Hershey Track Meet

Analise was old enough to participate in the Hershey Track meet this year. We took her for a practice run at the track so she could run each heat so she could know which one she wanted to race at the meet.
The Hershey Meet was a Saturday morning, and it was cold. And WINDY. I took her up for her softball throw, and then Brandon came later with the other two for the running events. She ran with the nine and ten year old group, and though she didn't earn any ribbons, she had fun. She landed about in the middle of each heat.

All ready for the softball throw

 Getting ready to run the 50m. She also ran the 100m. (That is all on video). But what I will always remember is how people commented on how Analise smiled ear to ear the entire race.

Maisie's Talent Show

Maisie's kindergarten class had their own talent show during a music class. Parents were invited, so I was excited to go see her and her class perform.

Maisie next to her good friend, K. She chose to sing the song, "Alice the Camel."

May Day May Day

May 1 is a big deal around here, and I am thankful I have lived here long enough to remember this. :)

So with a little planning, and a little prep, we were ready to deliver. However, the weather missed the message that it was May, and the day was cloudy, cold and we even had some snow flurries.

But I was prepared. I knew that icky weather was coming, and I didn't want to be out in it delivering May baskets. (I mean I didn't want my girls to run to the door in that kind of weather...)

This made for a crazy Tuesday, but it was worth it. Aaron and Kaleb came home with us after school, so they helped me by decorating the cake pops. I told them to act surprised when they saw them again. :)

They, along with Analise and Sadie, were a huge help!

Grandma came a bit later to pick up the kids to take them to deliver May baskets from the church to shut-ins. After they got back, we inhaled supper and then delivered our baskets on April 30.

We made little sunshines with this note attached. About as creative as I can get.

And May Day was still fun because the girls got lots of fun, sweet May baskets from great friends!

I am thankful for this tradition.

Sleeping Sadie

When we check on the girls before we go to bed, we never know how we are going to find them. Especially this one. More often then not I tell Brandon he is going to have to fix her because I can't reach.

This night she was snuggling with the railings. Cozy  or not, she was sleeping!

Enjoying the Sunshine

As soon as the temps start to warm up and the days get nice, the girls get antsy. Antsy for shorts, popsicles, and slip n slides, etc. So after a couple of nice days, I finally let the girls go outside to play with their new water blasters. And it wasn't long before they cooled off. (Just like I told them. :)) 

But they had lots of fun, and I loved hearing the laughter coming from the backyard.

I think they were actually the most excited about wearing their new swimsuits. And it was unintentional that they are all blue.

 I love Sadie's smile in this picture.

What a fun way to celebrate the snow being gone (finally) and the warm weather arriving.

Be the Best

One of Analise's final school projects was called, "Be the Best You Can Be." It was pretty unlimited on what she could do; the goal was to focus on how you can be your best. I ended up getting a scrapbook kit from Hobby Lobby knowing she would enjoy doing something like this. Completely out of my league, but we had fun working on it together. And I like how she has a keepsake of this project. She then presented her scrapbook to class and read about each of her entries. It was really neat to see her do this.

Below are the pictures she chose to write about:

Sewing:

 Running

 Family

Friends

 Reading

 Music

 OCC

 Taking care of Caramel

 Fishing and swimming

Analise's Nomination

As part of the girl's character education, each class is asked to nominate someone who lives out a certain character trait. Analise came home with a nomination form, and she chose to write about her teacher. Her teacher always goes above and beyond with what is required of her. 

Imagine our delight when I got a call from the school letting me know that she had been chosen from Analise's nomination. We made sure to be at the assembly to see Mrs. Bennett surprised when her name was called. What a fun experience to pass along the blessing to her that she has been to Analise all year. 

Analise's Baptism

 Last November,  I took Analise to our church's Thanksgiving dinner, complete with about 30 baptisms. After watching many of those, we had a great discussion about it on the way home. She thought she wanted to be baptized. I told her we would talk and pray about it.

When she learned that they would doing baptisms in April, she told me again she want to be baptized. We talked again about what it meant. I pulled out my journal and read about the day she asked Jesus into her  heart. I asked her in our journal why she wanted to be baptized. 

Convinced she knew she was aware of what she was doing and why she was doing it, we signed her up.

We had a great 30 minute meeting with Pastor Mike where he asked her some questions and explained more about baptism. 

Sunday morning arrived, and she wasn't nervous - just excited!

 Brandon had the privilege in baptizing her. Does it get any sweeter than that?

We were so joyful about Analise taking this bold, obedient step in her faith. We are thankful for family who supported and encouraged her in this. She loves her new cross necklace, the cards she got, and the devotionals she has started. She asked me later that night what the next step in her faith journey was. Insightful question - I believe it's living for God day by day and being a light for Him.

PATH 5k

Three weeks after we ran the color run, our family joined many other families for an event called PATH walk. I don't remember what is stands for, but the goal is to get families active together. They offer a one mile walk and a 5k run/walk. Brandon walked with Sadie and Maisie (Grandpa joined them), and I knew I wanted to run this 5k with Analise. We joined up with Derek and the boys.

It was another beautiful morning for this event!

Again Grandma met us at different points to take our pictures.

Before the walk/run. We missed Sarah who was off for some training.

 The walkers

 And the runners. We were so fast that the picture turned out blurry. :)

 Look at the Analise's face of sheer delight.

 Whoo-hoo over half way finished!

Ahhh...3 miles later at the finish line. Analise was immediately given a medal. Thank you Jesus.

Derek and I joked that we would confuse people by running together. Braylen hung with us most of the way and then took off. Kaleb and Analise ran just ahead of us most of the way. Then Kaleb would jog ahead, stop and wait for us, then do that again. Toward the end Analise ran with Derek and me. We pushed her to the end. She ran the entire thing with NO stops. This also means I ran the entire thing with no stops. She learned she could do it! I was SO proud of her! Our time was 32-33 minutes. Not bad for a young 9 year old and old 35 year old non-runner.