field trip fun. {LilliAnn - First Grade}

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Today, I went with LilliAnn's first grade class on their fall field trip to Cornerstone Kid's Ranch and Pumpkin Patch in Ada. The weather was beautiful, and it was the absolute best day getting to spend some time with my best girl! When we first arrived, we had a picnic lunch before heading down the hill to begin all of the activities.

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 This is LilliAnn and one of her best friends, Bella. They are in the same class this year and love playing together on the playground every day!

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 Lil loved the diamond dig, and she even found three "diamonds!"

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 As I was going through these pictures tonight, I noticed how old she is looking lately. Two front teeth missing, hair getting thicker, baby face thinning out, legs getting longer and more lanky…she's looking like a little girl instead of my baby girl!

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 The barn cat had just had kittens, so of course the girls wanted to hold one…even though I am allergic!

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 Mrs. Cornelison's First Grade Class

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my pumpkin pie

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 I think they could pass for sisters!

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 I love her so much! I don't want her to keep getting big!

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 She loved picking out the perfect pumpkin! And then when we got home, her and Reid painted faces on them! Lil had a meltdown because Reid was copying her pumpkin art, but despite the tears, the pumpkins turned out pretty cute!

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 LilliAnn's absolute favorite part of the entire day was the petting zoo!

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 She held these baby chickens several times, and she would get so excited when they would try to fly out of her hands!

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 She said this picture was for Rushy!

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 She wanted a picture with every animal.

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 And I'm allergic to horses too, but we love them so much! 

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Then it was back to the chickens!

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 She ended the day with her very favorite…the swing. I love this sweet girl so very much. She is everything that I ever dreamed of and I sure to love being her mama.

this girl.

I love her missing teeth, and the freckles on her nose. I love her silly laugh and her pretty princess pose. She's not always the most graceful, but she loves to dance and twirl.  She's everything I dreamed of...thank you God for giving me this girl. 💕🎀 #mygirl #andaspidermanphotobomb 

 

Thanking God for the fleas.

As I sit here this evening after a not so easy day, I am humbling myself before God in a prayer of overwhelming gratefulness. Sick kids for two weeks, feeling like I'm getting sick myself, several frustrating ordeals, and then ending my night with hitting the edge of a tin horn and busting my tire, caused a little emotional breakdown. Thankfully, Karen McKenzie Cook came to my rescue. Even as an adult, having a mother who is so grounded in a foundation of Christ and so gentle in spirit is one of my biggest comforts.
I find myself frequently frustrated with LilliAnn because she lacks my boldness and confidence, and because she's more quiet than I sometimes want her to be. Other times I look at all of the many ways she is like my mother and I praise God for his perfect creation...a daughter of the King created in His image to guide and raise to the best of my ability. And I am brought to tears.
My mom has told me this story before, but as I sat in my front seat crying of frustration and exhaustion, she reminded me once again of a beautiful story of how God can work for good in all situations.
Corrie Ten Boom, and her sister Betsie, were Christians, and were put in prison by the Nazis for hiding Jews in their home. Betsie once thanked God for the terrible fleas that had infested the prison, and her sister was outraged. She urged Corrie to give God thanks in all circumstances, but Corrie refused saying she just could not be grateful for fleas!
The girls in the cell gathered every night to read the Bible together, their only glimmer of hope and happiness each day. They could get severely punished or put to death if they were caught, but for some reason the guards stopped coming inside their cell every night and just looked through the door. Come to find out, the reason the guards did not enter was because they did not want to get fleas. Mom reminded me to be thankful even for the "fleas" because they may be part of God's perfect plan for your life. What we see as hard times, bad days, frustrations, or tough situations, could be God's way of protecting us or leading us closer to Him.
I know not everyone has a close relationship with their mother, and I know some of you have lost your mothers way too soon, but my prayer is that you find someone like this...your comfort, your rock, someone that loves you unconditionally and always leads you to His precious Word...a close friend, a sister, a grandmother, or someone in your church.
Thank you, Jesus, for this wonderful life you have given each of us...even when we have "fleas."

Reid's 8th Birthday. {get the bait, Reid is eight}

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For Reid's birthday this year, he wanted to have an all boys sleepover at the lake house. I thought this was a great idea, because I had already thought of a super cute birthday theme: "Get the Bait, Reid is 8!" Reid's absolute favorite thing to do is to fish, so this was the perfect party for him! A lady in OKC that I have used the past few years for our birthday cakes made the cake for us and it turned out amazing! I could not believe how real the bass looked! Reid (as well as the other boys) were super impressed! And it tasted great too!

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 I picked up nine boys from Grove after school on the Friday of his birthday, and then Jett and Grayson met us out at the lake later on that evening. The boys jumped on the trampoline, played football, played on the swing set, went fishing, went tubing, explored in the woods, made a campfire, and stayed up late watching movies. It was the ultimate boy birthday! 

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 He has really gotten a lot taller this year, and is actually taller than his cousin Jett at this point!

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 I had to get several pictures of the cake because it was so cute!

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 She also made some fishing themed sugar cookies as well!

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 The boys had a blast sticking the candles into the back of the fish!

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 Grandma Lucy made chocolate cupcakes and I put bobbers on the top of them! I was so proud with how the whole fishing theme turned out!

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Trying to get eight year-old boys to take a serious picture was nearly impossible! 

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Classic 8 Year Olds = Perfection!

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Jeb and I didn't get much sleep, but it was definitely a birthday party for the memory books! Hopefully the kids will take a break for a few years before they have any more birthday sleepovers!