Ashleigh's 5th Birthday

Today, my love, you turn five years old. I am so thrilled to be your Mommy; and you have inspired me to be a better person. You are so tender hearted and gentle yet so very smart. You have developed a bigger sense of independence, yet you still are shy around strangers. You have done so fabulous in school and you adore your teachers: Mrs.Tyre & Mrs.Massa. You follow rules and are the first one amongst your peers to correct another, if one is not following the rules. You are a good teacher to your friends; you are a true leader, no doubt. You still have your imaginary friends that you talk with; which are the cutest conversations, by the way. You have a talent when it comes to art; your skills for your age are nothing short of amazing. You have a true love of music. You have a great sense of style; which Mommy is very pleased at. Finally, you still love all things Mickey!!! 

Daddy & I are, like always, so proud of you. You have brought so much joy and delight into our lives. I can't wait to see what the next year brings in your development. You, my love, are Daddy & I's gift from God that we are so overwhelming thankful for. We love you, pumkin. Happy 5th Birthday, Ashleigh!

Paul Cardall; an inspiration to me. Part 2

I am in tears as I write this post tonight; tears of joy & happiness.  This man, Paul Cardall, whom I posted in a previous post has recieved his heart transplant.  He was on the list for 385 days.  I wanted to share his remarkable story to you all.  If you have a chance to visit his blog, please do; you will be inspired.

New chapter in Our life.

It's been a while since I have posted.  Sorry.  :(  I have been a little busy.  I have a lot to blog about; however, I will try and make it short.  

First off, Ashleigh began preschool on the 24th of August.  She is thoroughly enjoying it thus far.   Her teacher and teacher's assistant are really great and I feel God blessed us with them.  I was really worried how Ashleigh would react to this change; however, Mrs.Tyre & Mrs.Massa {the later is the teacher's assistant} has made it such a pleasant transition and really took Ashleigh by the hand from the first day.   The first week she was doing ok with being dropped,.  By the 2nd week, she was running to the door when Mrs.Tyre came out to retrieve the students from their parents.  What a relief it is for a Mommy that was so concerned that she would have a level of seperation anxiety.  So, in a nutshell, Ashleigh is doing really great in preschool; in Florida we call it VPK.

To get the year started off right, I decided to throw a VPK "Get to know eachother" swimimmg party.  It was really nice; however, only 4 children showed up.  Brian made hot dogs on the grill for the women and children and saugege links for the men.  LOL.  Everyone had a great time and Ashleigh was able to bond with her friends, Natalia and Liam.  She mostly liked Liams baby sister, Lilly; she would not leave her side, and Lilly loved the attention, I am sure.  

Tonight we finished her first at home " family project", which was a gingerbread man.  The instructions read something like this: Here is a cut out of the gingerbread man, you may decorate how you would like, or use it as a template.  We chose to make a stuffed gingerbread man.  So, off to the store we went.....$43.00 later we have all the supplies.  We {Ashleigh and myself} decorate it and stuff it and then Brian sews it up.  Whala!  See the picture for the final product.  

Ashleigh on her first day of school {above}

Pictures from Ashleigh's VPK "Get to

 know each other" party {below}

And finally, Ashleigh and her Gingerbread Man project; she is so proud of him!  Great Job, Baby.  

Happy Monday to you all!  I hope all of you had a great Labor Day!

August birthdays

Uncle Jeff & Ashleigh August 2006

With Aunt Pam Easter 2008

Uncle John & Ashleigh June 2008

On Uncle John's B-day 2008 {Uncle John, Ashleigh & NaNaw}

Since both my brother's and sister-n-law's birthday days are this month I will just post one big post.

First we have my sister-n-laws, Pam's on the 2nd of August. Happy Birthday Pam, we love you and can't wait to see you in December!  Then we have my little brother, Jeff's birthday on the 4th of August.  Love ya little brother and I am happy to be called your sister!  Finally we have my older brother, John's birthday.  I am so happy for you "Big" brother for your recent house purchase; it is very beautiful.  Love you!

Happy Birthday, Jim AKA Papa Hicks

{Picture taken in December 2005}

Today is Brian's Dad's birthday. I just wanted to wish him an extra special one. He is such an amazing father to Brian and myself; he has filled the void for my father, who is in Heaven. Thank you Jim for being such a wonderful Father to Brian and myself;most importantly a wonderful and loving grandfather to Ashleigh.  You and Ma are the best. Although we don't get to see you guys as often as we would like, you are always in our thoughts. We love you and hope you have a fantastic day!  We love you!

