Our Princess Goes to Prom

This past Saturday, our Princess went to prom...be still my heart! She and I had so much fun picking out her beautiful gown (it was the 2nd one that she tried on). It was a special moment...we both cried. Her dress is the same color as the "Praying for Rachel" bracelets that we wore only 5 months ago before her brain surgery. Isn't God amazing?! He cares about every detail.

I was quite emotional on Saturday. My heart was filled to overflowing with gratitude to the One who enabled our Princess to go to prom. This time last year we never would have imagined being able to plan for how to do her nails, or how to do her hair, or what kind of jewelry and shoes to wear with her prom gown. I didn't take one minute for granted. It was all pure delight!

Here is our walking miracle on the day of her junior/senior prom:





I know that she is my daughter, but isn't she absolutely gorgeous?





True to her generous heart, she chose to wear "Tom's Shoes" to prom. Have you heard about Tom's shoes? For every pair that you purchase, the company sends a pair of shoes to a child who needs them.



Her daddy was quite emotional on Saturday too. After I helped Rachel with her makeup and into her dress and jewelry she went to show Daddy. I encouraged him to take a deep breath as she rounded the corner to show him and then tears filled his eyes.



Rachel Ann, where has the time gone? Wasn't it just yesterday that I held you in my arms for the very first time? You have certainly grown into an amazing young lady...you are beautiful inside and out! Your daddy and I are so proud of you. Keep shining for the Lord...He shines so brightly through your precious life!


It wasn't long before the doorbell rang and Caleb arrived. All he could say when he saw you was, "Wow!" and then he was speachless for quite a while. He was so proud to have you on his arm at prom. I love this picture of you two because you were a bit worried about pinning his boutonniere. Little did we know that Mrs. T had already taken care of it; she used a magnet instead. Whew!



This is Rachel and Caleb's fave, so I had to post it too:



I liked it this way too:



Arriving at prom:



Memories to treasure!

Prom Centerpieces

Our high school prom was this past weekend and it was soooooooooo much fun! I had the privilege of being the Junior Class Sponsor who planned the event with help from the Junior class Prom committee made up of incredible students (my Rachel and her friends).

Rachel was so beautiful!!!!! She simply took our breath away with her beauty and grace. I'll post more pictures of her tomorrow...but would you like a sneak peek?



Since it is Kimba's DIY day, I wanted to post pictures of the Prom centerpieces. It is not easy making 16 centerpieces and only spending $150. Here is what I came up with.

I headed to Dollar Tree where I found 16 metal "like" containers for $1 each.






Our prom colors were black, silver, and purple so I chose to spray paint the containers black. I added a piece of floral foam (again from Dollar tree~3 squares for a dollar)



I found these beautiful purple daisies at my favorite place, Hobby Lobby, on sale for 50% off. Woo Hoo!! Hannah helped me pull off all of the leaves and then Rachel and I gathered 2 bunches together and wired them near the top of the stems:

We pushed the stems down into the floral foam and then grabbed some fabulous silver/glittery ribbon to tie a bow. I was perplexed as to how to weight the centerpieces without spending a fortune. I thought about crystals and marbles, but they were too expensive. Rachel and I headed to Lowes where we bought a huge bag of river rocks for $3~perfect!

Here are the finished centerpieces:

They were fun to make and they looked great on the tables. Thank you, Lord!

I am so pleased to link this Post to DIY day & Blue Cricket Design

Let's Climb a Tree and Take some Pics

Mr. Incredible comes from a huge family! So, every Easter we all get together for a massive Easter egg hunt and dinner. This year we got together the Saturday night before. Rachel, Hannah, and I made Bakerella's Cake Pops. While her cake pops are much more beautiful...ours are still fun. I thought it would be hilarious to make the cake pops out of red velvet cake, but then I remembered Steel Magnolias. Do you remember the armadillo groom's cake. Haaaaaaaa!

And since the cake pops were for the little Easter egg hunters, I changed my mind and went with strawberry instead:






After all the eggs were hunted and the dinner consumed, I headed outside with my father-in-law's camera (I left mine at home-shame on me!) and snapped a few pics. I love this one of the little girls gabbing and giggling in the tree:




Here is "S." I thought it would be fun to apply a 70's looking affect to the pictures:





and her big brother:





My oldest nephew with his special James Avery ring that his parents blessed him with after his announcement that he asked Jesus into his heart!




