Thankful Thursday - Celebrating 13!

Carol Grace, Hope and Annie

 

Today is a special day for a special friend of our family! Carol Grace (above left) is turning 13! We first met Carol Grace when Annie started to school. Her Mom, Hope, was Annie's first teacher!

 

13 Reasons to Celebrate Carol Grace

 

1) When Annie started to school at Sprayberry, we were blessed with a wonderful teacher named Mrs. Bailey - what an awesome special education teacher she is - but I always felt like we got a bonus because she was also the Mom of Carol Grace and, because of Carol Grace, she was able to help me as a Mom, and Annie,  in ways beyond being a teacher. Carol Grace doesn't even know that we were learning from her then!

 

2) Her honesty! We once invited her to a birthday party for Elle - it was a cheerleader party and the invitation read "let's run, jump, kick" (or something like that) and Carol Grace told her Mom "doesn't sound like the place for me". I appreciated her honesty and it really made me be more sensitive about such things. (Carol Grace is in a wheelchair).

 

3) Carol Grace is a friend to Elle....one summer, during summer school at Sprayberry, Carol Grace and Elle planned (or schemed) a luau for the whole summer school. They had so much fun together! Sweet memories!

 

4) Carol Grace is a friend to Annie....when she and Annie were riding the bus together, she would text me when they were turning in the neighborhood. I always felt good about Annie being on the bus with a good friend!

 

5) What a great sister! And being Newman's sister comes with rewards! Carol Grace is always surrounded by cute boys! Not so long ago, while reading a twitter post by AJ McCarron, there she was with AJ himself!

 

6) I remember when this sweet girl gave her heart and life to Christ and what a proud moment it was for her and her family! And her friends!

 

7) What an awesome daughter! Her Dad and Mom are so proud of her!

 

8) Carol Grace is one of my favorite cookie making friends! Always part of Elle's Annual Christmas Cookie Party, she just goes with the flow in all of the chaos!

 

9) So glad that she got to meet and get her picture made with Lauren Alaina at the Tuscaloosa Amphitheatre! (We were only a little jealous!)

 

10) Carol Grace enjoys life - you may find her at church, at the beach, at the lake, a concert, at an Alabama football game, etc. - always having a good time!

 

11) I remember Carol Grace (before we actually knew her) from seeing her at Physical Therapy  - a cutie pie always working hard and winning the hearts of everyone around her!

 

12) She is a star! So proud when seeing her on billboards around town, representing children who had been served by Children's Hospital - what a good ambassador!

 

13) For her 13 years of overcoming, surviving, living and being who she is! An inspiration to many (whether she knows it or not!)

 

Thankful today for this sweet friend!

 

Blessings to you on your

birthday, Carol Grace!