She's 7!!!

Some days she seems like she's 17, but I can't believe she really is 7 years old now. This is a picture taken on her actual birthday. This year, we had Katie's party at our house. The playroom in the basement was transformed into a Hannah Montana concert arena. There were 10 screaming girls - getting their nails painted, makeup done, making jewelry, decorating sunglasses, playing with balloons, and singing karaoke! This year, Ben made Katie a red velvet birthday cake made for a Rock Star. Check it out! The cakes just keep getting better and better each year. He'll have to make a cookbook or something by the time the girls are out of elementary school :)

What I love about the South...

Last week, we had the end of Christmas break. Teachers were back Monday and Tuesday and they were probably two of the most frustrating days I've had lately. Students were back Wednesday, except we had a FLOOD DAY so....no school!! A gift from God, I think!! This week, we were back at it full time. I laughed yesterday when some of the 4th graders asked if we would be out of school Friday due to it being forecast to be "too cold to go to school". (It's supposed to get down to 8 tonight, but high of 30 tomorrow!) And what did I see when I opened my email tonight, but a message saying NO SCHOOL TOMORROW due to severe cold weather forecast. I am not complaining! The gift of time is the best gift I can think of right now, so I will take it. I know my Northern friends & family are laughing, especially when they have been in the -30's for temps! I'll be thinking of you tomorrow...

Visit to Santa

I finally got the picture of the trip to see Santa scanned and saved in the computer, and thought you all might like to see how our trip went... Camden was acting all tough until she had to sit on his lap. Katie's finally got it down the last few years to where she's not scared anymore. New Year pics will come soon, but as we are taking down all the holiday decorations before school starts again tomorrow, I just wanted to share this one last holiday photo from 2008. Now on to 2009!