Her Last First is Her First Last

Do you remember this picture?

It was posted just nine short months ago.
It was her first day of school- Pre-K.
Four years old.

Well since then, I have shared many firsts first with you -

First day of karate
First day of soccer
First Ranger baseball game
First school field trip
First soccer goal
First school pictures
First belt test
First time being a flower girl
First karate demo
First karate tournament
First letter from Santa
First school party
First plane ride
First trip to Disney
First puppy
First time with the flu
First date night
First sparring trophy
First pedicure
First breaking trophy
First talent show
First kata trophy
First first place trophy
First article in the newspaper.

Whew! I'm tired reliving all that!

Well today was her first last day of school. Yesterday they had graduation and today was the final day. She was happy but sad at the same time. She is ready for a short break, but she was really sad to tell Ms. Torres good-bye. She is retiring this year, but even with that, Mattie May still wouldn't see her any more because she will be at a different school next year.
She will be at either Austin or Taylor, we are just waiting to see if her transfer was approved. This year was spent at a school with children all her age. Next year, there will be Kindergarten through fifth grade at which ever school she attends. She will also miss the class room. This child loves to learn. But we have plenty of things for her to learn this summer.
She will also be attending karate camp every day.
She will have so much fun.
They work on karate but they also do fun things like swim, go to the zoo, go to movies, and yes there may even be a trip to six flags in there!

So here is her first last day of school picture!

Where did those dogs ears go?!

God Bless!

Taking Note of the "What Ifs'

A year ago today at 6:01 PM, while on our way to church, Mattie May, Katie and I were hit by a drunk driver. You can read about it here. In this post, I talked about the what ifs that I had then. I still have them, lots of them. And when I see a report about a wreck caused by drunk driving, I get them all over again. This scripture will always remind me how blessed we are to have had only bruising and soreness. There are so many others that had so much worse. It is almost always so much worse.

We still can't drive through that intersection that Mattie May doesn't remind us that it's where the crazy lady hit us. We asked her this morning if she knew today it had been a year that we had been in that wreck and she reminded us that we were going to church to eat lasagna and cake. She still remembers.

I am too lazy to go back and check if I ever posted the girls blood alcohol level. In Texas, the limit is .08. She registered a .38! If you don't know, .40 is alcohol poisoning! From the time I saw her car, I knew she never tried to stop. I thought maybe she had reached for her cell phone, but I will always believe now that she was completely passed out. Her blood was almost 50% liqueur!

So just a reminder to everyone, please don't drink and drive. Don't let anyone drink and drive. It really isn't worth it.

God Bless

The Excitement Continues

Well Christmas has come and gone and we had a great time. I hope to get some pictures up this week but I'm not sure that is going to happen. The excitement continues around our house as we get ready for Mattie May's birthday trip. I can't believe how close it is! Look at our countdown calendar in the right side bar. It has gone from over a year to just days! Mattie May reminds us daily how many more days we have so I really don't need that calendar! LOL

We have already started packing and getting things together for the trip. Last night Mattie May packed her backpack. Such a smart girl, she asked her mom for a spare set of clothes in case hers get dirty! I promise, no prompting from any of the adults in the house. She did that all on her own!

I have been looking back at my little blog post from this past year. There have been not nearly enough. Call it a resolution if you want, but I am going to try hard this coming year to post each day. Even if it is just a short one to remind me that life is great and everyone is happy. 2010 started out great, but before the first month was over, things went downhill. It has been a difficult year, with so much of it being focused on that wreck. We never thought it would be that time consuming, but it was a major focus through about mid year. We then started trying to focus on our trip, but Mattie May started school, soccer and karate and our focus was changed again.

Frank had knee surgery in August, and much of my time went to that. Not that he couldn't do things for himself (he walked out of the clinic by himself!), it was that I just kept worrying about his recovery. That's just the way I am.

So now with the holidays mostly behind us, we can get ready to go. 2011 is going to be a great year and we plan on starting it off with a bang. There will be many firsts to report on this trip, for all four of us. Starting with Mattie May's first ride on an airplane! That should be fun.

This is the first time that any of us have been to Disney! Frank said he plans on being a big kid! I don't know why he thinks that is any different than what he usually is, but we are definitely going to have a great time.

Just in case I don't get back here until we get back, I wish you all safe and blessed new year! 2011 is going to be great!

Happy New Year! Bring on 2010!

I am waiting to get off work so I can head up to the Duda with Mom. Frank left this morning and I am just itching to go! I posted more about our trip on my fishing blog. You can click here if you want to read more about our adventures!

I wish you many blessing in 2010! Everyone be safe and have fun tonight!

God Bless you!