Easter Weekend 2016

Happy Easter! 

Easter came earlier this year. Usually we have had Hensley's birthday out of the way and we are on to Easter. This year it fell on March 27th so we decided to hold off on Hensley's birthday til the next weekend and focus on Easter and SPRING BREAK!!!!

We celebrated Easter early at school this year because we had a super fun field trip coming up before the break. Our class had another epic party to celebrate the holiday :) 

Hensley's class has been learning about how things grow and how plants help us live. They started their own bean plants and planted them outside their classroom! They are all excited to see how much they have grown after the break.

No Easter party is complete without an egg hunt!  Ready, set, GO!

He found 2 golden eggs at the egg hunt!

He racked up! 

Lots of Easter treats!

We had an awesome class game of Duck Duck Goose! 

 It was a great day and lots of fun! All the kids were pumped for the holiday after the party!!! 

Sidenote: Hensley had a little artwork printed in our local paper :) He was thrilled. 

The next day we had a very fun exciting field trip with Hensley's class that you can find here. 

Then it was officially SPRING BREAK!!!! We usually don't go out of our way to go anywhere on vacation for Spring break because summer is close but this year we loaded up and headed out!

My parents have been traveling all around the country the past year and half in their RV due to my dad's work and how much he has to travel. They have loved it and have seen many places and done many awesome things. They always want us to come experience some of it but we are always busy with school and work ourselves so it makes it hard. Finally everything lined up just right and we were able to all go down to Anderson, South Carolina for the Easter weekend! 

On the way down Hensley was excited to see the giant peach water tower :) 

They are currently in Roebuck, South Carolina, right outside of Spartanburg. I wasn't sure what to expect since we had never been to or stayed in an RV park before and from looking at the map it didn't seem like this little town had much to offer. 

We were more then pleasantly surprised! This place was beautiful, peaceful and exactly what we needed as a family. It was great to just check out and relax. 

Pine Ridge had it all.

A game room. 

Lots of room to ride the electric scooter.

A fishing pond.

And our family :) 

We spent the remainder of the day eating dinner, and hanging out at the fishing pond laughing and catching one tiny little fish! 

The next day we decided to head out to a near by state park called Croft State Park. We were excited to have a little adventure and go fishing. It was the most perfect weather. 

We found some canoes and decided to head out on the lake instead of fishing from the bank.

He was excited to say the least!

We decided to let the boys take a canoe and we took another one. It was quite a learning process for us to know how to paddle it and make it go the direction we wanted it to go and we went in circles for a while but we finally got the hang of it. 

After fishing around for a while and not catching a thing (it was too windy) we noticed the boys were no longer on the lake. There was a little cove across the lake that looked really interesting and as we came around the bend we saw their boat pulled up on the shore but no sign of them. They had found a smaller pond on the other side of a huge pile of sand bags. 

The photo below didn't come out the way I had hoped but I had to post it because it included all of us :) 

Hensley decided to ride back to the other side of the lake with us girls :) We were clearly more fun :) 

Later that day, because they never get tired of fishing, the guys headed back out to try to catch a few more. My mom and I had had enough so we headed to the mall and scored some awesome deals on purses!

It was really nice to just relax. We played horse shoes, played ball, drew with chalk, make smores, and just laided by and chilled! It was a nice get away.

Of course the Easter Bunny found us in South Carolina! Hensley loved it all!!! And he was surprised to see it all the next morning. 

Unfortunately the weekend was coming to a close. We grab the best breakfast ever at Waffle House and packed our bags. It was pouring rain and I was literally exhausted from all the fun we had. 
Andy and I had drove separate because he had to leave and head out of town to work. It was a long rainy ride home. 

We had a blast with my family and are looking forward to hopefully visiting them in more locations this summer :) 

  

The month of LOVE

We are already in the 2nd month of the year! 

How is that even possible?!?!

February was fun and full of love! 

Hensley had class photos this month and he looked so so cute!!!! I'll post a copy of them when they come in :) 

 I have always knew it took someone special to be a teacher. It has taken me entering this journey of substitute teaching to even begin to understand. My respect for teachers has grown above and beyond what I ever thought before. I had a blast with these little ones today. We laughed, worked hard, figured things out together and during it all we had fun. But thinking of the work dedication and patience it takes to do it all day every day is beyond what I think most people are capable of. I love them all dearly but Hensley's teacher (and all teachers) have a special gift. A heart so big and so full of love and dedication That's really hard to understand until you walk a day in their shoes. I didn't even have to do a fraction of what they do and I was beat at the end of the day! Hensley's teacher does it all everyday with such a sweet positive kind heart! It takes a very special person and I am so blessed and thankful to know I am dropping Hensley off each day to a teacher with such a special gift for what she does!!

Another big thing that happened this month was Super Bowl!!!!!! Everyone was buzzing about it because our home team the Panthers were playing. They even had a Panther's day at school! This is Hensley and his bestie at school Logan, sporting their gear and DABBING!!! :) 

I was at school that day helping out and of course I had to participate!

