Birthday Party Fun!

So a couple of weeks ago we actually got to celebrate Emery-Claire's 3rd birthday! She loved it! She has continued to talk about her birthday and her party, asking for another one---we have to remind her it's already over and she won't have another one till next year (don't think that really has sunk in yet). So I saw a cute idea about a month or so ago--a garden party. Several cute decorating ideas, a dirt cake with gummy worms, seeds and pots for party favors, decorating sunvisors for activity......so on our very rainy day (which rain is good for your garden, right?!) we had a garden themed party---she loved it! And despite the yucky weather that day it all turned out so well! Several friends were sick and out of town, but we still had a handful of guests between a few family members and friends able to come---Emery-Claire loved every minute of it!

All of our "garden" decorations.....butterflies from the ceiling, birthday banner, watering can on the front porch, a dirt cake and lots of fun with friends!

Family photo---Reed was a little overzealous in his smiling as you can see : )

Friends and family singing "happy birthday" to the birthday girl

And she is loving turning 3!!
So excited about these presents......can you tell??!!

Decorating sunvisors

Emery-Claire and her buddy Holt.....at church if you see the backs of their heads you just see mounds of curls side by side

Cousin Brody even made it up to the party--they all loved spending the day together

A picture with Pops

So all in all our day was so fun, and I think this little girl had so much celebrating with friends and family!

Happy 3rd birthday Emery-Claire!

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Happy 3rd birthday sweet baby girl! We love your more than you know! Be prepared--for this is a long one....I originally made it last year, and then added more pictures to it for this year. It's always good and so reflecting for me to do this and look back over my sweet children's lives. I know we are beyond blessed, and I continue to pray that will treasure each and everyday with them!

Embrace the Camera-Thursday May 20th

In honor of Embrace the Camera today......I thought I post a picture of me and the birthday girl from her party on Saturday. I can't believe tomorrow she turns 3 years old!!!

this sweet girl is so full of spunk and life, and she can be more challenging at times than our other 2 children.....but man I love this girl! I usually end up going through pictures---often putting together video montages put to music (staying up way too late editing them) during their birthday weeks. I made one for her last year and just added this year's pictures to it. Still as I look back over the past year, and past 3 years, and see how much she's grown and changed....I truly end up sobbing like a baby! I want to freeze my children, stop the growing, keep them little--but yet I know the Lord has so much ahead for our family as we teach and train them in the way they should go. It's a true blessing and privilege to be this sweet girl's momma....Just as sweet as it was to see her smile for the first time, laugh, crawl, walk, first words, etc. It is just as precious to hear her sing songs of praise to the Lord all day long--right now she loves "here I am to worship" and "shout to the Lord"---I think it's time for some new CDs for my ears are ready for a change lately. And to hear her quote scripture and catechisms and pray to the Lord! Lately her little prays are so sweet....most of the time she ends up mixing up the words and it comes out something like "Father thank you for today, for daddy, and mommy, and Reed, and Daddy and Mommy and Emmie and Mary Etta; thank you for all our lives, never a day, to obey, loving you, and for sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. Amen!" (which I think she mixes up words and phrases we've modeled for her, but it truly is so sweet) and usually she ends up rambling lots and lots of other words and phrases (her prayers seriously go on and on some nights : ). But I know we pray that the Spirit is at work, and she will truly have a heart for the Lord---that she will never remember a day not knowing and loving Jesus!

3

This Friday my baby girl turns 3 years old. 3.......so many things I could say about this new stage. She really is turning into a little girl, and leaving toddler/babyhood behind. I often feel this sweet thing had a brief "baby period" in general as she became a big sister much earlier than most, at a mere 14 months old. But as her and Mary Etta continue to grow, it is truly so sweet to watch their relationship grow and blossom together.

We've been celebrating already......with her "garden party" this past Saturday and still some fun family time later this week. I tried a little photo session this past weekend---though I just did it inside because forget it's the middle of May here, it's freezing! So maybe this weekend we'll try some pics outside as well. But the inside ones turned out pretty cute (or I'm just bias of course!)

Our Mother's Day

Well I'm FINALLY downloading the camera from last weekend's pics of Mother's Day! Whew! It's been a crazy, busy week! We had a great and beautiful day.......sweet gifts and cards from my dear husband and sweet children. It was such a day to reflect and be thankful for them all! I know I'm beyond blessed!

So onto the pictures...............

unfortunately Casey started shooting and I had it on manual mode and didn't check the settings, so the "good" ones all seemed to be overexposed.....so I played some in editing and got them looking a little better---seriously these were wonderful pictures, but oh well.

So then when I "fixed" the settings and he took more, well the color may look better but as you can see below this is what they all mostly look like........

And we did alot of this...........

A Mother's Heart

In honor of Mother's Day tomorrow I wanted to post this sweet picture I took earlier this week. We made cards and included this picture (of course best we could get of all 3) for all the grandmothers for mother's day. These 3 sweet little people are truly my heart! They are who I spend my most of days with. Days that are often very stretching and challenging most of the time, but yet also full of joy and laughter! I can't imagine spending my days doing anything other than loving, teaching, training, and just being with them each and every day!

No calling is greater, nobler, or more fulfilling than that motherhood. Every day, as we nurture our children, mothers influence eternal destiny as no one else can. Tragically, today’s culture minimizes the vital importance of a mother’s role. By catching a vision of God’s original design and allowing it to shape your life, you can rediscover the joy and fulfillment to be found in the strategic role to which God in all his wisdom has called you, for a purpose far greater than you can ever imagine.--description from Sally Clarkson's "Mission of Motherhood" (which I'm very excited to start reading this summer!)

Embrace the Camera-Thursday May 5th

Happy Mother's Day.......

So in honor of Mother's Day being Sunday, I thought I'd pay tribute to my dear and very wonderful mom! This is the most recent picture we have with her...poor Mary Etta must have blinked as soon as picture was snapped--oh well. We are ever so thankful and blessed to have my sweet mom as apart of our lives. She is always so giving, so self-serving, so sacrificial in all she does for us and how she loves us! I'm so thankful she is always so willing to come drive (practically monthly) to see us and spend time with our children, and they sure do adore her as well! Most of all I am so thankful for her tender heart towards the Lord. She is truly a woman after His own heart, and what a blessing it is to know how she prays for us so fervently and seeks to know and apply His truths to her life. We all love you dearly mom, and I'm so thankful that the Lord ordained you as my mother, such a privilege indeed!

Happy, Happy Birthday

to my little sis, Sarah! This pic is from a few weeks ago when Casey and I got to have a fun getaway--yes, all by ourselves! We went to see my sister and brother-in-law and have some "real" adult time! Casey has been working on lots of support raising for our ministry the past couple months, so it was perfect that we could use our trip for some meetings for him and some fun for us! Sarah and I ran in the 5K race that is a a fund raiser for some college friends who lost their little boy to a brain tumor 2 1/2 years ago. It was such a fun weekend! Sarah I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful birthday! We love you and are so thankful for you!