G is 3!

Well, technically, her birthday is tomorrow, but I'm going to be up to my eyeballs in cake batter and pink sparkle sprinkles so I figured I'd go ahead and post a day early :)

What can I say...G has been taking us by surprise since before she was born.  I was surprised to find out I was pregnant, surprised to find out she was a girl, and surprised when she decided to make her grand entry on my birthday!  And I gotta say, I couldn't be more thankful that God's plan wasn't my plan!

Here's my little walk down memory lane that sparked the idea for this post...

Born April 29, 2008

3 Months

4 Months - we noticed early on that she LOVES those two fingers and she's very flexible :)

6 Months

11 Months

Happy 1st Birthday!

14 Months Old - She has ALWAYS loved the beach!  The more sand, the better!

Just before 2nd birthday - hair is getting crazier by the day - and STILL loves those fingers!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

2 Years and 2 Months - first pair of glasses

2 years and 4 months - another fun beach trip!

A Budding Trend setter!

HELLO Terrible Twos!

Christmas 2010

Happy Birthday, my Sweet Girl!

Skater Girl!

G received an early birthday present from her Uncle Johnny this weekend.  She thinks she is HOT STUFF now!

As her daddy used to say in his younger years..."Skate or Die!" :)

Easter 2011

Dad came and got the kids on Wednesday morning for an extended Easter visit.  So, J and I were on our own from Wednesday - Saturday morning.  I'm not gonna lie - that was NICE!  I slept late, enjoyed some peace and quiet, watched waaayyy too much TV, and even got in a shopping trip to a nearby outlet mall.  I learned several things from this experience...#1 - if it weren't for my kids, I'd probably be a totally unmotivated slob :)  and #2 - shopping without kids in tow is B-A-D for the budget.  Here I was thinking that I had grown out of my frivolous spending ways...when in reality I was just too distracted and bumfuzzeled by my kids to successfully make purchasing decisions :)  At any rate, I enjoyed my time sans kiddos, but was very ready to see their smiling, spoiled rotten (by the grandparents) faces on Saturday morning!

We arrived at my Mom's house just in time to take the kids to her church's Annual Easter Egg Hunt.  Now my kids are the ones who struggle to find their shoes in their closet, so while they enjoy Easter Egg Hunts...they definitely aren't going to be walking away with any prizes :)

Grandma helping G hunt

Saturday night, we ate at our absolute FAVORITE BBQ restaurant with J's mom and my family. Good times!

What was not good times was the fever that G developed Saturday evening.  Though  you would have never guessed it to look at her (she was acting like she felt fine), her fever was between 101.5 - 102.5 from Saturday evening  - Sunday afternoon.  Needless to say, we didn't take her to church on Sunday morning.  Consequently, there are no super cute pre-church family pictures to share.  Lucky for us, the true meaning  and joy of Easter has nothing to do with how pretty we all would have been in our Easter-finest :)  Thankful today for our Risen Savior and a fully recovered, healthy family!

Old Friends and New Lessons

This morning we had lots of fun catching up with some old friends at the park.  We met the Bryant family 3 years ago and became fast friends.  Unfortunately, our preschool schedules this year have conflicted in such a way that prevented us from getting together for play dates.  Since the boys are both on Spring Break this week we were finally able to work something out.  It was a beautiful day to be at the park!

The fun was interrupted, briefly, by an unfortunate encounter with an older child on the playground.  I was across the playground, but because C wears his emotions on his face, I could tell that the encounter with the older boy wasn't going well.  As I began to walk over, I notice G standing right beside C pointing and yelling something back at the other child.  When I caught up with C and G they explained that the other child told C to "shut up" to which G yelled back in C's defense "POOPIE!"  (NICE...that's my classy girl!)  C then went on to say that the boy was NOT his friend and he wanted him to get hurt.

I explained to C and G that we should love others (even those who aren't nice to us),  not wish them harm.  We talked a little bit about Jesus' example...people said some VERY unkind (and untrue) things to Him, particularly in the week preceding his crucifixion, yet He responded with grace and ultimately forgiveness (Luke 23: 34-38). I wish I could say that C came to a place of peace and forgiveness with the offending child...but not so much...not yet, anyway :)

At any rate, as I look back on that incident I realized two things:

#1 - It REALLY bothers me when other children are unkind to my kiddos!  Hello, Mama Bear...where did SHE come from?!?  Apparently, I need to keep reminding myself of the aforementioned truth of Jesus' example :)

and

#2 - Though I don't condone her actions/potty words, it is nice to see that G IS loyal to her brother when the  going gets rough (despite what the never-ending arguments, crying, and tattling might have you to believe :)

Flying Kites With Family

When the kids found out that we were going to visit Aunt Joan, Aunt Leah, and Grant - they were excited.  When Aunt Joan presented them with kites and a place for them to fly them - they were over the moon! :)

  

Never get tired of seeing this sweet crooked smile in pictures...always takes me back to the early days :)

A Loud-Mouth With A Purpose!

I have one volume....LOUD!  Doesn't usually have anything to do with being angry, frustrated, or even excited (though I suppose it doesn't help that I am easily excitable :) - It just seems to be the way I'm wired.  

And honestly, this particular trait drives me BONKERS!  Everyone's got things they are self-conscious about...well, this is one of mine!  

God is gracious though.  The other day He reminded me that I am "fearfully and wonderfully made" - right down to the way I talk.  We were visiting with Mrs. Delores when out of the blue she mentioned that she likes how I always speak loud enough for her to hear what I am saying clearly.

Now that's just FUNNY!  And trust me, I did laugh!

