5!!!

Today we had Kayla's birthday party. She's 5! What a fun age. It was a tea party, complete with pink, pink, and more pink.
We kept it small with three little girls from church. It was the calmest party I have ever been to or hosted. Girls...
We had flower and heart shaped sandwiches, fruit on fancy toothpicks, and pink kool-aid in cups that Kayla decorated with stickers.
Since her birthday is actually tomorrow, this will be a birthday weekend really. If you remember from an earlier post, we usually let the kids choose some special sweet cereal for their birthdays. This year, Kayla chose poptarts. I'm not sure if she's ever had one before but they were pink and princessy so they caught her eye. We'll see what she thinks tomorrow morning!

I love my children's birthdays. I love remembering when they were born and all the activity surrounding that day. Kayla was born on a Sunday afternoon, the day after we took a trip to the pumpkin patch with Jack. Papa and Grandpa were in charge of him until Kayla was born. Granny and Mimi were already at the hospital, waiting. Dad brought Krispy Kremes for me when they brought Jack to the hospital. The first thing big brother did was lay his best buddy, Bear, beside Kayla and give her a kiss. Could it really have been five years ago? Sweet memories, indeed. And a sweet little girl. Happy Birthday Kayla!

Isn't this sweet? Kayla and I got haircuts together yesterday. Her stylist even curled hers. She loved it and loves having shorter hair! I love it.

New Project

I have a project! A friend from church just gave me these tonight. She has a lot of plants. And when I say a lot, I really mean a LOT. We'll see what happens to these little guys. I'm so excited about them!!

Samuel and His Shadow

Samuel found his shadow this weekend! He had the best time watching it move. He kind of played peek-a-boo with it too, squealing when it would "reappear!"

Adventure!

Brian and Jack took a "field trip" today to the Hanging Rock Tower & Raptor Observatory in West Virginia.
What a great day they had! Their observation journal looked something like this:

Hanging Rock Tower & Raptor Observatory
October 3, 2008
Elevation: 3812'
Observers: Jack and Dad
Arrived 12:15
12-1 p.m. American Kestral (4)
1-2 p.m. American Kestral (2)
Sharp Shinned Hawk (3)
Bald Eagle (2)
2-3 p.m. American Kestral (1)
Blue Jays (3)
Little Brown Bat (1)

The bat was discovered when Jack sat down next to it! Can you see it next to the chestnut? And yes, two bald eagles!

I tried to get this on with the last post but I'm not that great at getting pictures where I want them. Here, Jack is working hard to get gum off of his hand. It took him a good half hour. There's some on his shirt, too. And you know, as I write, I realize that I threw that shirt into the wash tonight without getting the rest of the gum off! OOPS! I think we are going on a gum fast at our house!

To Complain or Not to Complain...

Today had the potential to be "one of those days." The house was a mess. We really needed to do a Walmart run. Laundry. Etc... Our Walmart trip was exasperating with Samuel crying throughout most of the trip and very slow people in every aisle!! I felt like screaming! And yet the whole time, as I wanted so much to be justified in my frustrations, a couple of verses from 1 Samuel kept coming to mind. (The ladies Bible study at church is doing a study on 1 Samuel).

"The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up. The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts."

Now, I didn't think our morning was quite so dire! But, the point is, the Lord is intimately involved with all details of our lives and if we trust His sovereignty in the big things, is there really ever a good reason to complain about these minor annoyances or inconveniences? No. So though I'd like to be able to really do some whining of my own sometimes, I hope instead that I will trust God's hand as He is at work, even in Walmart.
As the day went on, we found many things to enjoy. Here's a sample!

He looks like he got caught! He actually sat to look at books.

Kayla just had her nails painted. Looking a little wild!

We enjoyed dinner and birthday cake with Grandpa. Notice the little finger making its way toward the frosting!
Happy Birthday!