Happy Birthday girls!!!

Happy Birthday Maggie and Sadie! On May 30th Maggie turned 5 and on June 29th Sadie will turn 2...so we decided to throw a combo party this year for the both of them. It was so much fun!

We decided to do a petting zoo/pony rides party since we have two serious animal lovers on our hands. We used a delightful little local company who came and set up in our front yard. We had 15 small barnyard animals and one pony for riding. It was the perfect activity for 2 and 5 year olds, alike.

We ended up having nearly 60 guests. It was a beautiful sunny day, with loads of our favorite people there. We had hot dogs, baked beans and potato salad...birthday cake and ice cream. We love to host a party and felt so blessed to have so many friends and family come to celebrate our sweet girls!

Some...okay Tons of pics from the day....

Gigi carried on her birthday cake legacy and made the cake for the party. They are so de-lish!!! She had asked Mags what she wanted the cake to look like...Maggie said pink and purple with ponies and sprinkles. Looks made to order to me!!!! Maggie and Sadie were both thrilled.

Mom even made cupcakes too. She made chocolate ones...which is not her norm, just for my Todd! He loves all things chocolate.

Happy Birthday girls!

We had a little picture collage of the girls from the past year...some of them individually and some of them together.

We had a little painting station (another one of my girls favorite things to do). We had little white ceramic barnyard animals. Each kiddo could pick one out and paint it to take home with them.

My Nana (the family artist) helped a ton at this station. Thanks Nana, you're the best.

Our nephew and niece Lincoln and Lucy painting...

Sweet friends Gracie and Cash see-sawing...

The star of the party arriving! Note the hot pink halter just for our girls.

My oldest brother Justin and his son Jerod...and my Daddy. Such handsome fellas!

Good friends Sabrina and Meghan...

Todd and his coworker and friend Steve.

Maggie was sooooo excited about the pony! She adores all things My little Pony right now.

Love her excited little face!

Meet our little barnyard friends...

Miss Sarah, Lucy, Faith, Maggie and Cora checking it all out.

Caleb, Clayton, Joshua, Jerod and Lincoln...

Cute nieces Macy and Morgan...

My little cowgirl Maggie and her new bestie!

Gracie meeting the chicken.

Caleb met the little pig.

Lincoln made friends with the bunny.

Pig whisperer Clayton!

Mags new pal, too.

Cousins Claire and Sadie! Cute little lady bug girls. Loved their little matching outfits...and the mommy's didn't even plan it.

Sadie got to ride (with a touch of help from Gigi) with her favorite little cowboy Owen! They are best pals. 

Our neighbor buddy Julian...

Nephew Jackson and the rooster.

The kids got to feed the animals, too.

Drew liked the squeal-ey pigs!

Sweet friends Clara and Madelyn painting...

Big boys Jerod and Clayton the artists...

Sadie got to meet the bunnies...

and loved them!

Niece Lucy did too!

Edmund the cowboy...

Sadie was having a blast! Love her little excited arms. 

Family... sis in law Melissa, Nana and Pawpaw, brothers Justin and Jason...

Darling church friends...the Jeffries family...

More family...Melissa, Clay, Jenny, Grandma (Raynell), Craig, Mandy, Davis and Claire.

Clayton the cowboy...

Nieces Morgan, Faith and Lucy.

Maggie making a wish....

and Sadie too!

This is what the girls got for their birthday. A Jr. size trampoline. As you can see they, and the cousins all liked it!

So sad I didn't get a pic of our little family of 4 together. I was too busy having fun and forgot to snap one!

What a great day of celebration! Our girls bless us, so!

Love to all,

Leah

Dancing Queen #2...Spring Recital!

This last Saturday was our Dancing Queen's Spring Recital. The theme was "Do you love me, now that I can dance". Ha! Maggie got to be a Lavender flower for her ballet routine, and a honey bee for her tap routine. She absolutely loved dance this semester. She did a perfect job at her performance and we couldn't be prouder!

Sweet little ballerina! 

Daddy and his girl... 

