Kindergarten Ceremony

Well summer is officially here....and it's LOUD at the Box house :) Last week Braden had his kinder ceremony and Grandma, Mike, Nana (great grandma), Dad, Truitt and I went to see him walk across the stage. My sweet friend Lynette kept Blake so I could sit and enjoy it!

My poor photo of Braden on stage with the principals

Braden (and his posed smile) with Grandma and Nana

The Lake

We went to the lake house over Memorial Day weekend...enjoyed ourselves as usual :)

Snack time

Kurt, Braden, Me, Amy and Scott....relaxing

Blake loved sitting in the water throwing sticks

Truitt doing some fishing :)

The boys with aunt Missy

Braden is offically driving the golf cart by himself (with me on it), he does pretty well

Building a fort with Dad

This is Truitt's first week without preschool - summer is officially here! We had a small program and a little party in class last week. He doesn't quite understand that summer=no school and will randomly tell me he's going to tell Ms.Terri about something that's happened :)

Loves to "skateboard", watch the guys skateboarding at the skate park and run around the house pretending to do jumps with his invisible skate board.

Loves icing....

Loves to sing.....and be with his friend Natalie (on his left).

Compassion Concessions

Today Kenzie and I both did concessions and we both had the kiddos with us (since our husbands were out of town) - double duty :) We collected a record $110 today - thanks Kenzie for helping out, I know it wasn't easy! We have next week off then a few make up games to sell concessions and I'll announce the grand total...I'm sure you're on the edge of your seat - ha! I am seriously excited...ahhhh, the little (big!) things. God is working and it's encouraging.

Kenzie, Deacon, Faith Clare.....and baby boy Stanfield :)

Lunch Time....in the shade!

Hot but happy!

Love Notes

Braden takes his lunch to school (occasionally buys on pizza day) and seems to like it that way. I typically write him a little note and put it in his lunch box. Over time I have realized how important these notes are to Braden as he will remind me when I forget or become too rushed to write one. In the mornings he will ask me "did you write me a love note?" as he puts his lunch box in his backpack...I quickly assure him I did. He'll also tell me he wants "lots of x's and o's because that means hugs and kisses".
I savor this time with Braden. One day a "love note" will be embarrassing, unwanted or (gasp!) come from another woman. I pray that my memory holds on to these SWEET times, they are precious and sacred.

BERRIES!

I love blackberries and as it turns out, so do my boys. Today Braden and I set out to pick some - at his request. Why is it I find berry picking so addicting? I feel the need to continue on and get EVERY.LAST.ONE. Is it my competitive nature shining through or what?! I don't know....needless to say we did not pick them all but we did get quite a few and had fun together. After all the hard work we went to sonic for some cold drinks!

We saw a neat caterpillar, Braden insisted I take a picture :)

I am so thankful for my boys and for the privledge of being a mother.

Blake Miles Box

Truitt Griffin Box

Braden Payne Box

On mother's day Kurt made breakfast for me and the boys brought me cards and gifts they had made. I now have a birdhouse and a birdfeeder to put in the backyard :)

Compassion Update

I just wanted to give ya'll a little update on my Compassion fundraising. Other than people giving financially (which is great!) we've had people give their time and talent as well.

My friend Sharyn has her own jewelry company "Simply Sharyn Designs". For the month of April she donated 10% of her sales to the Compassion Resue Babies fund. I'm so excited to say it was more than she predicted and her business is taking off - yeah Sharyn! She is now in two Merle Norman stores (La Centerra in Katy and the Randalls Shopping Center at Westheimer and Gessner.
You can see Sharyn's designs by visitng her blog:http://simplysharyndesigns.blogspot.com/ or by going to her etsy store: http://www.simplysharyndesigns.etsy.com/.

Thanks so much Sharyn!! You can see some of her designs below, she does some really cute shirst too!

Another way we have been raising money is by selling concessions at some of the YMCA t-ball games. We have had friends volunteer to help and it'sbeen a great way to get our kids involved. I have a few photos below...I'll post more later. Thanks to everyone who has helped out - it is very much appreciated!

Hot Spots

Here are just a few of Blake's favorite places to be right now....

Riding the golf cart

In the dishwasher...unloading silverware

Dad's car

In the fort

Underfoot :)

I DO

This past weekend I went to Dallas for a bridal shower and to take photos for Kurt's brother Hans and his fiance Jillian. They are getting married on June 4th in Fredricksburg. June 4th also happens to be Kurt's birthday. I was telling Braden about the wedding and mentioned that it was on Dad's birthday, he replied "Well, I guess we can't go then....". Very cute :)

I'm sooo excited about the wedding! Here are a few of my favorite photos.