The littlest member of the extended family. Her eyes are so dreamy:



And this little sweetheart. She was so funny! She looked at the girls in the tree and said, "I want in the tree!" So I asked her what her mommy would say...and then she looked at me with those sweet, little eyes and said, "Mommy say yes!" So, I picked her up and put her in the tree. She carefully fixed her little tutu just right smiled sweetly and then exclaimed: "This is my first time in a tree!!!!" And then I stayed close to her the whole entire time she was in the tree. Oiy!



Supermodel pose time:



My youngest nephew kept posing for me. He would say, "Aunt kiki, how's this?"



Poppie's tree is the best place to hang out and take a few pics. Thanks for letting me borrow your camera.

Easter at Granny and Grandpa's

We spent Easter dinner with my parents. It was a long trip to their house....we had to walk...next door! :-) What a blessing to live next door to my parents.



We had breakfast with them too...well and with the rest of the church, after Easter sunrise services. After the sunrise service and breakfast, we had the added blessing of seeing our oldest nephew baptized (see the previous post), and then over to Granny and Grandpa's house for lunch.



I remembered my camera this time. Here are my girls with their Grandpa. Hannah is hoping to be taller than Grandpa (who is 6'2"). He was teasing her by standing on his tip-toes before the photo. She is getting close! My dad's middle name is Linn, and so is mine, and so is Hannah's. I love that!






Here are Rachel and Granny. My mom's middle name is Ann and my Granny's middle name was Rachel. Our oldest daughter, Rachel Ann, is named after 2 of my most favorite women in the world:



Hannah and Granny:



My mom set the most beautiful Easter table:


She made the arrangement:

And this vingette too:



I had to snap a few photos of my girls:







While we waited for the food to finish cooking, we all had fun visiting. My family is all wearing Baylor gold and green because the Lady Bears were playing UCONN that night (I still can't talk about it). I love this photo of my dad chillin' on the counter.



And Mom kept her eye on our dinner:



In the meantime, we played with this bunny parachute:

One more photo:




And then it was time to eat! Dinner was incredible. Imagine a beautiful honey baked spiral ham, fluffy white mashed potatoes, an asparagus casserole, pineapple pretzel salad, warm rolls, iced tea, and strawberries with whip cream. It was delicious! Trust me...I don't have the pictures to prove it...but it was!

Easter Baptisms

Hello Ya'll....are you still there??? H-E-L-L-O! Really, are you there?

I haven't been very good about blogging these days...and there has been plenty to blog about. I'm just terribly busy~more than the usual busy. Oiy! Our high school prom is this weekend and I have been working so hard to get it all together. Maybe after Saturday night I can get back to blogging 'cause I've missed you.

So, if you are still somehow reading my little blog, thank you! I love you more than the new shoes I bought last night...and girl, they are cute!

My oldest nephew was baptized on Easter Sunday and his sweet Mommy asked me to take pictures. Delight! I am so thankful that I have been taking an online photography class. I really am enjoying shooting in Shutter mode, Aperture Mode, and even Manual Mode. The auto/no flash setting is no longer my Bff.

To say that I was overjoyed to take pictures is an understatement. What a great privilege to get to observe such a holy moment...but I was nervous too. I mean it is not like I could say, "Could you please, dunk him again...I missed it!" So after many, many prayers, and the time to set my white balance, pick a setting, etc. I was ready. I took nearly 100 photos. "A" was baptized and so was cousin "S." What a special, special day.

Here are some of the photos:

I love this father son picture:



Getting ready:


A quick photo w/ Aunt Kiki:


Cousin "S" with Brother Dave:


Isn't she just precious:


And gorgeous:




Almost time:


Cousin "S" watching after her baptism:


Poppie with "A" (Poppie is my father-in-law. He used his dad's
handkerchief....Pappaw would have loved this day!)


Moments to treasure:


The happy family...the circle is nearly complete:


A little gift from Aunt Kiki and Uncle (Mr. Incredible). He loves to play the wii
at our house, so this shirt seemed perfect.

And here is A's little brother, my youngest nephew who watched everything so carefully.
We are praying for your special day, "Double A."
And then our circle of faith will be complete.

He is Risen....Just as He Said!

Glory! Hallelujah! He is risen...just as He said! It is my hope and prayer that you are celebrating Jesus on this blessed Easter. Oh, there is no one like Him!

This is an incredible video that asks: Are you amazed? (Sermonspice.com)