sister – The Bless Your Heart Blog

Life, Summer, and Birthdays

Life has felt extra busy lately. With summer coming to a close, county fairs, vacations, church and community activities – we’ve all been on the run! When Sawyer said all she wanted for her birthday was to do Legos with her friends, I was sold!

She’s really gotten into building Lego sets in the past year (and even worked through a chore chart to purchase a Lego house! It was huge and she has had a lot of fun putting it together and playing with it).

We kept things pretty simple and played a little Lego Friends bingo, painted boxes to store our Legos in and then built a Lego set. She hand-picked a set for each of her friends and she did a great job – no one had any of the ones she picked for them!

We all had a really good time! It was a nice, fun birthday party with some nice, fun girls!

Of course, I had to make her a Lego girl shirt for the occasion. She looked precious!

IMG_8535-1 — The Lego bunting made the whole party! It was a cheap, easy wow factor!

IMG_8534-1 — We used all of Sawyer’s Lego sets for decor.

We got Sawyer this little set for her birthday – the classic Lego man in a birthday cake! She loved it!

Bingo was a way bigger hit than we imagined! These girls were Bingo queens!

The winners got edible Legos - what could be better? — The winners got edible Legos – what could be better?

After bingo, it was time to paint!

There was only one paint spill and it was just the birthday girl's brush water...I'd call that a success! — There was only one paint spill and it was just the birthday girl’s brush water…I’d call that a success!

Next, it was time for Lego building!

Then, it was time for cake and presents! She had such generous friends and got some really fun things!

Lego cake from mom's kitchen... Sweet girl thought it was wonderful and that's all that matters! — Lego cake from mom’s kitchen… Sweet girl thought it was wonderful and that’s all that matters!

Her smile in this picture melts me. She's not my most expressive kid (read: dramatic) so a genuine smile like this is the best! — Her smile in this picture melts me. She’s not my most expressive kid (read: dramatic) so a genuine smile like this is the best!

May all your dreams come true, sweet one!

I bought a silicone Lego mold and we froze pink and purple Kool-Aid to make ice cubes that we put in our Sprite! The girls had more fun mixing up their drinks and making them change colors.

Pretty in pink with her pink and purple drink!

We sent this girls home with Lego necklaces and rings made by Sawyer and a Lego cup, like the Lego characters hold in all of the sets – super cute!

And then? They each got a kitten!

HA! We tried to find them all a home, but only one got to become a house cat. 😉

We are so proud of our sweet Sawyer girl and would do just about anything for that little sweetie! She felt so loved this weekend. She is such a great friend and we pray she always has a good group of friends around her that point her to the Lord.

Happy birthday, sweet Sawyer! You are so loved!

The Calm Before the Storm

For a January day, it sure was a nice enough one! We’re all bracing for a nasty snow and ice storm that’s supposed to roll in tomorrow, but today? Today was pretty pretty. (I think the lack of wind helped as much as anything!)

Sayble has been dying to go outside since she’s gotten her wheels under her, but it’s been REALLY cold prior to today.

As dad got ready to head outside to do chores, Sawyer and Wryder wanted to go to. Well, once Sayble saw them suit up, she sure wanted to join in the action. We got her all bundled up and out and the door we went!

How cute is this little toot?! Can you see her under there?

I bet she walked a good mile or more this morning, quite a ways with her little legs!

She looked so tiny next to the house... — She looked so tiny next to the house…

Of course, we had to stop and pet the doggie…

and the kitties…

Say and Tractory. Wonder who named that one?!

and haul one around…

Say with Damilla Willa. Don't ask. — Say with Damilla Willa. Don’t ask.

We spent some time at the park with brother and sister…

Good grief I love these kiddos... — Good grief I love these kiddos…

then we spent a little time swinging before heading inside for a peanut butter sandwich!

Who knows what this weather will actually bring…but we took advantage of today!

Random Rambles

The chicks are alive and well and getting lots of attention. Sawyer named hers Dot and Penguin Cindi. Wryder named his Corny and Wheater. If that boy doesn’t farm or sell tractors one day, I’ll be shocked.

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Sayble has mastered pulling herself up – watch out world!

