Allyson's Birthday Party

Even though her birthday isn't until Tuesday, we celebrated Allyson's 9th birthday this afternoon. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Only my second made-from-scratch cake and frosting.  It didn't turn out as well as it should have, but thankfully it still tasted great. :o)

Allyson has been saving up money for an ipod, so she asked for money for her birthday to help her reach her goal.  She still did get a few presents though.

She loves this dress!  But I need to take it to the tailor to have it shortened about 4 inches.  I was going to do it myself, but it flares out at the bottom and I really don't want to botch it.  Update - I ended up hemming it myself!  It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Later on the girls talked both grandpas, Uncle Tyler and daddy to play baseball with them.  Who'd have thought with having three girls that baseball would be the game of choice :o)

Keep scrolling down.  I've been busy posting tonight . . . two more new ones after this one.

My Girls

Allyson

Looking a bit too grown up . . .

 Janae

Kaycie

Some Catching Up

Here are some pictures from the past few weeks.

Kaycie had her Spring Program at preschool the other Sunday afternoon.  Can you find her?

The song "If All of the Raindrops were Hershey Bars and Milkshakes".  A favorite of the kids!

She was the rain.

The Cardinal Class.

This is Miss Jane.  She was all the girls' teacher at preschool.  She was the greatest, and we will miss her.

Finally bought real baseball pants :o)

Computer game time.

Beach Day at preschool.

On Friday I went along with the Kindergartners to the Potawatomi Zoo.  This is the group of kids I was in charge of - Janae, Corbin, Kevin and Araceli.  It was an absolutely perfect weather day to go to the zoo.

My only pics of the animals . . .

Train ride.

First Baseball Game - 2013

Janae's first ball game was this morning.  Here are a few pictures:

In the ready position

First time at bat.  The coach pitches 5 times and if the player does not hit the ball, then they bring out the tee for them to use.

Unfortunately Janae did not hit the ball the first time at bat (had to use the tee), but the second time up she hit the first pitch :o)

Birthday Party - 6 Years Old

When I was informed today that I have not yet posted anything about Janae's 6th birthday, I was shocked.  I couldn't believe I had forgotten to post something!!!  So here you go . . .

We were going to celebrate Janae's birthday the Sunday after her day, but due to sickness we postponed it to the following Sunday.  So, of course, we HAD to do something on her actual birthday.

We bought some cupcakes and then let her open up the presents we got her.

Her new pjs (at least her shirt).

She wanted a Hello Kitty shirt.

New outfit - it came with neon green capris.

She also wanted a hula hoop.

The day of her party finally arrived!  Here is her cake - the first cake I've ever made from scratch (frosting too).  Didn't turn out too bad if I say so myself :o)

New video.

Puzzle

workbook

She LOVES to draw!  Also got water color paints.

Polly Pockets

Puzzle

New outfit (neon pants).

To Get Wet or Stay Dry

Today during worship time at church, there was a time of just free worshiping, and the leader was just singing  out.  Part of his song was that God would reign/rain over/down on us.

I don't normally feel like I get a sense of what God is wanting to say, but today I kinda felt I did.  I got a picture of a small girl dancing and twirling out in the rain with her arms raised above her head.  I believe God's desire is to pour out His love, His grace, His mercy, His freedom, His peace . . . and for us to unashamedly and  freely step out into that reign/rain and just soak it all in!

I also believe we would say that's what we want too, but do we really step out into His reign/rain?    I think at times we are afraid to get wet, so we stay where we are at - under cover where we know it is safe rather than take that step that God so wants us to take.

As the Bible says in Matthew 18:3  "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."   Think about it.  When you were little, you probably begged your mom to let you go out and play in the rain.  But the older we get, the more we try to stay dry - to stay out of the rain.  We're afraid of what people will think or what might happen, etc.  But by doing so, we've lost the innocence and joy of truly knowing all that we have just because we are a Child of the King!

My prayer is that we all take that step out into the reign/rain and dance with abandon - to dance and twirl and laugh and soak in the Father's reign/rain!

1/2 Birthday Celebration

Since Kaycie's birthday is in July, this past Wednesday she got to celebrate her 4 1/2 birthday at preschool.

Here are a few pictures from that day.

Kaycie wanted chocolate cupcakes and chocolate milk for her birthday snack.  I think she takes after her mother ;o)

Miss Jane - a great teacher!!!

Picking out a toy from the Birthday Box.