Armed Forces Day Party

This weekend my Grandparents had a party to honor all service men and women that have served or are currently serving the United States. We have three family members that are active military right now, of those three two are currently deployed. Everyone at the party had a great time, there was great food, a wonderful band, and even some dancing! I have the best family in the world and it was so fun to get together and see everyone to celebrate all of our service men and women.

The wonderful hostess and host! Aren't they too cute?! :-)

My Aunt brought this beautiful tomato and mozzarella appetizer. The basil and pansies came from her garden. Just a few more months and I know if she made this again she would be able to use tomato's from her garden. (They're always wonderful!)

The band was awesome! :-) The sign hanging behind them is usually on display in my Aunt's front yard. Two of her son-in-law's are currently deployed and her daughter is a nurse. She is one proud mama!

There was even a margarita machine!

My parents :-) Aren't they adorable!

The hubs and I....it was EXTREMELY humid and hot...so please excuse the messed up hair/glistening face :-)

My Aunt and Grandpa dancing

My cousin and her hubby dancing, they're precious!

The party really got started when my Grandpa decided to jump IN the pool! It was great! So glad I had my camera out!!! :-)

The hubster and my dad :-) Having a good time at the party!

We all had a wonderful time, it was a great party! Thanks for having us Mimi and Poppy!!!

 “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war may rise up against me, in this I will be confident.” Psalm 27:1-3

Cakes in a Jar

I am an avid baker, and was SO excited to hear about this...have you ever heard of a Cake in a Jar before? I hadn't! I heard of this neat idea from my cousin Sarah. She is an Army wife and mother of two, who's husband was recently deployed to Afghanistan, 37 days ago to be exact. This isn't the first time he's been deployed either :-( I admire her so much for her bravery and courage. She has been posting updates to her Facebook of what she's done each day that her husband has been gone. I always check each day for that little update, and say a little prayer for them, as well as all families of the armed services :-) The other day she had a post about sending soliders Cakes in a Jar. FiftyTwoCakes has an excellent article about Cakes in a Jar and how to make them, you can find that here! If you know or are related to someone who is deployed this is such a great idea to send them. Here are the cakes that Sarah made for her husband!

Coconut Cake in a Jar! :-) Are you not SO impressed with these!!! And, get this...they're HOMEMADE!!! Talk about yummy!!! My cousin is an AWESOME cook and baker and she's an equally good, if not better, wife and mommy. Here she is with her husband and two sweet boys as they said goodbye on the day her husband deployed.

Are they not the cutest little family?! Look at those handsome boys, too cute! :-) Please take a moment to say a prayer for this sweet family. Pray for Cory to return home safe and for Sarah to have peace of mind while he's away. I cannot imagine having two little ones running around in the middle of the chaos of a deployment! I love you guys and am always thinking of you! :-) Thanks for letting me blog about you guys Sarah!!!

"For he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones" Proverbs 2:8

They will run and not grow weary...

Hello everyone, it's been a long time! I've been so busy with teaching, lesson planning, running and life in general. Not to mention fighting off some nasty First Grade germs...which I imagine look something like this....

Thankfully I am feeling SO much better now!

Each day I have fallen more and more in love with my First Grade class, not their yucky little germs though! They are precious and I literally spend all day laughing at their funny personalities. This age is just such a sweet time, they're constantly hugging me and drawing me picutres. Today I even had a little boy complete a groundhogs day word search and when he was done he said, "I made this for you!". He even used his gel pens, just for me I'm sure ;-) In case you weren't aware, gel pens are THE big thing to have in First Grade.

While I was battling my nasty sick germs I ran another Half Marathon! My friend Jamie ran with me, although she finished much quicker than my sickey self. It was her first half and I'm so proud of her!!!

Here we are before the race! :-)

Jamie running!

Three words that sum up this race...heat, humidity, and HILLS!

Here I am crossing the finish line...my face is super excited because my wonderful parents surprised me and came down to watch me finish!!! :-) I have the best parents, I just love them!!!

How cute are they? I was so happy to see them after that long run!

My beautiful "congratulations presents" from the future hubster! He's so sweet and supportive. I am so lucky!

"But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:31