More May...Playing in the Rain

One rainy day in May (2009), Maddie and Wesley wanted to play outside. It wasn't thundering and lightning, so I thought "Why not?" I used to play in the rain when I was little. My sister and I would even take shampoo outside and take a shower in the rain.

Quick Trip to Thomasville--May 2009

We went down to Thomasville to see our nephews, Mattison and Caleb, graduate from high school. Well, Aaron went to the graduation but we all enjoyed spending time with the Mark Clantons (Aaron's oldest brother). Unfortunately I have NO pictures of the graduation or the party afterwards. I did manage to steal some pictures from my SIL's Facebook page. (Thanks, Crystal!)

Colby, Crystal, Matt, Sydney, Mark

We always enjoy seeing most of the family when we go to church on Sunday. We were especially happy to see Ty, another nephew, who was leaving to go on his mission to Arizona.

We took Granny and Grandaddy Clanton out to lunch and took some quick pictures.

The kids got a hold of the camera while we were on the road. You never know what you're going to get when you get the camera back!

Happiness is...

Watching TV while enjoying a yummy snack of apples, crackers, cheese and strawberry yogurt milk. (May 2009)

More May (2009)

(Yes, it's been over 8 months, so I'm pretty sure no one even reads my blog anymore. :) But one of these decades I want to get a blog book made. And since I don't scrapbook anymore (who has the time??), then I really, really need to keep the blog updated. It's my new mid-year resolution!)

END OF THE YEAR
The end of the school year always brings lots of BUSYness! Here are some tidbits:

Field Day

For some reason I have no pictures of Maddie's Field Day. :( Not sure what happened there. But I did manage to get pictures of the big waterslide that Aaron has every year. I think he has more fun than the kids.

(Aaron and Mr. W racing down the slide.)

(Wesley never did go down the slide. Not that any of us were surprised, seeing as his self-proclaimed nickname is "Chicken Little.")

Gymnastics Awards Banquet

The Athens-Clarke County Gymnastics Academy hosts an awards ceremony every year for the team gymnasts. And since Maddie was asked to be on the team, she was invited to the banquet as well.

Level 3 and 4 gymnasts with Tina, the coach and program director

Miss "Most Improved All-Around"

We were really impressed with Maddie persistence and determination. Although Maddie is definitely a great gymnast, things don't always come easy to her. She really has to work hard. We are very proud that even when things get difficult, Maddie sticks it out and pushes through. She is definitely an example to us!

Awards Day

Maddie won the Principal's Award for her class. This award is given to the best all-around student in each class. We were pleasantly surprised when her name was called. Maddie is such a good girl!

Last-Day-of-School Talent Show

It's a Cleveland Road Elementary School (CRES) tradition to hold a talent show on the last day. It's LONG (like 4 hours) but even the little pre-Kers love to see everyone perform. Maddie's class sang "We All in This Together" from High School Musical. It was really cute! (Aaron recorded it but I have no idea how to get it from the camcorder to the computer.) Maddie and Harold, a little guy in her class, sang lead vocals and the rest of the class sang back-up. Again, I was super impressed! There is no way I would ever sing in front of a group! I wouldn't have done it as a first grader and I would never do it now! (I don't even like playing charades. lol)

After all of the kids performed, the teachers took center stage. Aaron and most of the other male teachers performed "Single Ladies." I wasn't sure how to react--pride at my husband for having such a great sense of humor or disgust at seeing him in my red plaid skirt . It was like a train wreck I just couldn't stop looking at. I'm pretty sure Wesley felt the same way, because he was laughing and crying at the same time.

Aaron is in the red jacket and plaid skirt.

School Friends
I gave Maddie the camera, and she (with Aaron's help) took a couple of pictures of her first grade friends.

No More Pencils, No More Books, No More Teacher's Dirty Looks!

Here's what the kids saw as they left the school on the last day of the 2008-2009 school year at CRES. Sweet, huh?

Grateful to be "Here"

See my play list to the right of this post? If you can't see song #18, click on the forward button until you get to song #18. (As long as you can see it, you can click on #18 and it will start playing.)

The song is called "Here" by Rascal Flatts. They happen to be one of my favorite groups and I love their music. (Bear with me if you're not a country music fan.) I'm pretty sure this song was written to express the gratitude one feels after finally falling in love with "The One." But when I heard this song (especially the chorus), I immediately thought of the journey we had to take to get Wesley.

