A Quick March Update

So here we are at the end of March, and I haven't posted in a month.  All I can say is tax season is in full bloom around here!  Here a quick post to catch up a little bit.

Last Friday, the school had their annual Boosterthon Jog-A-Thon.  Both the girls ran the maximum of 35 laps; they did great and had a ton of fun!  Here's Lily making one of her laps.

 Mia was excited because she got to hold the American flag for the national anthem and lead her class in holding their sign.

 Ryan took the girls to Moe's for dinner one night and snapped these cute pictures to show me the fun I was missing out on.

 Lily's after school junior cotillion club had their year end dance on the 14th.  It was so cute to watch!  They showed off the manners they had learned and all their line dances.

 There was a class full of Stonehaven (formerly known as ACCA) students!

 One of my employees turned 40 this month, and this was the cake we surprised him with; how awesome is it?!

 I laugh just about every night I go in to check on Mia.  She was rolled up in her sheet with her leg in the air.  I watched her for a couple of minutes thinking she would put it down; nope, it stayed like that!

 Mia is learning to read and spell which is so fun to watch.  She had a playdate with Eliana one afternoon and she made this chalk drawing beforehand.  I loved that she wrote "I'm gowen to Elian's house tomorrow" and then drew their pictures.  What a sweetheart who is "gowen."

 Eliana's mom took this picture, and I just thought it was a sweet one.  Mia wants to move in with them because "they have the best climbing tree!"  She had a blast over there!

Only other noteworthy March happening that I can think of is we celebrated my birthday on the 14th.  I took the day off from work (celebration enough right there) to be with my family.  We went to see Cinderella at the theater since it had just been released.  It was wonderful!  Then I took Lily to her cotillion dance which was lots of fun to see, and I saw lots of friends there.  Lastly Ryan grilled some amazing steaks for us.  It's nice to have a "real" meal here in the middle of tax season when we rely so much on fast food and super quick dinners.  It was a fun and relaxing day!

Fun times in February

I love when the girls hang out together.  They were watching a movie together on Mia's bed one evening after their showers.  They both love wearing their bathrobes that they got for Christmas.

 Mia's soccer season wrapped up last weekend.  This was an instructional league so they learned a lot of basics and practiced a lot.  It was a good little season for her.

 She loves soccer and can't wait to play again!

 Lily had a Flat Stanley project at school. She mailed her Flat Stanley to Bama who took him around him town and snapped these pictures.  Lily then had a great time putting them together and making up adventures for him.  This was a really cute project.

Lily's class went to the Tellus Science Museum on Monday.  She thoroughly enjoyed it and can't wait to visit again sometime.

We had a tiny bit of snow and ice this week.  It was enough to cancel school and delay my office a couple of hours, but it wasn't as exciting as last year.  The girls have enjoyed playing in it though.

 The girls were very excited that Big Hero 6 came out this week! 

 

Valentine's 2015

Both of the girls love Valentine's Day. It's probably because there is lots of pink, lots of red and lots of hearts everywhere. I continued our tradition of putting hearts on the girls' doors each night telling them something we love about them. They love waking up to see their new one each morning!  Lily liked hers in a big heart design while Mia wanted hers in a big A. I think it was for Allison but maybe it was for Amelia. 

On Friday evening, Macey came to spend the night which brightened their day!  They especially had fun playing on our new trampoline. Macey is a great little gymnast so she taught them some cool tricks!  We made a fun valentines dinner for them of heart-shaped grilled cheese sandwiches, heart red jello and strawberries. I made Cupid Floats to drink which is vanilla ice cream in Cranberry Sierra Mist. They were thrilled to have ice cream as part of dinner!

This past weekend, JFBC hosted their annual Daddy Daughter Valentine's dance. The girls were very excited!  Who can blame them getting to go with this handsome guy?!

Daddy sure does love his girls!

What a lovely Valentine's celebration. 

Daddy Daughter Dates

Our whole family loves when the girls get to have dates with their daddy. He takes them out for a delicious dinner, and they get a fun evening with all of his attention. This week he took Lily to Veni, Vidi, Vici which has become "their spot" over the years. He also took Mia to Chops because she has grown to love "a juicy steak."  She's like me there!  They all three told me how much they loved their dates, and both girls made him the sweetest cards to say thank you. 

I so appreciate Ryan creating these special memories with the girls. He's such a great dad!

January Happenings

Some miscellaneous January things around the Hooks house:

 

I love seeing Lily being creative.  On the left, I taught her to cross-stitch while we were at Mia's soccer practice one afternoon.  She's getting the hang of it and enjoys it.  On the right, she made a new Lego creation.  It's a helicopter on top of a fire truck in case the fire truck has any problems getting to the people in need of help.  We sent a picture of it to Josh because she believes his fire department should buy one.

 Ryan was in India on our anniversary, so he arranged for these beautiful flowers to be delivered to my office.  They are gorgeous!  We were repainting the office, and there's a ton of road construction outside, so these really brightened everything up.

 I love these two in their hooded towels; such cuties!

 This is one of my favorite things to see: the girls reading together.

 Both girls have become avid roller skaters.  They love it!

 They both adore this hand me down Kermit hat from Molly!

 The girls had a playdate with the Crowleys on Martin Luther King Day.  They enjoyed this beautiful day with their friends!

 Mia's class went to Presbyterian Village last week for a field trip.  I loved seeing the joy they brought to the residents!  They recited their A-K Bible verses, a few catechism questions, the books of the Old Testament, recited a few poems and sang a hymn.  It was so sweet!

 Meme was thrilled to see Mia and her class, and we were glad Mom was there to support them.

 I came home to see Lily like this one afternoon.  Studying for the geography bee on her iPad, wearing her My Little Pony leg warmers and tail and a cowgirl hat.  It made me smile.

 We took the girls bowling last weekend.  Lily won, fair and square.  I think she's found her sport!  Mia had a lot of fun as she used the ramp to line up and do a good job.  This was a great afternoon.

I love my family!

Ryan's Trip to India

Ryan had the chance to go on a mission trip to India with JFBC at the start of this year.  It was a tough trip to get to their location.  It took four flights and was about 35 hours with layovers.  It was an interesting experience for him and his group.  They split into pairs for the week.  Ryan and Brian had the opportunity to work with Muslim background believers during the week.  They met many wonderful men, and we pray that their faith continues to grow and deepen.  Here are a few picture collages that Ryan sent to me during the week.

 They had the chance to see several men be baptized; praise God for this sign of their new faith!

 At the end of their week, they flew back to New Delhi and then took a day trip to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal.  It turned into a lovely day.  Ryan is glad that he had the chance to go, but it's not something he is anxious to visit again.

Overall this is was a tough trip, but we're thankful for this opportunity.  Ryan will be heading back in the Fall as the trip leader.  It will be great to see the men again and see more new believers.  We praise God for allowing Ryan to play a small role in the great work He is doing in India.