Prom Sneak Peak

Your welcome ~~ =)

(How much do you love his Tom's and her kickin' heels? ~~ I mean seriously, so stylish!!)

Dak looks so completely handsome and Liza is just stunning!!

More pictures to come in Sunday Letters ~~

Have a Blessed Saturday evening ~~

Random Saturday~~ Lots of Pics =)

Okay, so this started as a Random Friday Post, but I have SO many pics on here that it has taken me 2 days to upload them. I have been one busy girl, but I so wanted to get these up, because there are so many things going on right now, I want to make sure they get documented on here as well as in my scrapbooks.

So here we go..... these are all pics from Dak's last day of High School EVER!!! CRAZINESS!!

But in true Dak style, the boy went out with a bang =) He took my camera to school and took like 150 pics (or something close to that....give or take a few). It was so cute!!!

Well, here he is with Liza, his Prom date. And just FYI, Prom is TONIGHT!!
Isn't she pretty? And so sweet. I am really looking forward to seeing her in her dress.
















This is my boy, pouting..... I'm not sure I'm buying it =)















My boy and me ~~ oh, be still my heart!! (It was early in the morning so no make-up ~~ but oh well, it was so worth it to get a pic with my baby!!)















Dak and Mr. Lawson, the Libraian and one of the nicest guys you will ever meet.
















Dak and our neighbor Tori. She is beautiful inside and out!!!
















Dak and Airelle ~~ SO funny!!!
















Dak and Chazalin (Love her name).....















Dak and Alyssa. Enough said .....

Dak and Mr. Houser, his College Comp teacher. Wow was this a challenging class for Dak, but he learned so much from SUCH a good teacher. He has made Dak a better boy.

Cleaning out the locker. Sad.

Dak and Allie Economy ~~ GREAT name and such a pretty girl.....

Tear.

Party in the locker =) .....

Dak and Mrs. Montgomery, his school counselor. Oh my, this woman has helped us SO much!! We love you Mrs. M!

hahahaha .....

Chem II ~~ yep there were 5 in this class.....5 and they did Chem II right .....

Dak and Airelle again. She is a KNOCKOUT!!!!! .....

So sweet!!!

Dak, Chaz and Marlee.....

Oh.my.stars. Love them!!!

Dak and Mrs. Wyatt, his Business teacher and one of my PT buddies. She blew her knee out last summer playing tennis, and we had the same PTist. How cool is that?!! She is now doing great and is having a baby. Congratulations Mrs. W ~~ We love you and we're gonna miss you!!

Dak and Taylor ~~ yes PLEASE notice the glasses ~~ that's my boy!!!

(My mom thought they were a joke. When I told her he was serious. She couldn't believe it!!) hahahahaha

Dak and Taylor after school. They went and ate Mexican and then came home and played Guitar Hero to "School's Out Forever" !! Hahahaha ~~ At least High School anyway =)

So tonight is Prom, tomorrow evening is Baccaleaurate and then Monday is Tennis Districts at 3:00 PM, Grad at 8:00 PM and then Project Grad bus leaves at 9:30 PM. WOW!!!

I love this boy so ~~ thank you for letting me share him with you!!

Have a Blessed Saturday,

First Last Day of School ~~ tear.

Well today is a very note worthy first last ~~~ THE LAST DAY OF HIGH SCHOOL!!! For my sweet boy.

Can you even believe it?!!

So last night I melted down. I knew it was coming. Yep, it came. It has been overwhelming these last couple of days. I went for a walk and cried and I kind of felt better.

And this morning as he popped his head in and then headed to school (complete with pictures coming soon). I didn't cry, but he almost did =) He came in yesterday from school and said, "Mom, this is weird. Today was my last final's." I assured him that he would have way more finals in college, and to that he said, "Okay, my last finals in High School." Bless his heart.

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I have many things to share with you and many things to post about. I have so many projects I've been working on and want to share with y'all. Hopefully I can do that this weekend. But we will see as it is Prom Weekend, Baccelaurate Sunday and Graduation on Monday. So lots of busy stuff coming up, but I'm hoping for some quiet moments in there too.

Thanks for checking in and loving on me. It means more than you know ~~

Have a Blessed day ~~

Another First Last.....And a Spectacular Tennis Match

So yesterday was first in a series of firsts lasts for us, now that Graduation is less than two weeks away. WOW!!

