A few years ago, my sweet friend Maggie talked to me about her dream of refurbishing her big, white barn and hosting vintage sales/craft fairs there. I LOVED the idea and she got to work and made it happen! White Barn Treasures will be hosting their annual fall event this weekend in Wauneta!
White Barn Treasures
In previous years, I’ve either been due with baby or out of town but this year……I’m in! Remember that post I did about living fearlessly? Well, this counts as that for me. After I wrote that, the Lord plopped this in my lap and nudged me lovingly forward…so I’ve reserved a booth space and am gonna take some sweet little things to sell! Because, you know…we haven’t had anything else going on around here. 😉
I’m so excited well, to see Maggie, and to be around some other amazingly creative ladies.
I’m sure this is totally against all the rules of attempting to drum up business, but I’m gonna give you a little DIY on one of the cute little things I’m taking with me…
What you’ll need:
Lace
Mod Podge
Wax paper
Spray paint (optional)
Glitter (optional but why the heck not?!)
Hot glue gun
Headband
Step 1: Cut your lace to length – about 6 or 7 inches
Step 2: Submerge it into Mod Podge until it’s completely soaked and strip the excess off with your fingers.
Step 3: Make sure all of the little cutouts in the lace can be seen and not covered in Mod Podge and place on wax paper to dry. Turn them several times during the drying process so it doesn’t stick to the paper and let them dry for a good 4-6 hours.
Step 4: Spray paint if ya wanna.
I painted these gold and loved how they turned out. You can stop here and begin forming them into a crown shape OR you can add glitter. Don’t act like you don’t know what I chose…
Step 5: Glitterize!
It’s a little hard to see in the pic, but I added Mod Podge to the tops of the crown and coated them in glitter and let them dry…again.
Step 6: Form into a circle shape and hot glue to secure the edges.
Step 7: Secure to headband.
I just placed these a little off of center and tacked the edges with glue.
Step 8: Find a cute model (with marker on her face) to show them off.
Seriously, are those not the cutest?!
So, if you want a sweet little crown or a whole lot of other fun goodies – come to the White Barn Treasures event in Wauneta on Saturday from 9-3! If you want more info, let me know!
So, the bestie and her family are some of the best birthday do-ers I’ve ever met! Their family has taught us so much about honor and they always do unique and meaningful things for each others’ birthdays.
Here lately, they’ve been putting the birthday person in the center of the room and letting each person ask them a thought provoking (usually) question. On my birthday, I got an e-mail doing just that so I’m going to take the time to attempt to answer them here!
1.) If you could give yourself a birthday gift, something you could have forever that would enable you to fulfill your greatest potential, what would it be?
Oh, geez. This one is hard for me…maybe because I have to be a bit vulnerable to answer it. I guess I would have to say a spirit of confidence. I’ve alluded to the fact that I’m a bit fearful and that rears it’s head into lots of areas of my life. I fear failure. I fear coming off as a know-it-all (because those people drive me bananas). I fear looking silly or missing the mark…so a spirit of confidence – an honest assessment and belief in what I was putting my mind to, would be a good start for me.
2.) What’s your favorite family tradition?
Growing up, I always loved everything about Christmas. My parents and grandparents always made it fun and exciting. We would make homemade decorations and put the tree up together…my mom always recruited me to wrap gifts and there was always a viewing of Christmas Vacation. 🙂 While I still LOVE Christmas and love the things we’re doing with our kids (Jesse Tree, Christmas pajamas, The First Noel movie, etc.) I love our little tradition of camping out in the living room on Halloween night. That started by accident when we first moved to Holyoke. We had no furniture, as we hadn’t gotten it from Denver yet and so that first Halloween here, we all slept in the living room…which was where we were sleeping while we worked on the bedrooms. The next year, we did the same thing – but for fun – and have yet to stop!
3.) What book has influenced you most (besides the Bible)?
Hands down, “Walking With God” by John Eldredge. I’m sure it was a combination of where I was in life and who was leading the study and what the Lord had for me at that specific time in my life, but I learned so much from this book that I still recall and recant to this day! The title seems to leave a lot to be desired but TRUST ME when I say IT. WILL. CHANGE. YOUR. LIFE!
