Horrible Hair Day

After a week of the letter "H," the Kindergartners had Horrible Hair Day!

Merrol Hyde Art Exhibit

Merrol Hyde held their first ever Night of the Arts Event on February 26.  A few pieces of art from each class were chosen to be on display and sold the night of the event.  We were so surprised and happy to see that both of our boys had a piece of their artwork chosen!  Brody and Colby love to draw, and I hope that their love for art continues to grow and develop.  Under their incredible art and music teacher, Mr. Marks, I have a feeling that it will.  We are now the proud owners of these two masterpieces!

Another Snow Day

There wasn't much snow on the ground, but the boys got another snow day on Thursday, February 26.  During last week's snow break, Brody's class had an assignment to write and illustrate a story to be considered for the Celebrate Literacy competition coming up.  Brody wrote his book about a snowman.  In his story, two friends wanted to build a snowman but the snow was quickly melting.  So, the boys build a small snowman, put it on a cookie sheet, and stick it in the back of the freezer.  A year later, they are surprised to find the snowman still in the freezer!  

Brody did a great job on his story, and it is funny how similar our day was to what he had written. All of the details that he wrote a week earlier played out today with our small snowman. It is like we were living out his book.  I asked him to write another story with a great ending for our family...who knows, maybe it will come true too!  

7th Annual Blood Drive and Bake Sale

The 7th Annual Blood Drive and Bake Sale in honor of Colby was on Saturday, February 21.  It was pouring rain and the roads were still a little questionable from the ice and snow that we got earlier in the week, so we were a little concerned we wouldn't have a good turn out.  We were so wrong...we had a great turn out!  I am overwhelmed each year with the support shown to us by our friends and family.

Since our boys think of this as a big party and look forward to it every year, we decided to make it extra fun for them with the help of some dear friends, Rob and Kelly Thompson.  The Thompsons own Leap Into Fun, and they were kind enough to bring in a huge bounce house, a popcorn machine, and a Spin Art Machine.  We cannot thank the Thompsons enough for their generosity and support!  I highly recommend Leap Into Fun for any of your party or event needs,  You can check them out here...http://www.leapintofun.com/.  We also want to thank Lucy Donaldson, Katie Brown, and Claire Flatt for supervising the Spin Art Machine.  You guys were awesome!

The Bake Sale, despite having less baked goods than previous years due to the weather and road conditions, brought in around $2,000.  Thank you to everyone who baked goodies, bought goodies, or made a donation.  A big thank you goes out to Jennifer Brown, Joan Dell, and Brody for keeping it running smoothly all day!  Brody loves being the money man!!

We mailed the final donation for CHD Research to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt on March 11th.  The grand total was $2,714!!

We had 65 people sign in to give blood this year.  Out of those 65, the Red Cross was able to collect 62 units of blood!  We are very happy that the Red Cross now has 62 more units of blood available to patients in need.  Thank you to everyone who donated.  Your sacrifice is greatly appreciated!

Snow Days

The boys got an unexpected "Winter Break" the week of February 16th.  They were already scheduled to be off Monday and Tuesday for Presidents' Day and Parent Teacher Conferences, but freezing rain, sleet, and snow turned the roads into a big icy mess and they were out the entire week.  So, we spent the week playing outside in the ice and snow, watching movies, playing games, and just having fun together.  It was a great week full of fun memories!