End of School Celebrations!

In the spirit of trying to catch up a bit and hopefully start blogging a bit more, I am trying to recount a few of the significant and interesting events of late...

Allee, Jadon and Ben all did so well in school this year and we are so proud of them. It is overwhelming how fast time goes by and how quickly they are growing up!! I keep threatening to stop feeding them or to put bricks on their heads or something, but seriously I just want to treasure this precious time of my children growing up...

Allee~

This girl totally rocked at school this year, despite it being one of the most challenging years she has ever had. Peer issues were difficult and there were many life lessons that she learned through the choices she made this year. She has learned to stand for what she believes in, and has begun to learn that may mean some ridicule/rejection from others. As a mom, I want to just fix things for her but instead I can only walk through it with her and counsel her and praise God that she talks to me about everything and that through it, she has sought the Lord and has grown deeply in her faith. She has, at the same time, been blessed with some precious friendships through it and for that we are very thankful. She is learning to be a leader, to love those different from her (even those who ridicule her for her convictions). I pray that most of all she will continue to draw near to the One who is her strength.

In academics she has worked hard and that has paid off. She was awarded the Cum Maximo Honore Award, which means that she has made straight A's each semester for fourth grade through sixth grade - not an easy task and she was only one of a few students to receive this award. She was also given the Character Award of Courtesy. This fall she will enter 7th grade at the same school but it should be a much easier year for many reasons. We are thankful for all that she learned this year! She has matured into a delightful young lady, is such a joy to be with, and is a blessing to each of us!!

Jadon ~

My sweet boy is growing up way too fast!! I really can't believe that he is 8 years old!! How did my baby get so big. Jadon has a sensitive heart and a determined spirit. He is blessed with a incredibly wonderful group of boys. All of us moms of these boys are in awe of how God has put them together and is growing them up to be men after His heart. They are such a strength to one another. For now, Jadon is in such a protected environment and is growing and learning so much within that environment. His teacher, Mrs. Puddy, helped to develop a strong love of reading in Jadon. He has taken off in reading and often curls up with a book. This is something that we desire for each of our children to develop. Jadon is typically very diligent in his work, coming right home and doing his homework without being asked. His handwriting leaves a bit to be desired though :) He took so many awards at the end of school that is was almost embarrassing - Reading Award, Spelling Award, Music Award, Spanish Award and the Character Award for Joyfulness. We thank God for how He has gifted Jadon and it is our prayer that he will use them all in ways that glorify the One who made him.

Jadon's diligence sometimes also becomes a point of struggle - he will become so focused on what he is doing or on what he wants to do, that he has a hard time moving on to what else might be necessary. But he has such a tender heart and is learning to put other's needs before his own. I love seeing the Lord working in his heart - it is so precious.

Benjamin ~

Oh my baby boy is not so much of a baby anymore!!! I can't believe that he is really six and will start Kinder this Fall!!! Benjamin has the most tender, kind heart. He knows when I am sad and is always quick to give me a hug and tell me how much he loves me. He melts my heart every time!! As much as I would love to keep him little forever, it has been a joy to see him mature so, so much this year. We can look back now and see that it was definitely the right decision to wait a year to start school. He has needed this year to mature and is now very ready for school. He will have a wonderful group in his Kindergarten class, including his bobsey twin Ella. They are still as inseparable as ever - too cute!

Ben continues to love all things electronic and the best days are those when I have a broken clock, phone, dvd player, or anything else that he can take apart and 'figure out'. He also loves the outdoors and catches new creatures (usually with Nastya by his side) on a daily basis. Here is his preschool MDO graduation (with Ella of course! :)

I am about to combine the two blogs, but for now I posted Katya's and Nastya's end of school achievments on the other blog. They did wonderfully this year as well. It was a great year but we were all tired by May and are now LOVING summer!! I guess I'll be ready for school at the end of August but I'm not sure - I really do enjoy this time of slower pace and fun family times without the pressures of school and activities. A season for everything....

Look who's hanging out with us :)

It is normal to have a deer in your living room, right?!? Well I guess normal for the Potts :)

This picture was taken yesterday. Danny makes himself right at home and thinks he might be a person. It difficult for him to understand why we kicked him out and told him to go play with the other deer. He didn't mind playing with the dog and the cat though...This was Danny in June when we first rescued him. He has been a delight and a pain to raise. At first he required feedings around the clock. He was just about to be set free in October when he broke his front leg. He caught it in the door to his stall that he had been living in. It was pretty tragic. But of course we called the vet and had the leg set into a splint. The greatest part was that we got to change it weekly to prevent circulation problems. It took four of us to hold him down and change it. Yes, definitely a pain. But could you resist a face like that? Perhaps soon he will make friends with the other deer. In the meantime he visits daily for granola bars, a little milk and whatever other treats the kids find for him.

Thankful Tree

It's a good thing that the leaves were big on this tree because we all had LOTS to be thankful for! Amazing how focusing on what we are thankful for causes our hearts to overflow with joy and contentment.

High Point Winner!!