4.) If you could pick up and move your family somewhere for a year, and then come back (and not have to worry about work the entire time) where would it be?
The selfish side of me would say Alaska. I have dreams of visiting there one day… Seeing it on television or in photos it is just breathtakingly gorgeous and I’d love to just camp around and explore all it has to offer! The missions-minded side of me would say our church’s care point for orphans in Kayango, Uganda. The trip I took to Venezuela shaped me and molded me and changed me in a way few other things ever have and I’d love to have the opportunity to dote on and serve the least of these again…
5.) What is one thing you will never do again?
Drink until I get drunk. Not worth it. Not appealing. Not wise. Not an option.
6.) If you could eat only one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
A really good cheeseburger with lots of extras (read – jalapenos!) and some good, salty fries!
7.) How would your best friends describe you?
Probably like this:
What I’ve come to understand about you in the 7-8 years that we’ve been friends is that you are a wise woman beyond your years, loyal to the end, passionate about those you love. You are creative, resourceful, an excellent gift-giver and a skilled event planner. Generous to the bone and loving beyond measure. You’re an incredible mother and a deeply devoted and encouraging wife. You have always been the very definition of a hospitable and wonderful/competent homemaker. You are a chef and an artist. You are beautiful and always fashionable. You are organized and thoughtful. When you set your mind to something, you carry it through all the way, in excellence. We, your friends and family, are so very lucky to have you!
(That was written by the bestie and posted on my Facebook wall for my birthday). That may or may not be cheating to answer that question. 😉
8.) What’s the most interesting thing you see out your kitchen window?
Currently, a little red wagon that Sawyer planted wheat and marigolds in all by herself. How cute is that?!
9.) If you had the ability to time travel, would you travel to the past or to the future and why?
Definitely the past. Mainly, I would talk to the old me and tell me that I’m not fat or as fat as I thought I was…I would tell myself that I was worthy of love…I would tell myself that I didn’t have to vie for the attention of certain people…I would tell myself to prepare for the attacks of satan that I knew would be coming and I would bolster myself with the truth to combat those…I would redo my wedding and make it as magical as I always hoped it would be – I got my prince so that’s really all that matters…
10.) Three sentences looking ahead to when you’re twice the age you’re turning now, describing who you are as a woman and what you’ve accomplished by then so far…
I would be 66… I see myself still as bat-crazy in love with my handsome husband as I am today if not more so. I’m assuming I’ll be a grandma – hopefully to lots of little grandcuties that I can spoil rotten! I’m hoping that all of my mothering and parenting and falling on my knees begging for wisdom will result in children who are all walking closely with the Lord and teaching their families to follow Him, all while living within 15 miles of me. That’d be a pretty great life…
We made sure and had an actual birthday party during the birthday weekend…
We found the majority of the fabric for $1/yard and scooped it up immediately! We just made some simple bunting and table runners and Wrexy sewed the backdrop. God bless him…
Grandma LOVES her family and LOVES pictures, so I made bingo cards with family faces and we played that during her party.
That project, honestly, was one of the more time consuming. Each card had to be different and random…glad that one’s over. 🙂
I covered some tin cans with cute paper and scrap fabric, attached a few horses and filled them with flowers for centerpieces…
Wrex made a barnwood plaque and we shaped an M out of a rope (for Maxine) and hung it on the backdrop…this was probably my favorite part of the whole thing.
Seeing it all for the first time…
My fabulous friend Stephanie (who also made Wryder’s tractor cake) made me some flower cupcakes and they turned out sooooooooo cute!
Delish!
Since we couldn’t fit 80 candles on a cupcake (or even a larger cake) we made a cake plate full of candles for her to blow out. Apparently, the fire/smoke detector is INCREDIBLY sensitive at this place and before we even had them lit, the fire alarm went off! THAT was something we’d never forget! Thankfully they got it shut off, the building was still standing and she got them blown out in 3 tries!
It does look like quite the blaze…Big breath!Got ’em!
