That's A Wrap

The girls wrapped their first show yesterday!

It was so much fun watching them grow in confidence over the past 4 months!

Thanks to all the special friends to came to the show

It meant the world to the girls!

And the flowers!

WOW!

A very special milestone for my little ladies.

Now in honor of Cinquo de Mayo, this exhausted stage mom is off to sit on the beach in Mexico for a week with my husband and recover from the late night performances!

See you next week

Places Everyone, Places!

"and 5 6 7 8"

My little loves are in their first musical performance

Little Mermaid Jr.

I grew up doing children's musical theater, so this has been fun for me

to relive some old stage days!

The girls are in the chorus and get to be sailors, sea creatures and chefs.

With a cast of over 100 kids, they are having the time of their life!

Clothe Yourself with Kindness

In our God's Girls group, we've been talking about the different characteristics that a girl who belongs to God should exemplify.  

We recently discussed Kindness.

"Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."

Colossians 3:12

In the spirit of "clothing" ourselves in these characteristics, we made paper dolls!
The girls each cut out a girls and then I put out tons of scrapbook papers and let them go nuts with their imaginations to clothe their girls!

Look at the shoes and hats!!!
These girls should be designers!

Each piece of clothing was assigned a characteristic:
Compassion was over our legs - a skirt, shorts or pants - because we pictured bending down to care for a child and get on their level to have compassion on them.
Kindness was over our heart - a shirt or blouse - because we felt that true kindness had to come from our hearts.
Humility was over our heads - a hat - because humility is thinking of yourself in a right way.
Gentleness was something soft - a purse or gloves - because to be gentle we must be soft in our words and actions
Patience was over our feet - shoes - because we can run out ahead, but we should walk patiently.

These amazing little girls created lovely paper dolls that I pray will remind them of all the beautiful characteristics God wants them to clothe themselves with everyday!

Funeral

Have you ever been to a funeral..... for a bee?

I have.

I looked out the window to see this little set-up and asked the kids what was going on?

They replied, "we're having a funeral for our dear friends Honey and Hugs."

"Who?" I asked.

"Honey and Hugs, our bee friends who drowned in the pool.  Will you come to the funeral?"

"Um, sure.  I guess."

I loved these posted notes!

"our dear best friends not for long though!"

 Each child did a reading for the bees.

 Each child placed leaves and petals where the bees were buried.

And then they passed a can to collect an offering for the bees.  Leaves were handed out previously for us to use as our offering!

The "service" was so thought out.

Their words were kind and relevant.

They even prayed!

It was quite impressive.

I know these were just bees, but their lives were honored by my children!

Makes me think of the care God gives to all of His creation.

He has made specific places for them to live and sleep.

He has made specific foods for them to eat.

He takes care of all their needs.

How much more does He care for each of His children?

Saturday

After a blogging fast for Lent, I'm back!

The day before Easter, I went to the beach to be still, pray, and prepare my heart for Easter.

"It's the day before Easter.

The day in between.

The day of waiting.

Perhaps the day of the most sorrow.

I think there was a speck of hope on Friday - hope that he still might come off the cross and prove them all wrong.  Hope that he'll actually endure all the suffering and survive it!  But no, he dies.  And now it's the day after and all hope is gone.  He's dead.  There's no reversing time, no matter the desire and will.  He is dead.

So what of all he said?

All he taught?

Was it true?

The frustration, disappointment, anger, complete sorrow - its too much to bear.  How do you move on?  How do you get through?  Will time heal?

Such a hopeless day.

And you try to sleep and hope to wake up from the nightmare - it all wasn't true.

But you wake up and he's still gone.

It is true.

The day of loss.

The day of defeat.

Hopeless.

Death is so final.

The day there was no longer a heartbeat of our 4th baby was so final.  It would no be changed.  And I hoped and I prayed and I wished.  But no, there was no bringing back what had been taken.  The baby was gone.  It was final.  

Such grief.
Such loss.

Such hopelessness.

And I hoped to wake up from the nightmare, but I continued to wake up to the nightmare.

I live on the other side of the miracle of the cross.  I know how the story ends.  I know that tomorrow we'll celebrate Jesus overcoming death and gasping for breath again.

He conquered the grave!

He is ALIVE!

I know that - always have.

That's what makes Saturday no big deal.

I know what's coming!

But Saturday was a big deal.

He could have been crucified, dead, and come back to life a few hours later.

But he didn't.  He was dead - beyond hope.  No trace of life.  And yet hope sprung and life was reborn.

Saturday just might be the most important day of all.

If there wasn't Saturday, Sunday wouldn't be nearly as remarkable and miraculous."

Life is filled with "Saturdays."  The day (or days) in between the suffering and the miracle.

We wait and wait and hope seems to daily fade as the pain and reality overtake us.

Yet Sunday is always there, waiting to bring new life and breathe hope into us once again.

If today is Saturday for you - take heart!  He has overcome the world and Sunday is coming!

Cowboy Cookout, The Final Frontier

Well friends, this will wrap up the Cowboy Cookout!
The Cowboy Photo Shoot, Cowboy Cookout Part 1, Cowboy Cookout Part 2

What makes birthdays so special is the people that come to celebrate!

We are so blessed that our grandparents won't miss a party!!

We had a little dessert table set up with S'mores pops, red licorice and our Cookout Cake

and I just had to display some of the pics from my photo shoot with my little man!

I saw this cake on Pintrist and I had to make it!

I give full credit to this lady, whom I completely copied!

It was probably my most favorite birthday cake I've made thus far!

Maybe it's because marshmallows are my favorite food!

Here are the easy, step by step instructions.

I was shocked that it came out so well!!

Each child went home with a little bag of gold and a bendy cowboy friend (along with their cowboy get up)

And then the real games began!

We had a little family shoot out competition until the sun went down

Can't believe our baby is now 5!

Yee Haw!

Have a great weekend!

Cowboy Cookout Part 2

Howdy Partner!

Put your boots up, this is going to be a long one!
My little dude had his 5th birthday party on Saturday, cowboy style!

The children arrived, put on a hat and bandanna, and posed for a "Wanted" picture!

Then back to the fire to cook their own lunch.

After lunch, the games began

The children had to complete a series of events in order to receive their Sheriff's Badge

First up, The Snake Toss

Then The Shoot Out

Some Nerf guns, balls and cans!

Then The Gold Rush

Probably the hit of the day - glorified freeze tag!

The cowboys and cowgirls had to get a bag of gold from the gold mine and deliver it to the bank.  If the bandit tagged them, they had to freeze and give up their gold until the Sheriff unfroze them.

  

My favorite decorations of the day were the tumble weeds!  

Picked them up on the side of the road - FREE!

Then Pin the Mustache on the Outlaw

After their tasks were complete,
they had cake before getting their badges!
Come back Friday for the cake details and final wrap up!
For now, I'm hittin' the hay - good night partner!