Memorial Day Weekend

The holiday weekend brings lots of family to our house.It just happens that most of the kids in our family were born near 3 day weekends so we have enjoyed being able to get together to celebrate, laugh, play, and enjoy our blessings. The birthday girl the morning she turned 7...

Rushing out the door to Carter's baseball game. Yes, Mimi is sitting in a Britax car seat!! Told you they can fit anyone!

Grandpa arrived from work in VA in time to see the game and surprised Carter...

Love that Mammy got to catch a game. She loves baseball and her great-grandchildren- the perfect combination...

Julia loved her basket full of clothes for Samantha...

Opening her presents from Mimi and Grandpa- new riding boots and a week at horse camp!

Belly laughs over breakfast...

Constructing the towering rainbow cake...

Cousin time...

Reenacting battle scenes...

The chase is on! Carter and Julia versus Grandpa...

Yummy pizza after baseball...

Love family time and being able to be together and just do the normal daily life things. My dad was also a huge blessing helping with the kids as a I started a new job at the end of May.

Arts Evangelica: Swan Lake

Every year, Julia's dance studio puts on a ballet for it's company and pre-company dancers. They rewrite the story to make it a God-honoring testimony. It is always an amazing night of music, ballet, art, and worship. This year was no different...

 The dance company warming up...

 Tribute dances from the past 20 years...

 

 Julia's teacher, India, as the mother swan...

 

 

Julia's 7th Birthday!

This year Julia wanted to have a rainbow art birthday party. Thank you Pinterest for making it so easy to find fun ideas!It all started with the cake. She has been wanting to try the 6-layer rainbow cake for so long. This is a massive cake with two recipes of cake and a triple batch of icing. She used a cookie cutter to make a dolphin on the top...

...and the inside!!!

Every year she asks for flowers for her birthday. She loves tulips and will admire them for days- taking pictures and drawing them.

We decorated the wall behind the party table with a gallery of her artwork. We had m&ms, rainbow twizzlers, fruit kabobs, cake batter rice krispies, doritos, jello orange slices, rainbow cake, and lemonade...

As everyone arrived we took their picture with Julia...

Julia and her cousin, Anderson are best friends and can play uninterrupted for days on end. I love to watch them together...

Then it was time to get messy! We had three art projects for them to do. The first was to paint a wooden letter for their first name. Then they used cups to stamp circles on a canvas...

When they were dry we hot-glued the letters onto the canvas. I love the way they turned out...

And of course we had to finger paint...

My favorite was the shaving cream art. I have always wanted to try this. You put a layer of shaving cream in a 9x13 dish. Drop in food coloring and stir to swirl. Press down a piece of white paper. Use a squeegee to scrape off the excess shaving cream.

And you will have this...

Lounging in the swing to paint their canvases...

Julia telling all her friends about the art pieces in her gallery...

Happy Birthday Julia!

So thankful for all your friends and cousins who celebrated your special day!

Horse Camp

Every spring Julia looks forward to a week of horse camp at Joyfield Farm. It is one of her favorite places on earth to be. This week it just happened to fall on the week of her birthday. I can't think of a more perfect way to celebrate. This year she was assigned to Annabelle- a sweet, smart, and strong little mule...

Noelle is Annabelle's owner and was Julia's personal teacher for the week.

Noelle is such an amazing young woman of God and we are so fortunate to have her influence in Julia's life. She has tremendous knowledge of riding, tremendous compassion for others, and a heart for serving.

Heading to the ring, ready to ride...

Mounted and waiting...

Carter loves the farm, too. He roots on his sister and helps with all the barn chores...

Practicing 2-point over five poles...

By the last day they had worked up to trotting on their own. They were so blessed by beautiful weather and wonderful friends. Kisses for Annabelle!

One of our favorite cakes to make is a horse, so of course we had to make one to celebrate her birthday at camp on the last day. This year's creation...

A very tired and happy birthday girl sound asleep with Samantha and Chloe the horse. Happy Birthday sweet Julia! We pray that you have a happy, healthy joy-filled year ahead! Sweet dreams...

Play Ball!!

It's baseball season!Love this time of year in our house- from April through August. Nothing better than a warm, sunny night at the field.

Carter was fired up for the beginning of the new season. He moves up to the Mustang league this year and is now in kid-pitch. His dream has always been to play catcher and on the first day of practice, his dream came true. He is over the moon!

Carter has been studying MLB catchers since he was a toddler. As a 3yr old playing tee ball, he made several "plays at the plate" in a league that doesn't even play for outs! His hero, Carlos Ruiz, has really shaped his playing style. This boy plays every ball full out- flipping off his helmet, making the catches, taking the hits, chasing back the base runners, throwing out the steals, and his favorite- making the play at the plate...

He always chats up the umps before the game. They seem to have an affinity for him and have admired his enthusiasm, skill, and knowledge of the rules.

It kills me how he can squat in midair for a two hour game and still pop up for every catch. Legs of steel!

And the determination to match...

It was great to see all our All-Star teammates again. They are spread among all the teams, so every game is a reunion of sorts. Carter's buddy Jonathan at bat...

Julia is such a trooper through all the games and practices. This year she's been making flower chains...

Another great year of JYL baseball is underway!