Two

I feel joy, pure and simple every time I think of or am with both of our precious girls. I am proud of many things, but nothing takes the place of being a grandparent. Two years ago, we were blessed with sweet Lillan! It was love at first sight with this little one.  She is such a cutie!  She has changed so much in such a short time!  Lillian is fiercely independent, yet scared of loud noises and anything she is unsure of.  She has the cutest personality you could ever imagine, but she needs a little time to warm up to you!  She is quite bossy, but can melt your heart with her adorable smile and charming ways!  Even though she is so different from Maddie, I love the special bond they have already formed. Maddie and I have been trying to teach her to say that she's two this week.  However, she either says she's five or she says, "No, I a girl."  We're going to keep working on it!




Excuse the hospital cap, but Maddie was introducing me to sweet Lillian for the first time. (I mean  really - where do they come up with those hats??)

Leaving the hospital in the dress her mom and Maddie wore home.

It's so hard to remember her being this small!

She still gets lots of hugs from her big sister!

I just love her smile!!

Happy First Birthday!! 

She has always been Pop's girl!!

A few more of my favorites-

Happy Birthday Little Princess!! Even though her birthday isn't actually until Saturday, Nana likes to start celebrating early!!

Oh The Places She'll Go

Maddie recently graduated from 4 year old kindergarten.  How is that possible?  It seems like yesterday that we welcomed her into the world.  She introduced us to a whole new world that we had heard about, but couldn't grasp how beautiful and special it would really be!  I have loved every second of our journey as grandparents with her (and Lillian), and can't wait to see what the future has in store!! 

Jacob's Ladder is an awesome preschool!  It's provides a wonderful, loving Christian environment.  Her teacher, "Miss Ellen" simply can't be beat.   As a life long educator, it takes a lot to really impress me, but I have been deeply impressed by this school, and am so thankful our grandbabies will all get to benefit from it!

 The pictures are not the greatest!


What a precious group!!  Most are headed to different schools, but for at least a little while they were the  best of buddies!!

Not too sure about the tongue, but she sang her heart out!!

Each child told their name and where they wanted to go!  I heard Disney World, the beach, the dollar store, Chick-fil-A, etc.  When it was Maddie's turn, she said, "My name is Madelyn and I want to go to Nana and Pop's."  Be still my heart!!  (And her teacher has a daughter named Madelyn, so Maddie wanted to use her full name.)

This picture of Miss Ellen was taken from the big screen.  She is reaching in for Maddie's diploma.

Maddie has been very emotional about leaving Miss Ellen and her friends at Jacob's Ladder.  And while it will be a big change for her, she is also excited about big school and making new friends.



I can't wait to see what God has in store for this precious girl!!! 

The Win That Wasn't

The never ending TBall season took an unusual twist the other night.  Maddie's team won convincingly, but had to forfeit because they didn't have enough players..........I could devote a whole post to this, but won't!!  This loss placed them in the losers bracket, so they play again tomorrow night.  They should easily win this tournament, if the parents will get the players there.  It's been a looonnngggg season for everyone.

Somehow Little Bit found her way onto the field before the game started!  

Cutest things ever!!!!!

And the race is on!!

Best big sister ever!!

I did hear a few people saying something about not messing up the lines, but surely they weren't talking about these sweet things!!

She's becoming a professional at hanging at the park!!

Warming up!

A few game shots!  She has become interested in RBI's for some reason.  So for the record, she had two at this game.  She said she had 55 at her last game.  That was some ballgame!!

They are coming for eight days at the end of the week.  I can't wait.  There seems to be a rumor that they are not the precious angels we know and love when they return from our visits  Seems like I heard words like awful, out of routines, spoiled, get to do whatever they want, etc.  What???    I assured them both that we have very strict guidelines at Nana and Pop's house.  I don't think they believed me though!!!

It's That Time Again

Caleb has had a very busy year so far.  He recently finished his busy season (working 80-90 hours a week), and is ready for a little fun.  Other obligations have kept him busy, but he has managed to make it home for a couple of quick trips.  He and his dad love to get in a little fishing whenever possible.  They went for a quick trip one afternoon recently and had a little luck and lots of fun!

Bless his cute little heart!  He and several of his relatives made it out of the pond!

Lots of fun was had by both!



 Caleb has some very busy weekends coming up!  He moved Taylor home from Texas this weekend (yeah!), he has a bachelor party weekend for Jim coming up, and something else that I can't remember the next weekend.  We might just have to catch his fish for him this year!

Never Ending Season

We thought Tball was over about 2 weeks ago.  Then, we found out Maddie had to make up a game missed due to weather.  We thought it was over after that game.  But, the coach told the girls at the end of the game to be at practice at 5:30 on Wednesday (today).  Practice for what?  Well, that would be the tournament they have to play in.....AND, if they win the tournament, they are off to All-Stars!  Good grief!!! Make no mistake about it, Maddie is totally over Tball this year.  She makes it clear before each game that she is only playing for the trophy she knows is waiting if this season ever does end!!  At this point, it should be a great big trophy!!

This was a very spur of the minute trip that I am so glad we were able to make.  Josh was under the weather.  Lindsey was at the doctor with him, and wasn't sure she could make it to get Maddie to the dentist and then to the game on time.  So, Pop and I heading east.  We are always thrilled when we get to see these babies!!  And they were thrilled to see us!  It's always fun when we surprise them at school!

Lillian is the perfect ballpark helper!

Maddie got to watch one of her best buddies play some before her game started.

Love, love, love my sweet girls!!

All smiles!! Mom is a trooper!  She and baby Reed are making it nicely!  Little Bit was super sweet at the park!

Maddie bats third and is quite a good hitter. She's fast, too! Even though there are several all girl teams, they also have to play the all boy teams, too. Nana would like to make a few scheduling suggestions, but I'm pretty sure they aren't interested in my help.  Here are just a few game shots-

At this point, we thought she was headed to first base for the last time of the season.  But no!!

 Stay tuned!  There's more TBall to come.  Don't misunderstand, I love watching her play!  But, she is OVER IT!!  Bless her!!

Mother's Day

The only thing in life that rivals being a mother is being a Nana. I am so blessed to be both. It's great to have a day set aside for a little pampering. My day begin with breakfast cooked by Reed, church and a wonderful prime rib lunch that Caleb cooked!! It was awesome! I completed the day with a little pool time! Perfect day!!

I love this precious stepping stone the girls made.

I love you guys bunches!!

It was awesome having your own personal chef for the day!!

The rest of the weekend was pretty great, too.  We had a fish fry at the house for some special friends Saturday night.  I did not take one single picture, but we had a wonderful time.  All in all, it was the perfect weekend.  The problem is that it made me wish summer would hurry up and get here!!!  These next couple of weeks are going to be long ones!!