May Madness

I completely forgot to mention in my previous post that Matthew and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary on April 26th.  We didn't do anything particularly special but the three of us did go to dinner to celebrate.  As with every passing year I am more and more grateful for my amazing husband and so thankful for all he does for our family.  He wears so many hats, yet somehow balances it all and never complains.  It's hard to believe he's been putting up with me for almost a decade!  Here's hoping for many more.

May arrived and so did all of the end-of-school-year activities which meant another very busy and full month for us.  The school year was winding down which would bring a welcomed break, but the weeks leading up to it were tiresome to say the least!

I celebrated my 7th Mother's Day this year which is so hard for me to believe.  The desire of my heart was always to be a mother and there were many times when I doubted it would ever happen for me.  I am so thankful that in His time the Lord saw fit for me to be Kyndall Anne's mother.  She is my greatest joy in this life and what I'm most proud of.  She gives my life purpose and meaning and fills my days with love and laughter.  She is everything to me.

We celebrated by going to church followed by my annual request of an outdoor picnic at the park.  This is something we've done every year on Mother's Day and I love our little tradition so much.

She made me something sweet in Sunday School

Beautiful flowers from Matthew and Kyndall

Kyndall asked if her best friend from across the street could tag along for our picnic and of course I said yes.  She spends a lot of her time at our house so she's practically my second daughter anyway!

Sweet friends!!

The second part of our Mother's Day tradition always involves ice cream so we stopped by Dairy Queen for a sweet treat after leaving the park.

Back at home Kyndall couldn't wait to give me all the sweet gifts she made just for me.  She'd been up in her craft room for several days creating these priceless treasures and I loved every single one of them!

"My Mom really likes to play with me."

"My Mom always forgets to do nothing."

"My Mom is happy when she plays with me."

"My Mom's favorite color is pink and green."

"My Mom's hair is brown." (Not in many years, my dear!)
"My Mom's eyes are brown." (Bright blue, actually!)
"She is as tall as Dad." (How I wish!)
"My Mom looks the best when she wears no make up." (If you like horror films!)

"I love when my Mom plays with me."
"My favorite thing about my Mom is when she looks pretty."
"My favorite things to do with my Mom are SnapChat."

Mama and her three babies

At her request, some Mother's Day SnapChat fun was had...

We Skyped with both sets of Grandparents and she even put SnapChat filters on Nonie!

This beautiful sunset from the top of our neighborhood was the perfect ending to a wonderful day!  Look closely to the left side of the horizon and you can see the silhouette of downtown Dallas.

That same weekend, Matthew and Kyndall volunteered to help with the tornado cleanup in Canton, which is just up the road from where we live.  Kyndall was excited to jump in and do whatever she could to assist.

So proud of these two and their willingness to lend a hand where it was needed

She may be tiny in stature but this little girl has a HUGE heart!

Look at her lifting heavy stuff!

While they were doing that I decided to mark one of the many projects off my to-do list.  I bought this old desk from a neighbor for super cheap and I chalk painted it with the coordinating colors in Kyndall's room and it's now her very own vanity.

I also did this piece for one of our guest rooms that same day.

My sweet new friend and neighbor Monica is a professional photographer and she asked if Kyndall would be willing for her to take some head shots to add to her portfolio.  Kyndall was happy to volunteer and I was happy to get these great images of my girl.

My favorite!

Ever feel like someone is watching you??  Well at our house if you have FOOD, these two are eyeing your every move!

Costume delivery day at dance class is always an exciting day!

We had our very first field day experience the week before school got out and it was confirmed to me once again that my daughter does not have an athletic bone in her entire little body.  (And I'm totally ok with that!)  Bless her heart, she is her Mother's child which means she hates to sweat, despises running and isn't the least bit competitive.  She'd so much rather be inside making crafts or dancing or playing the piano but I was proud of her for giving it her best effort....even if she did draw her hands up and scream and run in the opposite direction when the soccer ball came her way.  Have mercy.

I was so proud of her for hanging in there and remaining one of the last ones on the court during this game...

Kids vs. parents in tug-o-war.  Notice the weenie on the very end!

Check out Mrs. Tobin taking one for the team!

Pikachu....Of course!

Matthew and Kyndall are crazy about the Waffle House so when they opened one recently in our small town they were both way too excited about it.  Kyndall gets a thrill out of sitting up at the bar and drinking her chocolate milk out of a paper coffee cup.  We so fancy.

 There's this new app for Kyndall's school which allows me to see uploaded videos of her completing certain parts of her work assignments throughout the week.  In this one she was counting to 100 unassisted in order to meet a goal for report card testing.  It also happened to be pajama day at school which is why she's dressed like Pikachu.  Have I mentioned that I'm over this Pikachu phase???

The kindergartners had been learning about money and also about needs vs wants.  One evening as we were strolling through Target for no real reason (as we frequently do!) she looked at me and said "Mommy....why are we even here?  Are we acting on our needs or our wants??"  Ouch!  Little stinker totally called me out!  So, we agreed that a gallon of milk was a need and we settled on that and I'm proud to say we walked out of the store without any other items.  Move over, Dave Ramsey.

