Lily's Gymnastics Show

Last Wednesday was Lily's gymnastics show at The Little Gym.  Her skills and coordination have improved a lot over the last few months as she has taken this class.  It's been fun to see the improvement.  Sweet girls at the gym.

 They started out with a running cartwheel; Lily has enjoyed practicing her cartwheels!

 Lily's first station was the uneven bars.  She was so scared of these when she first started gymnastics a couple of years ago, but she has come a long way.  Now she flips right over!

  She moved to the beam after the bars.  I love seeing how hard she concentrates.

 Mia wasn't performing, but I just loved this picture. 

 They finished up with a choreographed floor routine to show off somersaults, cartwheels, back bends, marching and their rhythm.  It was pretty neat, and Lily did a great job.

 

  Each child receives a medal for their hard work and efforts. 

 Lily's class with Ms. Tara.  What a fun way to end the class!

Mia's Graduation

Mia graduated from Bethany's parent morning out program last week.  She was so excited about their graduation program.  She kept it a big secret and refused to tell any of us what they were going to do.  She couldn't wait for Tuesday morning to arrive.

They marched in and sat on the stage.  Mia couldn't contain her excitement as she waved to us.

 Her class; she is second from the left.

 They started out by doing something of an interpretive dance that was cute.  Mia held hands with her friend Ellie the whole time as they spun around with their ribbons.  After that performance, they sang a cute little song about how God loves all the creatures; each child had a mask (Mia was a dog), and they got to "perform" as each creature was mentioned.  I think Mia enjoyed crawling around on stage pretending to be a dog!

 Their last performance was to "go on a bear hunt" which is always fun to watch.  Ms. Dawn asked each child what they wanted to pack for the bear hunt.  Some of the answers included a flashlight, rope and a mom.  When she Mia asked what she wanted to take, she called out "yogurt!"  That's my girl!  This is a picture of her looking for the bear while on the hunt.

 Here she is waving to us from the stage and running over to us after receiving her certificate.

 Displaying her certificate. 

 Mia was so glad Granna and Bama were able to attend her ceremony with Ryan and me.

 Mia with her teachers Ms. Dawn and Ms. Natasha.  We are so thankful how well these ladies have treated Mia and how much she has grown this year.  Bethany has once again been a great experience!

Our happy girl who is now ACCA bound!

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day was wonderful this year!  I love being a mommy to these two sweet girls.  Lily and Mia light up my world with their joy.  It's not always easy, but it is so worth it!

 Liz helped them to make these cards for me.  Mia's is on the left; it cracks me up that she says I make good food except for couscous!  I make really good parmesan couscous but for some reason, this is about the only food that Mia won't eat.  The rest of us love it!  I love that they both say I give good hugs; I love their hugs!

 Lily couldn't wait to give me all the goodies she has been working on at school.  I truly love this hand print bouquet.  I love capturing their hand prints, so this is a perfect gift.

 She made this sweet card for me.

 Lily answered these questions at school.  I agree with them, especially where it asks "my mom always says" and she correctly replies "Let's go kiddos!"  Hopefully the teacher took that as encouraging "let's go!" and not in the actual use of "hurry up!"

Lily was beside herself to give this to me.  She had mentioned a couple of weeks ago how they were drawing portraits of their moms in art class.  I simply thought they were doing something cute for Mother's Day.  I laughed when Lily said they could do whatever they wanted for our hair, so she decided to make mine red.  Turns out they were doing these drawings in art class, but they were being entered in a local salon's contest.  Lily's entry won for her class which resulted in me receiving a $60 gift card to this salon!  Way to go Lily!

 They made a sweet book of pictures too.

This was my favorite page in the book of pictures.

 Sweet Mia made an adorable hand print art project at school.  I love it!  Her hand prints make up the sun and the song "you are my sunshine" is written across the top.  This precious one certainly does bring a lot of sunshine into my life!

 After church, we went to The Georgian Club for lunch.  My family used to do this every mother's day, so it was fun to continue this tradition.  They have an excellent buffet that we all enjoy.  You can see Mia was a little partial to the chocolate cake for dessert!

