Friday Fun

We met our friends at the park today for some fun in the sun.

Julia was so excited to see her girls...

They surprised us with a birthday party for JuJu. She was so excited. All week she asks every day if it's her birthday. I think girls are much more excited about celebrating than boys. Carter was never this into his birthday. Julia has been talking about turning three for more than six months and has been planning her party for over a month. Granted, she has very simple taste- pizza, cake, balloons, friends, and goody bags- that's a party.

She loved the cupcakes Shana made, from scratch nonetheless! She told us when we left, "Mommy, I loved those cupcakes with the icing." And she ate two!


There was lots of fun to be had at the park- climbing, sliding, swinging, tag. Carter was lovin' it. Every new person that showed up got him excited all over again. It was so comforting to see him so happy, engaged, and active.
Julia has turned into quite the monkey. She can scale the rock wall, climbing rock, and climb all the ladders without hesitation. She got some good playtime when we first arrived, then it started to get crowded. I'm not comfortable allowing her around crowds of kids we don't know- too many potential exposures to illnesses and vaccine viruses. I feel bad for her, but she has learned it's just a part of life now.
Our playgroup had a big birthday surprise for Julia...They each made a square for a quilt. It is absolutely breathtaking. So much love when into each and every square. It even has picture collages. It was painstakingly quilted with love and prayers by Karen- wow! You guys are amazing and we are all so blessed to call you friends!
Julia loves it. Everyone she has seen since, the first thing she says is, "I got a birthday surprise today, do you want to see? It's from all my friends." She and Carter cuddled under it after their bath tonight. There is nothing quite like being wrapped up in the warm softness and love of your friends!

Julia's hair is almost completely out now. We sit on the sink twice a day to brush her hair- in the mornings and after her nap. As it falls out, she ends up with pieces in her mouth and eyes, so we spend time brushing it to get out the loose strands. Every day when she wakes up I hesitate a moment, wondering what her reaction to the face in the mirror will be. Not once has she hesitated. Her grace in these trials is inspiring. Yesterday morning she said, "My hair is falling out from the chemo medicine, but it's okay because it will grow back." And off she goes to start her day. Her faith and hope unshaken.

I'm so proud of you punkin. I love you sweet JuJu, my beautiful brown-eyed girl. I can't believe you're going to be 3 tomorrow!

Spring Fling

It's amazing that in only five short days we can go from this......
.........to this!

The timing was perfect though because Saturday was Carter's first day of soccer practice. I love the sports season. Carter was so cute sleeping snuggled up with his ball. This kid thrives off of playing games and sports of all kinds.
We made a quick stop at the hospital to visit baby boy 'Swamich'. Evan is so cute! The kids enjoyed seeing a new baby. Julia was quite enamored and is putting this whole baby thing together. She has now begun asking when she can have a baby in my belly, too. She's careful to specify, not hers, but mine.

It was the perfect day for soccer. Carter was excited to have four of his old teammates on his team again this year. They've all grown so much since the fall.

Julia happily colored while he played. It was hot sitting out there in the sun. I can't believe I'm saying that after our frigid week. Julia said, "Mommy I think we need some snow out here." Please no. Carter was tired after practice and declared he was not running for the rest of the day. That changed.....

We headed to the park to meet some friends for a picnic. Two of Carter's Awana friends were there and those kids played soccer nonstop for another 2 hours. Where do they get that energy?!

It's clearly evident how much Julia has grown since last year. She was climbing everywhere. She is quite proud of herself that she can scale the 8 foot climbing wall. It's going to take me a few more times to get used to seeing her do that :)
After a trip home so Julia could nap, Shana and the girls came over for dinner, then we all donned our pjs for customer appreciation night at Bruester's. Everyone in their pajamas got a free waffle cone!

Julia's face sums it all up. This is sweet! I have to tell you (I am still shocked) she ate the WHOLE thing! I can't even do that and I love ice cream!
It was fun running into Jenna, Rachel, and Matthew. The more the merrier :)What a great end to a perfect day.
We missed you Daddy, but we're thankful you guys had such awesome weather for your Men's Retreat. And we're glad you're home....we missed you!!

Let the Sun Shine!

Spring has come in like a lion! It was 72 degrees today and the sun was gloriously warm :) We met our friends at the playground for lunch and playtime. I don't know who was smiling more- the kids or the moms! It felt so good to be warm for a change. The kids had a ball running around pretending together, riding bikes, climbing and sliding over and over, eating everyone else's yummy snacks, running barefoot, swinging, making new friends, and Carter learned to slide down the pole all by himself! We look forward to many more warm days with the gang. We pray we have a nice long spring and the HHH (hazy, hot, humid) temperatures wait till summer :)