Day 140 ~ Graduate Recognition

It has been a weekend filled with graduation celebrations!  Last night, we attended 2 graduation parties of very good friends.  Today was graduate recognition at Crosscreek Baptist Church (like many churches) and we watched and listened as Dr. Jay talked about Erin's accomplishments and led us as we blessed her.  It was very special!  Of course, tears were shed and not just from me!!

Jay got Erin to wear her gown, cords, and stole so her could wear his!

We thank you, Jay and church family for loving Erin and for all your kind words today!  We love you all!

Day 137 ~ Memories of Meadow View

 This amazing lady is retiring from Meadow View Elementary School.  Today we honored Dr. Jody Brewer and Ms. LaVerne Rikard with a retirement tea.  Erin and Dr. Brewer have always had a special bond.  I've been taking pictures of the two of them together since Erin was in 1st grade.  It seems kind of fitting that Erin is graduating the same year Dr. Brewer is retiring.  Words cannot express how much I love and respect her.  She will be missed so much in the halls and classrooms of MVES next year.

The first year MVES opened, the PTO painted the hand of each student, teacher, and staff member and put them on the back walls of the stage in the cafeteria.Erin, Will, and I all have our hand prints on those walls.    Erin was in 1st grade the year MVES opened (Will was in 3 yr old kindergarten) and today, she found her handprint and we had to compare her hand now to her hand 11 years ago.  

It is just a little bit bigger now...  

Day 135 ~ Horses in Fog

Everyday, I pass a beautiful farm house with a pasture full of horses on my way to work.  I have long loved the site in morning fog.  And, I have thought about capturing it in a few photos for a long time.  Well, this morning, there was a heavy fog and it just so happens that I had my camera in the car and just a few minutes to spare.  Now, this morning's fog wasn't the prettiest fog that I have seen the horses in but it will do for now.

My next mission is to capture this site in a blanket of snow flurries. I have seen it and it is so gorgeous!  

Day 133 ~ Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day.  I love Mother's Day!  We went to church and then took my mom to Texas Roadhouse for lunch. At the restaurant, they had a photographer taking free pictures of the moms and their children.  So sweet!  Not only did we get this picture taken, but we also got a picture taken of my mom with me and my sisters.  My mom kept that picture.  Being a mom is the most important part of my life but it is also the part that gives me the most joy (and stress at times...)!  Saying that I am blessed to be the mom of these two kids doesn't even scratch the surface of how I feel.  Thank you, Mark Hutter for being an awesome dad and being my tag team partner in raising our children!  Life is good!!  

Day 131 ~ 13 Days Until Erin's Graduation

My daughter Erin will graduate from high school in 13 days.  I will post pictures of her from each year of school starting with kindergarten today.  Erin attended kindergarten in 1999-2000 at Thompson Elementary School.  It was the last year that "Thompson Elementary School" existed.  Meadow View Elementary was being built and the next school year, K-3 moved to Meadow View and Thompson became Thompson Intermediate School for 4th and 5th grades.

 Erin started kindergarten in August of 1999.  This is her school picture from that year.

They used to take Christmas pictures at school, too.

Erin played coach pitch baseball at the Pelham YMCA that year.  

Circus time!!

New Year's Eve 1999 ~ Remember Y2K??  We celebrated at home with chips and dip and candy from their Christmas stockings.  Erin was 5 and Will was 2.  "Happy New Year!"

Halloween 1999 ~ Erin was a black cat.

You cannot talk about Erin's kindergarten year without including Mrs. Williamson or Maci.  Erin and Maci met in kindergarten and have been a huge part of each other's lives ever since.  They have had times when they were extremely close and times when they weren't but I know when they both look back in years to come, there will be very few memories that don't have the other one in it.  

Playing dress-up at Maci's house with her dog Amber

Open House at school with Maci's little brother Hunter.  I love how they are all holding hands!

Playing at our house after having a sleep over.

Matching haircuts!  

This one is too cute!!  

They were the "Class of 2000"!!  (Kindergarten Class of 2000, that is...)

I was the room mom for Erin's class.  That was the last year I didn't work from home.  On the last day of school, Carol Williamson took me to Jody Brewer's office and told her that she needed to hire me for the next school year.  The rest as they say, is history...  

I thought high school (not to mention graduation) for Erin was so far away while she was in kindergarten.  I was just trying to adjust having my first child in all day real school and having a 2 year old little boy at home without his big sister.  But while I wasn't looking, my little girl grew up and in 13 days, she will put on that cap and gown and walk across a stage while we all cheer and cry.  It happens WAY too fast!!

Day 128 ~ Capture Life

This is a picture of the necklace that came in the mail for me on Saturday.  I showed Mark a picture of a necklace like this on Etsy last week and told him I wanted this for Mother's Day.  He said, "Order it."  So, I did and it came while we were in Georgia on Saturday.  When we got home Sunday, Mark checked the mail and I saw that he had a small package in his hand.  I asked if that was for me and he said yes.  I grabbed it from his hand, ripped the package open, and immediately put my necklace on. He laughed at me.  Then, he laughed again when I put it on this morning before heading out to school/work.  I cannot express how much I love this necklace!!  It wasn't even $20 and that just goes to show that it's not the price of the gift that counts....it's the connection you have with it.  I do try to "capture life" and plan to continue to do so!!  

Day 127 (Sunday 5/6/12) ~ Chicks Dig...

 Everyone loves a good t-shirt.  The Bulldogs team "G" and Paw Paw bought each player on the team these t-shirts on Sunday.  The team agreed on this design and each player got to put their field position on his t-shirt.  Will, Zach, and Colin are showing off their's.  This team makes me laugh!  I love it!

Day 126 (Saturday May 5, 2012) ~ Thinking...

The Bulldogs started this year's season with 2 wins in pool play on Saturday.  I caught my Bulldog in the dugout doing some heavy concentrating during the 2nd game.

I cannot get over how grown up he looks in this picture. He is a young man now.  :(

Day 125 (Friday May 4 ,2012) ~ Target Baseball

On Friday, we were on our way to a baseball tournament in Douglasville, GA.  We had Will's friends and team mates Colin and Zach with us.  After we stopped and ate dinner, we stepped into Target for some candy for the rest of the ride.  This is what I caught the boys doing on aisle E33... 

Day 123 ~ The Cindys

Everyone in this picture is a "Cindy".  All four of us are experiencing the graduation of our first child and were all at Senior Awards Night last night. Our kids, Maci, Dom, Erin, and Evan, have been friends for a long time and they all were in the same prom "group" this year.  Maci and Evan are going to Auburn next year.  Erin and Dom are going to Alabama.  Hopefully, there will be a "Cindy" dinner really soon!  We can make it through graduation, girls!!  =)  

Day 122 ~ Senior Awards Night

Tonight was the Thompson High School Class of 2012 Senior Awards Night.  Each senior that received a college scholarship or was a part of any honor society was honored and given their cords, medals, and stoles that they will wear at graduation.  It was a very nice ceremony and I could not help but think of all the kids that were in Erin's kindergarten class or even 3-k class as they walked across the stage.  This senior class has so far earned a total of more than $3.6 million in scholarships!
Lots of pictures were taken and I will post those later but this is by far my favorite of the night...

This is my mom with Erin and Will.  She is wearing Erin's NHS stole, her valedictorian medal, and her honor society cords.  We love our Mamaw!!  And she loves her Erin and Will!