A new baby on the way.....

For the last eleven years, we have been blessed to be a part of the lives of two very special young ladies, Keisha and Reisha Carney. We first met them when they lived at the Tennessee Baptist Children's Home in the Franklin/Brentwood area. They were thirteen at the time....and we were childless, but strongly desiring to pour ourselves and God's love into the life of a child. And, we got a double blessing..twins!!

Well, fast forward all these years....and Keisha is now married to Tim Davis and is expecting her first baby...a little girl....Rihanna Benton Davis. So, yesterday, I was able to go to her baby shower along with another long time friend of the girls. They got so many nice gifts and I think they are ready for the baby :)

Keisha (on the left) giving instructions while Reisha (on the right) takes photos....there is nothing new about this......these have been their roles since we've known them--LOL
Keisha says cheese and shows us her belly..what is amazing is that she has LOST 63 pounds during this pregnancy!!! She was a big girl before getting pregnant...and while she eats all the time, her body just cannot seem to get enough food. The baby is growing and is very healthy. She jokingly said she'd be wearing a two piece bathing suit after the baby is born!!!
Keisha opens a special little 'security blankie' from Abigail. She was so proud of herself for picking it out.
me with the girls...the lighting was bad...so we look like aliens or something ??? This was taken on the deck at Reisha's apartment.

Don't Laugh

Breast Cancer Ribbon
Originally uploaded by justclaire

Abigail and I have a goal....yes...I know you won't believe it, but we are going to run a 5K race this fall. The race supports breast cancer..those who have survived it (including my mother in law and many others I know) and those who did not.

Now, here's the funny part....at the time of the race, I will be close to my 43rd birthday and I have NEVER run a race before. I have been walking a lot for 2 years and have hit the 35 pounds 'lost' mark recently. I still have about 20 pounds I would like to lose and will be working diligently on that this summer...by eating a lot of fresh fruits and veggies that are in season and ramping up my exercise.

So, yes, I have set a goal....one that seems impossible to me.......because even as a young person, I could never run...it always hurt too much--LOL! But, this is a goal we have...so my nine year old (well, she'll be newly ten at the time of the race) and I will be training and working hard to run with a huge group of ladies.

Be on the lookout for more updates....I am sure there will be some funny stories to come out of this :)

Now.....off to get the needed supplies......I don't even have running shoes (only walking ones)...and there is more....but I won't mention that here.....

Busy, busy....

We are here....I have not forgotten my blog...just busy trying to finish school and keep Abigail healthy :)

We will finish school on Friday, May 22. We have slowly dropped subjects off as she has completed her requirements in each subject, but we're doing math, reading and writing until the end :)

Abigail is sick with allergy/sinus stuff. We ended up making a doctor's visit yesterday since she was complaining of ear pain. She SO rarely says that anything hurts, so when she does, I know we need to investigate. With the huge amount of congestion she's had lately, I was thinking that we might be dealing with an ear infection, but thankfully we are not. The congestion itself was causing hear pain. So, he added another medicine (decongestant/asthma type medicine) to help her on a short term basis. Hopefully the grass pollen will drop off soon and she'll be back to normal.

We are looking forward to the summer...it will be more relaxed than some in the past we are hoping. We will be doing the library summer reading club, church camp, VBS at the church where she attends Friday classes, and swimming lessons....and LOTS of play time with family and friends we hope. We intentionally did not schedule any sports camps, sciquest camps, or other things along those lines this year. I think we just need some down time. Plus, I will be teaching several children's scrapbooking classes here over the summer at various times, and I need time to prepare for that as well as the Alabama History class I will be teaching this fall. And, I will still have a few piano and voice students during the summer.

Of course, I have a 'to do' list that is a mile long....and I will try to tackle that in between other things, but most of all, I hope to enjoy time with my little one who won't be little for many more years. And, hopefully Bruce will have some down time on the weekends and will actually get to take and enjoy a week off during June as well so that we can have some family time together. Believe it or not, we will be celebrating 20 years of marriage in June!!!!!

Our concerts......

One of my favorite things to do is to teach music lessons to children, and even to adults and teens. I have done this off and on for years...really since I was a teen myself. Last summer, after taking a break of a few years for a variety of reasons, I found that I was ready and able to resume teaching piano and voice lessons again. So, by word of mouth and some emails sent out to various homeschoolers that I knew, I started growing my little group.

Today, we had some little concerts....a very informal recital of sorts. The children played/sang a few songs they chose and worked on in recent weeks. Even Abigail, who has not consistently taken lessons in a while, played a couple of songs. I think she was motivated by what the others did....and she's ready to start back to regular lessons this summer :)

These are not all of my students...a couple did not participate for various reasons. Also, the young lady in yellow and the young lady in black/white stripes, do both voice and piano. The rest of the students pictured do piano only. The other two students who did not participate today do voice only.

