farewell party.

Snack time in Ms. Anna's class was no ordinary snack time on Friday. Our plates were filled with cupcakes, pizza, bread sticks, cheetos, and cinnamon sticks, and we ate to our heart's contentment. All of our big boys and girls that are leaving us for K5 got balloons on their chairs, and we celebrated like never before in their honor. We even had three special visitors: Megan's mom and dad, and Miss Melanie. The kiddos were so excited to talk and sing and stuff their faces and have a dance party while I cleaned up the mess. Miss Melanie showed off her awesome dance moves, and they showed her all the groovy ones I've taught them over the years. We had the best time!

Ms. Anna only cried several times throughout the day, but that doesn't mean it was easy not to. I suppose the real tears will come on Tuesday when all of them leave me for good. Yep, I just had crocodile tears welp up in my eyes even as I typed those words. What a blessing it is to love so many boys and girls so unbelievably much. I'll never forget any of them, and it will continue to be one of my favorite things to do each day to pray over them every single morning. Being a pretend mom is seriously the best, and it pumps me up to think about how much fun it will be to be a real mom one day soon.

No goodbyes, only see-ya-laters. :)

Megan ("Meggers")                                              Aeydin ("Mossy")

Penelope ("Opey")                                            Kaya ("Kaya Papaya")

Angel ("Angeloooo")                                          Jakius ("Jakius Papayus")

Jasmine ("Jazzy")

"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about."

-Angela Schwindt

new do, new you.

Yesterday afternoon, talk became reality when I shaved all of TJ's hair off. Yep, you read that right; Teesh has no bangs for the first time in about fifteen years. He's been saying that he wanted to cut it before we left for Haiti, and he got nervous right as I turned the razor on. I was freaking out, too, because as long as I've known him, his hair has always been the same. It took me several minutes to actually put the razor to work, but I did, indeed, complete the task at hand (applause). It only took about fifteen minutes from start to finish, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I still recognized him as the handsome fella I've always known him to be! But don't take my word for it; go ahead, and see for yourself.

Dannnnnnnng, my man is fiiiiiiiine!

atlanta braves.

This time last weekend, we were preparing to head south on I-85 to watch the Braves play! In honor of Teesh graduating, I thought it would be the perfect day-after treat to surprise him with. The bad news: they lost, and it poured down rain on us. The good news: Teesh still graduated, we finally got to watch BP, our seats weren't half bad, and we had the best time. We even saw several friends while we were there, which added to the fun! We're already looking forward to our next trip to Atlanta to watch our favorite baseball team take the field.

#HPBBdoJEW.

Tuesday night, I traveled to Charlotte with three of my best girls to see Jimmy Eat World live at The Fillmore. Dream come true? You betcha. There were several times throughout the show that I nearly cried as I thought about particular moments from my teenage years and on when Jimmy was there serenading me. Not to mention all the scenes from our beloved OTH that flashed across my mind when certain songs were played. I loved every minute of being in the crowd, even with the sardine-like atmosphere. There are few times when singing at the top of my lungs has been more fun than it was this night.

Ladies and gentlemen, the highlight of our evening: Jim Adkins.

"Just do your best, do everything you can. And don't you worry what the bitter hearts are gonna say."

-The Middle, Jimmy Eat World

uptown art.

Last Tuesday, some of us ladies from City Kids switched up our traditional girls night from dinner to painting. Not only did we learn that it's pretty important to call ahead (oops!), we learned, too, that it's a lot more fun to socialize with a paint brush in our hand. We hope to make this a new monthly outing, with our fingers crossed that our skills will improve each go 'round, of course.

That green, white, and brown chevron monogram is going to look so cute in our guest room when we hang it up. New additions to the bungalow are some of my favorite things!

Closet Monet's? Totes.

relay for life.

Friday night after an already exciting day, Teesh and I made our way to Fountain Inn to walk for cancer. We are so blessed to be a part of a church body who exists to serve others, and last night was just another opportunity for us to help shine the light of Christ. We walked, danced, sold snow cones, remembered heartache, celebrated hope, and helped raise money for cancer research. Cancer sucks, but our God is good. That's the message Capstone Church partnered with so many others to say. Praise be to the Father that though our heart and flesh may fail, He never will. I pray that we, as the body of Christ, never grow tired of playing a role in providing hope to a seemingly hopeless world.