Our Life: June 2012

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Happy Birthday to my SIX year old!

Oh, my dear, sweet, darling baby is certainly NOT a baby anymore. She is growing up into a beautiful, caring, God fearing young lady. Ooooo...I just love her so much! My heart breaks that she is growing so quickly, while at the same time swells with pride as I watch her learn and grow.

She is such a blessing in our lives! We have had an exciting 6th year with her. She's lost 4 teeth since her last birthday and learned how to ride a bike. I wonder what this year will bring (I already know 3 more teeth will be gone by the end of summer...poor thing won't be able to eat for a few months ;)

We have had a fun day celebrating her 6th birthday so far (and there are still a few more hours left).

I found a great idea a few months ago and presented it to Nicole and she wanted to do it as well. We thought of 6 "Random Acts of Kindness" to perform today, on her 6th birthday. I read the examples I found on another blog and it inspired us to come up with our own ideas.

1. We took a plate of cookies to a neighbor who has three ailing parents they care for...all in their 90s. They have helpers during the day and we just thought it would be nice to bless them with a plate of cookies. Most of the residents in the home speak Spanish, so our conversations are often pieces of words in each other's language, but I want this to be something we do more often. They are right across from us and I'm sure could use a bit of encouragement.

Our little note and cookies for our garbage men...complete with a balloon :)

2. We also left a container of cookies for our garbage men. These guys do it the "old fashioned way". No strong machine lifting these garbage containers...nope...just the strong men. And, bless their hearts, we have some pretty wretched garbage at times...not to mention the two cans full of grass clipping we saw fall out all over the road last week (and then watched them shovel up). These guys honestly deserve more than cookies...we should grill them a steak sometime! hahaha.

Delivering cards to a Veteran's Nursing Home

3. This was my FAVORITE part today. The State Veteran's Nursing Home is just around the corner from our neighborhood. Ever since we moved here, I've wanted to volunteer there in some way. Yesterday, the kids (all three) made several handmade cards each...complete with "Have a Happy Day" and stickers and drawings. We went by the nursing home and asked the front desk staff if they could give a few of the residents our cards and let them know that we were thinking of them and praying for them. Well...they did better than that! They invited us back with them. We spent about 10 minutes handing out cards to 8 or so Veterans, some of whom even passed on a hug to the girls. It was such a blessing to spend a few minutes with these men, who served so faithfully for our country. I know that one man is a Colonel, and he just loved the girls. I want to expose my children to opportunities like this so much more! The staff said we would be welcome back any time :) I think everyone loved seeing the little girls (and Nicole was dressed in her flower girl dress with a tiara). Nate also got involved and showed off his McQueen cars.

Clothing donation

4. Next stop was to drop off a clothing donation we've been putting together to the Christian Social Services. They have a thrift store (which I frequent ;) and seem to have a nice ministry in the area.

Dropping off cookies to the fire men

5. Then we headed to a local fire station. We took another plate of cookies with a note saying, "Thank you for serving our community!". They were so excited to have visitors (and again impressed with Nicole's dress ;) They gave us a tour of their facility and showed off the fire truck. Only Hannah would get in though ;)

Hannah inside the fire truck

6. Our last stop was to our church. We are so grateful the Lord has allowed us to find a church with all of the qualifications we were looking for after we moved. We thought it would be fun to honor our pastor, an avid Starbucks drinker with his favorite coffee...but, since we didn't know what that was, we just gave him a gift card and hand made cards instead :) The kids love our pastor and his family...and Nicole made sure I didn't forget this last stop in our 6 Random Acts of Kindness on her 6th birthday.

(by the way...Nicole really did have fun doing this. She looks miserable in most of the pictures, but I think it was the sun;)

We spent a few hours at Busch Gardens as well today, and one of our 'acts' was going to be there...but it didn't work out. Nicole wants to feed the Lory birds (I'm dreading this by the way...these birds land on your head and arms and everywhere. I know I will get pooped on when this day comes. Anyway....) She's been wanting to feed these birds. So...I told her that she could buy the food with her birthday money. I finally figured out that this is why she wanted to go to Busch Gardens on her birthday. We were in line to get food when we found out that they were shutting everything down because there was lighting in the area. We were going to buy a thing of food for the person in line behind us...but we didn't get to.

Riding the ONE ride at Busch Gardens

After almost 2 hours of waiting inside a restaurant, the storm let up enough for us to get to the tram and out to the car. So...we spent over 3 hours at Busch Gardens today, but only rode one ride. hahaha. The kids did great though, and I think they had fun. We played games and got to watch a dancing show while we waited for the storm to pass.

Now, we are home and watching Beauty and the Beast. I think 5 guys has been requested for dinner tonight.

Nicole has been so excited about her day and gave specific decorating instructions to me yesterday (by the way...I didn't do it right....she sounds a lot like me! haha).

Nicole knows how to make a birthday fun...both hers and other people's. I can not wait to see what this next year will be like for her. As always....we pray that the Lord would be glorified in her life, wherever He leads.

Happy Birthday my little princess. I love you so much!!!