We ate and drank and played games and then watched the video I talked about yesterday. I didn’t intend to make everyone cry but there were a few wet faces in the crowd…it’s been a life well-lived for sure…
The other thing Grandma really wanted to do was to have a talent show. She thinks she has one of the grandest, most impressive families on the planet and she wanted to see us do our thang!
There was ribbon dancing…
Vocal performances…
Skits…
Bedtime stories…
and a lot of smiles and laughter!
We played a little more pitch and then went to bed far too late, yet again. 🙂
We worshiped together on Sunday morning and Clint shared a message with us about family…a good word! We took communion together and remembered what the Lord has done for us….oh. so. much…
We ate one last meal together, packed up, cleaned up and went our separate ways… We sent the troops off with some trail mix and a hand stamped keychain.
I found all of these vintage boots and guns on Etsy…
and then we bought some metal blanks and memorialized them. I LOVED how these turned out!
Our prayer has been for Granny to feel so loved…to honor her…for her ideas and imaginations about her birthday weekend to be met or exceeded…and for this to be a catalyst for future and more frequent get togethers.
We pray we have countless more years together with our sweet Granny but none of us are guaranteed our next breath. We get ONE family; one crazy, imperfect family that most likely loves the stuffing out of us. Carve some time out of your schedule for them. We all make time for what’s important to us – it can’t be disproved – what does your schedule say is important to you?
All-in-all, it was a magnificent weekend! We had so much fun with the family and we had so much fun working together. There is no one I’d rather do all these crazy projects with than this handsome man of mine… There’s been lots of talk of doing this whole reunion thing again and these Phipps are on board! 🙂
Grandma, we love you. This was just one tiny little way we could bless you back for all of the countless ways you’ve poured out your love for us. Happiest of birthdays, sweet lady!
Oh! And one other memorable moment from the weekend (besides the fire alarm scaring the heck out of everyone in a 100 yard radius?!)…Sawyer lost her first tooth! She was so excited and the tooth fairy found her even though she wasn’t in her normal bed!
Pardon her poor eyes – it was early! There’s one more that is just hanging on by a thread! I better get to the ATM….
So, I’ve had just a few things on my plate here lately, the biggest of which (so far) culminated this weekend in Kansas. Wrex’s Grandma Rusk turned 80 years old on Sunday and her only request was to have all of her family in one place…to spend time with them and make new memories and to share with them her love for the Lord and her desire for them to know and love Him, too. Why in the world would ya not show up for that?!
Granny is a ranchy thing, but you’d never know it just by looking at her. She’s always put together – never a hair out of place – yet tough as boot leather. I went with a vintage cowgirl/shabby chic theme for her invitations and party decor. Maybe I say this every time, but HONESTLY, this was my favorite party that I have thrown. It’s probably because the woman for whom I threw it is just out of this world lovely… I can’t say enough good things about her here, so you’ll just have to watch the video I made regarding her life. It sums it up to the best of my abilities. (It’s not perfect but after 36 attempts – not even kidding – to read it without crying, that was the best I could do).
Birthday Bonanza InvitationRSVP Card
I found the kids some little plastic spurs from Party City that they wore the first night. They. were. ADORABLE! Wryder had already lost his rowel at this point but still cute!
Leading up to the event, our family committed to covering it and everyone invited (Grandma, her 5 kids and spouses, grandkids and great-grandkids) in prayer. It’s hard to get 30+ people in one place at one time and we know that satan hates family and does everything in his power to attempt to divide them and we refused to let him.
Prayer calendar
That alone was such a rewarding time for our little family…something we plan to continue.
Grandma was so excited the day of the event, she woke up at 5:30am, got around and left even sooner than she needed to – she just couldn’t contain herself!
Getting welcome hugs from Sayble
We gave her the grand tour, as we had all kinds of little surprises planned for her.
Checking out the entry way
The only thing missing was the guest book because a certain 2 year old decided to sign the cover himself. *ahem* Thank goodness Granny thought that made it even cuter…
We bought a bundle of cheap cedar shingles and I painted them all to use as signage as the weekend. We had each person’s name on their respective doors and used them for directions and welcomes, etc.
We wanted to make the birthday girl’s room a little extra special so we had a few little things up our sleeve to do so.
