Remembering Grandma Jean

Yesterday my Grandma Jean celebrated her birthday with Jesus for the 4th time. It would have been her 72nd birthday. I know that she doesn't know what she is missing here, and nothing in this world even comes close to being in the presence of God, but I still really miss her. I am so thankful that I got to know the love of such a wonderful Grandma! And I am very thankful that the girls have wonderful Grandma's as well. I think all the time about how much Grandma Jean would enjoy and love the girls...she would absolutely have adored them. She got to be a part of Mackenzie's life until she was 9 months old, but she was sick during much of that time. I like to think that she got a little glimpse of Madison in heaven before she was born...I know that is probably not biblical, but it makes me feel good to think it!

It makes me smile to look at pictures of her and remember her life and things that were special.....Hot rolls, the day after Thanksgiving shopping presents, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, wonderful Christmas Day's, all the wonderful meals we shared...she was an excellent cook, dumpster diving for flowers, she took me clothes shopping all the time, going to garage sales and having garage sales, all of the beautiful curtains she made (I like to think that Grandma is up in heaven, praising God, and making curtains for my mansion at the same time! I know that is probably silly, but I like it!), the way she would say "Hi my darlin' " when she saw me, how she always bought diapers for Mackenzie, the way she loved the Lord and her family...there are really so many wonderful memories of her....way more than I could write about here. Sometimes it is still hard for me to believe she is gone. While we will always miss her, the memories and legacy of love that she left will always continue on. A few months ago, we were watching the video of when Mackenzie was born and when Grandma Jean was on there, Mackenzie and I talked about her. Mackenzie said, "I wish I could see her mommy." Of course, I was crying and I said, "Oh baby, I wish you could see her too!"Anytime we are looking at pictures, I tell the girls about their Great-Grandma Jean and how much she would have loved to know them...they will grow up knowing about her and loving the memory of who she was.

G-Ma learned how to be a Grandma from the best! Grandma Jean was so proud of Mackenzie and loved her so muchI love this picture of Grandma and Poppa! What a wonderful example of marriage they were to us...they were married for 49 years when Grandma passed away.Bad picture of me, but I love how she has her hand on baby Mackenzie, in my tummy! Four Generations were about to become Five! Five Generations!Grandma always sang "You are my Sunshine" to me when I was little, and to Mackenzie too.I love this picture of Grandma with Mackenzie on her first Halloween! These are some pictures that were taken a few years before Mackenzie was born. How blessed I was to grow up with a Grandma and Great-Grandma!

Time to Party!

Can she really be almost 4 years old? That is so bittersweet...I love watching her grow and learn, but I don't want her to grow up so fast. After considering Strawberry Shortcake, My Little Pony, Care Bears, Dora, Tinkerbell, Hello Kitty, and others...Mackenzie decided she wanted a butterfly & ladybug party! I thought there for a while we were going to have a "mixed up" party, as she liked to call it, because she couldn't pick just one! I bought invitations to mail, but that just didn't feel right...so I sat down at the computer yesterday for about an hour and came up with this! It turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself! Mackenzie is very excited about her party, and gets very excited over every toy commercial and says, "Mommy, I want that for my birthday!" I have explained several times that she won't get EVERYTHING she wants, but I'm not sure she gets it!

Here are some funny things she has said recently:

* "Mommy, when I'm 4, I'll like peanuts."

* "Mommy, when I'm 4, I'll like hot pizza."

* At ELP last week, Mackenzie didn't pick up toys when her teacher asked her to...when we got home I asked her why and she said, "Mommy, my legs just couldn't take it anymore!" (What am I supposed to say to that?)

* I told Mackenzie that her teacher said she was very smart and she says, "Pretty impressive, huh mommy?" (Maybe we should not encourage her quite so much!)

* I got frustrated while driving the other day and Mackenzie says to me, "Mommy, you need to be patient." Nothing like being put in your place by your 3 year old!

* Mackenzie doesn't like the loud noise of toilets flushing...any time we are out somewhere and she needs to go, she says "Mommy, does this potty flush naturally?" (meaning automatically)

* When I picked Mackenzie up from ELP the other day she says, "Mommy, the boys are just a teeny bit cute...well, just a smidge!" I asked her where she learned the word "smidge" and she said, "From you!"

* "Mommy, I have a ring for you...its to help you remember not to get onto me like that anymore."

* When she gets in trouble, she always asks, "Mommy do you still love me?" and I always say, "Yes, Mack...I will always love you no matter what." and she says, "I still love you too mommy."

* Madison still only says "Momma" most of the time...the other day she made a sound that sounded just like "Bonjour!" Before I said anything, Mackenzie looked up and said, "Mommy, Madison said Bonjour!" I thought it was so funny that she heard it too...I guess Madison is going to start speaking French before she figures out English!

She definitely keeps us laughing!

STBC Car Show

This Sunday was the annual car show at STBC. There were over 300 cars, and over 1700 people there! It is a huge outreach event for our church. Grandma and Grandpa Baldwin, Danny & Amy and the kids, Tomi & Jason and kids, and Uncle Clint all came! Love the picture of all the Baldwin boys, except for Stephen...wish he could have been there. We were hoping Grandpa's truck would be ready, but it wasn't. Maybe next year! Hopefully Poppa Jim will be able to bring his car next year too. We had a fun time, but it was incredibly HOT! My favorite part was taking a picture of all the little cousins...they are so cute! Looking at cars is definitely a guy thing...they're neat and all, but if it weren't for the fellowship, family, and food, I probably could have done without the heat! Mack did want to watch CARS when we got home, so it had an effect on her!

