Our Shining Star

It is amazing to me how time flies. I can't believe that my precious big E is approaching 10! This year has been a challenging one for Eli academically. He is learning new skills at such a fast pace I can barely keep up with all the work. From multiplication to algebra to telling time to measuring mass to division to learning how to read an encyclopedia, thesaurus, and dictionary to getting ready for the TCAPS. Whew! After that being said, I can honestly say that Eli has worked very hard to excel this year and he has proven to us that he can do very hard things! We are so very proud of him! He has kept good grades and his behavior has been good. He is such a great big brother to Emma and he is amazingly in love with Edan. I would like to recap what has been going on with him for the past few weeks. At school, Eli's class did a unit on cultures and without his teacher's leading, he came home and called Brent on the phone to ask him if he could get some of his Africa things together so he could show his class. The next day, Eli wanted me to come to school and watch him do a presentation on Africa. I was a proud mama that day! Eli is also turning into quite the sports fanatic! I surprised Brent and Eli with UT men's basketball tickets for Valentine's Day. This was the first time Eli had been to a basketball game and he was so excited! Every morning and afternoon he turns ESPN on and marvels at the basketball, so for him to be inside Thompson Boling Arena with all the fans was a dream! As we were leaving the game he told us that being in the big arena and climbing up the stairs to find our seats made him nervous. How sweet! Finally, the 3rd grade curriculum incorporates new things in special arts. In music class Eli is learning how to use and play the recorder. Amherst uses a system called Recorder Karate. As Eli learns the songs he is awarded a colored belt. Eli has definitely been a over-achiever at this! He signs up before school to go and get belts! So far, he has earned 5 belts and already has the next song learned and memorized! He went to school early this morning to play 2 songs for his music teacher, Mrs. Holliday, and she told him that he was her newest shining star! She also told him that out of all the 3rd grade, he was one of the few that had a purple belt! Wow Eli! I am totally amazed at how well you are doing! You may be your music teacher's shining star this year, but you will ALWAYS be Daddy and Mommy's shining star! We give all the praise and honor to the Lord!

So Much to ZOO!

Oh, the weather this weekend was truly a blessing! We needed some sunshine so badly that we decided to load up and go to the zoo Sunday afternoon. This was just what Emma and Edan needed after having a virus Friday and Saturday! Here are some pics from the visit!

The Sun Will Come Out...Tomorrow

On Thursday, February 18th, I took Emma out of school early to go and see Annie, the musical. We drove to Crossvile, TN to the Cumberland County playhouse. Her love for Annie began when she got the movie Annie in her Christmas stocking. She has watched it so many times! When Emma had her Pinkalicious b-day party in January, she chose this movie to show to the girls while they were trying to settle down. It was then that Emma's cousin, Anna, saw the movie and developed the same love for it! So, me and my sister-in-law, Laura, took the girls. They were so giddy on the way, laughing and talking about what they thought the show was going to be like! When we arrived, we took their picture in front of the Annie poster:It was time for the show to start and we went to find our seats. I asked Laura to take a picture of me and my sweet daughter!: During the musical, everytime a song would start, Emma would sing along. It was so cute! After the final act we got up to go to our car and the usher told us "Annie" was coming out to meet the people if we wanted to wait. When Emma heard her little body started shaking with excitment! She said, "I get to meet Annie, Mommy?" Emily Swafford, who played Annie, came out to meet the girls and they were beaming with excitement. She also signed thier playbill. It was so much fun to see Emma's face light up, I hope she will remember this day forever, I know I will!

INTRODUCING...

THE HODSON BAND!!!

ELI J, lead guitarist

EMMA G, lead singer
and EDAN B, drummer

MOMMY will always be your #1 FAN!!!

Trust and Obey

for there's no other way,
To be happy in Jesus
is to Trust and Obey.

We have been doing family devotions with our children for years, but we have recently added something new to our worship time together, SINGING!!! I love to sing and have always sung to the kids, but it wasn't until Brent did this last study on parenting did we incorporate singing into our family worship time. The kids' newest favorite song that we have taught them is Trust and Obey. The words are so simple, but so true! I love this time together because we are all growing in the Lord and proclaiming truth to Him!!! I would encourage all of you to do this with your children, start with the songs they already know, Jesus Loves Me, The B-I-B-L-E, and then teach them different songs from church, ect. Not only will they be blessed from learning but you will be blessed also by hearing them sing and singing together! It is truly my very favorite part of the day! And if you are wondering, Brent sings too! The biggest blessing I have received so far is that my children keep us accountable for family worship time, they don't want to miss it! Thank you, Lord!

Pink, Pink, Pink

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is Emma's favorite color, so for her 7th birthday, she wanted a Pinkalicious Birthday sleepover! Pinkalicious is a book that I bought for her when Eli was in 1st grade from his scholastic book order. She fell in love with this book and it has been a favorite for 2 years. She has most of it memorized and can tell you the story word for word. Her party was themed around this book. Everything the girls ate was pink: pink dip for veggies and strawberries, pink popcorn, pink marshmallows and bubble gum, pink lemonade and pink cupcakes! All of her friends arrived and they sat at the fancy pink table and enjoyed all things pink and afterwards Emma opened her presents. She loved that part! After the opening of presents, the girls got in groups of 2 or 3 and rotated to different centers. There was a cupcake coloring center, a makeup and polish center, a Pinklicious wand center, a coloring page center, and a pink bead neckace center! After the girls rotated centers it was time to settle down and get pjs on. To help her friends settle down, Emma read the book Pinkalicious to her friends and she did a wonderful job! It was almost 10 and the girls overheard my mom saying we should get pizza so they shouted, "pizza, pizza, pizza"!!! After eating pizza they all layed to watch the movie Annie. I think the last girl fell asleep at 1:30! The next morning the girls woke up to pink pancakes and strawberries. I hope you enjoy the montage, Emma had a wonderful time with all her friends!

Let it SNOW!!!

This past weekend we enjoyed the beautiful snow and the incredible lodging at my wonderful parents house! Early Friday morning, we met Brenda at Chick-Fil-A and I took the 3 E's to Blockbuster to rent movies and Wii games. I was praying for snow because they haven't ever really seen a "big" snow before. Well, God is good and he sent us snow! As soon as the first snowflake fell we packed up and headed to mom's house. That night we watched movies, laughed, and enjoyed each other. It was fantastic! The kiddos kept saying, "Is it still snowing?" We were pleasantly surprised the next morning to wake up to beautiful scenery. Mom made a huge breakfast, fried pork tenderloin, homemade biscuits, and eggs. It was delicious as all her meals are. I couldn't hold Eli and Emma back any longer. I couldn't wait to see how Edan would react to snow. He hasn't ever been it it!!! Brent and I got them all layered up and out we went! Our first mission was to build a snowman:

The snowman was gigantic! We were ready for sledding after we built the snowman. Here they are making a trek up the hill!

Here goes Eli!

and Emma:

and Edan:

and me and Lindsey:

and Mom!!!!

After a while, the boys got bored and wanted something more exciting, so they built a ramp. It was quite interesting!

Wow! What an amazing weekend! Thank you, Lord for such wonderful family time! I will remember these snow-filled days forever!