There's a place I've been looking for
That took me in and out of buildings
Behind windows, walls and doors
And I thought I found it
Couple times, even settled down
And I'd hang around just long enough
To find my way back out
I know now the place that I was trying to
Reach
Was you, right here in front of me

And I wouldn't change a thing
I'd walk right back through the rain
Back to every broken heart
On the day that it was breakin'
And I'd relive all the years
And be thankful for the tears
I've cried with every stumbled step
That led to you and got me here, right here

It's amazing what I let my heart go through
To get me where it got me
In this moment here with you
And it passed me by
God knows how many times
I was so caught up in holding
What I never thought I'd find
I know now, there's a million roads
I had to take
To get me in your arms this way

And I wouldn't change a thing
I'd walk right back through the rain
Back to every broken heart
On the day that it was breakin'
And I'd relive all the years
And be thankful for the tears
I've cried with every stumbled step
That led to you and got me here, right here

In a love I never thought I'd get to get to
-here
And if that's the road
God made me take to be with you

And I wouldn't change a thing
I'd walk right back through the rain
Back to every broken heart
On the day that it was breakin'
And I'd relive all the years
And be thankful for the tears
I've cried with every stumbled step
That led to you and got me here, right here

And I'd relive all the years
And be thankful for all the tears
I've cried with every stumbled step
That led to you and got me here, right here

When you're in the middle of a major trial, it's sometimes impossible to see how there will ever be a happy ending. The despair can be overwhelming. But thankfully there is almost always a light at the end of the tunnel. I think it's that hope that helps us push through, even when it seems too hard. I'm thankful for a loving Father in Heaven who is always there, to remind us of that light and to nudge us towards it.

Wesley's SECOND Birthday!!

It's hard to believe that Wesley is two years old! He's changed so much since he was born! He started out so tiny, with light skin and straight hair! Then he grew into my chubby (okay, FAT) little baby with an adorable 'fro and beautiful chocolate skin! And now he's tall and lanky with a very short haircut. It's hard to believe because we were SO thrilled to have him in our family, but life with Wesley has only gotten better!
To celebrate Wesley's birthday, we planned an outdoor party at Aaron's school. Because of the covered picnic area and awesome playground, it's the perfect place for a party! Well, except for May 9, 2009. Let me explain...

The week before the party, a UGA professor went crazy and shot his wife (and two other people) at a local community theater. The professor and his family lived in a neighborhood very close to Aaron & Maddie's school. After the shooting, the professor went missing and his Jeep was found in a ravine less than half a mile from the school. Everyone was sure he had ditched his car and was trying to get out of the country.

WRONG!! When we drove up to get ready for Wesley's party, we saw fire trucks and a ton of unmarked police vehicles. I instantly knew they were looking for the man. And I instantly knew the party was ruined! Of all things!! How dare he ruin my party!! (I know, I know! Pretty selfish of me!) The police were very nice and told us we could still have the party, but we'd have to have it inside. Great, except for the fact that the school's lights are on a timer and the only person with access to override the timer is the principal, who lives over an hour away. After a long ordeal which involved the school custodian and the school district's weekend security person coming to the school, we were able to get the lights on.


So the party went on--NOT!! Within an hour of us arriving early to set up, we saw the coroner's van drive up really close to the woods. We knew something was happening and Aaron was so ready to get in the middle of it! We were amazed at how much information the police were willing to share. And we (okay, AARON and my MOM) were more than happy to listen. We knew all of the details of the police discovering the man's body hours before the media knew. It was absolute craziness! Click HERE to read an article about the shooting and the discovery of the body. This is the article that was posted on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's website, and Aaron (and the party) were mentioned.


And all of this led to us not getting anything set up until AFTER the party was supposed to have started. My Type-A personality always goes into overdrive during events like this, but oh my gosh, I could've use some major anxiety meds after all of this!!



Putting aside all the drama, the party itself was a ton of fun. I did a sports theme, because Wesley has been obsessed with sports since he could hold a ball. My mom did an AWESOME job on the cake, as usual! And Aaron's gym was the perfect place to have the party because of his wonderful PE equipment.

(He was SO tired by the end of the party!)

The media showed up towards the end of the party and asked to talk with us, but one of the main law enforcement guys had asked us not to give them any details.


This the the stretcher they brought the body out on. My family was OBSESSED with this! I think Aaron spent 95% of the time outside, talking with firefighters and police officers. And I'm pretty sure my mom, Aaron and my sister got more pictures of the scene outside than the party inside. :)

As we were cleaning everything up, a lady with this really different-looking dog came in to use the bathroom. Turns out this was the dog who found the body. Her trainer was really proud of her. She was a sweet dog who was willing to let all the kids pet her.




And because my family is CRAZY, they went in the woods, trying to figure out where the searchers found the body. They said it was too hard to tell where the police had been, but here's a picture of the woods, in case you were interested!


I'm hoping for a PEACEFUL, completely normal party next year!!