Lemonade Stand

Elle had her first—and definitely not her last—lemonade stand. She was adamant and determined. I tried to tell her that it was all about the fun, and not the money (I didn’t think she would make hardly anything, besides what we, her generous parents, bought). But it turns out I was wrong. Elle sat out there for over four hours, and had customer, after customer, after customer. She absolutely loved it. She smiled and waved to everyone. It was adorable. And at the end of the day, she made $23. I couldn’t believe it. Elle was so excited. And I was very impressed with her dedication and hard work. Four hours is a long time to sit and sell lemonade; but Elle did it and loved it.



And Hudson sat for a little bit, but mostly he helped his dad around the yard. He loves to mow the lawn.

End of School

Elle had a wonderful year in first grade. It is hard to believe that she is finished with the year, and will be starting second grade next year. But she worked really hard, and grew so much. We are very proud of her and all that she has learned and accomplished.

Elle had an end of the year play with all of the first graders. She really enjoyed putting this on for the parents.



I also had to take a picture of the last day of school, which is always an exciting day.

Final Projects and a Concert

Lately, we have been up to the last days of school. Elle had some final projects, and her Spring Concert. It was fun seeing the result of all of Elle’s hard work through the school year. She was proud of what she had accomplished; and singing in the school concert was something she was very excited about. I am proud of my sweet, little girl, and I love watching her learn and grow.

These Two

These two make being a mother so worth it.

Mother's Day

For Mother’s Day, we let butterflies go at Hayden’s grave. We raised these butterflies from caterpillars (kind of gross), so this was a fun experience. The kids really enjoyed it. They liked raising and releasing butterflies for their sweet little brother. And although the butterflies were quick, and didn’t let us get very good pictures, it was a good memory. I want my kids to grow up with memories and experiences with their brother, even though he is not here. He is a part of our family, and we love him.

Oh, and Hudson insisted on wearing that tie. He liked the way it looked with his blue polo.

The Perfect Climbing Tree

Elle and Hudson found the perfect climbing tree at a park the other day. Johnny and I were watching from a distance, and thought Hudson could only hang from the lowest branches. As we were talking, and somewhat paying attention (we were a little distracted), we noticed that Hudson was no longer at the bottom of the tree. We immediately started over there, and could see him way up in the tree. I started getting scared imagining all of the horrible things that could go wrong. We couldn’t get to the tree fast enough. When we finally reached the tree, we told Hudson to quit climbing and wait for Johnny. He reluctantly quit climbing up, but was none too happy that his Daddy climbed up to get him down. He was quite angry. And he maybe shed a few tears. But once he got over it, we let him climb up a little ways—not too high—and he had a lot of fun.

And where was Elle during all of this? She was perfectly content just climbing on the lower branches. That girl has too much fear to venture up too high. But Hudson, however, is just waiting for another opportunity when Johnny and I are not paying too close attention.



Ten Year Anniversary

Johnny and I celebrated our ten year anniversary this week. Hard to believe. But it has been a wonderful ten years. I love being married to my best friend.