This blog spot is primarily a photo/memory album for our family. It also serves as a way for us to share what is going on in our lives with our friends and family that don't see us on a regular basis. Ashley, Worth, Ellie, Emma, and Mack
May is always so busy, but it wasn't too bad this year. Everything seemed to be spread out just right for us this year. I got tons of pictures, but the kids seem to be in motion in all of them! We celebrated Emma's birthday, went to Mack's art show, finished up baseball, Ellie had her end of the year dance recital, the girls had a chorus concert, we finished up another school year, went to the beach, and have kicked up our feet for the end of May finally. Sadly, I got no pictures at the final baseball playoff game. I honestly thought we would win and make it to the championship game, but we lost. The boys were crushed because is was a close game, so no one was asking them to pose up. I got plenty of pics of all of the other things though! I think there are 84 in this post. :)
Emma turned 12 this May 4th! She was showered with gifts waiting for her that morning.
Mack was anxiously awaiting her to open the gift from him.
They fight like cats and dogs most days, but they do love each other ALOT.
Ellie made an appearance in time to watch Emma's gift opening before we left for school
Girl loves getting some gifts.
It's hard to believe that she's 12. I still feel like she's 2.
More gifts on the night of her birthday.
She requested chick fil an and a cookies and cream milkshake for her birthday meal.
We had her party that weekend. She had 2 friends, Mary Allen and Caroline, come over for a sleepover.
I bought a few flowers from Winn Dixie for Emma, and then found these lavender hydrangeas in the yard to add to the bouquet. They were so perfect for her birthday!
I send the girls out on a timed scavenger hunt. They were timed and had to find 12 items on the list in the neighborhood. They won prizes for how many they got in the time allowed.
Despite the water being pretty cold, they still wanted to swim.
She always has a smile on her face!
Mack sang in the Children's Sunday service.
The girls followed Mack's singing up with a chorus performance Ellie was in the school's inaugural show choir, and they had several numbers.
Emma could barely be seen on the back row of all the 6th graders, but she was so cute!
Ellie and her friend here, Vanessa, along with one other friend, Nadia, were able to assist with choreography for the full 8th grade chorus performance.
Cutie pie sisters
Mack got to show off his art at his school's art show.
He was proud of his work.
He did such a good job!
This was a cool mural that was painted inside Westside this year by some VSU art students. Mack wanted his picture taken with it. It is amazing!
Mack did so well on a MAP test this spring that he was placed into the gifted class. The teachers surprised him with the news and paperwork for him to bring me. His teacher has worked so hard to get him into gifted. She took this picture of the gifted teacher letting him know. He was in complete shock! I'm so thankful for those teachers that love my kids so much.
We spent Mother's Day in Tifon spending time with Grandma.
The mom I learned to be a mom from.
Ellie was acknowledged during Honor's Day
Emma made Honor Roll with distinction this year.
Recital was up next. I only have one girl dancing this year! It made recital weekend seem really easy. Ellie has shown so much improvement and has worked so hard this year. This is in her Modern/contemporary number.
She's got the serious/dramatic face down.
Her flexibility is getting so much better.
Her pointe dances were breath taking
Ellie was a star in the jazz/finale performance
Such a great performance by this group of girls
Ellie was in 8 performances. This was by far my favorite. It brought me to tears every single time I watched it.
EW and Mia were there to support for the Saturday night performance.
Emma also came Saturday night to watch her favorite sister.
My sweet, beautiful girls.
Grandma and Papa made it to the Sunday show.
Mack even got dropped off after baseball practice to watch the Sunday performance.
Last Day for 3rd, 6th, and 8th grade.
The last day I will pick up these 2 together at school. The next time they are at school together, Ellie will be driving.
We celebrated the last night of school at Fairway tavern where the food was sub par, but the games were 100%
We headed to SSI for Memorial Day weekend with the Tufts. Ford was not spoiled at all that weekend. :)
Cousins
Ofcourse it was unseasonably cold this past weekend. we were bundled up on the beach.
Somehow, Worth ended up in Hardy's chair.
