Happy 10th Birthday!

Where did 10 years go?

John Owen's cake

Not quite in character for "Mighty Minds", but the show hadn't started yet.:)

Abby is seated behind him, and these 2 have been in the same class since Kindergarten. Sadly, Abby is moving to another local elementary school next year. We are going to miss her terribly!

AmeriKids program at church in May

The birthday cupcake magnet...The way we countdown to each person's birthday!

My new reality is that my "baby" is not a baby anymore!

He is a wonderful, smart, talented, handsome young man and it hit me like a ton of bricks last night! I cried right there in the store as I looked at birthday cards! (What a scene that must have been!)

We have officially entered into the double digits!

Here's some pictures of John Owen's 10th birthday celebration with his friends.

Sleepover with his special request for catfish to eat. Yes, catfish!!

Ice cream sundae bar!

Yummy!

Next day, a trip to Incredible Pizza with friends!

Carter cheering John Owen on as he spins the prize wheel.:)

Happy to have a card to play all those video games!

Hutch, John Owen, and Tucker getting ready for Lasertag.

I hope you had a wonderful 10th birthday celebration, John Owen!

We are so proud of you and the young man you are becoming.

May you always know our love for you and more importantly, God's love for you.

Happy birthday!

Love,

Momma

2013 Go Lucy Go 5k

This was the third year we have held the Go Lucy Go 5k in Covington in honor of our dear friend, Lucy Krull. The best news that I can share is that Lucy is cancer free! God is good!

The race was a HUGE success and I enjoyed working with Laura and Kate in making this an event that the whole community enjoyed. We had close to 600 in the 5k and about 100 kids in the Kids Fun Run. Astounding numbers for a small town race!:)

We raised over $25,000 for LeBonheur Children's Hospital!!

Go Lucy Go!

May we run with endurance the race set before us...

I want to say a special thanks to my family for being patient and cooperative as I worked on this event. It takes a lot of time and commitment and sometimes stresses a full time working mom out, but the end result is such a reward! Thanks to my parents for chipping in and helping to take care of the kids when I needed you. Especially, thank you to Jan for making sacrifices to allow me to go to meetings and be in the places I needed to be to make this happen. I love you all!

Little race tidbit:

Jonah ran in the 5k and won 3rd place in the 9 and under age group! Way to go, Jonah!

Our First Field Trip

Last week, I went with Mary Claire on her first "official" preschool field trip! We had such a great time! There were enough chaperones for her class that I only had Mary Claire to walk around with all day. I couldn't believe it! I think the last time I had only one child to look after at the zoo was when John Owen was 15 months old. And he'll be 10 yrs. old next week! Here's some favorite pictures from our day at the zoo:

Feelin' "catty" in Cat Country!

Strike a pose!

Can you guess what she said when she saw this? hehe

The prettiest panda EVER!!

She loved riding the camel named "Cotton"!

Couldn't resist this photo...

And she insisted on taking my picture! :)

 Great memories made with my little girl!

My Partner in Parenting

This was part of today's article that I received from iMOM.
http://www.susanme.com/2013/04/be-thankful-you-have-a-partner-in-parenting/

If you have time, take a second to read the article.
I am extremely thankful for my partner in parenting!!

I love you, Jan Hensley! :)

Easter 2013

Ah, yes! Here we are...all happy, happy happy!:)

Mary Claire wasn't into looking at the camera too much in the picture above.

But in this one, she is POINTIN' TO JESUS!

He is RISEN!!

(While Jan's eyes are closed and Jonah cuts his eyes at his sister.)

Oh, the anatomy of the family Easter picture!

I'll spare you the other shots taken. hehe

We had a wonderful spring break week and Easter weekend. Very relaxed, no where to be really, and did pretty much what we wanted to. We still had swim team practice and a short orthodontic appt. for Mary Claire, but overall, a FREE from school/work schedule.

Here's some pictures that tell some of the story of our 2013 Spring Break and Easter:

We made resurrection rolls and read scripture from the Bible as we made them.

This was a special gift that was given to us when we lost Jan's mother in June 2010.

I leave it out all year, but it was a focal point of our Easter decorations.

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” – John 20:26-29

 

Of course, the secular part of Easter is fun, too!

In the top left hand corner of these shelves are two of my favorite Easter decorations. The cross with nails and a smaller wrought iron cross a special friend gave to me when my grandmother passed away.

My favorite bunny with his carrot sweater.:)

I think I've had him for 20 years.

Our Easter candy jars with the book I am currently reading on the counter. It's The Whole Bible Story, and so far, I am enjoying it. Truth be told, I left in on the counter so that I would not forget to read a page or two everyday. My plan hasn't worked out perfectly, but I am slowly getting it read.

And for the candy, we are finally down to the last of the Starburst jellybeans! Oh my goodness!

I really think I need intervention when Easter rolls around every year and they put these jellybeans out at Wal-Mart!!I think I haven't eaten my weight in these! They are addictive...

Dyeing Easter eggs in our pajamas!

John Owen gives this dyeing thing a "thumbs up"!

Thursday night, our friend, Hutch, came to spend the night and we had a glow in the dark egg hunt!

Loads of fun!

Bunnies in a cup! (Pudding with coconut wafers, strawberry icing and jellybeans...super easy!)

Easter Sunday at Aunt Dinah's

I love this picture!

Does it remind you of The Christmas Story?:)

Aunt Dinah has this tradition of having the youngest child wear the pink bunny suit. Mary Claire wasn't the youngest one there, but she put the suit on...for a few minutes anyway.

Jonah "hopped" around in the bunny ears. Something tells me if the pink bunny suit would have fit him, he'd have put it on, too!

My grandmother and me

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

His is Risen!