How we found her this morning in her crib

She has been pulling up on the dishwasher, the coffee table, any chair she kind find, the back of my legs – honestly, anything! She got herself into quite a pickle the other day when she did this:

She was so proud of herself but then had no idea how to get down! That’s been the biggest problem lately. After she went to bed tonight, she started screeching 20 minutes later. I went in to check on her and she was standing up in her bed but didn’t know how to let herself back down. This could be fun for a while…

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We talked a lot about Palm Sunday yesterday and what exactly this week means for us as followers of Christ. During supper, we were reviewing with dad all we learned and Wryder excitedly exclaimed, “Saywer! Jesus is our King!” I melt.

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It was such a lovely day on Sunday that the kids just had to ride horses. Sawyer has gotten really good at riding and understanding general horsemanship and, of course, Wryder thinks he has. 🙂

He really likes to say, “Ho” or “Whoa.” The only problem is that he likes to say it all the time. That makes going anywhere a little difficult. Regardless? He looked darn cute.

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Today was one of those days where we didn’t do anything really over the top – we were just together – but it was one of those days I’d do 100 times over. We played Barbie Pop-Up Camper and learned more about Easter and read stories and did school and explored the back pasture and searched for pine cones and played with chickens and did chores and sang songs…

We have some friends – several friends – who are in the trenches…fighting for answers and fighting for life. We are so thankful and humbly grateful for our whole, healthy family.

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Sawyer wanted to color and create this morning so she got busy with her crayons and made this beauty.

In case you can’t tell…that’s Jesus riding on a donkey while someone waves their palm branches. Be still my heart…

Today I Learned…

Sawyer went to the sale barn with daddy today so I got some good one-on-one time with Wryder. (Well, as one-on-one as you can get around these parts). Sayble is pretty easy going and doesn’t have too much to say in conversations so it was nice to be able to give him a lot of undivided attention.

The weather was so nice here today – until about one o’clock when the wind rolled in AGAIN – so we set off for the back pasture to explore a bit.

Poop examinations... — Poop examinations…

Today, I learned…

Life is better if you run…

Daddy can fix anything…

Fences can “hot wire” you…

Doritos taste better when dipped in apple sauce…

Jumping really high on the trampoline makes you giggle uncontrollably…

Jumping on the trampoline with bricks is unwise…

Badgers should be trapped and caught and fed corn…

Toy chainsaws can be used to cut anything and everything, including baby sisters…

Woofy momma cows don’t really scare two year old boys standing outside the pen…

Everything should be touched and examined, even poop…

Even the wildest of boys have soft spots for their mommies…

I seriously had a really great day with my little buddy. Let’s do it again soon, shall we?

Sawyer had fun with daddy, too. She was already awake when I went to rouse her up at 6:45 this morning. She hung out with all her sale barn buddies, helped daddy load some calves and sweet-talked her way into mexican food for lunch – a girl after my own heart.

Have a little salsa, babe... — Have a little salsa, babe…

I think we’re all a little tired tonight after a busy Monday and a busy weekend. We got our fence put back up that the last major wind storm blew over.

Blew it flat over... — Blew it flat over…

We reset 8 posts and reattached the boards and the kids helped clean up all the old wood.

Yes, Wryder is pantless. At least he has on shoes, right?!

Sawyer is so strong for her age. She carried posts like it was no big deal.

There’s a lot going on this picture and I belly laugh every time I see it…

Little worker bee... — Little worker bee…

Wrex needs new jeans, Sawyer is doing all the work, Wryder is playing with a milk carton, pantless (what the what?!) and they’re loading posts on the pony cart. Yeah, that’s life at the Phippses!

Sayble enjoyed the afternoon from Wrex and I’s backs.

Look at that smile... — Look at that smile…

We toted her around in this thing for quite a while and she thought it was fantastic!

Pretty sure I might have a small bald spot from all the fun she had with my hair…

I’m thinking we’re all gonna sleep good tonight…

Random Rambles

It’s FRIDAY! Do I really need to say anything else?!

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I love to see the gifts in my children become glaringly obvious. Sweet Sawyer is such a little administrator. It takes one to know one, perhaps.