Ford is a cutie for sure.
I don't think Ellie left his side except when he went to sleep at night.
Back at home, we tried to start the summer off with a pool afternoon. The afternoon was nice, but the pool is still pretty cold to enjoy right now. Hopefully in the next few days, the nights will warm up and make the water warmer.
We had spring break, Easter, baseball, confirmation, and other fun stuff to fill up April. The kids are almost done with the school year and that is just crazy to me. I do think April is my favorite month. I love Easter and the family time it brings. I love the weather during April, and the minute of respite that we get during spring break - a pause in the activity before the rush of the end of the school year commences. Here are just a few pictures from our April 2023.
We split spring break up into a couple of things. The first part we headed to SSI for a few days at the beach with the Berrymans. The bromance between Mack and Bo is hysterical.
These 2 are double trouble
It rained a good bit, but we still were able to find some fun.
The last morning we were there, the other cousins went to play baseball, but Ellie decided to join Worth and I for brunch. She ate this entire plate of waffles in the cutest restaurant at SSI.
The rest of spring break, Mack and Emma got to go to the Masters. Worth took Mack on Friday.
Emma went with Dubs and Mia on Thursday.
We finished up spring break in Tifton at St. Anne's for Easter service. It was good to have the whole Tift crew together.
My favorite photo op every year.
Grandma made her red velvet bunny cake
Ford was just too dang cute.
Grandma's easter egg hunt went up a notch this year - more eggs and a much more competitive Hardy.
Ellie still takes it all pretty seriously as well. the Golden eggs are just too tempting
It's only a matter of time before Ford knows what is going down.
No surprise that Emma had the most eggs
Ford just likes to smile.
Mack got "the chain" in the first baseball game of his season. Coach was proud of how hard he had been working and how good he ran the bases. I almost missed it, because he NEVER gets the chain. I'm so glad his coach picked him out this game. Mack was so proud!
We participated in our neighborhood annual yard sale this year. We got rid of SOOO much stuff and made over $1000 in the process!!
This sweet girl got confirmed April 23rd.
I didn't get good pictures, but this is her standing with the group.
She looked beautiful!
She also felt very fancy with the new diamond earrings that Worth and I gave her as a gift.
March has been pretty easy going. Emma played on the middle school golf team, Mack is practicing and getting ready for baseball, which starts after spring break, and Ellie is still dancing her heart out 4 days a week. The weather has been up and down, but I think we are finally getting into some beautiful spring temps here in Valdosta. I didn't get a ton of pictures this month, but these are the highlights:
Emma getting ready on the course
She looks so professional here. :)
I think this was a Dr. Suess wacky day. Mack took a different book bag, wore different shoes, had a mohawk (of course) and still looked pretty cute. I'm glad he still (somewhat) participates in these dress up days.
Lots of golf pics this month. Emma working on her swing before a tournament.
Dad couldn't coach during a tournament, but he could help her out at times.
Ellie had her 8th grade spring dance March 18th. This is her and her friend, Nadia. They were so beautiful!
Ellie didn't have a date, but we decided to get a group of kids together to go get some pictures and have dinner beforehand. Ellie looked so cute despite some breezy and cold weather.
Sam, Nadia, Holden, Ellie, Conner
I was asked to be a chaperone for the dance. I was not excited to go help, but it ended up being so fun!
Worth and Emma were on the golf course and spotted us taking pictures. Worth had to get in on a picture - with his golf club in hand.
One more girl, Ellison, made it to dinner with us at Friends.
Sweet, pretty girls. The dance was at the Hahira Depot and was decorated so cute! There were photo ops and heaters outside and food and music inside the building.
They had a photographer taking those moving pictures outside. They were so fun and all the kids were loving doing it.
I was in charge of patrolling the perimeter of the building to make sure no kids ran off, but I was able to sneak inside and snap some quick pictures. Ellie is in the center of this picture dancing away! 💗
The dance floor filled up even more as the night wore on.
The food table was so cute.
Ellie and her larger crew once they got to the dance.
Emma warming up at the final tournament of the season.
