Sparklin'

Well, I had vowed to blog more regularly, but time and life has gotten away from me.  Normal things have been going on in our world--school, cheer, tumbling, laundry, work, just life in general.  Our world is just normal, but there's a family who is on my mind every day, practically every minute, that is living anything but normal.

We have a precious little girl in 3rd grade at my school who was diagnosed with Stage 4 brain cancer right before Christmas.  Right now, she and her mama are in Tennessee at St. Jude's battling the cancer beast.  Her older brother is still in school, and he is a daily reminder of how fast life can change.  Even though his mom is far away for now, we're doing our best to mama him every day at school!

As soon as people heard about sweet Sadie, they wanted to do something, anything, to help.  We have a group of fierce PTO moms who have done more than just talk about doing something; they jumped right up and got busy.  Now there are "Sparkle on Sadie" shirts and bracelets at MES and all across the district.  What started as a small way to show we are thinking of Sadie has turned into a lesson in community and generosity.  There is a benefit planned for this coming Sunday to help.  Thanks to some help from Santa's Elves (a non-profit group committed to giving back to the local community), our community is hoping to help this family in a tangible way and show a little girl how much she is loved.  The outpouring of prayers, love, support and donations has been amazing.

MES Staff and our children....sending our love to Sadie.  Sparkle on, Sadie! 

 Even though we have more than 700 kids at our school, we are a family!

If you live in the Magnolia area, come out to High Meadow Ranch Golf Club on Sunday (1/27) and have some fun at the "Sparkle on Sadie" benefit.  It will be going on from 3-7, and there will be lots of fun things for kids and adults.

Eye Candy

Sweet Cheer Friends

Love these girls!  They did really well at their last competition.  Their team, Power, came in 3rd.  The girls were a little disappointed until they found out they had only been behind second place by .004 points.  The first place team only beat them by less than 1 point.  

Christmas Card Pictures

Give Thanks, Day 11-20

11.  I'm thankful for yummy chicken fried deer steak and the awesome husband cooking it.  

12.  I'm thankful for school holidays!

13.  I'm thankful for DVR, Wii, iphone, nook, and all the other technology that has me spoiled rotten.

14.  I'm thankful for youtube, because that's how I learned to knit.  

15.  I'm thankful for cookie dough that allows me to be so lazy that my kids don't realize what "from scratch" means.

16.  I'm thankful for Nonnie, who taught me what "from scratch" means and to Granny who is teaching my kids.

17.  I'm thankful for doctors, medicine, breathing machines and all the things that keep us well.

18.  I'm thankful for my job and all the people who show up every day and do their best for our kids.

19.  I'm thankful for good books and the ability to read them.  

20.   I'm thankful to Mrs. Smith whose face pops into my head every time I see a passive verb or the incorrect usage of a word.  She's the reason I can write coherently and the reason I'm cursed with wanting to correct the writing of those who cannot.  

 

A Watched Pot...

Josie was making mashed potatoes and was getting impatient waiting for the water to boil.  Cody told her, "A watched pot never boils."

She thought about it and said, "I bet you could also say, 'A watched pot never burns down the house.'"

TGIF

It's finally Friday, and I'm spending the day home with Jake.  He's been sick since Wednesday, and he's still running fever.  Hopefully he'll feel better soon.  At least we'll have a few days off from school next week for Thanksgiving.  We haven't made any plans, but that makes me happy.  There are a lot of things I need to do around the house, and I guess I'd better get busy Christmas shopping.  How is it possible that it is already time for Christmas??