Wryder has a crush on a cute little high school girl and the minute he saw her last fall, he’s been telling her (and everyone else) that he was gonna marry her. He and Sawyer have made plans for him to live in the playhouse with his new wife, with a sled for a bed. Sawyer has been busy planning his wedding for months and this week, she got their wedding clothes done.

She made notes and designs in her notebook and would check off each piece as she completed it.

Her main construction materials were paper towels and washi tape and they look surprisingly good!

The dress and "gail" — The dress and “gail”

Wryder's tuxedo shirt. Note the red rose and the bow tie... — Wryder’s tuxedo shirt. Note the red rose and the bow tie…

I feel like we’ve fought their obsession with this project for quite some time. I do love that they love the concept of marriage and how joyful it truly is. We must be doing a little something right…

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Sawyer has her first 4-H meeting this weekend. We are so excited for her and she is so excited for herself! Wrex and I’ve done a lot of talking this week about the joys and advantages of a slower pace of life.

Everything that he is today – from follower of Christ, to husband, to father, to cattle buyer – all of the things and people that influenced him most, took place before he was 15 years old. It wasn’t high school…it wasn’t college…it was the things he got to try and experience during his most formative years that shaped his being.

I am so grateful that I get to be a stay-at-home mom…that I get the opportunity to spend more time with them than anyone else…that we get to encourage them and teach them and train them and provide them with opportunities and experiences that will translate into their futures.

We were watching Duck Dynasty the other night and one of the older kids was pursuing his dreams as a musician and just watching his mom’s reaction made me sappy, of course. There are times when it feels like those days are so far down the road, but we all know they’re not; they’ll be here in the blink of an eye, just like everything else.

It made us wonder what our kids would be doing and pursuing…and we pray with all of our might that at the heart of whatever it is, that it’s Jesus.

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The neighbors didn’t have school on Monday so we loaded up for a midday play date. Sawyer got to ride in the go-cart and thought that was pretty fun stuff!

Wryder went over, looked at it, tried the helmet on and then settled for the porch.

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This cute little booger is just joy in every way!

She was a little fussy for the babysitter on Tuesday night and has had a few bouts of that with us lately so we assumed she must be getting a tooth. Yesterday, Wrex was playing with her and saw the monster coming in on the top.

Lately, she’s really been pursing her mouth and that must be why. Not sure what explains all the nose crinkling but I LOVE it.

Seriously, she’s the cutest thing E.V.E.R.

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We’re hoping hoping HOPING that the guys get our barn and shop finished this weekend. They’ve been working weekends and the wind hasn’t helped their cause much….or the fact that they don’t ever get here until 10 am. *ahem*

They have the shop all done but are still working on the barn. I promise to post pics when they are done. I know it’s going to look so nice but there’s something I’ll miss about the chippy old barn…

A few winters ago... — A few winters ago…

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Wrex is still sporting the mutton chops.

Extroverts are so funny. I spend most of my days not wanting to be seen and he’s putting himself out there front and center, with radical facial hair no less. Cracks me up. Here’s to hoping they’re gone by Monday…sure hope that razor doesn’t zip up his face in the night! 😉

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It’s Fun Friday around here and today is errand day. We’re gonna run to town and take some checks to the bank for daddy and get some cash for our Dave Ramsey envelopes and take a cupcake to a special birthday lady and get some birthday cards to send to some other special people (PaPa and RaRa!) and if the wind stops howling, we may stop at the park to burn a little energy (them) and calories (me).

Whatever you find yourself doing today, I pray that you choose and find joy in all of it.

Random Rambles

The snow is finally starting to melt a bit around here. There’s no telling how long I’ll be dealing with mud instead. I’m not sure which is worse when it comes to keeping kids and shoes and floors and cars clean…

I’d say we had about a foot of snow but some of the craziest drifts we’ve ever had. In our almost five years here, we’ve never had to have the neighbors rescue us but we had to call in the big dogs this time.

The high winds have blown even more snow around and our road has blown shut at least four times. Needless to say, we finally got out today to buy groceries and run a few errands.

The kids have sure had a ball playing on the big mounds daddy made, though!

We also took time to make some snow ice cream! We made a picture scavenger hunt for the kids using our cell phones. We’d text them a picture of something in the house like this:

and they’d have to figure out where exactly it was. There, they’d find an ingredient needed to make snow ice cream!