Yesterday was Dak's last High School Choir Awards, and he had a tennis match going on at the same time. They moved his match to the first sets, so he could make it. He made it, just about the closing time, but he still had fun. I accepted his blue ribbon for the 1 he got at SWCL in his ensemble, and he recieved a gift because he is a Senior and this is his last year of HS Choir.

Here he is.....

Isn't he sweet?!!

Here is Alyssa, receiving her 1 ribbon too.

She cracks me up. Mrs. Nelson (the music teacher) asked the Seniors to fill out a questionaire that she would read at the Spring Concert (which didn't happen because she decided it was time to have her little one =) and so she read them here, and at the end of the questionaire she asks the kids what their future plans were and if they were headed to college what their major would be, and Alyssa said she would be majoring in Power Ranging!!! hahaha She cracks.me.up.

Goofy girl!!

And this is our girl Trisha, who got the Sightreading Award. The girl's got skill!!

And this is Mrs. Nelson. She has been an amazing Music teacher and took this program places that our school hasn't seen in 7 years with a 1 at the State Competition!! Great job Mrs. Nellie (as the kids call her), and congrats on sweet Lliam. What a cutie!!!

This was their amazing cake!!! It had a picture of all the students on it, being wild and crazy, of course =) Dak is at the top with something white in his mouth. I don't want to know =)

Before the Awards Ceremony, Dak had a Tennis Match, against a very tough team.

And.....

HE WON!!! 9-7 ~~ I missed the last half of the match, because I went to get his stuff at awards, but I hear he did REALLY good. He has improved his game so much this year.

And what would a post be without Sir Cuteness getting his sweet little face in there somewhere? =) Here he is with a blueberry chin ~~ sweetest blueberry chin I've ever seen =)

So my sweet Dak is hilarious!!! And here is just a little more proof of that......

Have a Blessed day ~~

Another First Last ..... Love is a Verb Day 15

Okay, so let me start by saying that the original title to this post was "Love is a Pity Party Today". And no, I am NOT kidding. That is what I entitled it before I went over to Deidre's to grab my "Love Month" button (see above =) Well, when I got over there, she had posted, and what a post it was!!! She posts today about there being "No one like our God"!! And then that is when this post COMPLETELY fell apart, PRAISE HIS NAME!!!

You see, this particular post finds me struggling. I'm having a hard time with me knee, and the enemy is trying to discourage me, but I am pressing on. Sometimes chronic pain is so constant that I can't get away from it......hence the pity party........ but I am choosing Joy today and knowing that there is "NO ONE LIKE OUR GOD!!" NO ONE!!!!!

Well, last night was another first last for me this Senior year. Do y'all realize that my baby, my BABY is graduating in less than 3 months. What in the blue blazes is going on?!! It has happened so quickly. I am, however, finally starting to get a handle on things a little bit, anyway, that was until last night.

Last night was my LAST Parent Teacher Conference EVER!!! It was really nice, for it being the last one and all..... All the teachers LOVE my son and they love me too which is really nice. There is one class that he is kind of struggling in, and because the teacher likes me he was careful in how he worded the problems, etc. It is so nice to be respected and loved by your child's teachers. So nice. And don't worry all is well and Mr. H assured me that Dak's grade is only reflective of one paper and the bulk of his grade comes with the final assignment. This is a college course and that is the way he teaches and grades it. Besides that class, his lowest grade is a 94.4% in CHEM 2. Wow he didn't get his smarts from this chic-a. And then besides that his lowest grade is 100% and he even has a 110%. Now how does that happen?!! When I was in school and did extra credit and exceeded the 100% mark, it was like there was a cap on it or something. Weird I know. And I digress....

Anyway.....

I was at school for probably close to 2 hours just talking and hanging out with some of the coolest people in the school system as a whole. Fantastic teachers and just really nice people. They all told me how much they were going to miss Dak and just what a great kid he is. Does this mama's heart good to hear that. Really good.

But wow is it moving fast!!! Tonight is Project Grad meeting and then Friday another First Last..... Homecoming!! I may hyperventilate!!! Where is my brown paper sack for crying out loud?!!!!!!!!

I love him so!! He is dealing with a lot right now with trying to figure out what he wants to do and just school in general, but wow in less than 3 months he's out of school and a whole new chapter begins.

I think we need to buy stock in the brown paper sack industry.

Well, I have pictures and a funny, cute story for you about Sir Cuteness and I on Valentine's Day, but I haven't the energy to download the pics so it will wait another day.