 I have to give props to Casey always going so above and beyond to make craft time each and every single week for our kids amazing and educational. She is a HUGE part of why this class is so amazing. She is an amazing mother, super person and a really sweet friend! I am lucky to know her. smile emoticon

I mean just look at these cute little groundhogs! And you should see what she can do with a Paper plate!!! By the way the Groundhog did not see his shadow which means Spring is coming soon and we couldnt be happier!😉😉😉

For President's Day the class learned all about Abraham Lincoln. Hensley informed me on the way home from school that President Lincoln in on the $5.00 bill because he ran for President 5 times! Who knew?!

Over the past year or so I have got to witness Hensley relationship with his Granny and Pawpaw grow so much. He, of course, has always loved them and loved spending time with them. He has always just been so attached to Andy and myself it was hard for him to separate himself from us to enjoy one on one time with them. Lately he has become much more comfortable with himself and that has lead to him wanting to hang out with them alone and enjoy so much more time with them. He loves to cuddle in Granny's bed and watch TV and go on golf cart rides up the road.

One evening Hensley walked right up to me and said "can Pawpaw come over, I want to spend time with him" and even after calling him and realizing he was 3 hours away in SC working he still begged to get in the car and make the trip to see him TONIGHT. I love the relationship he has with his Pawpaw. The older he gets the closer they become. From building blocks, to shooting guns, to playing their racing game he loves when Pawpaw is in town. I am so thankful for their relationship and the relationship he has with his granny. I know what a big part my grandparents played in life and I am so so thankful hensley has such love for his

*******

Hensley has so many little friends that he loves dearly and we always try to go out and support  whatever they are involved in! One Saturday we headed to watch his friend Aden's basketball game. Hensley has been wanting to sign up for basketball and I think after watching the excitement in the gym he just can't wait now. We were also excited to just get out of the house because we had both been feeling pretty cruddy for about a week. 

And finally,.... it was time for the big day..... Super Bowl!!!! It wasn't as fun this year because Andy and my dad were out of town. And we had all been sick. We headed to my mom's with some yummy dip and we were happy to enjoy the game with my mom and uncle Joey! :) 

It also sucked that we lost....BAD :( 

Hensley always makes Granny do the craziest things! 

Hensley is really into taking showers by himself (he is getting so grown) he actually does a wonderful a job at it himself. Andy has really taught him well. Tonight I just listened as he hummed and sang and danced around in there and enjoyed how happy of a boy I have.

Soon it was time to get prepared for Valentine's Day! Hensley is obsessed with Pokemon these days so that was his request for his Valentine's cards for his friends at school. So, of course, I made it happen!o/'

The kids all loved them very very much! We attached a little bad of candy to them and we were done :) 

Hensley's class had a great Valentine's party planned and it was super fun! So fun that I only took one photo! Which is unheard of! We also celebrated his teacher, Mrs. Cottle's. birthday so it was an eventful afternoon. 

That morning Andy and I got to spend some time together and it was a lot of fun. I love when we have Friday's together! 

Valentine's was on a Sunday and it was a great day! We also had the following week off from school so we were in total relaxation mode!!! We got Hensley a few goodies and he loved them all!!!!

This academic break was a little different the ones before. Usually we are geared up to get out, have some fun, and see friends. But, this time around it was freezing cold, we were expecting snow (which we got some of ) and we were all really really sick :( 

Hensley and I spent a lot of time snuggled up and watching lots and lots of movies. 

It was actually a blessing in disguise because I feel like after all the holiday madness and stuff we needed a break to really just hunker down and be home and rest! And we did!

It looks like our little kitty has become quite comfortable in our. She has went from only hanging out behind the chair in our den to slowly creeping her way in our bed and snuggling up to Hensley at night when she knows he is sleeping. 

The month of February wasn't all snow and cold...near the end of the month it warmed up and ever since it's been almost Spring like weather and we have been getting outside a lot!!!

Our sweet little friends enjoyed a park with us too! :) 

We even brought back the old "Friday night family date nights"! We headed out to do a little shopping and had dinner with MawMaw. It was glorious!

We even had our first cookout of the year!! NASCAR season has began and we took full advantage of it and grill out! MawMaw and Granny came over and we watched the race with windows open! It was hard to believe it was February!

  

Hensley hasn't slowed down in the teeth losing department! Tooth number 4 fell out and he officially has a little snaggle tooth smile! 

Because Daddy was out of town Hensley was wanting to snuggle in our bed. He had to write a note for the Tooth Fairy in his bed so she could find his tooth in our room! :) 

The tooth fairy never disappoints! And he already has another loose tooth :) 

After feeling like I had been really really sick most of the month the crud left our house and we had a mid week party at Chucky Cheese to celebrate a sweet friend's 9th birthday!

3 hours and 100 tokens later, we were exhausted and thankful for time with great friends. 

I came across this old video I had forgot all about when uploading a bunch of videos to Youtube. I am so thankful I found it because it is seriously the best thing ever!!!

And we wrapped up the month with a weekend of 60 degree temp's and lots of family time at the park! We hiked, we played basketball, and enjoyed the sunshine :) 

It was even warm enough for a little late afternoon water balloon session on the trampoline. Fingers crossed that this amazing weather continues. 

March is sure to be a busy a month because it's Hensley's birthday month and we have loads of exciting fun things planned :) It's also Easter this year so stay tuned! 

 smile emoticon

We had We