11 years and 1 month - it's been all about the raccoon this month!

Happy 11 years and 1 month sweet, Aspen! 

You started your birthday being sick 😔 but nothing holds you back! You had a fever (probably the same thing that Pops had and eventually most everyone in the family 🤣 ) but you weren't going to let that stop you from celebrating and neither was I. 

Your birthday was on Good Friday. You were born on Good Friday, so that was special. 💛 

Your Dad was working but the rest of us got subs from Firehouse and had a picnic at Charlie Elliott. You wanted to fish! 

You took your lunch down by the lake... 

You had to take breaks but you got back to it! 

Such a beautiful day! ☀️ 

Climbing to the lake and giving it your all! 

Nelly and fam came over that night and hung outside. We gave you a fleshing knife and a bunch of bullets and a shovel and this $100 bill. You were SO surprised when you opened my card. You promptly went to Academy Sports to spend it. You bought a trail cam and a few things. 

Nelly was watching this dog for someone that won him at Shamrock for a CURE. You loved him. 

Spending your money fast! 🤣 

Your Mama got you a bottle of sparkling grape juice! 😆  You love that stuff! 

Saturday your Dad was off and we headed up towards Unicoi. Your Mama and Daddy got you a pan to pan for gold and you and Pops looked really hard. Pops caught this cute pic! ♥️ 

On the way home we ate at Frontera's! You love that place. You've been here to celebrate your birthday MOST of the years! 😊 🎉 🥳 

Hiking at Smith Creek is a fav! 

What an eventful weekend. Your birthday on Friday, celebrating on Saturday too and Sunday was Easter! I love that we could all go to church together! 

Our Easter egg hunt gets more and more competitive! 

You won the golden egg and the $20 bill! 

Y'all had the hardest time finding this thing even though Nelly said to THINK like Dee Dee (I put it under the cross. So Dee Dee)! 😆 

Your Mama made brownies with dye free cherries on top for your birthday! 🥳 🎂 

Your rollerblades are a hit! 

Working on a leather wallet with Pops! 

It's been a month of doing ALL I can to raise money for CF. For you. To help find a CURE. It's my passion for sure and I've been working so hard since February trying to meet our goal. We have hit our goal but I continue to FIGHT until walk day for 2024. We make all kinds of cool pics like this one to send to people! 

You picked out this design and wouldn't budge from it. I love it so much. We will get the shirts in early May! 

GO, TEAM ASPEN! 

We've played this game a lot this month! 

Your Dad had a co-worker that needed to get rid of a raccoon so you sent your trap over! raccoon 🦝 

You put the orange at the top so he would look up... 

Going to skin him! 

You do this all by yourself. You are super talented and know how to do FAR more than your years! I tell everyone I know! 😆 

There was an eclipse this month... part of the country had a total eclipse but we had around 83%. It was still really cool. You could tell the sun dimmed quite a bit and it got a lot cooler. I was so happy we could experience this together. Thomason had a pair of glasses so we were all able to see it! 

Pretty cool! 

 

You love your Pops! ❤️ 

We went to Thomason's t-ball game and CFA afterwards. You can always see me taking a picture even if I'm trying to capture a candid moment. ha! 

We brought Thomason home with us and Pops sat in the floor. Not the safest thing and I wouldn't do it again but it was fun! You are silly! 🤪 

We went to Meridian so you could catch a duck and skate! You went around the big loop twice I think it was. You caught several ducks! You're really good at it. You tried to get T to hold one but he wasn't having it! 🤣 

We have several duck selfies! 😆 🤣 😂 

You're a little crazy like your Dee Dee! 💛 

Yuck-o! LOL But you love to skin raccoons. Once again... so talented! 

Sometimes you can be so hyper and today you were acting like an animal! 🤣 

Watching Family Camp - I think! It was Thomason's pick! 

I love when y'all are together at church! 