While I am very thankful for these two girls who make me a mom, Ryan and I are both so thankful for our moms.  They have always provided a great example of love to us, and we count them as blessings.  We love you!

A Few More Miscellaneous Pictures

Just a few other new pictures...

Mia with my parents at Randy and Georgia's wedding.

Meme was so excited to be at Randy's wedding.  She's been praying for this day for quite awhile.

 Sweet cousins at the wedding.

 Lily was servant of the day on Tuesday.  The share topic this time is "your favorite food."  Lily declared a few weeks ago that salad is her new favorite food, so she took spinach, matchstick carrots, cheese, croutons and ranch dressing to make one for everyone.  It was so cute to watch her make and mix this up then serve it to everyone.

Lily's class performed in chapel this morning.  Here is the link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZyZwYzADPk&feature=youtu.be) to The Insect Song, and here is the link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQCF3zogRpk&feature=youtu.be) to Three Little Kittens by Mother Goose.  Lily is third from the right.  They are all such cuties!

Recent Hooks Happenings

Last Friday was Grandparents, Family and Friends Day at ACCA.  Lily was thrilled to have Daddy, Mia, Bama, Granna and Papa in attendance.

 I wasn't able to attend that day because I had taken a mini-vacation from Wednesday to Saturday.  I headed down to Mom and Dad's condo in Gulf Shores to simply relax for a few days.  I pretty much slept, read magazines and worked on scrapbooks.  I had the balcony door open so I could feel the breeze and hear the ocean.  It as absolutely wonderful.

 On Saturday morning, the girls took part in the first mission trip.  It was "Share the Blessing" Day at our church, and our class went to Clarkston.  It's on the east side of Atlanta and is considered one of the most diverse areas in the nation.  It's the largest refugee area in America.  People from all around the world settle here.  What an amazing opportunity.  Our church goes every month to visit with individuals, but on Saturday they hosted a huge block party.  Everyone had a great time, and God's love was shown to many.

 On Saturday evening, Ryan, Liz and the girls went to the Jonquil Festival.  Thing 1 and Thing 2 enjoyed it!

 Mia tried out the climbing wall and did great!  I love her sense of adventure.

 I love when Lily makes an art project for me.

 I just came across a notebook Lily used last Fall while she was at Mia's soccer practice.  A little late in posting it, but I thought it was super sweet.  Here are two of the notes (or "stories" as she calls them) that she wrote.  Love this sweet girl!

 Mia was a flower girl in my uncle Randy's wedding to Georgia on Wednesday which was May Day.  It was a gorgeous wedding and fun reception.  Mia was precious!  She knew "everyone is excited about the flower girl because it means the bride is next!" At the rehearsal, she had practiced walking down the aisle holding the hand of the two year old ring bearer, Johnathan, but on Wednesday, they decided they wanted each child to walk down.  As they lined up for the procession, I realized Mia had not been in a wedding where she was actually supposed to throw the flowers from her basket as she walked, and she may not know what to do.  So I asked "Mia, do you know what to do with those pretty flowers as you walk down the aisle?"  Mia looked right at me and said "Yes.  I throw them at the people."  I about lost it with laughter!  I wish I hadn't asked!  Of course, I said "Well, no.  Actually you gently throw them on the floor in front of you, and then you can walk over them on the way up the aisle."  Her eyes widened and she said "No Mommy, you can't walk on flowers!"  She loves the show Wild Kratts, and is very big on learning about nature these days, so she was horrified that I would suggest she walk on flowers.  I quickly explained it was okay to step on these because they had been picked and were not in a flower bed.  She agreed and proceeded to do an excellent job.  After the ceremony, she literally skipped back down the aisle which was simply adorable.  I love the joy that overflows from this sweet girl!

Lily couldn't wait to show me her invention when I got home from work yesterday.  She counted down and dramatically unveiled this in her room.  She calls it her "Relaxinator!"  She says it is to get ready for summer break where she plans to read and relax in it.  Later on, she moved it into the den so she could also relax and watch tv.  This morning, she made Mia a smaller version next to hers in the den so Mia could have her very own Relaxinator.  Watch out Lazy Boy...you have some competition!