Sweet Catherine Della Grandle

This week didn't turn out quite like I expected. On Monday, I had texted a lot with my friend, Mare, throughout the day. We laughed a lot... especially about how large and in charge Jessica Simpson is as a pregnant lady! Poor girl is so short! Anyway, I got a text around 4:30 saying, "I need you here now". Thankfully my neighbor was home, so I dropped Harper off and drove (like a wild woman) to the hospital. Her husband was in Memphis, so I was so glad I was able to be there so quickly. Things weren't good, and it was obvious the moment I saw Mare. She has written some great posts about the last few days... so go to her blog.

Among all of the heartache that has come with losing Catherine, I have been reminded of some simple truths. These are the concepts Harper has learned at church. God is good. He is ALWAYS good. God is in charge of everything. Everything. Mare's water breaking...He knew that was going to happen. Sweet Catherine going to be with Jesus forever... He knew that was going to happen too. And through all of this, He is still good. It doesn't make this easy, but it helps me to know that someone is actually in charge of all of this. Please pray for Mare and Reid. Peace as they deal with the loss of Catherine. Strength for each day, not knowing what each hour will bring. Stability for her body, to keep those babies inside and growing. Thank you in advance for the prayers!

Gymnastics Day Camp!

Harper and her friend, Saylor, went to a day camp at ASI Gymnastics on Friday. They had such a great time! It was from 8-1, so she was completely worn out when she got home! We will definitely be going more this summer! She has talked about it every day, so I think gymnastics might be her fall activity...ballet might be getting the boot!

THREE!!!

Harper turned 3 yesterday, and I really can't believe it! I wasn't quite on top of her party like I have been in years past, and I think that was due to my mind being in a million places! My niece was in the hospital for the entire week last week, and I simply wanted to be there. So any time I would think of all I needed to do, I just didn't do it... because I was so overwhelmed. I felt like it showed, but as my friend Mare said, "Nobody knows what ideas you had...all they'll see is what you did". It was true, and I just had to move on. It was a Candy Land themed party, but really it ended up just being more about candy, rather than the game. I was so flustered on Saturday, rushing to get everything done... which wouldn't have happened if my family hadn't been there, that I didn't get many pictures! Thank you again to my mom and Leah for helping SO much!!! And once the party started, I didn't get a single picture. I feel like I completely failed on that one! Oh well...life goes on! Here's what I did get...

The "3" lollipop on the front door

I'm not sure who put the 1 gingerbread man there...

but the lollipop cookies were the party favor

Birthday sign in the living room

The food table:

Candy topped cupcakes

Icecream

Fruit kabobs

Pretzels covered in pink white chocolate

The lollipops in the kitchen with candy and kettle corn

Cheesy face from the birthday girl!

An even cheesier face with her Tia!!!

10K...check!

In December, my older sister, Lindsey, called to see if I would run in a 10K with her. She is battling lyme disease, and he doctor told her to make a workout goal. So we all signed up for the 10K in Little Rock. If you know me at all, you know this was a big deal. I am not a runner... or at least I hadn't ever been one before. Leah and I trained pretty hard for it, but Lindsey's body just wasn't allowing it. So my mom decided they would walk it together. If you know anything about my sister's life, you know that on top of her terrible illness, she doesn't get any sleep due to her child. So the weekend of the race came, and she wasn't able to do it. In fact, she had to stay in bed while we went and ran. It was heartbreaking for all of us, because we know that this just isn't her! But...we had even more adrenaline because we were doing this for her. My mom, who had only walked one 5 mile stretch, ran for the first 4 miles with us! It was quite maddening/impressive. We were glad to do it with her, but we tried to ignore how long we had been training for it. In the end, Leah and I finished together and had a great time doing it. My mom finished shortly after we did! It definitely made me want to do more, and possibly go for a half marathon. That's probably something that will happen later in life, but I do think I want to try one someday. So, I definitely need to thank my sister for encouraging me to do this! I certainly hope that one day we can all do at least a 5K together!!!

Before the race... it was pretty chilly!

But the weather was perfect in my opinion!

If you look hard, you can see our lime shoe strings...

which helped us think of Lindsey the whole time!

We finished it!!!

Harper loved cheering us on whenever we passed her!

Thank you again, Uncle Mike, for hanging out with her!!!

Celebrating the Grandle Quads!!!

On Friday night, we had a couple's shower for Mare and Reid. We had drinks and desserts...lots of them, and it was extremely laid back! I had a lot of fun with the decor for the shower. I made the banner for the mantle with the 4 sets of initials. I also made some dessert stands. I had seen some other ones like them on Pinterest, so I decided to tackle it. Rachel and I painted all of the bottles too for the flowers. It was such a cheap craft that looked really cute in the end! I think crafts are fun and relaxing, so I really enjoyed myself (I know, I'm lame!). They got a lot of great things that the girls will need. We can't wait for those 4 precious girls to be here!!!

The mantle banners

The dessert table

One of the dessert stands....

they were all different combinations of colors in the chevron print

The cake area

Olivia Bain's Cake

Catherine Della's cake

Mary Grace's cake

Madelyn Barrett's cake

The stenciled onesie station

Clara did such a great job with the onesies!

They will have a bunch of options for the girls!

LC, Mary Susan, Mare, Elizabeth, and Katie

She hates having her stomach touched...

we have at least 10 pictures of me doing this or something equally awkward!

Katie, Mare, and Me

This was a cute way to remember who came...

everyone did their finger print above the stork, along with their name...

In the end, it looks like balloons are carrying the stork.

Disney World... finally!!!

I'll blame my lack of a power cord for my mac, but really I just didn't want to take all of the time to upload all of these pictures! I put them on facebook because that takes 2 seconds... but since this is our scrapbook, I knew I had to post them too. We had a great time at Disney World. Here is our weekend in pictures!

EPCOT

She was so excited to meet Snow White!

I sort of think we look like we could be sisters!

Lake and Mickey!

Maddox decided that Goofy would be his first picture!

Magic Kingdom

Her before picture at the Bippidy Boppidy Boutique

After picture with her fairy godmother

She was BEYOND thrilled to meet Belle!

Family picture with Mickey and Minnie!

Animal Kingdom

The Princess Breakfast at EPCOT

Hollywood Studios

She stayed very entertained while waiting to meet Woody and Buzz!

This was a highlight for sure! She loves Little Einsteins!

Chef Mickey Breakfast on our last day

Thank you Gama and Pop-pop for a great trip!

She was WIPED OUT on the way home!

She's already asking to back too!!!