Kicking off Spring

Spring is finally here! That mean flip flops, afternoons outside, and cookouts! I am SO ready for this weather!

Drew's baseball season is in full swing. His daddy is coaching him this year, which has been alot of fun for both of them. He is doing better than he did in fall ball, but still spends alot of time playing in the dirt and climbing the fences in the dugout. At least he is not chasing the ball all the way from first base to left field this time around :) His buddy Chappy and his cousin Thomas are both on his team, so that has been alot of fun. And I get some cuddle time in with sweet Ella while Anna Caitlin gets to play with Chandler. And all Joshua wants to do is be a big boy and play with the rest of the team!



Anna Caitlin took a field trip this week with her class to the zoo. We could not have asked for a more beautiful day! The kids had a great time with their friends. Anna Caitlin's favorite animal was the newborn panda which was so tiny and cute. She was NOT a fan of the reptile house.

We have had a great first week of Spring and are looking forward to some beautiful, fun days ahead!

Anna Caitlin Turns 7!!!

On February 27, my sweet baby girl turned 7 years old! I cannot believe how the time has flown by. I am sad that she is growing up so fast. I miss that little girl with the chubby cheeks and pigtails. But I am also loving the little girl she is growing up to be. It is so much fun to take her to get pedicures or shopping...I just wish she could stay in this stage forever.

It has been a big year for Anna Caitlin. She graduated Kindergarten and started first grade. Wow! She is so very smart and made it into Target this year. We are so proud of her! She loves to read and write stories and is excelling in school. Some of her favorite books are Junie B. Jones and Magic Treehouse. And, she has the best teacher ever! We love you Ms. McMath!

Anna Caitlin cheered for the first time in the fall for the Due West Hoyas. I have to admit, she was the cutest thing ever in that little cheerleading uniform. She rocks at toetouches, but gets hot and bored when the games last too long.

She is also taking Hip Hop this year at CK Danceworks, which she absolutely LOVES! She does have her daddy's rythem, but she loves it just the same! She dances all over the house.

She is in her second year of Daisys and will be a Brownie next year. We even had our first try at selling Girl Scout cookies, which was fun for her.

In her free time, Anna Caitlin loves to ride her electric scooter and play outside. She also loves to watch TV. She likes almost anything on Disney and Nickelodian. As a side note, she also LOVES to watch Cake Boss and Dancing with the Stars (she even DVRs both of these!) Anna Caitlin also likes to draw and do artwork. She loves to play with Macenzie and Abbie and spend the night with Grammie and Mama Judi. And (happily) she still LOVES to dress up in her costumes. Some of her best friends are Gabby, Sarah, Madalyn and Ansley, but she loves everyone!

Some of our firsts this year:

She can read chapter books independently.

She lost her first tooth.

She learned to ride a bike without training wheels.

She learned to ride her electric scooter.
She went down the big slide at Seven Hills.
Her art was featured at Art on the Square in Marietta.

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful little girl. She truly is a child who is happy and carefree and loves life. She sees the best in everyone and always has a smile on that sweet face of hers. Happy birthday my sweet sunshine! I love you!!

In true Hayworth (or Holloway) fashion, we celebrated this sweet girl all week long. I took cupcakes to school the Friday before Winter Break to share with her friends...

We celebrated with a family dinner at Mama Judi and Papa Johnny's house...

We had a birthday party at Stars and Strikes with her friends and cousins...

We bowled and played lazer tag...

We had some Ms. Vivian cake and played in the ticket booth that blows tickets...

And she got horseback riding lessons as a gift...

What in the world will we do when she turns 8??!! Happy birthday Anna Caitlin!

A Wonderful Winter Break!

This year we got to enjoy our very first winter break. It was absolutely beautiful all week...sunny and in the 60's and 70's...felt more like Spring Break!

