Ok, last birthday post {I promise!} and then we'll move onto summer.  We had all of our families over for a BBQ the weekend between the girls birthdays to celebrate together.

The table for the guests of honor.
;)

Caroline was just a little bit excited about all of the presents she saw piled high for her to open. 

I can't believe this precious, sweet girl is already 5!!!  I'm going to blink and then find myself helping her pack for college.

 

She is very quiet and reserved until she becomes familiar with her environment and then watch out! because she comes to life, full of expression, conversation, singing, dancing, and acting.  Bless her sweet heart, she is such a perfectionist and I hope she won't struggle with that as much as her mama has.  She is my constant companion and loves to help in the kitchen and around the house.  She is very wise and thoughtful for her age, and is developing a great love for others.  My heart swells when I see her reaching out to love on somebody who she sees is in need.  She is also patient, loving, and protective with her little sister.
 



And how has it already been 3 years since we welcomed this little bit into our family?
 


What joy and life she has added to our world! She is so full of spunk and mischief, but so tenderhearted and loving at the same time.  She is my cuddle bug and always wants to be curled up in my lap with a book or wrapped up in her pink blanket.  She adores her big sister and constantly surprises us with the things she teaches herself to do in order to "keep up"with Anna Cate.  She is always quick with a  compliment {you look so pretty in that dress mama} and fills my days with sweet sunshine.  She also keeps us entertained with her humor, as she is definitely the clown in the family.  I adore her sweet and spunky spirit and her little button nose!
:)

Wanting to do something special for their cakes, I found this tutorial for making clothes pin dolls and used it to make some cake toppers.  We saved them and they now sit on the bookcase in the girls' room. 

 

The girls got to pick out what kind of cake they wanted and what color icing, but the dolls were a surprise! They were so excited when they saw them on their cakes.

We all look a little goofy in this picture, but it is the only one we have of the four of us from the party.
Here's to a fun year of being three and five!

Bake the Cake relay race

This is the video of the relay race we had for the birthday party.  My favorite part is when Emmy cracks the egg on the side of the bowl and then drops the entire thing into the batter. Priceless!!
:)
Thanks for thinking to get this on video Baylis!

cupcakery birthday party

We celebrated both girls' birthdays together this year with a party with their friends and then another party with our extended family. I know I said this last year, but this party was my favorite thus far to plan with the girls! :) They love to help me in the kitchen so we thought a bakery themed party would be a fun way to celebrate five & three.  

This was how excited they were about their "cupcakery" party.  So. stinkin. excited. :)

{You'll just have to use your imagination to provide the sound effects...high pitched squeals, giggles, and more squeals.}

 

We had the party on the front porch and used several Ikea Lack tables to make one table that was long enough for all the party guest to sit at together. (thank you Ashley!)  A roll of wrapping paper made a perfect table runner (a la TJ Maxx).

 

The jar of felt cookies was for party favors.

  As one of the activities, the guests got to make their own cupcake toppers.   In preparation for the party, Caroline and Anna Cate helped me punch the toppers from paint color samples (a la Home Depot) and we glued them to small bamboo skewers.  The little yellow and pink bags held stickers that the girls then used at the party to make their cupcake toppers. Fun and easy!

:)

 

When each guest arrived, they got to find and put on their apron to wear.  

 

We colored cupcakes while we waited on everybody to arrive. 

 

Then enjoyed a morning snack.

Next we moved onto games!  We had a Bake the Cake relay race.  There were two teams and each team mate had an ingredient to add to the cake. 

I love the picture above because Anna Cate and Caroline are holding hands, Lil has that hand on her hip listening intently to the instructions, and Miss Hannah is sporting her cowgirl boots! 

And I love this picture even more!  

Anna Cate making sure that Caroline's feet are behind the pink line (once a big sister, always a big sister!)  

First ingredient to go in the bowl...the cake mix!

 

Next, add an egg...

 

...then some sugar...

 

...and some water...

 

 ...then stir!

 

Thanks to some quick thinking on Baylis's part, we filmed the race so I'll have to post it.  It is priceless!!

***

Next we played Pin the Cherry on the Cupcake

 

After the games, we moved back to the table to make our cupcake toppers and decorate our cupcakes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you sweet friends for coming to celebrate our special day with us!! 