The very characteristic I'd love to change is one of the specific things that she appreciates.  Leave it to God to redeem my weirdness by matching my loud-mouth with a pair of ears that don't hear so well...He's quite the planner, that one!

And as far as I'm concerned this is all very good news to my non-hearing impaired loved ones.  Just bear with me!  It appears that as you age you may well grow to appreciate my quirkiness in this area :)

Turkeys!

WHAT does a Momma have to do around here to get a normal picture de-void of foolishness?? :)

Our first attempt at hair-braiding (inspired by the movie "Tangled") not too shabby, if I do say so myself!

Proper Accessories Are A Must!

C had T-Ball Saturday.  He's having fun and seems to really enjoy learning the game! 

This afternoon J and C went out to practice catching in the backyard, and G decided to join in the fun. But not before she added a few necessary adjustments to the uniform - a simple baseball cap just won't do for our girl! This occasion calls for a pink, frilly hat PLUS a carefully selected princess crown as an accent :)

Now anybody that knows me knows that I am probably one of THE most conservative (my Mom would say boring :) dressers alive.  I don't own frills, bling, or sparkles of any kind.  Wonder how long before my budding fashionista starts insisting I take her style advice???

Promises I Can Count On!

These passages were brought to my attention in different ways (and repeatedly) throughout this week.  They have been such an encouragement to my soul, that I wanted to post them in a place I'd be sure to see them (and the awesome promises contained therein) often :)

Hebrews 4:16 

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, 

that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  

Psalm 121 

1 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains ; From where shall my help come? 

2 My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. 

3 He will not allow your foot to slip ; He who keeps you will not slumber. 

4 Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep. 

5 The LORD is your keeper ; The LORD is your shade on your right hand. 

6 The sun will not smite you by day,Nor the moon by night. 

7 The LORD will protect you from all evil ; He will keep your soul. 

8 The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever.

J took this picture on our trip to Hawaii back in 2003...doesn't seem like that long ago...geeezz how time flies!

Good Weather, Zebra Cakes, & Caterpillars

Nothing like a few really crummy days to make a good day seem A-MA-ZING!

What made today so special?  Well, let's see...

All week we have been looking forward to spending some time with friends at this really neat park.  The weather forecast for today was GREAT, so I wondered if the park would be super crowded.  You see, as far as I'm concerned going to the park on "perfect weather" days is a double-edged sword.  On the one hand, who doesn't like to be at the park on a beautiful day...it's fun, right?  But on the other hand who DOESN'T like to be at the park on a beautiful day...parks are usually packed on beautiful days.  Not today!  Would you believe that our crew played for almost an hour and a half before any other kiddos showed up!?! Unheard of I tell you!  It was so nice to be able to let the kids run around and be able to talk - really talk - with my friend.  It was such a treat to have the place all to ourselves...AHHHH!

Then lunch-time.  On the way to the park, we stopped by the grocery store, and I let the kids pick out special picnic drinks and snacks.  For ONCE, I wanted to see what it felt like to be Papa...you know, take the kids in the store and let them pick whatever they want regardless of sugar content or practicality.  When it was all said and done our lunch was PB & J, Cheez-Its, Little Debbie Zebra Cakes, and Grape Capri Sun.  Our friends were kind enough to share their pretzels and apple slices (assuaging the tiny bit of nutritional guilt I was feeling :)  After we got all cleaned up and the kiddos ran around for a little while throwing Frisbees that had been left out, we headed to the Nature Center.  Honestly, I was a little surprised how much the kids enjoyed it!

A BIG puzzle

Coloring station

EWWWWW!  Not sure what it was but GROSS!

G is fascinated by the turtle (sitting on the rock)

On the ride home, I throughly enjoyed driving with the music turned up and windows rolled down...I know - so cool in my mini-van...College Staci would have been horrified :)

G decided to squeeze in a quick cat nap...so sweet...

But of course, as any mother knows, the car cat nap pretty much dashes any hopes of a normal afternoon nap once you get home :) Oh well, no worries.  It is still nice outside...and it appears that caterpillar season has begun...will the fun ever end??????

So here's why today was so special...a God who graciously answers prayers for a better day with (among many other things) good weather and caterpillars, a son and daughter who love playing outside, an amazing friend and her sweet boys, forgotten Frisbees, Capri-Suns and Zebra Cakes, and a husband who had a productive day at work! 

A Boy On A Mission

C decided that he wanted to make a seesaw this afternoon.  He located part of a landscape timber and began dragging it all around the yard in search of the perfect fulcrum.  After a few semi-dangerous choices, I went ahead and suggested using one of our large flowerbed border rocks.  

A few minutes later, these two were thoroughly enjoying their homemade seesaw. 

Of course, it didn't take but about 5 minutes of playing "regular" seesaw before C had to start improvising :)

Heeeeey, batter batter!

Well - it's official. We have joined the millions of American parents spending part of our Saturdays on a baseball field watching THE most adorable little player begin what is SURE to be his long and distinguished baseball career :)

C's T-Ball season started last weekend.  It is pretty low-key.  Once a week, total of 1 1/2 hours (30 minute practice; 10 minute devotional; remainder is "game" time playing one of 5 other teams in the "league").

Honestly, I had my doubts.  I'm not athletic...not even a little bit.  Which means that I don't have a whole lot of interest in sports of any kind.  But I have to say, it was a lot of fun! 

This was just before C started playing in the dirt :)

My favorite part:  how the WHOLE team clears the field running after a ball (leaving the field totally open for the opposing team to run the bases :)

C's favorite part:  after practice snacks!