A little photo session in West Palm Beach

I got out my camera and started taking pictures when I seen Ashleigh laying on the swing at my friends house; I decided to take some of Andrew as well.  

Our mini trip to West Palm Beach

Ashleigh and I decided to take a short trip to West Palm Beach Tuesday-Today, to see our friends, Jennifer and her boys Andrew & Colin.  Ashleigh and Andrew had the best time.  We went to the beach the first night we arrived; it was so beautiful, and the kids had a great time running and splashing in the water.  I took a few pictures; however, since it was nighttime they did not turn out the greatest.  

The following day we went to a local water park; it was phenomenal.   The kids had so much fun.  Ashleigh and Andrew had to take a swim test to swim in the "big kids" pool.  The swim tests consists of swimming one lap without touching the ropes or the sides of the pool; Ashleigh passed it!  We were all so proud of her; what an accomplishment at age 4; swimming a lap in an olympic size pool.  I am SO PROUD OF HER!  The lifeguard made a comment that she was a really good swimmer and she rolls over to her back really well.  :)

**Oh, by the way the lifeguard that tested Ashleigh and Andrew was the oldest lifeguard in Palm Beach county; he was 75, but didn't look it. **

After all this fun, we went back to Jennifer's house and let the kids play a little while outside on Andrew's amazing tree house his grandfather built for him {I will be sure to put a pic of it up on here}.  Ashleigh wanted to spend all of her time at Andrew's house outside on this treehouse.

Today, we had to say our goodbyes and head back home.  We had a wonderful time and am very thankful for wonderful friends like Jennifer and her beautiful family.  

I will finish posting pictures later on tonight; however, I wanted to go ahead and get a head start.  Enjoy!

Dancing the night away.

Ashleigh on the Zip line!

Ashleigh's biggest cheerleader!

Ashleigh finishing her swim test!

The kids with the lifeguard that tested them; the oldest in Palm Beach county.

At the amazing water park!

At the beach!

Hope you all are having a wonderful day and week.

4th of July

We had a good 4th of July. We were invited to our friend Leo's party; it was great. We had hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill. Ashleigh enjoyed spending time with Hannah and Abby. After the party Hannah and Abby came to our house to stay the night. It rained, so we post-poned the firework show that Leo had planned; however, after the rain had stopped the girls did sparklers in our backyard. then they proceeded inside for a crazy fun night. They had a sleep out in the living room, after insisting on wearing their Daddy's t-shirts to bed. 

They woke up the next morning, bright-eyed and busy tailed, ready to start the day at 8:30 am {this is early in the Hick's household}. 

Update on Brian's grill: 
They installed the wrong granite, so the process is going to be slightly delayed. They have, however, completed the electrical portion. It is coming right along. Posted are some pictures of the process, so far. 

Oh, I forgot to mention I have started a "Chore" chart for Ashleigh as an incentive to have her keep her room cleaned; hopefully, this will work. Wish me luck!

June Update with Pictures

I have finally sat down to write an update on here.  As I stated below, I have been really busy with school, this semester, I am taking a full load this summer; yes, I was crazy for doing it, but know I am getting closer to the end.

Ashleigh is doing great; she is learning new things everyday. She continues to love art; she can keep her self busy all day long {if I let her} just working on her art work.  I think she will take after her Grammy, who has a special love and appreciation for art.  

Ashleigh attended a week long gymnastics camp with her friend,Peyton, as well.  This was really good for her because she stayed there from 12pm-5:30pm;  it allowed her to mingle with other kids and experience being away from Mommy {other than being babysat by friends}.  She did really well.  I might sign her up for a 1 hr/1x a week gymnastics class; this is just a thought right now.

A lot of emotions hit me at the beginning of June when I suddenly realized {with the help of my friend, Diane} that Ashleigh will begin Preschool in August vs January; she will be going all day, all year.  Florida changed their program to begin in August instead of January to reflect a full year instead of half a year.  I had prepared myself for her to begin in January so needless to say, I was a bit overwhelmed and emotional.  She will be entering the school system, which means that it is the beginning to her growing older.  No longer do I have a toddler, I will now have a school girl.  I cannot be more proud of my little girl; she is very smart and I look forward to watching her learn and grow.  

