Last week Ava Mae turned "9"! She was finally brave enough to get her ears pierced with a gift card she received from MeMaw and PawPaw. We celebrated a few days after her actual birthday with an Art Party {a more detailed post on that later}. Ava Mae invited over seven little girls who all enjoyed an afternoon of painting.
Such a sweet group of crafty girls ... everyone went home with a painted canvas sporting their initial and a painted jewelry box.
Ava Mae our talented little dancer and acrobat! You are our vivacious little girl who never meets a stranger. Life with you is never dull!!! We love you!!
Last month our ballerina girl turned 11-years-old. It was a low key celebration ... we had a family dinner out at her favorite restaurant - The Marietta Diner.
A few days later we let her take a few friends for shopping and lunch after church. All the girls had gift cards for Bath & Body Works and Michael's {two of Lexi's favorite stores}.
Lexi, you surprise us so much ... you are mature beyond your years but, also know how to be silly and fun. You light up any room you walk into and you have the ability to make friends easily. Some days I wish I could stop time and keep you that sweet little girl with two pigtails in her hair following me around the house asking to help take care of Ava Mae.
Thank you for the joy you bring to Dad and I!
This past Sunday we celebrated Ava Mae's 8th birthday. Ava Mae is our social butterfly - she does not meet a stranger. Her love is ballet, and God has gifted her with an amazing talent for dance. With Ava Mae around there is never a dull moment as the world is her stage. She brings such joy to our life and the lives of those she is around.
For her birthday she wanted a huge birthday party - unfortunately, I had to remind her this year it was pick a friend or two for a special fun outing. Though a little disappointed, she understood. Ava Mae chose her best friend, Maddie Bell to spend the weekend with.
On Friday night, the birthday girl, her best friend, Lexi, and myself attended a ballet. The ballet was based on the book "Hind's Feet". Though some parts may have gone over Ava Mae and Maddie Bell's head, they really enjoyed the dancing. Afterward, Ava Mae was awarded the privilege of meeting the lead in the ballet - she greeted Ava Mae with "I hear you were the special birthday girl in the audience tonight". This made Ava's evening.
On Saturday, all three girls and myself headed to the salon for manicures. It was Ava Mae's first mani and now that she knows what it is about she has asked if we can do this more often.
Sunday, was Ava Mae's official birthday and we enjoyed having pizza after church at one of our favorite pizza places. Followed by cheesecake at home.
It was a wonderful birthday weekend!
A big week for Ava Mae ... her baptism this past Sunday and today, she turned 7 years old! Again, I must look at one of my children and ask ... where has the time gone?We celebrated her birthday with a party at Chuck E Cheese, at 2pm right after classes were done at Timothy - so we had just homeschool friends in attendance. This really was a good thing as Ava Mae does not meet a stranger and her original guest list had over 30 names.Everyone had fun playing games, eating pizza, and dancing with Chuck E Cheese.Ava Mae even got into the ticket blaster ... though she needed some help from her brother.Happy Birthday Ava Mae ... God blessed us with you seven years ago. May you always keep that bubbly - outgoing personality, adorable smile, and love for God! Just like your sister God has given you the beautiful gift of dance and a love for the stage and though there are days when I wish you would always stay our little baby I can't wait to see what God has in store for you in the coming years!! We love you so much ...
On Tuesday, our daughter Lexi turned 9 years old! I had a wonderful day planned but, you know what happens to best laid plans. I ended up in the ER for a better portion of the day {Thanks to all the healthy eating I have been doing over the last 2 months my stomach is now in bad shape but, that is a post for another day.} Lexi ended up spending her day with one of our good friends and then dancing until 7PM. My husband and the kids did take her out for ice cream after dance and Lexi handled it all maturely but, I still felt so bad. {Pictured above Lexi opening her gifts before being whisked off by a friend so that I could head to the ER}
Thankfully, we had already planned to let Lexi go with a friend and get her nails down on Friday so, today, we celebrated her birthday. After getting nails done we headed out to one of our favorite restaurants for dinner and tonight Lexi's best friend, Grace gets to spend the night. A little belated but, still a nice birthday. Also, like Lexi and I discussed, a good lesson - sometimes our plans are not God's plans.
Lexi you are our sweet, artistic, talented daughter! We are so proud of the young woman you are growing into. We love watching you dance ... what a beautiful gift God has given you. Always stay strong in your beliefs, a good friend to everyone, and as beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside. We love you!!
Today Devin turned 10 years old ... hard to believe how fast those years have flown by! Devin has always been one of my easiest children ever, when it comes to birthdays. While my girls have their parties planned out for months ahead of time, Devin always wants to keep things simple. So, it was dinner out at his favorite Mexican restaurant {Pico} and a cookie cake from our favorite local bakery. His big gift from us was tickets to a Braves game for him, a good friend, and my husband. Devin is looking forward to that on Monday night.
Devin, I love the sweet, funny, smart young man you are growing into! Just in the last six months I have realized how much you are maturing ... our once silly conversations about baseball, friends, and your pets have blossomed into discussions about God, life, and baseball {though now those conversations are more about team management - statistics - and various facts you have memorized on baseball legends}.
I appreciate your willingness to always help out, the fact that you are always your sisters' protector, and how you work hard to be a friend to everyone {even with other boys who are not as nice}.
Looking forward to seeing you play another year of baseball ... keep throwing those strikes and being the "animator" that everyone loves to watch on the mound and field!
Can't wait to see what God has in store for you this year!