When we sent out the invitations, we also included cards for each family member to fill out regarding their favorite thing about and favorite memory with Granny and asked them to send them back with their RSVP cards. We collected all of those and then tied them to the ends of balloons so when she walked in, she had a room full of love waiting to greet her!
Favorite things…Tis true…Checking out her room….
In everyone’s room, we left them a little goodie bag with fresh fruit, water, an itinerary of weekend events, the jelly belly bean-boozled game for late night fun and a name collage of our entire family. The family hadn’t been all together in a quite some time and we just wanted to make everyone feel as welcome as possible – we were so excited to be together again!
We really were!
Friday night, Grandma wanted to have a pitch tourney and we couldn’t say no to that! This is quite the competitive group and there was quite a bit of whooping and hollering! 🙂
We had the idea to make Grandma the star of the show for this event and we made her the queen of the cards. I printed some pictures of her and photoshopped some crowns on her head and then mounted them on foam board. We loved the way they turned out!
Isn’t she a beauty?!The queen in the flesh…Waiting to move to the head tableSome serious card playing – see the shuffler?!
Wrex’s sister gathered prizes for the top two highest scores, one of which was Wrexy – no surprise there – and we used some old acrylic plates we had from a display case that we took apart and made plaques to go with them…
The losers got a little something, too. When we hosted pitch parties in Denver, we always tried to make the loser trophy completely ridiculous. I was at the dollar store before our trip and set out to find the most ridiculous looking thing I could find and I happened upon a glittery pirate owl. What the heck?! So I consulted the bestie on what to call the trophy and she came up with “Aye didn’t play my carrrrrds right!” Yes, she’s a genius.
Ashley took home one and Waco the other…he with a little less excitement than she. 😉
Saturday morning, we took professional family photos and then we all gathered to sit at the feet of 80 years of love and wisdom. Grandma shared her heart and her deep and abiding love with us and we got to tell stories and laugh and cry and reflect upon 80 incredible years… It was a really, really good time.
We had some lunch and then we reconvened for a little Minute to Win It showdown. This was so much more fun than I even hoped it would be!
Stacking sugar cubesKeeping balloons in the airPutting pasta on pastaStacking blocksM&M Elevator – good watchin’!Tossing marshmallowsOh yes she did!The elephant marchThe big winners!
Seriously, that was SO much fun! The Phipps’ are hosting a Minute to Win It night SOON – get ready!
That afternoon, we had an official birthday party for the birthday girl…but I’ll save those for tomorrow… You’re not gonna wanna miss it – trust me!
My little family has had me grinning all day today. They’re pretty funny…or I’m tired…you can decide. 🙂
This morning, I had Wryder set the table for breakfast and he put the plates on like this…
Putting a plate THROUGH the slats in a chair is WAY more fun.
I serve everyone, sit down to eat and find he had given me this fork…
The serving fork. It’s huge. Made me feel good about myself. *ahem*
I started to send these pictures to Wrex and when I picked up my phone, this is what I saw…
It’s started already. Lord, help us.
Sayble woke up a little while later and I opened her jammies up to find this…
Daddy got creative at 6:00 this morning. 🙂
We went to town to run a few errands and grab some Subway. On the way home, I wanted to run the car through the car wash, much to the disdain of Wryder.
Poor kid is TERRIFIED of the car wash and cried and hid his eyes for a good 11 minutes. Wait, maybe that’s not funny…just a little ridiculous.
Oh, and a little throwback Thursday humor….
We were watching a little of the Bronco game, a cheerleader came on the screen and the following conversation ensued…
Sawyer (incredulously): WHO is THAT?
Wrex (while giving me the eye to turn the channel): Oh, just a cheerleader.
Sawyer: (equally incredulously in reference to her burgeoning boobage): WHY does she have her shirt like that?
Wrex (begging with his voice for no more questions to be asked): Oh, maybe she got hot.
A little while later, Sawyer was fiddlin’ with the buttons on Wrex’s shirt and then said, “Look, mom! Daddy’s a cheerleader!”