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You know those friends who don’t feel like friends at all? The ones that feel like you’re long lost sisters or, at the very least, sisters of the heart? Yeah. Those. I’m quite fortunate to have a few of those in my life and it saddens me that none of them live close to me. My head and heart have yet to reconcile how the Lord can so lovingly plop someone in your life and then makes you live so far from each other…..

My friend Emily is one of those friends. I met her at a trade show when we were in Denver and there was just that instant connection. She is so kind and spunky, a marketing maven and an event planner extraordinaire…and she has red hair! (Just a wee bit jealous, I am!) She has the sweetest husband and parents and kids! Oh, and if you wanna build a house and have it decorated to the hilt, call this girl!

We had the privilege to attend a Super Bowl party in their new digs – SO. MUCH. FUN. Their house is BEAUTIFUL and so warm and inviting and she IS the hostess with the mostest.

She had a photo booth and games for the kids…

Wryder giving it a try... — Wryder giving it a try…

We had food out the wazoo and everything was sooooo goooood! I made a few of these guys…

The kids LOVED Emily and her family!

Wryder took a special liking to Papa. They shared bowls and bowls and bowls of caramel corn and stories on the couch.

The night only got better with that Bronco win! These guys had a ball and looked cute doing it!

Not sure she REALLY knew what was going on... — Not sure she REALLY knew what was going on…

THANK YOU, Justin and Emily for such a wonderful night! I’m voting with the kids that we just move on down to Wild Horse, too…

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Someone has joined the thumb-sucker ranks around here.

We fought the battle hard with Wryder and thankfully he just sucks his thumb as he goes to sleep; not ideal, but at least it’s not all day, every day.

Sayble has surprised us. She’s a closet thumb sucker……but it’s so. darn. cute.

Tell me that's not cute?! — Tell me that’s not cute?!

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Sawyer was looking so cute in a little outfit the other night and I wanted to snap a quick pic of her. Of course, she pulled out all of her poses…. Good grief, I love this girl!

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Wrex and I have been teaching a Financial Peace University class at the local community college on Tuesday nights and it has been SO cool! Dave Ramsey’s directives helped us get out debt and we wanted to share the wealth of knowledge we’ve amassed and give others some HOPE for their financial situations, too!

I firmly believe the Lord had us teach this so that we could further our journey to even more financial freedom, wealth building and extravagant giving. We feel so renewed and reinvigorated regarding our finances. Bring it on, 2016!

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For my “midnight” snack last night, I had some almonds and a fruit and veggie smoothie. I’ll be the first to admit that it didn’t LOOK very appetizing.

I used spinach, kale, blackberries, chia seeds and a little unsweetened almond milk. Even though it didn’t look very tasty, it really was!

Wrex humored me and took a little taste. He choked it down but swore it wasn’t as good as the frosty he had at lunch. Oh, to be able to eat 8,000 calories a day and still be at my fighting weight….

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Sawyer’s been wanting to sew lately, so we got out her little sewing machine yesterday and she went to town! She made these shorts for Wryder.

They ended up a little small but her decorative elements made up for it, don’t ya think?!

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This family of mine is just the bees knees. Days with them are the best days……

Kids Say the Darnedest Things

Our kids crack me up! I often wonder what we did for entertainment before their joy knocked us off of our feet with belly laughs. Enjoy a few quotable moments from the past few weeks…

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I walk into the mudroom and I could tell by the smell that the cat had just finished it’s business in the litter box.

Me: “Oh my word! Oh my gosh! It stinks awful out here! Oh, sick…” (There may or may not have been some dry heaving…)

Sawyer: “What? Is Wryder out there?”

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In discussing our neighbors pregnancy, Sawyer and I were attempting to guess whether we thought she was having a boy or a girl.

Sawyer: “If it’s a girl, she’s in luck. If it’s a boy……she better watch out!”

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After I had gone to the doctor last week, we ran to Ogallala to grab my prescription and get some lunch. I wasn’t feeling well and we sat in the Wendy’s drive-thru for what felt like forever. Apparently, Sawyer thought so, too…

Sawyer: “For such a small car, they’re sure ordering a lot of food!”