As I was going downstairs one evening I caught a glimpse of this gorgeous sunset from our window and decided I needed to see it up close.  So we all spontaneously headed to the top of the neighborhood to admire it.  It did not disappoint!

Admiring the beautiful sight

Another day, another beautiful view.  Can you tell I have a thing for sunsets??

On that same day this memory popped up in my app.  It's hard to believe that this active, on-the-go little girl was once bound by her inability to walk.  I'll never forget the physical therapist telling us she needed braces on her legs and wondering what this meant for her future.  Now, five years later you'd never even know this was an issue.  She's a skipping, dancing, twirling, hopping, bouncing, skating machine!  Nothing stops her!

On May 18th the long-awaited Kindergarten graduation day was upon us.  I'm not sure how we got to this point so quickly, but alas there we were.  We are so proud of Kyndall and all of her achievements this year.  She received her diploma as well as a Reading Rocks award and a free trip to Six Flags for reading so many books at home throughout the year.  It's amazing to me how much she has grown and matured just since August.  It makes me both happy and sad to see her growing up into a beautiful young lady. 

When Kyndall was a baby I had these words painted on the wall above her crib and they continue to perfectly describe what she means to me and her Daddy...

"My child, you are the twinkle in our eyes, the smile on our faces, a gift from above, our greatest treasure, our sweetest dream, the answer to our prayers, our joy in the world, a wish come true, the happy ending to our fairy tale, the love of our lives, perfect in every way, our sunshine and our everything." 

One of my favorite scriptures is Jeremiah 29:11 which says "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord; plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

I have no doubt that the future is very bright for Kyndall and we are excited to see what plans the Lord has in store for her.  I just know she's going to be a world changer.

On the morning of her graduation she woke up to some surprises around the house....

I spent the day up at the school helping decorate for the graduation celebration, then we hurried home and got dressed up for the big night.

Kyndall and Ashlyn, best friends

Kyndall and Aubree

Levi, Aubree, Kyndall

Is this not the cutest thing you've ever seen??

Mrs. Tobin's 2016-2017 Kindergarten class.  Through my time spent in the classroom each week I grew to love each and every one of these kiddos!

I was proud of Kyndall for not having a come apart when her hat was accidentally knocked off at the end of this video.  You can see her starting to freak out and then I calmed her down from afar and assured her I'd fix it, which I did.  

Kyndall and sweet Bailee

There she goes.  Before we know it she'll be walking across a similar stage for her high school graduation!  Excuse me while I go cry in the corner.

These four ladies are true saints.  They are the brave souls who taught our kindergartners this year.

Kyndall with her teacher, Mrs. Tobin

Love these two girls!

Officially a kindergarten graduate!

We surprised her with a cookie cake, which is her favorite

She received lots of sweet graduation cards in the mail from family in the days following

One evening she disappeared for a while then emerged from her craft room to show me this.  She sketched this all on her own.  I'm not sure where she gets her artistic abilities but it's definitely not from me or her Daddy.

As we neared the end of the school year, the hectic schedules caught up with both of us

My friend Jennifer who lives in Houston came up to visit and I was SO happy to finally see her again.  I met Jennifer when her husband Craig was at Vanderbilt for his liver transplant two years ago.  Craig didn't survive his surgery but as a result Jennifer and I became very close and she was pretty thrilled when we moved to Texas.  I hadn't seen her since last summer when she came to visit us in Tennessee during one of my rejection episodes.  She drove me back and forth to Vanderbilt every single day for my treatments so that Matthew could continue working.  She is the true definition of a selfless friend.  Unfortunately both of our schedules had been so busy since our move that it took nine months before we actually saw each other, despite now living in the same state.  

That day also happened to be "bring your own cup day" at Seven-Eleven which as an Icee addict is the next best thing to Christmas for me.  We grabbed a (new) sand bucket and set off to fill that bad boy up with some frozen yumminess!

Kyndall's graduation money and gift cards had been burning a hole in her pocket (for two entire days!) so we took her to Toys R Us to spend it.  She ended up choosing this crazy robotic cat thing which I suppose was a good choice since she'll never be allowed to have a real cat as long as she's living under my roof.

Since August of 2016 Kyndall has been taking a private weekly art lesson with Mrs. Carrie Stevens and it has truly been the highlight of her week.  Unfortunately our school district does not offer art at the elementary level which is a tragedy for someone like Kyndall who is clearly artistically gifted.  So, as soon as we moved here I heard about this fabulous teacher who offers classes and I signed Kyndall up immediately.  Every Monday she spent an hour with Mrs. Carrie learning all kinds of artistic techniques and styles and she created some amazing pieces which are priceless treasures to me.  Mrs. Carrie always encouraged Kyndall to pursue her love of art and she poured words of affirmation and love into her during every class.  On May 22nd Mrs. Carrie opened up her studio for an art show in which each child had some of their favorite pieces of art displayed for everyone to see. 