Last week, Wrex and I attended the funeral of the patriarch of his former employer. Gene Ritchey died at the ripe old age of 86. He was, truly, one of the kindest most innovative men the world has ever known.
Grandpa Gene
Gene is credited with creating the first ear tag for cattle that allowed producers to individually identify livestock. To date, his is the only ear tag on the market that won’t fade! Wrex and I got to travel for the company the year after Sawyer was born promoting the tags across the US and it as one of my favorite years ever. It’s an incredible product and easy to back. 🙂
Gene was always thinking, always creating, always trying to make things better. He was at the shop every single day, working on templates and presses and machines; he was their very own one-man research and development department. At nights, after the staff had gone home, the phone would ring to his living room so he could assist customers across the globe so they didn’t have to talk to a machine.
We lived on the same property as he did and it wasn’t the easiest place to find. There were several occasions where the pizza delivery man went to his house by mistake and it was a rare occasion when they pizza guy showed up at our place and the bill wasn’t paid. That stinker!
He made Wrex and I’s wedding bands…turned them and engraved them all himself. Wrex’s got lost in the Poudre River and mine got lost in the last move. I’d give anything to have those back…
He always had a sweet smile and kind word for us and loved to dote on Sawyer.
Just a talkin’…
She was just a tiny thing at the time and he’d hold and rock and coo with her to beat the band. He made an incredible pancake with a homemade caramel syrup that was to die for and he was never lacking in interesting conversation or corny jokes. 🙂 He loved to watch the History Channel and the Discovery Channel and he and Wrex could talk that stuff for hours.
Gene held hundreds (if not thousands) of patents for things he’d created and invented and bettered over the years. He was always, always trying something new. Two of my favorite inventions were the energy drink he made for himself out of instant coffee and orange juice concentrate (and who knows what else!) and the contraption he made that allowed him fewer walks to the restroom which included a tube and a ziploc bag…I’ll let you use your imagination on that one! HA!
Gene loved the Lord and he loved his family and we had the privilege of being treated like one of them.
His funeral was an honor to his life and the legacy he has left behind. There were so many poignant things that were said regarding him, but one of the things that struck me the hardest last week was the subject of failure. It’s something I’ve heard time and time again – never be afraid to fail – but it’s never resonated with me like it did at his service.
Just like any inventor, Gene had some huge successes, but he also had his fair share of failures; ideas that never panned out, prototypes that never worked, products that didn’t sell…but never once do I think of those things when I think of him.
Doesn’t the same go for us? Just because we stick our neck out and try something new and aren’t wildly successful at it doesn’t make us a failure. If our speech wasn’t perfectly polished or we didn’t sell as many crafts as our neighbor or our friend had more likes on Facebook or the car we bought blew up in our face or our scale still had too many numbers after weeks of dieting or the gourmet dinner tasted like cat food or {insert a glaring failure here} doesn’t mean that we are a loser or destined for the bottom rung of the corporate ladder or unworthy of love…it just means that the thing you did wasn’t perfect. And who can claim to be perfect, anyways?
I think the black-and-white brain I have always has the tendency to separate things into two categories and only two categories. Black or white. Right or wrong. True or false. Success of failure. For some things, that theory holds true…but for others? Not so much.
I’ll be honest, I like to do things with excellence. If I’m going to spend my time and resources doing something, I want to go all out and do it to the best of my ability. Perfection would be my preference…
Just because I fail (read – wasn’t perfect at) one thing doesn’t mean that it wasn’t successful in some form. And even if it really was an all out failure, it doesn’t mean I’m any less of a person or any less worthy of love or friendship or any less loved by the Father or have any smaller chance of success in the future… Sometimes it really is those stumbling blocks that propel us forward anyway.
I’m guessing some of you reading this are like, “uh….duh…” but it really, really hit me hard last week. I’ve been holding back on sooooooooo many things out of the fear of failure or the fear of imperfection.
But it got me thinking…what IS the worst that could happen??
I remember the day I started this blog. I knew I was supposed to…the Lord had provided everything I needed…I had my content… I wrote my first post really fast, slammed the computer shut and didn’t open it for HOURS. WHO CARES if I only have 12 readers (including my parents and my husband)? It was an act of obedience and I enjoy it and it’s a written legacy for my kids to have one day. That? Is success in my book.