It is a joy to watch Allee ride. She has learned so much and each time she has competed she has made mistakes and learned from them. This past show in November, she was ready to go. Rue, her sweet horse, however, was a bit distracted. He was so excited that his friend, Sugar (Nastya's horse) was at the show with him. Unlike his typical calm demeanor, he was giving Allee attitude and being everything but compliant. But Allee, gathered him together while warming up and worked him through his attitude. By the time her first class came along, they were both working well together. And proved it by taking first place!! This was her first time to come out of a class with a first place ribbon. As the day progressed, they continued to place high - several more first places. Then came the western classes, which happen to be where Rue excells. However, in past shows, this has been late at night and Allee has struggled to stay focused. Sometimes we catch her having more fun talking to the other riders than focusing on the class :) But not this time. She stayed focused and as the show got closer to the end, I began to add up her points as well as those of her main competitors. It came down to the last class and I didn't tell her, but we knew that if she did well, she would earn high-point. It happenned to be the hardest class - patterns. She did better than ever and aced it.

The glow on her face as we told her that we were pretty sure that she would get high-point was unmistakable. She asked if she would win anything and we told her that the prize was a silver belt buckle. She asked, "How big is it?"

We told her, "Not as big as your head :)"

But what made this mother's heart even more proud was to see her accept that award graciously and to go out of her way to congratulate her friends and her sister on their accomplishments.

Way to go sweetheart!!

Bailey

Today we had to say goodbye to our sweet, loyal, beautiful dog Bailey. There are no words to describe how much I loved this dog. He was my baby before I had children. He was my friend when I went through hard times in college and always just seemed to sense if I was sad. I spent countless days taking walks, jogs, playing frisbee - back in the day he pretty impressive with the frisbee, or just hanging out with him. He was my helper when Allee was a baby - always patiently letting her pull his fur in efforts to stand up and giving her plenty of doggy kisses. He alerted us to a peeping tom at my neighbor's house. He went on tons of tubing trips and camping trips to garner - even wearing sunglasses occasionally. He loved the river and would swim for hours. He was a bit of an escape artist and went on many 'runs' around the neighborhood but incredibly nice people always returned him unharmed. He was so calm and loving and loyal and has been part of our family for so long. I don't think I will ever have a dog like Bailey again and while I am so thankful for the countless joys and memories that he brought, we are feeling his loss deeply.

Horse Show

We are proud of our horse riding girls!!

Allee competed in her first all-around (meaning she did most all events) show this Saturday and Anastasiya competed in one novice class (see the other blog for more on her show). They both did incredibly well!!!

I was blown away by how much Allee has grown and matured in the past two years. Two years ago she was doing her first novice classes at this show and seemed so small and uncertain. This year she went in there and confidently rode her very best in over 10 classes. She rode all day and did a great job of staying focused and not giving up. She placed 3rd out of 12 in showmanship, 2nd out of 10 in two English pleasure classes, and continued to place in every other class as well. She did pattern classes, western pleasure, western discipline, halter, and I think some others too. About six months ago, my mom and sister found a great deal on this horse up in Minnesota. He sounded perfect for Allee to really start showing on. Her little pony just wasn't ready for showing.

But when Rue first arrived it was very intimidating for Allee. She was going from a little pony whom she could easily direct to a large horse who understood far more of the subtleties of riding. Rue is 15 years old and has lots of training and experience. But Allee had to learn how to communicate to him what he already knew. And that she has. She one day turned around from feeling discouraged and not trying, to giving it her all to learn to ride this new horse well. And she is certainly accomplishing that goal. They are quite the team now. They looked so great out there, and she rode Rue against other riders far more experienced and older and still managed to place high in every event!

This was one proud mom as I watched my little girl control that big horse with confidence and skill and remembering how far she has come through hard work and effort even when it was tough.

Way to go sweet girl!!

It was a fun fifteen hour show with my girls, my sis (aka horse trainer), and my mom as well as Zach and the boys popping in and out. You know boys of any age can't sit still too long - especially when Aggie football games are waiting to be listened to.

We are ever so grateful that we are able to ride and show like. What a blessing.

Future Electrical Engineer

Benjamin was given my parents' old fax/copier machine. He methodically took it apart and quickly pointed out that one wire had become disconnected and that that was the problem. He also showed us that the ink was all out of the cartridge and that was the other reason that it didn't work. Unfortunately he hasn't quite mastered the art of putting it back together :)

Can he get any cuter? I know I am biased but I seriously love this child. What a joy he is!!

Could I freeze him right now because I don't think he can get any cuter...

Rosemary Beach 2009

A serious game of chess...

Can he be any more precious?

How cute are these bobsey twins?!?

Here are the lovely pictures of our time in Rosemary Beach. It was an absolutely fabulous time. The pictures are worth a thousand words and my sister is an exceptionally talented photographer. If you are in Texas and need photos she is your girl. Visit her website www.ashgenephotography.com

Happy 11th Birthday Alexandra!!