Love you all and thanks Deidre for holding my hands up in the midst of the fury today and not letting me throw that Pity Party afterall. I feel MUCH better!!

Psalm 27:13-14 "I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD, be strong and take heart, and wait for the LORD."

Another First Last.....Doc's Appt......AND Bible Study Info!!!!!

WOW now that's a lot to cover in one post, but we will get it done =)

So here we go with another, A BIG, first last. Yesterday was Dak's first day of his last Semester of High School!!! Breathe, just breathe mama. It is going SO fast!! But I'm just so excited for him and so proud of him. He is continuing to work hard, even though he probably could be a slacker at this point and get by. No, instead he traded Life Sports (easy, gravy class) for Art IV (hard, only four students accepted in this class kind of hard), and he has NEVER taken an Art class in High School AT ALL. But he was accepted yesterday and gets started right away today. He is a talented dude, my boy. Okay could I brag more? Oh, I could, but I'm afraid your eyes would get stuck at the top of your head for good =) So we'll carry on.....

Oh speaking of Dak, I just had to include this picture of him and his grandma from CHRISTmas. How adorable are these two? Love them. (Oh yes RJ, his hair is a different color again =) I knew you'd notice =)

Doc's Appointment: I had another follow-up for my knee yesterday, and I was expecting him to want to manipulate it to get further range of motion, because he had mentioned it in my last appointment. But this time, he was so pleased with my progress. He didn't even mention manipulation. Praise You Jesus!!!!!

He said that even though my numbers (range of motion) are the same, he can tell a difference from this month to last and that I'm doing good. So he gave me more pain medicine for night time (I'll be glad when it doesn't hurt at night anymore. Yuck.) and he ordered more PT. I tried to talk him into just two days a week, but in the end he wrote my script for three again, for the next four weeks. So that's okay too. I'm not sure what this will do to my PT schedule, but we'll see.

Also in other knee news, The Mayo Clinic sent me a packet in the mail last week saying that they wanted to see me. What?!! Yep it is time for a follow-up on the right. You see, the surgery I had on the right fell under research, and we had to sign papers that we would do follow-ups etc. But the good news is that they said if I couldn't travel up there right now, that I could fill out the paper work they sent (three pages) and have x-rays done. They were VERY specific about the x-rays they wanted. So when I was in talking to Dr. R yesterday, I asked him if that was something I could have done there. And he said no problem and ordered them right there. So I have the x-rays and now I just have to fill out the paperwork. Isn't God good?!! Yes He is, and all the time He is good!! I love Him so!!!!!

So I have PT today and we will see how the next four weeks will look with that. I was so excited when I left yesterday that I was praising Jesus all through the hall thinking that if someone would see me they would think I was crazy but I didn't care!!! His Name be praised!! Lisa, I was thinking of you sister as I praise walked through the halls of that Dr.'s office =) You are SUCH an inspiration to me girl!!

Bible Study: Our next Bible Study is set to start next Tuesday evening. I can hardly wait to get started!!! It is Beth Moore's "A Woman's Heart: God's Dwelling Place".

We will start next Tuesday evening at 6:00 PM (CST). The time has changed from 7:00 PM (CST) to 6:00 PM (CST). If this time does not work for any of you that would like to participate, then we can change it back to the original time.

This is how it works. We meet every other Tuesday over at Chatzy. I don't have the link up yet, but by next Tuesday, I'll have it up and running again, and I'll let y'all know when it is up again.

On each Tuesday of study, I will post Questions pertinent to the last two weeks of study. On our first meeting, since we haven't study out of our book yet, I pose a few questions that we discuss on that first evening, just to get our feet wet. =)

Okay, so I'm off to get Sir Cuteness and have breakfast. Oh I can hardly stand it =)

Have a Blessed and beautiful day!!!

Psalm 27:13-14 "I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the LORD, be strong, and take heart and wait for the LORD."

Love you,

Another First Last.........Senior CHRISTmas Program

Last night was another first last for us in Dak's Senior Year, his CHRISTmas Program. He has been singing in choir since the third grade. It has been so fun to watch him through the years. It is so hard to believe this is the last High School CHRISTmas Program for him.