See! Silly! I told you! 😆 

I took you two to Monroe to pick your Mama out something for her birthday. You both knew exactly what you wanted to get her! ♥️ 

We stopped by the bookstore and you were bummed Mrs. Tracy wasn't there. We sent her a picture to say HELLO! 

AHHH! Our shirts are here and they turned out so well. You designed it all and did SO good! 

Always catching something! I say do away with all the mice and rats you can find! 🤢 

Another raccoon tanned! 

Happy 33 to your Mama! I got her a giant cookie! 😆 

Off to Dahlonga to ENO and fish for her birthday! 

You climb on whatever you can find! 

We went to downtown not knowing they were having a craft fair. That always happens to us! 😆 You were SO excited to buy a bow with your money. 

We sat on a big hill and opened presents! Your Mama got this jacket and she wasn't taking it off! 😆 

You got your Mama this beautiful vase and this funny card (with sweet words). 

She LOVED it! ♥️ 

It was the perfect day! Me and your Mama love the same places! I love that. We went to Fish Tales on Lake Lanier. It was YUM! 😋 

You are so good with Truett. You were letting him pet the goats! 

Your Mama got you a new weed eater and you love it! You use it very well! 

We went to Athens to the Mellow Mushroom ATO fundraising dinner for CF. They gave 15% of the sales from the night to CF! What a blessing these guys have been. 

You and Peyton. He's in charge of fundraising for this fraternity. 

You wore your raccoon hat everywhere you went for several days! 

Y'all cute! 🥰 

You two play well some of the time! ❤️ 🤣 

These guys broke last years record by by approximately $40,000! Amazing! 💜 

You even wore your hat to church! 

You two took a snake from the small shed and put it in the pasture and in this bucket! Too funny! 

You found a new way to raise money! Your Dad had a co-worker that needed help trapping a raccoon and you sent your trap! The guy donated $50 to CF! I love that! We need to get your Dad asking next year for more ways to get you involved to raise money for our team! 

You absolutely LOVE to frog hunt after dark. Some of the frogs that you catch are mind-blowing - SO big! 

I can't believe that April is already past! March, April and May go by SOOOO fast! You had a wonderful month with a lot of fun things! You were healthy and living your best life. I pray that one day you look back and see how blessed you were to homeschool and have so much time to wander around our property. It has made you SO smart and good with all things outside. You can do anything you set your mind to and I can't wait to see where the Lord takes you! 

I can't believe you are 11. You are so grown and I'm having a hard time processing how fast! But I love when you tell me about your day and what you've been up to - even if I feel like I'm talking to an adult. 🤣 

May is Great Strides walk day and you are excited. I think we are going to have a great turnout. Dee Dee gets so stressed this time of year because I want people to GIVE and walk. And most people do and I'm so grateful. This year we have topped $12,500 for Team Aspen! And that brings our grand total to right at 

$210,000 since you were born! 🥳 

Amazing!!!! 

Can't wait until walk day and to see what the final number is! 

You go to clinic the day before the walk. As always, praying for all the things. 

You are SO loved and SO prayed for by so many. 

I love you, Aspen! SOOO much.  Praying often for you. For your health and friend choices and for you to do better with all the home things and school and to work on your anger. You had to write a sentence about your anger 50 times recently. I'm praying you'll try harder and realize that doesn't do any good. At all. Your Mama is very patient with you. You are blessed. 

You are funny and sarcastic. You are "street" smart and not the best student (as you say). hahaha! You are determined and athletic. You are playing basketball soon for the summer. You are sweet (most of the time) 🤣 and you have a one track mind -once you get your mind on something - it's stuck there. You get that from your Daddy. You love to fish and hunt and are rarely outside long without a gun or blowdart gun! You had tryouts and did SO well. You were the in the top 3 or 4 of 17 easily. You are doing so well - especially since you've only played one season. 

It's been a good month for you and I am grateful. 

Happy 11 years and 1 month to YOU! 💛