So, if you’re reading this and a light bulb went off in your head, I encourage you to be fearless! Imperfection does not equal failure. Start that project, write that book, make that recipe, design that product, cut that hair, sew that fabric, toil that ground, let your imagination run wild! Above all else, if the Lord has instructed you do something…by golly, do it. Do it. Get out there and do it!
So don’t give up your day dream, as they say, even if it’s looking dead. Every possible chance for it to live again is in the shriveled, dried up grain of a plan, a hope, a heart’s wish. You never know who might come along and give you another chance, or even more. The life is in the seed. *poof!
Let’s be fearless and fruitful together! Here’s to living a life unafraid of failure; a life that isn’t measured by perfection…
Thank you, Grandpa Gene, for inspiring us even in your death…you will be missed.
Sawyer turned FIVE a few weeks ago and she wanted to have a county fair birthday party…so we did! 🙂
She’s not very big into sweets but she really wanted to try cotton candy at the rodeo on July 4th. Turns out, she’s a fan! She REALLY wanted cotton candy at the party so that was the theme of our invitation.
Come one, come all…
When I think of the county fair, I immediately think of show animals and I knew Wrex had a few boxes of rosettes in the garage from his show days that I wanted to use. When I decorate for parties, I’m all about using and re-purposing things we already have so this was an easy way to add some purple pizzazz without spending any money.
For the backdrop, I had the idea to make paper rosettes with Sawyer’s name on them. I just happened to find the purple and white paper fans at Oriental Trading for $0.50 a piece and then cut scrapbook paper to make the ribbon tails. We printed letters for her name and added them to sparkly foam and voila! My favorite part of the party…
Wrex and his dad made these ‘lemonade stands” for me out of old pallets we had in the shop. We added a little paint and our rosette bunting and I absolutely loved how they looked…
Crazy can!
Ring toss!
We had a glitter tattoo booth, too! I made livestock and ribbon templates, bought some glitter tattoo glue and some glitter and fancied the kids up…I just didn’t get any pictures of any of that. Boo.
We HAD to have a cake walk – Sawyer’s favorite part of the party (besides her uncles, friends and cotton candy).
Walk it out…
Wrex found some scrap carpet at Menards and I painted the numbers and made some tiny cakes and the cake walk was born.
Sawyer’s other favorite birthday game is pin the tail on the donkey. We decided to pin the ribbon on the pig – totally fun to watch the kids fumble through this one! I found some farm animal clip art I liked and had them blown up and printed at Staples as an engineer print ($3!!) and we used the pig for the game and the other animals as decor…
The kids got prizes at every game station, so we made little bags so they could keep up with their treasures…
I got lucky and found a roll of purple and white gingham table covering that totally jazzed up our tablescapes. For centerpieces, I bought some purple buckets at the dollar store and planted some wheat seed the neighbors gave us. We watered and waited and two weeks later we plopped some purple animals in them and called it cute!
Uncle Waco ran the cotton candy machine, automatically making him the most popular guy at the party…but he probably would’ve been anyways…
Besides cotton candy, we had BBQ sandwiches, corn dogs, curly fries, corn on the cob, popcorn and pickles!
We opened some presents and just had an all around good time!
The birthday girl got sang to but opted out of eating her cupcake. 😉
At the end of the day, we thanked our guests with goldfish! Wrex thought real ones would be a cool, affordable parting gift but we opted for making goldfish soap so we didn’t upset any parents. 😉
We bought some plastic goldfish and some clear, glycerin soap. We melted the soap down, poured it into bags, added a cute little fishy and tied it up with a ribbon. These little guys were adorable, if I do say so myself.
All-in-all, it was my favorite party I’ve thrown. Maybe it was because I know the birthday girl had such a good time and felt so loved…that’s the point, right?
with her (our) sweet friend, Andrea…
Next up is Grandma Rusk’s 80th. It’s gonna be a ball!
Dusk is when I fell in love with our little place on the prairie and dusk here still takes my breath away. My flowers this year have been troopers and have over-performed despite the sub-par care they’ve received.