We add a cousin to each picture!This one is definitely the best, with all of their sweet faces! I don't think it will ever be possible to get them all to look and smile at the same time, but hey...at least they're all there! Mackenzie didn't like the loud noise of Dave's electric car spin out! There are lots and lots of cars to see! Madison loves balloons! Mackenzie had a purple one, but it flew away right before we left...she was very upset about it. Mackenzie had so much fun playing with Emma! She was riding Lightning McQueen! It was so hot that I just let Madison have this bottle of water to basically pour all over herself! Whoa! Got too big of a drink, I think! I really think these should be advertisements for our church...how cute is that?!Abigail was planning on coming with Uncle Clint, but she didn't feel well. We missed her! As skittish as Madison is about going with other people sometimes, she loves Jason! Okay, I admit it...there were some pretty cars there!

Sunday Mornings

I just had to post these pic's because they are so cute! I am sometimes late to church because I have to take pictures of them...a bad excuse, I know, but it can't be helped! Madison didn't do much better in her class this week...they said she stood at the door with her backpack waiting for me again. Oh, my! Mackenzie, on the other hand, loves going to her class. I am so thankful that we get to be a part of South Tulsa Baptist Church. God has blessed us for sure...it is a wonderful place to serve and worship, and to train our children in the ways of the Lord!

"This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!"

Madison needs her bangs cut!She looks so grown up here...I'm not okay with it!

Mackenzie always has an opinion about what she does and does not want to wear...she usually gets her way!

Disney On Ice OKC Fair

This was a busy, fun weekend! We got to Newcastle on Thursday evening, celebrated dad's birthday Friday night, and went to the Fair and Icecapades on Saturday. This was our 3rd year to take Mackenzie, and it was Madison's 2nd year. Disney on Ice was called "Let's Celebrate!" and it was the best show yet! There were over 60 different Disney characters from various movies, and Mackenzie would get so excited when they came out. She was practically screaming their names every time she saw a new one. It was so exciting for her that it nearly brought mom and me to tears. G-Ma got us excellent seats...we were just a few rows up on the floor, in the middle. The different celebrations were an "un-birthday" with Alice in Wonderland, Halloween (which was almost scary, but not quite...it was fun because they had some of the Disney villains), Valentine's Day with the Princesses, Summer Vacation with Lilo and Stitch, and the best...Christmas with the Toy Story characters. G-Ma and Mackenzie liked the dancing broom part the best. Mackenzie decided after the icecapades that she wanted to be Jessie for Halloween. That will be so cute! Before the show started, we bought a Minnie Mouse spinner and cotton candy with a Mickey hat. Is it really possible to go to something like this and not buy stuff? I don't think so! Poppa was so sweet to send us with some extra spending money, so it was okay! Mackenzie loved the icecapades...Madison sort of liked it! It is so hard for her to sit still these days for more than 30 seconds at a time. (That may even be pushing it!) She finally fell asleep during the last 15 minutes, and I was SO glad! This is such a fun tradition that we have with my mom! After waiting in line for almost 30 minutes to get our stroller last year, I decided to walk out just a few minutes before the show ended, so I could get there before the crowd...it worked so well! I got to see the end of the show, and I was the 4th one in line for the stroller. We walked around the fair for a couple of hours after the show was over...it was HOT! We ate corn dogs, went into the Agtropolis building, the girls' rode pony's, and we got a pecan cinnamon roll...then we hit the road! It was just too hot to stay any longer than that. We were all very glad to see the car! Good times!

Mackenzie really wanted to bring her "pet" hamster in to the fair, but we wouldn't let her...we told her it could "guard" the car...so that is what this picture is all about! (I know that is a wierd thing to take a picture of, but we just thought it was funny!)I love that we get to do this with G-Ma!G-Ma LOVES her girls!G-Ma calls Mackenzie her "Little Candace" sometimes!I wonder how many of these spinners we will end up with during childhood! We almost had a catastrophe when Madison twirled a big wad of Mackenzie's hair up in there...G-Ma saved the day and got her hair out...I thought it was going to be bad!I wanted a picture of Madison in the Mickey hat, but she refused to wear it, unless she put it on herself...even then she was not very cooperative! She just has a mind of her own...independent little thing!SO exciting!!!This really made me want to go back to Disney World...we are thinking maybe next November! Somebody was getting sleepyTime passes too quickly...Mackenzie wasn't even a year old the first time we took her to the Icecapades...we have only missed one year of Icecapades since she was born, because it was High School Musical. Madison kept wanting to sit with G-Ma during the show...then she'd change her mind and want to come back to me...she was a squirmer! The Toy Story part was very fun, of course!Madison was DONE! She slept for quite awhile as we walked around. I just love these new tennis shoes that light up. She is getting so big! After her nap, she woke up and had a state fair corndog! Doesn't get much better than that! The "Farmer for a Day" exhibit in the Agtropolis building is fun! She wanted to pet the chicken! G-Ma decided we should get real chickens so Mackenzie could gather the eggs...I decided NOT! (Well, its okay if she wants to keep them at her house!) We can't go to the fair without riding a pony! This was Madison's first pony ride. She did good, but had this look on her face like, "Is this supposed to be fun?" Mackenzie rode all by herself, and did great! I love how they were positioned so they are both in these pictures. Mack rode on "Sonny" and Madi rode on "Tornado." G-Ma said, "Nothin' like putting a baby on a horse named Tornado!" She's looking at me like, "Mommy help me!" It was a very, very fun day at the Fair! I can't wait for next year!