It's Great to Be 8

I am getting BAPTIZED!

 RHETT STANLEY HAWKINS
Saturday, September 22, 2012

I love this picture because this is the little "I'm up to no good!" look I usually get from Rhett!

TEAM OAKLEY

This past Saturday we once again had our annual Walk 2 Cure Diabetes.  I was a member of the committee that plans the walk again this year and the lady incharge asked us each to participate in the fundraising.  Oakley begged last year after the walk to do a team this year so.....we invented TEAM OAKLEY!! The lady told me to make my webpage and then send out emails.  I set our goal on the webpage at $150.00 and thought it would be a miracle to make that.  I sent my emails out one night around midnight and the next morning when I logged on to check my email about 8:30ish I cried and cried as I opened walk donation after walk donation.  We had met and surpassed our goal in just a few short hours.  I have been VERY HUMBLED over the past few weeks as I have seen HUNDREDS of dollars come in to support TEAM OAKLEY! I was also blown away at the love and support we had on walk day!

Here are our walkers! Love them all!!

Just for the record - because my brain won't remember and the faces are too small to see - this is who was in attendance:

Dad, Mom, Oakley, Dallin, Rhett, Laiklie, Grams Hawkins, Grams Jake, Cousins Maddie, Macady and Ciara, Other Cousins Jessica, Kaylin, Haylie, and Lexi.  Uncle Eric and Aunt Gina.  Clogging teacher Kassandra and little Brinley, Clogging moms and friends Lori and Lara, Erica, Brooklyn, Josh and Andrew, Nancy and Whitney, Alison and Hope (and a few extra family members....Hope's dad is also a T1D). BFF Alicia and mom Chris and bro's Nathan, Timmy, Daniel and sisters Megan and Liz.  4H Friend Sierra and mom Rachelle + baby.

 And here is the back of our Team Oakley t-shirts.  I worked my guts out making these spray painted t-shirts.  I decided it would be cheaper and easier to make last minute shirts if I just did them myself.  It was definitely cheaper and definitely nice to make a shirt for any last minute walkers the day before the walk, BUT....AND I MEAN A BIG BUT....It was alot of work!  I got SO MANY comments and compliments on them the day of the walk and I have to agree they turned out SO CUTE! But...remind me next year to just order the dang t-shirts! :)

And here she is....THE REASON WE WALK!  Oakley truly is our little hero!  It amazes me what she deals with on a daily basis with this dumb disease.  Any time I talk to anybody about diabetes I tell them that this disease isn't picky.  It gets who it wants.  It doesn't care how cute or precious they are.  I mean look at her......

We walk because we love our girl!  A HUGE shout out to all our family and friend for the love and support this year! Thanks to all of you we raised OVER $1600.00 to help find a CURE! Oakley hopes to one day say I USED to have diabetes!

My Favorite Parts of Today

Today was a great day!  I love Sundays! I have a few favorite parts though that I want to remember....

Laiklie's prayer tonight over the food went something like this, "Thanks for this wonderful food.  This strong, healthy food."  You'd have thought from that kind of prayer we were eating Thanksgiving dinner.  NOPE! Waffles.  Just plain waffles.  Nothing else.  Just waffles.  Ha, ha! Love it!

Tonight I also listened to a conversation from the other room that I loved.  I over heard Oakley's Uncle Dale tell her that as he drove by her school the other day during lunch time he saw her out on the front lawn talking to a boy.  Dale told her that it took all that was in him to not pull over and give that boy a knuckle sandwich.  He warned her that NO BOYS are to be flirting with her and then as he was getting ready to leave he reminded her again that if he drove by and saw another boy talking to her he WOULD be pulling over and there WOULD be a scene made. :) I LOVE that she has these two big uncles - Dale and Chase - that love her to the moon and back!

Also today Ryan and I got to sit next to our SUPER NERVOUS Rhett as he got his bishops interview for his baptism this week.  I got to spend a little one-on-one time with him this afternoon when we went out to take some pictures for his baptism invites.  Those to follow! Love my kids so much!

Why I Eat Dry Toast

I LOVE my Sunday nap. I look forward to it ALL WEEK! I missed it SO MUCH when I had little babies and now ENJOY it more than ever.  I LOVE cuddling with my sweet man for just a couple hours each Sunday afternoon as the start to the next week.  So.....today....Sunday...as I cuddled in for the much needed, much loved Sunday afternoon nap I was not only a little annoyed, but also a little mad at my children that kept coming in needing my attention.  I was finally drifting off when my 5 year old Laiklie walked in with this.

