It's Game Day!

It's finally game day! 

Game day as in the BCS National Championship Game day! 

I am so proud of my tigers and how far they have come this football season.  What a year it has been for them!

Looking forward to watching them in action this evening!

Here's to keeping this crystal ball in our state for the 5th consecutive year!

War Eagle!!!!!

Recapping 2013 part 2

As promised, I am back to continue with the recapping of 2013. 

This time I am recapping April - June

Those three months proved to be just as busy as the months before.  Jack in baseball, Madeline in cheerleading/tumbling, me with danceline and subbing, and J still gone to school. 

APRIL

April started off with J getting another long weekend pass to be able to come for Easter

Jack continued on with playing on a travel ball team.  He (and I ) were having such a fun time.  There was some over night traveling involved and some long weekends but it was so very much fun.

Madeline continued in her tumbling class and on the competition cheer team.  The team she is on had another performance in April

And to round out the month, I went with some of my dear friends from high school to the Jimmy Buffett concert.  It was so much fun! 

MAY

May brought about another performance for the cheer team Madeline is on

We celebrated mothers day

J completed his class

May was the best of all because....at the end of it....daddy came home!

May also brought the end of the school year for the kids

And can you guess...Jack played some more baseball.  He even played in a wood bat tournament which was so cool!
Here's my boy playing catcher

 

 

Madeline had her end of season performance

whew... May was a busy month!

JUNE

June was a little more low key for us.  Travel ball had finished up and Madeline did not have any performances going on.  J was home and everything was just as it should be....except that he still did not have a job. 

When his previous job ended in December, we really did not stress too much (ok maybe a little) We knew that he would be gone to school and during that time would be getting a pay check. And we thought surely during that 6 months, he will find a job.  But he did not.  Sadly, he did not.  So June was a hard month not only because income was gone (for our single income family) we had no idea just how long that status would continue.  A lot of tears were shed by me in June and a lot of prayers were said too.  I will say that even though these difficulties were in front of us, I trusted in the plan that God had made for us.  I knew that He always had His best in mind for us, but sometimes in the midst of the storm it is hard to hold on that knowledge.  Sometimes, unfortunately, fear and worry can take its ugly toll on you. So I really tried to put my focus on trusting in His timetable.

During June, I had a dance camp at a friend's studio for the dance line I taught.  It was a fun, busy, productive week!

To celebrate us all surviving the week, we went out to dinner.  These girls are so silly but my absolute favorites!

During June we were able to honor J for Father's day...which also happened to land on our anniversary. 

Some dear friends of ours gave us tickets, parking pass, and meal vouchers to Six flags.  We surprised the kids with the trip.  We opened the park and closed it down.  It was a blast! 

We also celebrated J's birthday.  He requested a cookie cake - which I have never made before.  So I found a recipe on Pinterest, baked it up, and let Madeline decorate it. 

We enjoyed the month of June so much having J home with us and making up for lost time while he was gone.  J continued applying for jobs during the month.  At times it felt like a never ending process, but we continued trusting that God was going to open the right door for our family.

Alright, part 2 is complete.  Will return after the weekend for part 3. 

Recapping 2013 part 1

I was not very good at keeping up the blog in 2013. 

There were a multitude of reasons for not keeping up the blog like I had wanted to.  J was gone for a 6 month school which left me home alone with two very involved kids.  J had also lost his job so while he was at the school, I started subbing (nearly every day) so that I could contribute to our budget.  Even though J was actively applying for jobs and such, we had no idea just how long it was going to take for him to find employment again.  So between subbing and shuffling kids, I just did not have much time for the blog (or anything else for that matter). 

Another reason that I just did not keep the blog up like I had wanted to was because, honestly, I believe I was battling depression.  Even though I was keeping up with all my normal routines, looking back I see now that I was likely dealing with depression.  I have always treated this blog as a place for me to open up and share my true feelings, but last year I just could not bring myself to share those feelings.  I did not talk with anyone at all about the fears and worries that were constantly looming in my head.  Yes, I knew that God would take care of us, I knew that He heard my pleas and prayers, but I still struggled with the fears of what would happen to us.  It is hard even now that the storm is over to talk about it, but I know that it is important for me to share and so I am determined to do that.  I want to share how God has always been faithful to us even in those dark uncertain days. 

Over the next few days I am committed to updating the blog with a recap of the years events and sharing along the way some of those moments. 

So, here is a recap of January-March of 2013

JANUARY

The year started off with Jack playing basketball.  He had so much fun!  We loved watching him play and J was even able to catch a game before he had to leave for his school.

In January, Madeline got to have a yummy ice cream date with her precious teacher.  She enjoyed it so very much. 

Also in January was awards day at school.  Jack got an award for honor roll.

FEBRUARY


February continued to be a busy month for us as well.

Madeline joined a competition cheer team. The team had their first performance in February. 

Also in February, J was able to come home for a nice long weekend.
Here are the kids awaiting daddy to arrive at the airport"

Running to get daddy as soon as they spotted him:

During the weekend visit the kids and J had a silly string fight - how fun is that?

MARCH

March kicked off baseball season at our house.  Jack played on a travel ball team and he had so much fun.  We traveled to some great places.  It was so much fun "tail gating" and watching my boy play his favorite sport.

We got a small, very small amount of snow:

Madi and I spent an afternoon making crafts:

 

We had a strong wind and rain storm that swept through our area in March...the storm left us without power for several days, but we did not mind having dinner by candlelight:

Also in March, I took over as being the choreographer/sponsor for the local high school dance line.  I enjoyed my time with these girls so much!  Below is a picture of one the practice days leading up to the try outs.

Well, there is recap part 1...the first three months of  2013.  Back tomorrow with part 2 :)