Ashleigh spends a lot of time in the pool and playing with all of her

 friends {now that they are off for the summer}.   She is like a fish in the water. 

Father's day was wonderful for Brian.  Every year Ashleigh and Brian go swimming for Father's day; it is a tradition that we will keep.  We also went to our neighbors for dinner; med. rare brandy and orange marinated steak and the fix-in's {Yummy}.  We 

{Ashleigh & I} got Brian some cooking stuff for his new outdoor grill.....{Oh, 

have I not mentioned this, yet?}  Brian is getting an outdoor kitchen; they have already st

arted and expect to be finished in a few weeks.  He is so excited! He has been wanting to do this for years, and finally he gets his wish come true.  I am so happy for him.

Ashleigh swimming with her Daddy; 

one of her favorite things to do with Daddy

Ashleigh with our loving MiMi; whom she adores. 

  She recently told her: "MiMi, you love everyone, don't you?" 

Yep, she sure does.

Oh, yeah.  I forgot to mention we went to t

he local bee farm for an educational experience for Ashleigh; of course, she loved it!

Ashleigh & Jenna hanging out after swimming.

Ashleigh visiting her preschool for the first time with Peyton.

     Ashleigh in her first gymnastics class

Flowers from Daddy; I love flowers, especially from Daddy!

Finally, we have the start of Brian's outdoor grill.

Happy Wednesday to you all!

New blog design

I would just like to thank Erin for a beautiful new blog design!  I will put together a post {with some new pictures} later.  I am really busy with my studies at the moment.  I just wanted to share my new thoughts of my newly designed blog.

Gymnastics and Prayer

 I took Ashleigh to a trial gymnastics class. I did not anticipate her liking it; much to my surprise, she loved it! So, Brian and I have decided to sign her up for summer gymnastics; she is so excited. Here are a few pictures of her in her gymnastics attire before class.

On a sad note, I would like to ask prayer for this sweet little newborn angel, April Rose, fighting for her life after being diagnosed {in the womb} with trisomy 13; a congenital heart condition.  Please say a prayer for her and her family.

Good morning!

A little hello from Ashleigh and our lovely cat, Oscar. 

Paul Cardall; an inspiration to me.

I would like to share with you a Godly man, Paul Cardall.  A man who was born with a congential heart defect; he was thought to only survive for a short period.  He defeated all odds {praise God} and is {for us} fortunately still with us here on earth and we want to keep it this way.  Will you please pray for him tonight; for a healing, a new heart?  Although my heart aches for him every time I read his updates on his blog, he continues to have faith in Him.  I pray each time I open his blog, he will have news to share that a heart is on it's way. He is so blessed with a beautiful daughter and a loving wife; they adore him, as all of his blog readers do.  Here is the link to his site; please take time to visit it.  What an inspiration!  Thank you Paul for all you do to share your story and your faith in trust in Him.  Thank you.

If you would like to donate to him and his beautiful family you can do it here with a paypal account:

Kris Allen-An American {Christian} Idol

I thought I would post this.  I am really impressed to know that Kris is a Christian and chose to sing this beautiful Christian song; how beautiful. Here it is:




Click here for the link to it.

Happy Memorial Day

In the midst of the financial struggles we are reminded this Memorial Day of the sacrifices that our Soldiers, Marines, Sailors and Airman take everyday of their lives to protect us.  They unselfishly leave their loved ones behind to go and fight for our freedom.

Today, I am thankful.  Grateful. Blessed.  Free.  All of this because I am loved by God and because I am an American; how wonderful it is!

I would like to thank all of the ones protecting us today and all the ones who protected us in the past.  Thank you.  Thank you.  May God bless you all.

“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” by Arthur Ashe

Update on Bentley

As you may or may not know I have been following this blog about this little girl, who is nothing short of a miracle. She { 6 mos old} just had open heart surgery to repair a heart defect yesterday. She is doing well; God is watching over her.  Let's continue to pray for her for a speedy & healthy recovery.

My girl can do her name all by herself.

This is Ashleigh's name done by her, exclusively, despite the long first name {I know. I know. I am mean.}. 4yrs old , May 2009. If you look closely you will see that I had to add additional paper to her original paper {she likes using picture paper; I don't know why?}

Ashleigh continues to amaze Brian and I with her incredible sense of learning; she always wants to learn new things and is never satisfied with with the less-than-perfect outcomes. God has blessed us with her, truly. Not only is she smart she has an incredible heart that just is amazing.