A field trip, a birthday party, Valentine's Day, a first dance, an out of town visit, a wax museum, an award, and a determined grandmother

The HPES third grade field trip included an Imax movie, and visits to The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, The Peanut Depot, and 16th Street Baptist Church

Emma's 9th birthday party at the skating rink




John Brady held onto to Papa more than he actually skated



Look at Brenna and Brady go!





Best buds---Emma and Brenna

Abby and Clara Paige---cousins and great friends!

SEEING DOUBLE?? Maggie and Gracie with Emma's friends, Haylee and Braylee

Look who surprised us!! Uncle Josh and Erin!

I still have my 1980's stark white skates!!

Valentines's Day--homemade Valentine's are the best!






My Valentine's!



Emma's first dance---Emma went to a Valentine's dance at her school. When Brady picked her up, she told him she and Hayden slow-danced! And, there's more! Hayden bought Emma a rose!! How sweet was that??

Aren't they cute? And does anyone recognize little Sonny "Bo", I mean Hayden! ;)

Our visit with Jamey and Brenna--All the way there John Brady kept asking to swim. Frustrated we finally said sure, you can go swimming! We thought he would stick his feet in the water and realize it was just too cold. Nope. Not our boy. He undressed down to his undies ran and jumped into the freezing cold water about 5 minutes after we arrived! John Brady was turned away from me so I couldn't see his face, but I could tell by the tense muscles in his back that he was clearly in shock! John Brady didn't ask to go swimming anymore.






Having a blast making oobleck with Brenna!

Don't know what oobleck is? Click here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oobleck

The 2nd grade Wax Museum--All of the 2nd graders dressed like famous Americans and lined the 2nd grade hall at NES. They pretended to be wax statues. When you pressed their "button" they would read a short description about their character. Abby was Betsy Ross. When I ordered her costume, she told me she would wear the dress and the apron, but not the shoes, the hat, or the gray hair!

When we were leaving the school, a little kid called Abby a blueberry! So funny!

Good job Betsy!!

An award--John Brady won an award! NES participated in The Black Warrior Reading Council's Young Author's Contest. Since the pre-k can't write stories, they were asked to draw pictures. Well, John Brady's picture won 2nd place!! The council kept his picture so I don't know what it looked like. We've been invited to a reception to honor the winners so maybe I will get to see it and hopefully bring it home.

As a surprise, I emailed this pic to Brady and sent it to the grandparents' cell phones. I didn't add any text. As soon as my mom got it, she immediately called to ask what he won. And of course, Brady called. They were so proud of him! Me too!

Last but not least! My mom was able to start back driving last week!! Woo hoo!! She hasn't been able to drive since breaking her knee cap back in October. She was even released from the doctor without doing physical therapy. Her doctor said physical therapy wasn't needed since she had done so well with her own therapy. Her knee was in such a mess that her doctor said if she hadn't of been so determined to get better, she could of had some long term damage. Way to go mom! We are so glad you are better! The kids have missed their Nanny picking them up from school! We've missed your visits and your help with the kiddos.

Karate Boy

Brady and I decided to start John Brady in karate classes. Brady took him to his first trial class on Monday. Brady said John Brady did the best he had ever seen him do in that type of setting. Brady was so impressed with him! I will take him to class this afternoon, and I can't wait to see karate boy in action!

When we were first talking with John Brady about starting karate, John Brady said he "wanted to wear a costume and break wood"!

Add a pearl necklaces

For Emma's second Christmas and Abby's first Christmas, Brady and I decided to get them add a pearl necklaces. Each year I try to add a couple of pearls to each necklace, usually at Christmas or on birthdays. The pearls you see on their necklaces now will eventually be the ones in the back as we start adding larger pearls.

Although the girls don't get real excited over their "pearl gifts"(pearls aren't as cool as Nintendos, dolls, or hermit crabs), adding to their pearl necklaces is very near and dear to my heart. I love knowing each pearl was selected and bought at various times throughout their lives.

Precious pearls for my precious girls.

A true lip saver

This stuff is pure gold! If you are like me and my family, your lips have taken a beating with the cold, dry weather. I used this a couple of years ago for John Brady's dry lips, so this winter when I saw the severely cracked, peeling, and bleeding lips of Abby and John Brady, I knew just what I needed to get.

This is the only product I've found to help our lips. So if you are looking for some lip relief, give Neosporin Lip Health a try.

my favorite subjects :)

Mercedes Kids Marathon 2010----we barely made it!