:)

And a great big thank you to my friend Lil who graciously provided all of these wonderful party pics for us!  

LilMasonPhotography@gmail.com 

life lately

Inquiring minds have asked if I have abandoned the blog forever.  The answer is No. I have not given up on blogging and my hiatus wasn't on purpose.  :)  I always have the best intentions of stopping by to hang out here for a few minutes, but then life distracts and here we are an entire month later of nothing but silence.  What can I say but that life has kept us busy busy busy!

This stage of motherhood has felt especially taxing lately. I feel like the girls are changing daily right before my eyes and I'm struggling emotionally to keep up with all of their growth. It is exciting to watch them grow into the little individuals that God has created them to be, but so hard to know how to discipline and encourage purposefully and in a way that will reach them personally.   They are so similar, yet so different at the same time.  I am daily on my knees asking for discernment and guidance in my parenting with an extra heaping portion of grace to carry me through each day.   

We have extremely high highs and very low lows.  I guess that comes with the territory of having two little ladies in the house, but oh my the drama some days! It takes all the patience I have to keep up with who is in what mood and to keep my cool with the daily swings. One minute they are the very best of friends... you've never seen two closer peas in a pod.  Then the next minute I'm being called down {again} to referee an argument about who's tutu this is or she got to use that marker first yesterday, or  she just opened her eyes while Daddy was saying the blessing, etc.

Each day goes by faster than the day before and I feel like I'm playing a never-ending game of Mother May I. 

This one shares her coloring pages with that one without being asked.
{Great job on teaching sharing mom!}
 You can take two steps forward.

Then the next minutes she whops her sister on the back for stealing her crayon.
{Loud buzzer sound: Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan}
Too bad. Now take four leaps back.

A wise lady who mentored me as a newlywed once said that as mothers, we should never be too quick to take the credit for things our children do right, but nor should we be too quick to take the blame of their mistakes either. No guilt, no glory.  And although our children are a reflection of us, our values and what we've taught them, more importantly, they are their own individual. This truth is just now beginning to make sense to me in this stage we have entered into to.

Anna Cate finished up her year of preschool with a school play, The One Room Schoolhouse.  For months, all she could talk about was her school play and how she would get to wear a "Mary and Laura dress" (aka a prairie dress).  We went to Hobby Lobby and she got to pick out some calico fabric for us to make her dress with. Oh the excitement!
However, the day of the play, she was none to excited to have to stand in front of an audience.  Bless her heart, just look at that face.  There were a few tears and lots of coaxing and encouraging before-hand.  Her good friend Emma, who by the way, was extremely excited and poised for her performance, sat beside Anna Cate while they waited to go on stage and then held her hand while they did their performance. I asked Anna Cate for a smile while they were waiting for the performance to begin and this  forced smile was all I got. She looks like she is in pain.

:)
But she did great and felt so proud of herself afterwards!
Her class recited the Pledge of Allegiance and their Bible memory verse for the school year (Psalm 139), and they also sang the Fifty States Song.

 

Then came Easter.
It looks like I need to sign somebody back up for ballet class.

Enough said.
And P.S. - Could my children look any more like their daddy? What happened to my genes? I mean really! That's all I'm  saying.
 Good thing I think he's cute.
;)

Early in May, Will took the girls fishing.

They were not fans of touching something so slick and scaly.

But instead, they preferred to entertain themselves by playing in the gator or in the john boat.

May was also a busy month for BirThdAy PaRtiEs!!!

Between our little group of girlfriends,  six of them have birthdays within a few weeks of each other! We stayed busy party hopping during the entire month of May!

We had a bakery themed party for Anna Cate and Caroline this year.  For favors, we sent each little party guest home with their own batch of felt cookies.




The girls and I enjoyed a new activity (for them) one morning when I let them help me stitch the cookies together.  It was the first time they were allowed to use a needle and thread, and they both did very well!  We bought the biggest needle we could find with the dullest tip and they spent over an hour entertained with sewing felt circles together and concentrating really hard.


More party pics are coming soon. A sweet and talented friend brought her camera to the party and got some great pictures for me! I just need to download them first so I can share them here.

Hopefully I'll find the time soon. Summer has arrived and is in full swing around here!  Boat rides, cook outs, and pool parties galore!



Ta ta for now!