year). This one is all about Jake! Love that boy and sooooo proud of him. It was a year of firsts for him-going to school, being away from mommy for an extended period of time, making new friends, learning to read, and so on. He loved the challenges of school. He always came home telling us what he learned. He even taught us a few new things! One big challenge was that he was to read about 60 books for Reading Olympics. I say 60 because you could read a certain number of books to receive a medal. Well Jake didn't want to settle for anything less than a gold medal! So we took on the challenge to read 60 books throughout the year. They had to be from certain categories such as animal antics, nursery rhymes, tall tales and more. Yes, we covered the whole list! So these first pictures are from the awards ceremony.
The second group of pictures are from his graduation. It was a cute program where they sang songs, the teachers read poems and the kids received their diplomas! Still can't believe that our little boy will be in first grade...all day!

Jake w/Ms. Freeman, the librarian

(We LOVE this woman! She greeted the kids every morning with a smile as the entered the school and she was so good with our kids...both! She LOVED Abby! She was truly a blessing to our family and is to that school!)

Jake w/his gold medal!

Jake w/his teacher, Mrs. Bryant
(We LOVED her too! Couldn't have asked for a better Kinder teacher to start off Jake's school experience. Seriously thinking about sticking around our neighborhood a little longer so that Abby can have her too. They'd both love that!)

The family with our little graduate!

We're so proud of him!

My Husband the Cyclist

Around Christmas time we bought Jon the gear to begin his next endeavor-a triathlon. This had been something that he had been talking about for some time and so we finally went out and bought him his first bicycle for training...and helmet...and shoes...and clothes...etc, etc, etc. This sport scared me for some reason. Maybe it was because I had heard of people getting hit by cars. One of my running coaches was hit while cycling! Yes, I know runners get hit too. It just seems worse because cyclists have to share the road...runners sometimes have a sidewalk or the grass. So we agreed to finally buy our RoadIDs and go about our cycling/running. For the most part Jon was doing fine. He found a few paths that he felt safe on. Every weekend morning as he'd go out for a ride I pray as he took off. He did have one good fall about a month or so ago while riding with a friend, thankfully. He was fine...just a rite of passage or so I thought.
Yesterday, he went out after work and went to ride with a friend again. About the time I was getting the kids to calm down before bed he called me to say he was about to come home. He was going to hang out with his friend for a bit and then head home. He mentioned having a crash but the reception was so bad that I said we'll just talk about it when he got home. As the kids and I were about to begin to read in walks Jon...all beat up! Apparently, he was on an s-shaped turn going downhill when he lost control going about 25 mph. He flew over his bike and hit a fence. All I can say is thank God he was wearing a helmet!! (That's what the people at the bicycle shop said too!) Here are some pictures of what his helmet looked like as well as his body. Thankfully, I didn't freak out. I was pretty calm about the whole thing. Thank God!

Jon's helmet

(you can't see it but it is actually cracked)

Gotta get a new one but thankfully that is what cracked

Jon's face and shoulder got pretty beat up too

(his new name at work is "Crash Armstrong")

All this he wears as a badge of honor! His first real crash! God help me through this!

(And yes, dare I say, I have the itch to do a triathlon...a sprint for now.) That's how it goes with us. If she can do it, I can do it! (That's what Jon said after I did my marathon. And now I'm saying it...just no Iron Mans. I still have a lot of time to rethink it though! ;)