Early this morning the driving conditions weren't favorable for us to travel to Birmingham and in fact, many of our students and Mrs. Fanning, our fearless leader, didn't make it. I was feeling pretty bad about the girls not getting to go, especially after all of their hard work. So once we got a travel update that the interstate was much better, we decided to chance it (about 45 minutes later than we would normally leave).

Brady drove as close to Linn Park as he could and let me, the kids, and mom and dad out to save time. We barely got to the park when I heard them call for the third graders to start. I was in a panic so I grabbed the kids, left mom and dad, and disappeared into the crowd. I dragged the kids through a sea of 2nd graders and parents. By this time the 2nd graders were lining up! Oh, no! That's Abby's group! So I dropped everything to the snow covered ground and was completely all thumbs trying to pin Emma's number on her shirt. I got it on and shoved her through the barrier to start the 3rd grade marathon all by herself. All of the other thrid graders were way ahead. Bless her heart!

Then I had to find all the safety pins that I had thrown on the ground but only found two for Abby's number. Got Abby's number pinned on and shoved her through the barrier and then I dragged John Brady to catch up with Emma so I could get some shots of her. I didn't know where mom and dad were and didn't know where Brady was but I was determined for my girls to get their medals and to get pics of them running. Finally, just before Emma passed where I was standing, Brady found us. Yea!! Emma came by and we cheered and cheered. Brady went to the finish line to get Emma (parents have to present a ticket for their child to be released to them), and John Brady and I walked closer to the finish line to wait for Abby. It wasn't long before she came by running as fast as her legs could carry her! Yea! Abby!! Later Abby said her number kept slapping her in the face. I said that's what happens when momma can only find 2 safety pins in the snow!

Whew!! They did it!! Emma and Abby finished the marathon. Emma received her 4th Mercedes Marathon medal and Abby received her 3rd. I was so proud of them!! They both ran without their classmates and probably did the best they ever have! Way to go girls!!

Now, where's my medal? After all of that I sure felt like I had ran in the marathon!! Of course, it was all worth it! :)

After playing in the snow for a bit, we went to The Cheesecake Factory for lunch. MeMe, Pops, Courtney, and Lawson met us there for lunch and we had a lot of yummy cheesecake to celebrate Emma's birthday again (that's another story).

It truly was a great day! :)

Abby's shoe was untied so as she ran through the snow, little snowballs formed on the ends!

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep

Please help me spread the word about the Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep foundation. Even though both local hospitals know about this organization, there are many parents that don't. I've found that blogs and word of mouth are some of the greatest information tools! I greatly appreciate your help!

Go to my photography blog for more info

http://kimlawsonphotography.blogspot.com/2010/02/maternity-session-like-no-other.html

Disney and Siemens: Helping children discover the magic of better hearing.

Several months ago I started contracting as an audiologist with Children's Rehabilitation Service (CRS). It's a state funded program that provides services for children with special health care needs. This audiology setting is very different from my former ENT setting. I only see children and many of them have special needs. It's very rewarding work, but many times I tend to get emotionally involved and find myself worrying about these children. One of the most fulfilling momenst is when I see a child's face light up when they are fitted with a hearing aid for the first time. It's beautiful! During the fitting, we give them a Disney pediatric hearing aid care kit and you should see their excitement. Most of these children will never go to Disney World, but at least they can have a bit of Disney!

Kudos to Siemens and Disney for this great partnership!!

the Disney pediatric hearing aid care kit

Here's a link to the Siemen's website:

http://www.medical.siemens.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay~q_catalogId~e_-201~a_categoryId~e_1029015~a_catTree~e_1028418,1029015~a_langId~e_-201~a_storeId~e_10001.htm

Happy Birthday Dear Emma! Happy Birthday To You!!

Happy 9th Birthday to my sweet Emma! You are such a blessing to us. Being the oldest, we depend (probably too much) on you to be the "big sister", and you are almost always ready and willing to take on whatever it is we ask of you. Mommy and daddy are so proud of you, and we love you dearly! Hope your day is fabulous!!




Emma's first birthday

My mom holding Emma and Brenna at Emma's first birthday party



Emma and Brenna at Emma's 9th birthday party on Saturday.

We will celebrating a birthday here at the Lawson house tomorrow!

She's fun. She's witty. She's thoughtful and she's kind. She's pretty. She's a terrific helper and ever so smart. She's filled with lots of spirit and spunk. And this little gal is much, much more!! If you still can't figure it out after looking at her precious pictures, I will give you a little hint. ;)

Hint: Her name begins with "E"!