This Senior Year is starting to really fly by. I'm trying to take it all in, but on the inside the emotions are starting to stir. As I drove down the road the other day, I started thinking about graduation, and thinking about how sometimes the kids will give their mom's roses, and I have NO idea if the kids will do that, because they didn't last year, but that didn't keep my brain from going there. I finally had to call my sister because I was practically in tears. Oh my people!! You are gonna have to keep me sane for the next 5 months. 5 MONTHS FROM TOMORROW MY BABY GRADUATES!!! But I'm okay really....sniff....tear.....sniff....tear......boohoooooooo =)

I love him so!!! Last night was a lot of fun.

Here is Dak with Alyssa. I cannot tell you how happy these two have made me over the years, and this girly is the sweetest thing. She stopped by last night before the Program just to see me, because she was afraid I wouldn't be able to be there. How sweet is that? She also wanted me to check her hair with the feathers in it. This girl is absolutely beautiful. And the feathers made it even better. It was fun.
















And here they are doing a little secret high five (I found out later). How funny is that? All these years they have always been so serious during these things (for the most part). But last night they had some fun little moments. So fitting for their Senior Year.

















The girl with the long dark hair is my sweet friend Trisha. She is the sweetest girl, and when she saw me come in last night she made a bee line across the room and gave me the biggest hug. Ya know, a real hug for a long time. I love her so. RJ, you would love to sit and talk with this very real, Jesus lovin' girl. Trisha participated in our Fall Online Bible Study. Y'all would just love her.
















Oh my word, I love this boy so!!!!! We didn't take pics before we left, so I made him take a couple after the program. He makes me SO happy!!!!!

















Okay, I so wanted to take a pic without my coat on so I could show you my cute sweater. Mainly because RJ, you'd love this sweater. It is crochet I think, with a cowl neck. I LOVE this sweater, but it is hard to wear. Do you know what I mean? You have to wear a shirt under it, like I said it has a cowl neck, so you have to get that right, and it also has bell sleeves. But I really love it, I just don't wear it much because it is so stinkin' hard to wear, but next time I'm so taken a picture of it. Just for you my dear RJ.

You can kinda see the neck in this picture. How cute is my Dak? I showed his picture to a waitress yesterday, yes I am that girl who shamelessly shows pictures of her family at whim =) and she said, "oh he looks so much like you!!" AHHHH, I'm so happy when people say that. I love it that me and my boy look a like. He doesn't have my average or crazy knees, Praise the Lord, but he does have my nose. Yep we both have button noses =)

















Okay, so my video as far as looking at it is not so good, but the audio is so good. I wanted y'all to hear just a touch of this choir singing one of the most beautiful CHRISTmas songs, Immanuel. So beautiful!! Their harmonies are so beautiful!!! Love.



So today is PT day, after taking a day off to rest my leg yesterday, we'll see how it is today. I am having a real problem though. I am not sleeping and it is starting to get to me. I'm trying to get off of my pain meds at night, but I wake up every about 30 mins last night because my leg is hurting. It is getting annoying. I'd so appreciate your prayers. They gave me some medicine to take, but I tried it and woke up thinking that my pictures had rocks in them and Mr. Winslow was made at me. Weird. So I am needing some restful, leg not hurting sleep. I'd love to get a good night's sleep. Nothing like it.

Hope you all have a beautiful day!! Take a moment and take in the season. I just love CHRISTmas. All the sounds and sights and the beauty of the season makes me smile. When I think about God sending Christ to this earth to redeem us, knee problems go away, pain vanishes and my heart is so thankful.

Father,
Thank you for sending Christ for us. When I think of the journey Christ took here from cradle to the grave and then when He rose again and ascended to be back with you, and knowing it was all in your plan for our lives to know you and be with you for eternity, my heart is full. There is truly no one like You Father. Thank you for sending Jesus. Thank You for loving me. I praise You LORD!!! Amen.

Random Friday ~~ The Truth is.... Edition ....

The Truth is...... "I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:14

The Truth is....."..You brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God." Jonah 2:6b

The Truth is..... "If ever He loved me, He loves me forever." Pastor John - James River Assembly

So what is your Truth today? Are you holding onto The Way, The Truth and The Life or are you holding onto a poor substitution? hmmmm.........

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Last night I was working on Dak's Senior Scrapbook, and if anything will jump you right into the middle of your reality, it is working on your BABIES SENIOR Scrapbook!!! As I worked, I came to the page of his first day of school this year, his Senior Year (have I mentioned MY BABY IS A SENIOR?) anyway.....