Me and my girl... 

Her little class of 3-5 year olds... 

Sisters... 

Our little tap dancing honey bee! 

Love her proud, big smile...on the right in the way back!

Afterwards she received a beautiful trophy for her participation and technique! 

Being a Mother...

I read this on a blog I love to follow about what a privilege it is to be a Mother...

It is a delightful wonder that God has chosen us to receive His gift of children and to realize that it is our great blessing to love, protect, and train them. As the years begin to go by, it is sometimes a surprise to discover that in addition to impacting a child's life God accomplishes another purpose in parenting. Through the challenges, frustrations, joys, and observation of human nature in our little ones, we, ourselves, can be personally conformed more and more to the image of our Lord Jesus Christ. What an added dimension this gives to the calling of a parent--God is using the children He has given me to mold me...

(Me & my Mother...Maggie and Sadie)

...Recognizing the place God wants you to be, being satisfied in it, and doing your part diligently are significant steps for parents. It is possible to overlook the seriousness of this privileged role. The temptation is great to respond to the world's clamoring that only outside the home can an adult do something worthwhile, fulfilling, or beneficial for mankind. And it is very easy to neglect the daily opportunities to nurture a child. (BSF International, Isaiah 2010)

(Me and my girls...)

As another Mother's Day rolls by, I am praying that I would remember what an incredible privilege it is to be a mama. That I would be content in the place God has called me as a parent. That I would see God's incredible purpose in my job as Maggie and Sadie's mom. And that not only would the Lord use me to impact the lives of my children, but that He would also use my children to mold me.

(The best Mama, I know...mine!)

It is a privilege to be a Mama.

Let's never forget that.


Love to all,
Leah

Summer PJ's...

What do you get...







When you mix a cheap, basic white tee-shirt...







With a rainbow of Puff paint...







You get fun memories with Gigi and new summer PJ's!!!!







When I was a kid we would do the same thing with my Nana. I loved it and thought that these "fancy" personalized PJ's were the BEST!
Now as a Mama, I still think the same thing...and so does Mag. They are cheap, comfy, cute and cool!







Mags is my "crafty" girl and loved having this opportunity to free style and design 6 whole shirts!







And here are her 6 final products!!!! A heart "love" shirt, a "sisters" shirt with handprints from both Sadie and Mag, a ocean/ beach shirt, handprints and her name, a rainbow shirt and finally her favorite...a unicorn shirt (with some help from Gigi's creative side).







Fresh from the tub and ready for sweet dreams!!!
Love to all,
Leah

P.S Pictures are a little blurry...sorry. Took them with my camera on my phone. :(
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Splish, splash...

Splish, splash...at our neighborhood splash park, that is! We are so ready for SUMMER!

Sisters... 

Sadie Rose was ready to go! 

Love that little diaper booty and cute springy pony tail!

Mags, all of the sudden seems so grown up to me. Must be her approaching 5th birthday! 

Soaked! 

Love my little water babies! 

Love to all,

Leah

Cousin Fun...

Last week, we had the privilege of having my niece Morgan spend a few nights with us. She is my oldest brother Justin, oldest child. She is 12 and such a beautiful, delightful, sweet thing! We loved having her spend a few days with us.

She is so helpful, patient and easy to have around. My girls loved playing Barbies, My Little Pony, vet, school, dress up,  they rode bikes, watched movies and played outside with her. The girls camped out in our guest room and had a 48 hour slumber party. HA!

We love you Morgan and can't wait for you to come over again soon.

This the kind of fun stuff you get to do when your older cousin comes to visit!

Sadie loved having all of Morgan's attention.

Barbie-central!!!

Sweet cousins and friend...

Maggie, Morgan and Sadie!

Love to all,

Leah

Gladness...

This is the day which the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it!

Psalms 118:24

These little dolls make it so easy to be glad!!! Somedays, I still can't believe they are mine.

We all have so much to truly rejoice Him for! I hope that you are able to be glad in your day today, too.

Love & Blessings to all,

Leah