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After we pray with the kids before bed, we always let them choose a little song for us to sing to them. Silent Night was a pretty popular one around Christmas (still is!) and we would often sing more than one verse.

Wrex: “What song do you want to sing tonight?”

Wryder: “The diaper one! The diaper one!”

Wrex: wracking his brain to figure out which one it is, going over lyrics in his head…

Wryder: “Daddy, you know how it goes. Jesus, Lord of diaper…

Or ‘Lord of THY BIRTH…either one…

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Apparently, truly understanding lyrics for a two year old can be quite difficult. He loves “Springsteen” by Eric Church because he loves the “whoa, whoa, whoa–o–o–” part.

Wryder: “Mom, what’s bong-a-rong mean?”

Me, puzzled: “Bong-a-rong…where did you hear it at?”

Wryder: “On the whoa-whoa song. ‘I’m on fire and bong-a-rong’…”

Or, born to run…again, either one.

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Little Wryder does keep us on our toes! After one of his shenanigans the other day…

Sawyer: “Good job having that kid! He’s hilarious!”

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Eating Cherrios one morning for breakfast…which he’s done at least once a week since he was 18 months old…

Wryder, whining: “I can’t eaaaaaat these!”

Me: “Why???”

Wryder: “Because they have HOLES in them!”

Oh, the agony…

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While watching part of the NFL honors…

Sawyer: “What was that guy’s name again? John Noodle?”

It was either Cam Newton or Anquan Boldin – still not sure who she meant! You can only guess what her new nickname is around here….

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Eating lunch in Subway and this cute, middle-aged blonde lady comes in wearing a little, white Bronco’s jacket. Sawyer and I were talking about how cute it was and she must’ve heard Sawyer going on and on about it, so she came over to chat with the kids after she got her food.

I could tell pretty quickly that Wryder thought she was about right so he started pulling out all the stops, flirting with her.

Wryder: “Hi! I’m Wryder…WD, that’s me! I’m 2 and I have spikey hair.”

Sweet/cute blonde lady: “Well, hi Wryder. I like your spikey hair.”

Wryder: “Hey, do you wanna hear a Bible verse? For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-discipline. I can do all things through Christ who strengthen me. They shall call him Immanuel which means, God with us. Depart from evil and do good. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. Hey, do you wanna hear a Broncos cheer? B-R-O-N-C-O-S, Broncos are the best!”

I think she was smitten. 😉 Wrex and I often worry about his way with the ladies, but we’re hoping that if his pick-up lines continue to be Bible verses, we might be ok…

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Seriously, they are funny, right?!

Random Rambles

We traveled to Nebraska yesterday to visit Wrex’s paternal grandparents, or Grandad and Lalice if you ask the kids.

We met Grandma at Perkins for brunch then headed on behind her to see Grandad. He hasn’t felt too spiffy the last month or two and that’s sure hard to see but it was good to be with family.

Wryder Douglas is named after Willard Douglas (Grandad) and William Douglas (Papa) AND he’s the elder WD’s first great grandson…in other words, he can do no wrong. 🙂

We grabbed some Burger King to eat on the way home and the kids had to get a crown (so cute!) and make silly faces and do silly things – you know, kid stuff!

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We got a new kitty last week, appropriately named Kitty. She’s a sweet little thing and the kids adore her. She’s gotten a little attention since she’s been here…

Sawyer used a dollar she got in the mail and bought Kitty a toy, which she loves!

Yes, that's a shirt... — Yes, that’s a shirt…

Kitty has even made nice with Booey…

And the cat scratch/bed/stand? Well, I should’ve known WD would use it more than the cat….

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We’ve worn lots of cute clothes this week…

and painted pumpkins…

and made some Halloween pretties…

and dressed up in all sorts of costumes to practice trick-or-treating…

They are ready!

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Sawyer’s reading is getting better everyday and she read to Sayble the other day…it was the sweetest.

I love how much they love their little sister…

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Now, I’m just finishing up our Halloween costumes. They wanted to be the PAW Patrol this year so I’ve been getting my hot glue on…

I can’t WAIT to get everything done and them on them!!! And, of course, I’ll post pics. 🙂

Friday Funnies

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!”

That’s all I got! Good night, folks!

Sawyer’s Birth(day) Week

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…

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.