A big part of Scrapbooking for me now is journaling; it is almost as big as the picture itself, for it tells the story behind the picture and we each have one....a story I mean.....behind our eyes..... our picture....you know.... anyway.....

As I came to that particular page to work on and came to the journaling part what stuck out to me is what we read on the first day of School.....yep Psalm 139. It is a tradition you know. So as I sat in my recliner and wrote these Words.....

"O LORD, You have searched me and You know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways." Psalm 139:1-3 .....

I thought about my dear son....nothing profound......nothing earth shaking.....just about him..... who he is.....about our times reading this Psalm together every first day of school.......and now we have read it together for the last time on the first day of a High School, Secondary or Elementary first day of school scale, but I'm not really sad....not really. He must grow up I know. I'm just trying to savor every.single.solitary.moment. And this Scrapbook is helping. I am thankful. God is SO good to me!!! So Good!!

The Truth is.... "Those who cling to worthless idol, forfeit the grace that could be theirs." Jonah 2:8

...... I never want to cling to anything worthless. As I travel this journey through life, I want to be pleasing to my Abba Father and NEVER want to forfeit the grace that is mine through Jesus Christ my Savior, in any area of my life, ever!! And that is the prayer for my son as well. I love this verse. This little tucked away verse that Jonah prayed, incidentally while he was in the belly of a fish......not so incidental huh? Powerful prayer he prayed...you can check it out in Jonah 2.

The Truth is..... I am trying to work out some things in my life right now and I'm trying to figure out what in the world to do with this knee!!! Last night I was walking to our office when I just started having pain.....my knee felt very tight so I knew it was swelling, I looked at it and the knot that sometimes shows up on the inside of my knee, off to the side was huge....I was irritated. Yep had to sit and ice, but it was in that quiet icing time that my fingers wrote out of the Psalms on a page I will always cherish.....it was a sweet moment and one I might not have had so profoundly had I not taken the time to sit....and breathe.....and ice.

Okay so a couple things before the Randomness ends for this Friday edition =) My Auntie Stella has started a blog. YAY!!! She is so sweet, and so GREAT!!.... I am VERY Blessed to have a wonderful relationship with my Auntie (my dad's baby sis) and I'd love for you to check her out right here. Show her some love.....follow her.....listen to her wise words.....share her life....and grow her way.....she is a beautiful person.

I don't often ask for prayer for this knee, because well, it is what it is.....or is it? I believe that God has a plan and a purpose, so would you please join me in prayer over what that plan and purpose might entail. Yes I would LOVE to be able to perform daily tasks pain free, but what I want most is His will. So if we need to start pursuing other avenues of treatment, I want to get on that. But ultimately I am in the passenger seat and not the driver's....so what God says and does.....goes. Thank you for joining me.

Father,

There is NONE like YOU and I praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. You are the best Father!!! Thank you for teaching me and showing me more of who You are. Grow me in You Lord and help me to be all that YOU created me to be. I love you ~~ Amen.

Have a Beautiful Weekend,

Firsts Lasts......First Day of School for the Last Time....tear

Well for High School!! Yes, I know the first day of College is HUGE to, but this is the culmination of all his years in school and it seems so.......... tear.....tear.....tissue....RJ WHERE'S MY TISSUE?... final.

But it isn't and yet it is, as far as the first days of school goes, but there will be so many firsts for him to look forward to, and what a Blessing this guy is.

Okay let me start by saying that you are going to get SO tired of posts about Dak and all his Last Firsts, but I just feel I must document. I want to look back and click on these tabs and see it all together, so please bear with me over the next NINE MONTHS.....sorry that's just the way school and life goes =) as I document.....there will be LOTS of pics of this year, but also lots of pics of times past of my boy.

Well, today is the start of his last year of High School.

Here is my boy, I thought on the first day of school Kindergarten, but actually it is the summer after his Kindergarten year, but you get the idea.

Look at this side-by-side.......
Be.Still.My.Heart.

Oh I LOVE this shot!!!.......

Yep that's my boy.....

So cute.....

And here's where it gets mom-ish.....and papparazi-ish (thanks RJ, I'm using that I tell ya....)

RJ left a comment saying yesterday that Dak would just start thinking of me as the papparazi. I told Dak that, this morning........

He laughed, thought that it was funny......

And gave me one of these.....

NO MORE PICTURES.....GET BACK PAPPARAZZI!!!!!

And there he goes..........

Off for his Senior Year of High School.....

tear. and LOVE!!!!!

And so it begins.....