Dance Recital 2009

On Monday, 5/17, Caroline had her THIRD dance recital in 5 years, and they just get better and better. She was a gas to watch, and really developed this year. She took ballet, jazz, and tap, as well as gymnastics. Her teacher, Ms. Pat (from Ms. Pat's School of Dance), is a former Rockette-very cool! She had several assistants, mainly Ms. Tracie this year, and also Ms. Tammy has helped. They are delightful! Enjoy this slide show of highlights from the Dance Recital~

OTIS JAVIER LOPEZ HOLLAND

We are muy tarde in celebrating the birthday of our señior Otis Javier Lopez Holland on Cinco de Mayo, 2009! Our poochy turned 1 year old on Cinco de Mayo, which is why he has a latino middle name. When pondering what his middle name should be, we were naturally drawn to the things we love(d), and somehow Karen was drawn to the memory of former Atlanta Brave catcher, Javier (Javy) Lopez. Specifically, she was drawn to his gluteus maximus,

SO, OJLH was born, and we celebrate the birthday of our little latino, our bouncy bambino, our CHUNKY-BUTT dog, Otis. Weighing in at a very svelt 29.4 pounds (yes Mr. and Mrs. Holland, he'll be about 20-22 pounds). Now Nick strains his back just to lift the "little guy".

He does have a tremendous personality, and provides us with unlimited "sugars", hugs, and laughs. Happy Birthday Otis!

Milestones!!

It seems that everyday I am constantly amazed at my children. Over the past couple of weeks I catch myself just looking at them in awe of the little people they are becoming! Today was a crazy day. I had to work, Nick had a gig down town etc, etc. We were totally going to be playing tag! But in all of the craziness it was a day I caught myself smiling a lot---
While we were driving to church this morning Caroline had a copy of a sing along Bible. She decided that she was going to read Bible stories and prayers all the way to church. To be completely honest I wasn't really listening at first. Caroline has been "reading" since she could talk, but after a minute or two I found my mouth hanging open because Caroline was really reading the words as they were printed! She missed a few here and there but Oh! it was such a sweet sound! I love hearing my children read, especially the word of God!! Nick and I have always prayed that our children would LOVE to read. It seems to be happening. Yesterday Nicholas--who is more than 1/2 way through the 4th Harry Potter book (he just started reading them at the end of March) said "mom, I have discovered something new about myself--I love to read!" I could not be more excited because that is one of my most favorite things to do as well.

But in Nicholas' opinion the most important milestone of the day is the fact that he is 4'8" tall. For those of you who don't know why that is so important it is because Nicholas is tall enough that he no longer has to ride in a booster seat! I measured him while at work today and he was over the moon excited!! One day soon I will have to post the fact that he is taller than his mom!!!

8 Things I'm looking foward to...TAGGED!

8 Things I'm looking forward to...subtitled, I've been tagged by my dear friends Heather and Trent in Indiana!

1. HEAVEN...'nuff said

2. Watching my babies grow up

3. Growing old with my lovey

4. College Football...GO 'DAWGS! HOO HOO!

5. Liz's visit

6. Carole Kenney getting married!! (She's not engaged yet...I'm standing in faith!)

7. Going BACK to Disney World

8. Having the summer off from Preschool

8 Things I did yesterday... Did I do 8 things yesterday??

1. Walked Caroline to school

2. Check emails

3. Went to Preschool

4. Watched Dancing with the Stars (that I DVRed)

5. Cooked Dinner

6. Made sure the kids got baths

7. Read some of the "One Perfect Day" book

8. Slept...though not enough!

8 things I wish I could do...(so I can't do everything?)