Our annual tradition....

Each year we take a photo of Abigail and me together on Mothers' Day and hang it in a matted frame in our hallway (with 18 or 20 mats I think). It is fun to compare the photos from one year to the next. Bruce gave the frame and mat to me on my first Mothers' Day and what a special and thoughtful gift it has been. So, here are the choices for this year....I am still deciding which one I like best :) I'd love your opinion!! Keep in mind...I will zoom in and in the final copy, only Abigail and I along with a little bit of the background will show...so which one has the best expressions for BOTH of us??? Please leave a comment :)

Upsy Daisy...

On May 2, our church held a wonderful event called Upsy Daisy for mothers and daughters at our local botanical gardens. Abigail and I enjoyed going. We had a nice brunch, a 'fashion show', a speaker and then a photo time. We were also scheduled to have time to enjoy walking thru the gardens, but the rain put a damper on that part :(

I was responsible for the fashion show..but it was not an ordinary fashion show....it was a joke. For example...Abigail wore a "Ball Gown"....a dress with balls all over it. I'll try to explain a few others as well :)

We also took a some serious pictures....at home before leaving and at the gardens as well.
Abigail and her buddy....Abigail is wearing her 'ball gown'
..Abigail is showing off the picture she colored....
..after the brunch...it was actually sprinkling when we took this photo....
..working on her photo....
..at home before the brunch...

...SUNGLASSES...
...EVENING GOWN...
...BELLBOTTOMS...
..SEERSUCKER DRESSES...notice the lollipops....
...Bloomers....
....JIM shoes.....
..100% cotton dress...
...plunging neckline...unusued toilet plunger by the way...LOL!!
..tea length dress...it's hard to tell, but those are tea bags at the bottom of her dress
...alligator purse....

We also had a ball cap...a cap with a ball attached to it...but that photo has disappeared....as soon as I find it I will post it as well....sorry NV!!

Happy Mothers' Day !!!

What a wonderful Mother's Day I have had so far.....and my family isn't even up yet :) I say that because, for the most part, we celebrate on Saturday with gifts and going out for a meal so that Sunday can be a day to go to church and relax at home afterwards.

Abigail spent a great deal of time making me a special scrapbook which mentioned things about me...what I smelled like, what I did when she was sick, which book we enjoyed most together, what I sounded like, ... and it was a very special gift :) She and Bruce also got me a bracelet, two hanging plants for the front porch and a new drill I had been wanting. Really!! I had been wanting it for a while!!!

We then went to dinner at Shogun, a Japanese place where they cook in front of you. The rice and veggies were WONDERFUL and even the meat was good, though I find I am not wanting to eat much meat these days.

We relaxed at home afterwards....and these photos show a little of our 'pre mothers' day' activity.

What a wonderful day to remember those who are moms or like moms to us. I am very blessed to have a wonderful mom, a very sweet mother in law and even one grandmother still living. But there are other ladies in my life who are pretty special too, and I'll be sure to let them know they are appreciated today also.

I vividly recall a few times ten to twelve years ago when this day was sad for me in some ways. We really wanted to be parents, but after many years of trying, it just had not happened. I would come home from church and just cry....While I was grateful for what I had at the time, I also felt that sense of what was missing in my life and it was very obvious on that day. So, I would encourage you, remember that there may be a lady who is not feeling so joyous. Maybe she has lost a mom or a child....or maybe she has never had the chance to be a mom even though that is her heart's desire. A hug or a thank you would be appreciated I am sure. I know it always touched my heart.

...hanging one of my new plants...
...I LOVE my new drill/screwdriver...after about 8 or 9 years, my other finally just died and the battery could not be rebuilt really for the price of a new drill...
...Abigail chose this bracelet...I love it because it will go with anything....
....this is the inside of my special book.....
...and this is the outside of the book she made...very cute, and I will cherish it always....I had just made spaghetti a day or two before, and she mentioned that a LOT in the book :)

Swine flu....rain....and soccer games...

Things have been pretty slow here in some respects....and life has been nice. Due to the rain and the swine flu outbreak, lots of activities have been cancelled or postponed, especially those involving kids gathering in large groups. These photos were taken at Abigail's last soccer game which was held just before the local outbreak became big news.

We have had lots of rain....not sure how many inches/feet, but definitely a lot!!! We won't complain, as I am sure this latest bit has put us out of the drought/below average category and probably into the normal range.

Things seem to be going back to normal now for us. The schools have reopened, even the ones with confirmed swine flu cases. Our soccer games should resume this Saturday, weather permitting. We have only two left this season. That IS hard to believe.

Let's play!!!!!
Hi mom! Are you taking ANOTHER picture??
I am going to kick it!!