As we were out doing chores tonight, I just couldn’t help but make sure and snap a few pictures so I can look back come winter and remind myself that spring will come…
My hubby has toiled and toiled and whipped our grass into shape. When we first moved in, there was just a bunch of dirt and a LOT of weeds. We sodded the front yard last year and my hardworking hubby re-seeded the property this spring and has watered and sprayed and babied our poor yard. It’s been worth it.
My first born is officially FIVE! Five has always been a big birthday number for her. She made a list about a year or so ago of all the things she felt like she could do once she was five…use a knife to cut her food, climb a tree, go underwater, etc. (Now that one has been moved to when she’s 10. Darn that bad swimming lesson…)
She had a really fun birth-week (and we did, too!) She got to get a pedicure…
Sweet Sawyer
and have heart pancakes for breakfast…
She got sang to at the sale barn and someone gave her a dollar and her special friend Mr. Rod gave her some roller skates! She was THRILLED! She picked A&W for her birthday lunch (girl loves her some root beer floats) and then we headed home to open presents. But first, a little birthday park play…
And yes, she wore that silly little birthday crown all day. 🙂
That night, we surprised her with a birthday slumber party! She’s been dying for one of us to sleep in her room with her in her new trundle bed so that’s what we did…for part of the night anyways. Bum feet and babies make an all nighter a little hard but we did our best! She’s been telling people we stayed up “alllllllll night.” It was 9:00, but good enough for me!
We fixed each other’s hair and did each other’s makeup – daddy, too!
(Yes, he IS the best dad on the planet!) We played flashlight tag and restaurant, read stories and played with sister…it really was a fun night. One on one times with her have gotten fewer with the addition of our other little blessings so it was fun for us to be immersed in her world for a little while.
We spent the rest of the week finishing up the details for her official birthday party. Little Wryder has been all about trailers lately…
So when Wrexy loaded up our little fair booths on Thursday evening, Wryder pulled his little car over and was ready to go. It was the cutest thing….EVER.
She wanted a county fair so on Saturday, a county fair we had! Here’s a little sneak peak…more to come later! 🙂
She had a ball and our hearts were so full. THANK YOU to everyone who came and showered her with love… We are so thankful for our spiritual family who fill in the gaps…you all have our hearts.
Sunday, we had brunch and (not enough) great grandma/PaPa/RaRa/auntie/uncle/cousin play time.
The kids are still recuperating – heck, I am, too! – but it was worth every late night, paper cut and sore foot. She felt so loved…
We call you that all the time and that little name was dubbed you before you were even born. “Sweet Sawyer” was plastered all over your baby shower along with lots of real sweets, to boot. 🙂 It was if we already knew… May I just say you have fully lived up to and embraced that name.
Sweet Sawyer getting a pre-birthday pedicure
There is so much I could write about you on your birthday… I love your beautiful face and your keen eye for fashion… I love how girly you are and how you love to create outfits and change clothes, shoes and hair accessories 14 times a day… I love how you love being outside and coming in filthy after a hard day of building and digging and wrangling goats… I love how you plan parties and feasts and parades… I love how much you love people, even those that have done nothing to deserve the unconditional love you so freely share…
I have so many favorites about you but my favorite thing about you is your heart…
You have a heart for your siblings. The Lord chose you to be the first born; the big sister of the Phipps family. Daddy and I know it’s a hard job sometimes (we were firstborns, too!) but you do it oh-so well. The way you care for and protect and mother (and attempt to discipline) Wryder and Sayble is so sweet. They adore you and we couldn’t ask for a better role model and example for them to look up to.
You have a heart for obedience. Ever since you were just a tiny thing, daddy and I would set one rule and we never had to worry about you even testing that boundary. You spoiled us, kiddo. And tricked us into believing all children were that way. Not so. *ahem* You choose obedience daily and are quick to ask the Lord and us for forgiveness when you feel as if you’ve fallen short.
You have the heart of servant. This is one of my favorite things about you because it’s somewhat of a lost trait in today’s society. You are the first one to rush over and pick something up if it gets dropped or the first to rush in with a towel to clean up a spill (and we have a few of those around here). You never tire of helping with chores or cleaning your room or helping mom plan a party.