We started off our weekend with a picnic at the park with the McLendons and Poythresses. As always, the kids had a great time playing together. The tire swing is always a favorite. And Joshua walked around all afternoon with whatever food he could find. After lunch, we headed to Oregon Park for baseball practice. Jonathan is coaching this year and doing a great job! And we bribe Drew to play hard by taking him for icees after practice :)



Our cute little Daisy had her first try at selling Girl Scout cookies. She sold door to door on the snow week in January. She was determined to sell at least 400 cookies so she could get speakers for her I-Pod. She sold 444! We were so proud of her! But, it was a little bit overwhelming to pick up all of those cookies and sort them. We got to deliver cookies over the break. Thanks so much to all of our sweet family, friends, and neighbors who supported her!



Another first time adventure has been participating in a consignment sale. We signed up to sell at the Due West consignment sale. I had absolutely no idea how much work it would be! I have spent hours and hours pinning clothes, pricing them, and tagging them. It has actually been a bittersweet process. I can picture my sweet babies in every one of those outfits and they bring back so many memories. Still not sure I am ready to let go of the idea of one more...


On Monday, Jonathan was off for President's Day. We were looking for something fun to do with the kids outside, so we took them to eat at The Varsity and then went to Centennial Park. It was SO much fun! We started off at the kids's playground, which was very cool. It had a fun slide that Drew and Joshua loved and a seat that turned in circles was a favorite of Anna Caitlin's. After the playground, we took the kids to play in the fountains. They had a blast! It was pretty warm, so we let them run around and get wet. Who knew we would get to do that in February??!!

The playground...



Playing in the fountains...



On Tuesday, my friend Michelle and I hade a fabulous day of pampering! We spent the morning shopping at The Avenue. We had lunch outside at Macaroni Grill...it was so beautiful! We spent the rest of the afternoon getting pedicures and massages. It is so nice to have girl time!



On Wednesday, Dana brought the boys and Ella over to play. They had a great time playing outside in the truck and bikes. And I got to spend a few hours loving on that sweet baby girl. Pure heaven (and some baby fever :)

On Friday, the kids and I packed up and headed to Montgomery for the day to visit my friend Karen and her boys. Anna Caitlin informed me on the way there that she would "never drive to Montgomery again...it is too far!" Next time she plans to fly :) Once we got there, we had a nice suprise visit from a high school friend that we had not seen since high school. With all of our kids together, we had nine! Crazy!


We spent the afternoon playing outside on the trampoline and running around. It was almost 80 degrees! Bliss! It was so nice to catch up and hang out with such a good friend.

And so our break flew by way too fast. Great time of playing with the kids, sleeping in, and getting things done. Now, only 5 more weeks until Spring Break!

Birthweek Celebrations!!

Wow, I cannot believe that a whole other year has flown by. Turning thirty was very hard for me, and now I am already 34?? That means I only have two more years to decide if we are done with our family... seems hard to believe. But some wonderful things have happened in my 30's. I had my sweet Joshua. I have made some wonderful friends. And I would not trade those moments for anything!!

As most of my friends know, I take birthday celebrations very seriously...we celebrate for an entire week! I kicked off my birthweek going out with friends. Mandy, Michelle, Linda, Sina, and Teresa took me to dinner at La Parilla for good food and drinks, and great company! We had so much fun and I so enjoy going out with these girls! On Thursday, my sweet friends celebrated with me again over Japenese takeout...our favorite! I love working with such wonderful people!

On my birthday, I had a fabulous day! I spent the afternoon with my four very favorite people in the world. My sweet babies and husband. We had a picnic and hiked up Kennesaw Mountain. It was so nice to get out after we have had so much snow and cold weather over the past month. Anna Caitlin was a trooper!! Drew and Macie both got very tired during our climb, but we had a great time.

Later that night, we celebrated with great friends at Maggianos. We always love going to eat family style and spending time with some of our oldest and dearest friends. We had such a great time. Nothing can compare to spending an entire evening laughing with these girls over both our childhood and adult memories!


On Sunday, we celebrated mine and Mom's birthdays at Sapporo's Japanese Steakhouse...our annual tradition. The kids love watching the fire when they cook in front of us. But we sure did miss having dad with us this year. Mom gave me some very special beads for my Pandora bracelet as a reminder of how blessed I am to have had such a great dad.