1. Be independently wealthy

2. Have a clean house everyday

3. travel anywhere I want to go

4. Have a house on the beach

5. Work out and love it!

6. Be more faithful in my Bible and prayer time

7. By a new house (Nick wants the pool too)

8. Not spend so much money at the grocery store!

8 Shows I enjoy...

1. Dancing with the Stars

2. The Biggest Loser

3. ER (bummed that it's over)

4. Law & Order (original, SVU...no Criminal Intent)

5. College Football

6. Ace of Cakes

7. the Today Show (plus my local news)

8. Fox News, especially Neal Cavuto

8 Friends that I passed this on to...(I don't know 8 bloggers, but you're all TAGGED!)

1. Christi Shaw

2. Sarah Hollis

3. Adrienne Rogowski

4. I don't have any more friends...(that blog)

Celebrating my Children today!!!

I just thought I would celebrated Nicholas and Caroline today! All year Nicholas has been striving to get an E (excellent) for his conduct grade and last week he finally achieved his goal. He has always been "good enough" but at our School excellence is expected--and he finally got there! Let's keep hoping for more E's!!

And Caroline has learned to tie her shoes! I was a little more lax with her ( I made Nicholas learn before he started kindergarten) but last night after her bath she walked out of her room with her robe on and said "I did this all by myself" as she held on to the lovely bow on her robe!! Today as we walked to school she said " Now I can tie anything I want" YES indeed!!!!

A gift to me!

Have you ever just needed to know that you have done the right thing? A while ago I did something that was truly one of the hardest things I have ever done. I only did it after MUCH prayer and finally (after putting it off again and again) had to do it to be obedient. Ever since then there have been times I have agonized over what had transpired and I doubted myself. I believed I was obedient to the Lord's prompting but my fleshy self still wondered. But we serve a good and faithful God and over the past month I have been give confirmation after confirmation that I had done the right thing. It has come in the sweetest ways such as talking with other people that have said to me "I am right there with you, keep praying"--people I didn't even know!!! and some that I did! and yesterday sitting in church our pastor confirmed it. He said after praying about something speak the truth in love and back it with scripture! He didn't know of my situation, how my broken heart was slowly starting to mend, but he spoke straight to my heart! As tears filled my eyes, I realized the band aid I needed wasn't that big anymore and I said a great big THANK YOU to our most AMAZING GOD!!! He always knows exactly what we need!!

Hannah Mon-Caroline - updated!

I just updated the video of Caroline performing in her role of Hannah MonCaroline at Forest Hill Community Church. Please check out the post from April 2009!

Happy Birthday to Hallelujah!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HALLELUJAH CHEWBACCA HOLLAND!!

This picture was taken when Halbo was about 4 months old, in Greensboro, NC. He posed his own paw for the camera even!

Here is Halbo, a whopping 12 YEARS LATER! Hal turned 12 today on May 3, 2009; a day I honestly thought we'd never share with this dog. If you haven't met Halbo, he's a very special dog. He's grumpy, grouchy, a nervous-nelly, and incredibly territorial. He's likely bit or nipped at many of you, our precious readers! He said he's sorry!

Last summer, Hal blew out his right hind leg knee, and we thought we were going to have to put him down. His vet advised against having surgery, because he is old and would likely blow the other one any day. We brought him home with a decision to make; let him go play with Mama Jacque (my mom) and Jesus, or keep him with us and let him be a happy tripod. He had actually started working on the annual Christmas letter, just in case he wouldn't be around to finish it for the holidays...

Well, we actually went to bed that night expecting to put him down the next day or so...and then we woke up. He was bouncing around, playing, barking, asking to go on walks, the whole bit. After we dried our faces, we decided a happy tripod was just fine with us! Shar-peis have a normal lifespan of 7-10 years, so he's quite the elder statesman. Here's to you our first "child" - Happy Birthday Hallelujah!

LIZ GETS MARRIED!

Karen's best friend for life got married on April 18th, 2009, in Athens, Georgia. It was a beautiful wedding, and a great trip to Atlanta and Athens. Karen was a Matron of Honor, and Caroline was a flowergirl. I sang a couple of songs, and Nicholas provided the comic relief for us all. Here are some shots from the Braves game on that Thursday, from the campus at UGA on Friday, from the hairdressers, the wedding at the Chapel on campus, and some from the reception.