 Dry toast and a glass of chocolate milk (which she actually made with milk this time...much better than the water she made it with the past two times :) and a sweet offer to give me a foot massage.  I placed the dry toast and choc milk on my dresser and told her later I would get a foot massage and then kicked her out of my room.  THEN.....words from a man MUCH, MUCH WISER than I came to my mind....

“Am I committing my time and energies to the things that matter most?” There are so many good things to do, but we can’t do all of them. Our Heavenly Father is most pleased when we sacrifice something good for something far greater with an eternal perspective." (Elder Uchtdorf)

So, without a moments hesitation out of my bed I came with toast and choc milk in hand and went out for my sweet baby girls foot massage offer!

I gave up something I LOVE for something

 I LOVE SO MUCH MORE!

Thanks for spending the afternoon with your mommy little Laiklie! I love you!

Of Course...

Of Course the little baby tooth I talked about in the last post fell out the very next day! Of Course it did! :)

 I put her in the tub Saturday night and just a few minutes later heard, "mom, MOM, MOOOOOM, I LOST MY TOOTH!!"

I know you can't see it, but the baby tooth is somewhere in that bag. 

Laiklie slept with Oakley that night and I guess she woke her up in the middle of the night to show her the money the tooth fairy left.  I LOVE IT!!

My baby can ride her bike...

WITHOUT TRAINING WHEELS!

 Laiklie has been telling us for months she was ready, and every time we tried she was super disappointed.  So today when she came skipping out of the house with the skateboard elbow/knee pads and a helmet on telling me she was ready to do no training wheels I didn't want to be the one to crush her dreams.  So...I told her we would try one time.  I was blown away at how she just got it.  It clicked! Finally! I knew it would come when she was ready....and TODAY WAS THE DAY!

 This is her letting us all know she is only 5 years old and can now ride her bike like a grown-up! My favorite part of all of this is when she told me, "I am just so proud I can do no training wheels!" I am SO PROUD TOO!
 She also has a super loose tooth.  I am hoping it will hang on for another month til her birthday.  Five year olds aren't suppose to lose their teeth! That is too tiny to lose teeth!

And this picture I had to add too just because I seriously can't get enough of her! Isn't she so much fun?!

Back to School....HERE WE COME!!

I really don't know where the summer went! I can not believe it is over already!  I seriously wasn't completely ready to send them back to school yesterday.  I think in my mind I kept thinking if I put off getting ready to send them back that maybe it wouldn't come! NOPE! Still came! 

 These are my HANDSOME boys! Rhett is in 2nd Grade this year.  He was SO NERVOUS because his best friend Raegan is in a different class.  He came home telling me that they played at every recess together though.  I am guessing that will be the pattern for the year.:)  He also came home telling me that the class birds had a baby and the teacher told him he could have it.  Ummmm......NO THANK YOU! The last thing we need around here is another pet bird!  I have NO IDEA how I am going to talk him out of this one!

 Dallin is in 4th grade.  He was nervous too.  He came home the most excited though!! His teacher had them play games all day and announced there would be NO HOMEWORK for the first 3 months of school! That is SERIOUSLY my kind of teacher!! Although....that makes me a little nervous that there won't be a lot of learning/teaching going on.  I guess we will roll with the punches on this one!

 And here is our big MIDDLE SCHOOLER!! AH!!!  She was TERRIFIED! She came home last night telling me that she didn't know why she was so scared! It went very smoothly! Well....other than the lock on her locker that she can't open! :) Thank goodness for good friends with close lockers! She had a long day though.  With volleyball practice after school she doesn't even get home until 6ish.  This will definitely take some getting use to!  Today is her first volleyball game! We are super excited!

And last, but NEVER least my KINDERGARTNER!! I can not believe my baby is old enough for kindergarten.  She was SOOOO EXCITED!! She couldn't wait to ride that bus home with her boys!  She picked out her own outfit and came home talking about all the new friends she made.  She is so in love with kindergarten already!  I have NO IDEA what I am going to do without her this year!  She is my very best helper!

I do have to say though....It was kinda nice to go grocery shopping yesterday without any kids!!  I might kind of like this new freedom 1/2 a day every day!  I sure love my kids and I hope and pray every morning that the teachers in the school will take good care of them while they are in their care! 

HERE WE GO....READY OR NOT!