A Fun Filled Day

This past Saturday Erica, Ella, Kate and I made the trip out to Madison, Ga to celebrate our friend Makinley's 1st birthday. Makinley's mom, better known as Stacey, taught with me at Ola. The year we taught together Stacey was pregnant with Tripp (the adorable big brother keeping a close eye on everything in the picture below). Each morning that school year Erica, Jana, Stacey, and I would have a hallway discussion as our students came in. At the beginning of the year they were on how it was to be pregnant and then later on it was on how it was to give birth and finally on how it was to be a parent. Jana, the experienced mom and super-teacher of the group, always smiled and listened. Little did we all know that the next school year we would be going through the same experience again, but this time Erica, Stacey AND I would be sharing the stories. We e-mailed updates and ultrasounds back and forth, compared aches and pains, and prayed for each other on a regular basis through out our pregnancies. All together, our girls ended up only being 7 weeks apart in age.

So, now we have the joy of watching and experiencing each other's children grow up. One major milestone: the 1st birthday! Here Makinley test out her cake.


Kate tested out some too! Too bad she wasn't this interested in her own birthday cake the week before!

Then, Makinley and Mom opened her gifts. Kate and Ella gave Mak a wagon with her name on it. All the kids at the party loved the wagon. I think each one crawled in and out of it a couple of times each!

The party was so much fun and we had a great time visiting and catching up with the Lancaster's. As soon as we hit the road on the way back home both Ella and Kate were down for the count. They slept pretty much from driveway to driveway!

When we got home Kate was recharged and rearing to go. J was down stairs watching the UGA game so Kate stayed up stairs and helped me cook dinner. We made spaghetti but when I say Kate wanted to put a few extra things in the sauce I mean just about everything in the pantry! See for yourself...

I think it will be a little while before she helps me cook again! It was fun anyways! Happy Birthday Mak Mak!