Fun in Athens, and the Rehearsal Dinner

Braves' Game

The Wedding!

One of the neatest blessings of the entire trip came from another of Liz's best friends, Jennifer Mason and her husband John. We spent Wednesday and Thursday evenings with Jennifer and John, and it was amazing! Jennifer kept me laughing nearly the entire time, and John kept me in awe as he quietly and consistently served behind the scenes. Thanks guys! And Congrats Liz & Tony!

Caroline's Family Picnic

At Caroline's school, Dexter Elementary, once every spring they hold a "Family Picnic Day". Families are invited to bring a blanket and sandwiches to eat with the kids out on the grounds. Last Friday was our chance to eat with Caroline, and we had a few photos to remember the day. Enjoy this show of Mrs. Bray's "Brilliant Bears"!

Family Gathering-Music Smart 2009

Every Friday at C S, either one of the classes or a group of students presents a life-skill common to the school, or one of the multiple intelligences that the curriculum of the school is built upon. Last Friday, we celebrated MUSIC SMART with the C S music teacher Susan Van Dyke.

She is an absolute magician! We were treated to solo violinists, a solo cellist, a vocal ensemble singing I Don't Wanna Grow Up from "Peter Pan", several pianists performing everything from Indian Chief to Sad Song to Tarantella. We kicked off the morning with an African Drum Circle that I had been helping Susan with. We enjoyed a traditional drum circle with four feature soloists!

To conclude the presentation, the 3rd graders unveiled their Will P Memorial, "Will You Read with Me?". Will was a student at C S the last two years, and passed away at the end of last school year due to a terminal illness. It was a touching tribute to a dear friend; the 3rd graders contributed over 250 books to the C S library in memory of Will.

The Easter Egg Hunt, 2009

Our church always does an Easter Egg hunt on the grounds every year, and this year was perhaps the best ever!













Pastor Rayden's songs before the hunt were particularly fulfilling, but the eggs were quite exciting! Here's a slideshow of the events...

Easter Sunday 2009

Nearly every Easter and Christmas, I usually play timpani at St. Marys Episcopal Cathedral, which is a very old, (very "high" church) in downtown Memphis. David Spencer, our trumpet professor, starting hiring me to play there since my first Christmas here. That leaves Karen usually taking the kids to church flying "solo", which I always miss.

This Easter, Karen had to wear her new "supervisor hat" for the Night Nurse company, and covered a shift from 8:00-11:00 that morning...no Easter service for her. Fortunately, one of neighbors that we attend church with agreed to take Nicholas and Caroline to church for us - Ms. Christa to the rescue! Here are a couple shots of our angels...

Belle...

One of my favorite parts of our Disney trip was actually "lunch with the Princesses" at Cinderella's table (in the castle). "My" favorite princess is princess Belle, from Beauty and the Beast. All of the princesses came by the table, except for Cinderella, who was still entertaining guests with photographs in the main hall entrance.

Finally, the last one to come by, was Belle. She had greeted the kids as had the others, and then posed for a picture...except that MY CAMERA BATTERY DIED!!! Oh the horrors! The pain! The consternation!!!






That was a Tuesday...







After a very long Wednesday at Animal Kingdom, we returned on Thursday to finish Magic Kingdom. We hadn't planned on it, but just happened by the East side of the castle mid-afternoon, only to see BELLE taking pictures with everyone! She was actually about to start Storytime in the Garden with Belle, for which we promptly grabbed a stone seat and enjoyed a thrilling time with Belle. Sadly, I was not selected to be the Beast - the chap directly in front of me was, and he was a splendid beast for sure.















After the story time ended, Belle then stayed for more photographs, for which we waited anxiously in line (boo lines, but hey! It's Belle!). Please enjoy these masterpieces with the grandest Princess of all - and Karen would love for someone to wipe that goofy smile off of my face...