Monday night, we came home WAY past bedtime and Sayble was tired and hungry and my foot was killing me and you guys needed a snack and dad needed to run to the barn to put the cat away so you enthusiastically jumped right in and got fruit, cheese and milk for you and Bubba. That blessed me so much and you do that kind of stuff every. day.
You have the heart of a worshiper. The Lord showed me that before you were even a year old and boy is it true. There are no better days than when we just spend some time worshiping through song together. I love when you want to sing when I do your hair or when we all (attempt) to play instruments or when I hear you singing in the spirit in your room or in the car. It’s a joyful noise to His ears, no doubt.
You have a heart of generosity. You so freely share your things. I can’t count how many times you find out someone is coming over or it’s someone’s birthday and you rush up stairs and rifle through your trinket drawers and come down with something wrapped up to give them. You shower me with flowers (and a few weeds) and little notes and pictures all the time. I wouldn’t trade those for the world, you know…
🙂
And, fellow readers? If Sawyer ever bestows upon you a half-used chapstick or a too small bracelet or a chicken feather or a few coins…receive them and receive them with gusto! These are some of her most treasured possessions and she’s chosen to share them with YOU.
You have a heart that seeks Jesus. Daddy and I have been amazed at the spiritual maturity you possess for being so young. (We might be a wee bit jealous, too). You are constantly asking questions about how to hear from the Lord and how NOT to hear from satan and how to tell the difference. You are quick to share the gospel even when you get rejected. You love to “read” your Bible and you love our family devotion and prayer time. The zeal in which you seek Him is inspiring.
I think that’s what it boils down to, sweet Sawyer…you inspire me. You make me want to be a better mom and sister and friend……..you make me want to be more like you.
I would be remiss if I didn’t say that these five years have gone fast. Too fast. In a flash you’re five and my heart is bursting with pride regarding you. I’m so excited about these new stages and adventures we’re encountering…but I can’t help but think of all the ways I’ve failed you as a momma. I’m so far from perfect it’s revolting….but I sure do love you.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…if I knew every kid we’d have would be just like you, I’d have 10 more in a heartbeat. Sure would. Until then, I’ll continue to bless you and bless the day you were born!
I bless you with a continued life of obedience. It will serve you well in all walks of life but I pray that that obedience is always born out of a love for the Lord, not because of a set of rules. I pray that because you love Him you so much, your heart can’t bear to bend any other way than towards righteousness.
I bless you with Godly friends and relationships. You are so kind and so giving and so merciful and so forgiving and so loving and I pray all of that is given right back to you ten-fold. I pray that as you get older that the Lord would deliver you a good friend to walk this life with who will be just as invested in the relationship as you are.
I bless you with lots of opportunities to hear from the Lord. I pray that He would continually be in your ear and in your heart and that you would be attuned to listen and obey.
I bless you with a family who models what it means to love the Lord. We fall short so often, sweet girl, but you inspire us to constantly strive to do better and strengthen our relationships with Him as well.
I bless you with the calling of the Lord on your life…that you would hear it and know it from an early age and that you would stop at nothing to a live a life that is pleasing to him.
Sweet Sawyer, you are so special to us…irreplaceable….one of the biggest blessings we’ve ever been given. It’s an honor and a privilege to be your momma. Happy birthday, beautiful! Let’s party!
Step 2: Submerge it into Mod Podge until it’s completely soaked and strip the excess off with your fingers.
Step 3: Make sure all of the little cutouts in the lace can be seen and not covered in Mod Podge and place on wax paper to dry. Turn them several times during the drying process so it doesn’t stick to the paper and let them dry for a good 4-6 hours.
I painted these gold and loved how they turned out. You can stop here and begin forming them into a crown shape OR you can add glitter. Don’t act like you don’t know what I chose…
It’s a little hard to see in the pic, but I added Mod Podge to the tops of the crown and coated them in glitter and let them dry…again.
Step 7: Secure to headband.
I just placed these a little off of center and tacked the edges with glue.
Seriously, are those not the cutest?!