We had a wonderful birthday with the Potts Birthday Cake Wake-up. Allee openned her first gift from us - the Mille doll that goes with the book series that she is reading. She headed off to school, which also happenned to be Latin Day. Since she is a big 5th grader this year - the 4th grades played the role of slaves and the 5th graders were the masters. So she was literally waited on hand and foot for her birthday :) It was pretty funny to watch. Then we had dinner at the restaraunt of her choice - Mamacitas. She loved having them come sing to her and wear the hat. Last, we went to Katya's first dance recital! Yes it was busy a day! The recital was beautiful and we all enjoyed watching Katya. Finally we headed home and had a nice long bedtime talk. It was a great day to celebrate Allee!!!

What a joy it is to watch our sweet daughter growing up and becoming a beautiful young lady! This has been an exceptional year as I have had the privilege to watch Allee grow in beauty and love and wisdom. When I thought that her heart was about as big as it could get, it stretched even bigger to embrace two new sisters. There have been times where it has not all been easy and there have been many sacrifices along the way. But during the trying times she had a chance to live out what she has been learning all her life - she turned to the Lord for strength and His love was evident as she loved her new sisters even when it meant giving up her own desires and even when they maybe didn't act too loveable. She has grown in faith, love, and maturity through this year and in the end she has found a far greater treasure than she ever gave up - the joy of having two sisters whom have also become her sweetest friends. Just last Friday they were all singing together and dancing around and then they locked arms as they walked around saying, "We are sisters and we are best friends!" She has discovered the blessing of sisters!

Allee has done fantastic in school this year and has worked harder than ever before with a heavier load of work. But she rose to the challenge and plugged away at the work with very little complaint. She made honor roll for the entire year, which is quite a feat this year.

Allee continues to ride horses regularly. She is able to ride so much more now that we live next to the horses and she is improving very quickly. It is a lot of fun to hang out at the barn with her as my sister gives her lessons. I am relearning a thing or two myself! Or at least I didn't fall off when her horse took off with me :) She has also enjoyed having Nastya and Katya joining her this year.

Allee, more than I can express, you are a joy and delight us - more and more the older you get. Your love and your generally happy disposition just make people love to be around you. It is such a privilege to be your mommy! Happy Birthday to my sweet girl!

Benjamin is FIVE!!!

Happy Birthday (yesterday) to my sweet boy! I can't believe that you are five. How did my baby get so big? It has been a delight to watch Benjamin grow this year. It seems to have been a very special year for him as he has matured so much.

Yesterday we celebrated with first waking up with a cake and singing him happy birthday. He was in our bed so I had to tell him to stay put while I went to get the cake. (He still likes to come snuggle with me a lot of nights and I love it!!) The candles seemed so bright to his sleepy eyes but he was grinning ear to ear and managed to blow them out. We headed to the living room to find a present filled with his favorite things - the first Narnia movie and the first Narnia DS gameboy game. We normally dont' let the kids play games or watch tv on the weekdays (a change that has been fabluous for our family), but we told Ben that he could play his game and watch his movie during quiet time. He was delighted as he dreams about playing gameboy all week :) (You see why we had to cut this out - the kid's obsessed!)

Ella came over and we played outside for awhile, read a book while sitting on a tree, and then had a snack. We enjoyed our first watermelon of the year - a big hit in the Potts house. Then we grilled some steaks and corn and everyone shared what they loved about Benjamin. After dinner, Benjamin and I looked through his first year book and reminisced a bit. I got a little weepy inside in thinking about my baby growing up. Five is hitting me hard and I really love him just like this. Can we just stop time?!? It goes by way to fast and it really is true that you need to cherish every minute because you blink and it's gone.

A few things we love about our Benjamin ~

• I love that he still dinds his way into our bed in the middle of the night to snuggle with Mommy!
• I love that he is so sensitive to my emotions and is always quick to give me a hug and to pray for me if he senses that I am feeling discouraged.
• He often says to Nastya, "You Momma?" as they play momma - baby games. Too cute.
• He is amazing at memory game and can beat me if I don't stay on toes!
• Benjamin is the best gecko catcher ever (actually they are called anoles we recently discovered).
• Even though we have to correct him, Ben gets into his 'grumpalufagous' moods when things aren't quite going his way and it is qute hilarious. He suddenly goes from liking everything to hating everything and stomping his feet. He will say something ridiculous like, "I hate donkeys,,," with a serious scowl.
• He is generally happy and light-hearted and brings great joy to each of us.
• He has a sweet, kind spirit and loves to make us smile with his funny antics
• He will take apart or tinker with just about anything electronic and unfortunately has damaged a few items - like our water softner. But he is learning to ask first I think...

Oh there is so much more I could say about Benjamin. I love that kid and thank God for making me his mommy. As much as I want to hang on to my sweet baby it is a joy to watch him grow and mature into the uniquely wonderful person that God created him to be. Thank you Lord for every day with my sweet boy!

Here are a few random ics from the past year...

Here's Ben loosing his swim shorts - he is soooo skinny!

Looking adorable at the beach!
Just chilllin on a camping trip with his brother and Daddy.