Monday, June 4, 2012

The Braves Game....oh...um...I mean...The Rays Game!

Outside of Tropicana Field

A few weeks ago the Atlanta Braves were in town playing against the Tampa Bay Rays. Jeremy loves the Braves so we decided we were crazy enough to take the kids to a game. Once I got over the sticker shock of taking 5 people to a baseball game :( get use to it Michele:( and the fear of a child having a tantrum in the middle of the stadium, we actually had a great time.

Jeremy walking his son into the stadium to see the field for the first time. This was a big moment for him. Jeremy I mean ;)

We got there early and watched the teams warm up. We tried to catch some balls out in right field during batting practice, but never got one :(

Watching batting practice.

Let me say...the Rays stadium is VERY kid friendly. I would most certainly go back again with the kids. They have a whole family friendly section. We didn't get to explore much of it, but we did get to let the kids sit down and color for a while. They also have a carnival game area (where the games are free to play...isn't that nice?) If we want to touch the sting rays, we'll have to go even earlier next time.

We had seats with a great view. We were in the upper deck....just to the right of home plate. It was great. The girls borrowed some binoculars from some neighbors and that kept them busy most of the game.

Hahaha...so silly!

Nate watched for quite a while and was busy eating snacks and lollipops, until I ran out of treats. Then, he got to play on the phone :)

I took this picture, anticipating the steal.

Isn't our camera cool?!?! From the upper deck, this is the detail I got. Clearly he was out!

It was a wonderful family afternoon.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Golfing

Nate went golfing with Jeremy and Greg while we had our Fancy Nancy Party. He was very well behaved, and apparently had a lot of fun. At the end of each hole, when asked his score, he always said....."TWO".

Way to go Buddy!

Fancy Nancy Birthday Extravaganza (that's fancy for party)

Yesterday we had a very fancy party... A Fancy Nancy birthday soiree to be exact (soiree is french for party....and everything is fancier in french ;)

Fancy Nancy is an adorable character in a series of children's picture books. She loves to dress up, use fancy words and even speak a little french (see the reason above for why).

This was just the first table set up. I meant to take a picture every time I re-set the table...but I forgot :(

Nicole and Hannah love Fancy Nancy books (and to be honest...I love reading them...I can be silly and animated and not look or sound silly....because I'm trying to be fancy!

Take me Away!

We decided to host a double birthday party this year since last year they got separate parties and because we have a whole new set of friends up here. Fancy Nancy was our theme.

We bought a helium tank from Wal-Mart. Great idea! We had so much fun with all those balloons!

When our guests arrived, they could Bedazzle themselves with boas and jewels.

Bought a cheap frame from the dollar store and spray painted it pink.

Our Bedazzling table

We started off by making our own crowns with plenty of crayons, markers and sticker foam.

After our crown making, the girls were off to the Beauty Boutique.

Our Beauty Boutique

Another dollar store frame. I made the little sign.

I think this was every one's favorite party. The little girls and big girls alike loved putting on nail polish and picking out their very own mini (Avon sampler) lipstick. For one little girl...this was her first time ever putting on nail polish. And another did a beautiful job of painting a faux nail over her band aid covered big toe ;) Fancy Indeed!

The little cuties getting their nails done!

We then moved on to our tea party (with pink party juice of course) that included rolled deli meat, cheese and crackers. The little girls loved drinking their "tea" with real tea cups.

Hannah and Hannah ;) Had their own private table and mini tea cups.

We had a meat and cheese tray and fruit skewers (that's fancy for kabob)

I don't have a picture of the next part :( But...it was very important to Nicole that we also celebrate Jesus at her birthday party. So...she picked out a craft that helped her share the gospel. She sat down with all of her little friends and taught them how to make a beaded necklace with a cross on it. Each bead represented a different part of Jesus life, death on the cross and Resurrection. When I asked her later what her favorite part was...she said it was this part. I love it!

After the cross necklace project, we moved back to the tables and had tiny cupcakes and make-your-own parfaits (that's fancy for ice cream sundae!) I think this was a big hit. I found cute parfait glasses at the dollar store a few weeks ago...so...if anyone wants to have an ice cream sundae party, you know who to call :)

Cup Cake Time! I had a cupcake display that I spray painted pink. I just keep spray painting it for each new occasion

The two little Hannah's enjoying their parfait!

Nicole was having a fabulous time!

We ended our time with fun pictures at our "photo booth" (created by a curtain from the girl's room tacked up in the middle of the stair way) and some fancy gifts and fancy homemade cards. (scroll to the end to see our photo booth pictures)

Their VERY first Barbie dolls!!!

Beautiful hand made cards

It was a delightfully wonderful morning. The girls had a wonderful time at the party, and I think their friends did too.

On a little side note...I think this party was really good for me too. It gave me a reminder glimpse of God's goodness to us over the past 5 months. To see that the girls had already made such sweet friends and the Lord has placed so many wonderful people in our lives already really warmed by hearts. We had children (and their mothers) from our neighborhood, from church and from CC. A nice mix of ages and walks of life. I am so grateful for the friends he has given.

********PHOTO BOOTH PICTURES********