We didn't know it at the time, but that would be the last time we would see Mrs. Carrie this side of Heaven.  Two weeks ago while we were in Tennessee we got word that Mrs. Carrie collapsed while speaking to a group at her church on Sunday July 2nd.  She was placed on life support at Baylor and remained unresponsive for five days before being removed from support.  Kyndall was absolutely devastated and my heart just broke for her.  Telling her the news was by far the hardest thing I've ever had to do as her mother.  She was set to be in art camp with Mrs. Carrie the following week and had been so looking forward to seeing her again.  Mrs. Carrie was also going to be doing a painting party for Kyndall's upcoming birthday party.  

The unexpected loss of Mrs. Carrie has left such a hole in our hearts.  She truly loved Kyndall like family and Kyndall adored her.  Although our time with her was short, I am so thankful for the love, time, passion and talent that she poured into our daughter each and every week.  By encouraging her and investing in her she planted roots of confidence in Kyndall that I pray will continue to grow.  She sparked a love for art in Kyndall like I have never seen before while also being a wonderful Godly role model for her.  Kyndall tends to be somewhat of a perfectionist when it comes to her art and is very hard on herself.  Mrs. Carrie would always tell her "Kyndall....there are no mistakes in art!" She will be sorely missed by all who loved her.  

Kyndall has been asking me a lot of questions about death and dying since the loss of Mrs. Carrie.  She often asks me if Mrs. Carrie will remember her when she gets to Heaven and she wants to know if Mrs. Carrie is teaching art to the children in Heaven.  Just this week she told me she dreamt of Mrs. Carrie and that it made her happy to see her again.  Our sweet friend Mrs. Jennifer that I mentioned above sent Kyndall this beautiful necklace to help her remember and honor Mrs. Carrie.  She told me that when people ask her about the necklace she will just tell them it's a special reminder of her art teacher but that she won't tell them that she's now in Heaven.  I think it's still just too much for her to comprehend.

I have been eating lunch with Kyndall every Friday since the beginning of the school year.  Every single Friday without fail she would request a mayo and cheese sandwich from Subway, along with a chocolate chip cookie.  This sweet time together was something we both looked forward to every week and I hope she'll continue to enjoy it as much as she did this year.  I'm sure before long she won't want me there anymore but for now I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.

Last Friday lunch date of the kindergarten school year

May 24th officially marked the very last day of school and just like that, kindergarten was over!  I love these comparison pictures of her because you can really see how much she changed over the past 9 months.

Last day selfie by Mrs. Tobin

(See all the kids wearing green bracelets?  Those are Donate Life bracelets that Kyndall had been begging me to let her pass out ALL year.  She's as passionate about the cause as I am and that makes me pretty proud!)

The last day of school meant early release day and a McDonald's picnic outside for the entire grade level.  I volunteered to pick up the 80 happy meals that morning and I don't think I've ever been so warmly greeted by a group of kiddos in my life as I was that day when I drove up with their lunch!  Also, my car smelled terrible after transporting said happy meals.

I had her teacher write a special message in this book and my intent is to also have every teacher forthcoming do the same and by the time she graduates she will have a sweet little keepsake to look back on.

To my surprise, Kyndall was pretty sad over it being the last day of school.  She didn't want to leave even though it was time and then once I finally got her into the car she burst into tears and told me it was "the worst day ever".  She told me she was going to miss her friends and her teacher and even though I assured her she'd see them all again next year she just kept saying "it won't be the same".  I think she takes after me in that she's not good with change and thrives on routine and consistency.  I took her to get ice cream to hopefully cheer her up but it took a while to see a smile finally appear.

Her face was all red and splotchy from crying

Ice cream always makes things better

Last day of school interview....

I decided that we were going to turn the "worst day ever" into the "best day ever" so we grabbed up her BFF Ashlyn from across the street as soon as we got home.  I filled water balloons, gave them free reign of the water hose, let them make homemade pizzas, have playtime and ended the night with a movie.  They smiled and giggled all afternoon so I'd say my mission was successful.  Growing up, every year on the last day of school my mom would have all my friends over to our house for a swimming and pizza party, yearbook signing and shaving cream fight.  It was the highlight of the school year for me and my friends and I'll treasure those memories always.  I hope this day was the beginning of some priceless memories for my girl as well.  

This mama is most definitely NOT crying on the last day of school!  Sweet freedom!

Yearbook signing

That same week the neighborhood pool finally opened and we had one very excited little girl on our hands!

She spent the remainder of her graduation money on this mermaid fin that she'd been drooling over since she first saw it in the store.

No school meant play dates with friends so we met up with Bailee and her Mom at the jumpy house place to let these girls get their energy out

One of our neighbors decorated their yard for Memorial Day and Kyndall was so impressed with it

Memorial Day arrived and we had Bailee and her parents over for a cook out and some swimming

Summertime means endless lunch dates with DADDY which means endless smiles from his girls

Freedom from school also meant freedom to travel and that's exactly what Kyndall and I did for the next two months straight!  Coming up in my next post I'll share pictures from her dance recital, our trip to Florida as well as our trip to Tennessee and finally...our family vacation to the Caribbean which starts TOMORROW!  Sweet summertime!