Wordless Wednesday

Memorial Day Weekend

For Memorial Day we went to the fair cabin on Saturday and stayed until Sunday evening.  We were going to stay until Monday morning but we decided to leave Sunday evening to give us a whole day at home on Monday.  We were soooo tired at this point from moving and busy weekends.  We had to make the hard decision to leave early and hope my family still loved us.  Good news.  I think they still do. :)  We just really needed a whole day at home to recuperate from everything that had been going on!  I took my camera but only took ONE picture.  What in the world?!  I don't know.  I told ya'll I was tired!

On Monday we just hung out at home, got a few things accomplished, Ellington played in the sprinkler, and we went out for hamburgers.  

I tried to get pictures of both girls together in their red, white, and blue but Ellington diiiiies over the sun in her eyes (even if it isn't direct sun!) so that didn't happen. :)

Ya'll, that one little tooth!  I LOVE it!

Finley {10 Months}

Finley turned 10 months old the weekend that we moved out of our house in Starkville.  Double digits! :)

You just think time flies with your first baby.  Then your second one comes along and you look up, realizing your newborn isn't so newborn anymore!

Ellington's First Dance Recital

Our second weekend in Southaven had us heading back to Starkville for Ellington's dance recital.  I had been dreading it since I knew our moving date.  Is that terrible?!  Probably so.  Ha.  I knew we would be so exhausted and we had to be there the night before for dress rehearsal.  The logistics of everything was soooo overwhelming for me.  Just being honest here. :)  But, it was my baby's first dance recital so I would obviously do anything to make it happen!!! We were blessed to be able to stay with our old neighbors, the Goods.  The girls and I headed up Friday afternoon for the Friday evening dress rehearsal.  Robert couldn't come then because he had to work all day Friday.  I was so nervous about juggling getting ready, the dress rehearsal, etc. with Finley but thankfully she did great!  And another plus of staying with the Goods?!  Ashia is great with hair (and I am NOT) so she did Ellington's ballerina bun for me.  

Here is Ellington all ready for her dress rehearsal!

I looooove the place where Ellington took dance.  It's a Christian based dance company.  I NEVER had to worry about inappropriate dance moves or inappropriate costumes.  They did a devotion at the end of each class and she always had a Bible verse and some kind of take home item to remind her about the devotion.  They also ended the class with prayer.  I was already a BIG fan of Dance Divine but at the dress rehearsal Mrs. Cynthia (the owner/main teacher) was talking to all the parents about hair, needing to bring safety pins, etc....then she said "If you forgot something tonight or something isn't perfect, don't worry about it.  In fact, if that happens tomorrow....don't worry about it!!!  I just want these girls to dance for the Lord".  I LOVED that.  I think so many of us moms were kind of wound tight and to hear her basically say...all of that little stuff doesn't matter!!...meant so much to me!  

They started rehearsal with the curtain call.  Ellington is the second little girl in blue. :)

This is Ellington's precious class (minus Marris who had already left).  These little girls Mamas are so dear to me.  Other than Marris, we didn't know anyone in the class but by the end I think we all felt so close.  All of the Mamas but one (two including me!) are homeschooling Mamas.  Listening to them all talk while we waited on the girls each week during class was such a blessing to me.  I learned so much from them and was so encouraged by them.  I truly miss them!  Such a special group!

Saturday was recital day but the recital wasn't until late in the afternoon.  Ellington, Finley and I had fun hanging out with Ashia, Austin, and Bennett.  We played for awhile then went shopping and to lunch.  The girls obviously had fun being together!!!

Another stressful aspect of the weekend was that I couldn't find anyone to keep Finley for me.  I asked several people and no one could.  I was soooo disappointed because I wanted to enjoy the recital and focus on the moment rather than focus on keeping Finley happy and quiet.  Thankfully my sweet husband took full responsibility of Finley during the recital but it still wasn't the most ideal situation.  It worked out ok but I was a little stressed about it!

My pictures during the actual recital didn't turn out great...I couldn't figure out how to mange the lighting situation but I decided it was ok and I should just focus on watching anyway!

It was at this point that I had tears streaming down my face!  What a sweet moment!!!  It was obviously extra emotional because of the move and knowing we wouldn't be doing the recital next year with this same group.

Ellington had quite a cheering section!  She had Mommy, Daddy, Finley, Grams, Pappaw, Aunt LeAnna, Big Bob, and MiMi all there to support her!

Ellington chose The Veranda for supper after the recital.  She chose it for the peanut butter balls! :)

What a special weekend!

First Days and Mother's Day

I didn't take any pictures of our moving in experience.  I think I was probably too exhausted by that point to even think of such a thing!  Ha.  These are just a couple of pictures from our first day or two.  I guess moving in was fairly uneventful (which is a good thing!) because I don't really remember anything noteworthy.

Our first weekend in Southaven was Mother's Day!  So proud to be Mama to these precious girls!

Sunday night we met Robert's family at a nearby restaurant.  He took these pictures before supper and I just love them!

Pony Birthday Party

Ellington's best buddy from school and dance, Marris, had her 4th birthday on the Sunday after our moving day.  We were staying in Philadelphia because we had moved out of our house the day before, but we went back to Starkville for the party.  Honestly, we were exhausted and it seemed like a daunting task but it was REALLY important that we were there.  Obviously I knew Ellington would have fun but really I wanted us to be there because Marris and her grandmother have been so precious to us this past school year.  They had the party at someone's farm.  There were tons of horses and ponies to ride.  The minute we got there Ellington hopped on one like she had been doing it her whole life and continued riding different horses the whole time we were there.  She was LOVING it!!!

Happy birthday to Marris!

These two are going to miss each other SO much!

Goodbye Starkville

Ah. Moving weekend. So fun.  Just kidding.  So.much.work.  Ha!  And I wasn't even doing the hard stuff!  We started on a Friday.  My Dad and Mr. Bill Gilley came up and they completely loaded down our small truck.  They went ahead and drove the truck to Southaven and parked it at our house which is where it stayed until we closed on Tuesday. 

Ellington looooved being a helper!

Finley made sure everything was running smoothly. :)

On Saturday Reagan, Bryant, Mom, and Dad came to help load the big truck.  Wes, from our small group, came to help for awhile too.  Saturday we loaded everything and got the house nice and clean for the new owners.

We took a lunch break and headed to Little Dooey's to celebrate this guy's 60th bday!  That's right...he spent his big birthday working hard!  Such a good Dad and Pop!

Just multiply by 10! ;)

Last Little Dooey's as Starkville residents!

After lunch Ellington played with Austin at her house while we finished up.  When it was almost time to go they came over to take pictures, play in the truck, and say goodbye. :(

And there we have it...all loaded up and moved out!

We were in house limbo for a few days.  We moved out on a Saturday, closed on our old house on Monday and closed on our new house on Tuesday.  We stayed with my parents for part of the time and then stayed with Brad and Julie.  Whew!  Moving is not easy. :)