party time

Today was party day for all three of the girls' birthdays. Jennifer has been counting down the days until everyone came to celebrate birthdays. It was also Jennifer's last soccer game on Saturday so everyone was able to watch Jennifer in action on the soccer field.

 This cute girl could have cared less about birthdays but I think she was loving all the attention.

 It was a nice afternoon to play outside while we waited to open presents.

 Kelly didn't care about what was in the presents, she just loved the paper.

 Jennifer, as you may know, was all over her presents. She could not wait to open them.

 Mikayla was a little tired by the time we opened presents and was excited because her big sister was excited. 

 Bring on the tissue paper!

 Of course there was singing with cake and ice cream.

What a fun day celebrating these three sweet girls! They loved all the attention and having grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins here to spend the day.

ice cream fun

To end Jennifer's birthday we decided to stop on our way home and get some ice cream. Partly for Jennifer's birthday and partly to end the night on a good note. Mikayla had a little spill when we were done bowling and had to have a trip to the ER. She climbed up on a chair and fell down. We aren't exactly sure what happened but somehow she got a nasty cut on her finger. Thankfully she didn't have to get stitches but her finger had to get wrapped up. Mikayla can be a little on the dramatic side, so needless to say there were a lot of tears from the sweet girl.

The birthday girl was just excited to get ice cream. 

Bill was trying to get Mikayla to make a sad face with her finger. Once he got her going she was just silly. She was laughing at herself, we were laughing, it was a great way to end the evening.

And this baby girl... She was being kind of funny too! If we would hold a cone up to her, she would lean forward with her mouth wide open. I'm thinking Kelly may like ice cream.

The ice cream fun didn't last long for Kelly. She moved quickly to a napkin, which she refused to give up even when it was time to go.

And Mikayla was on a roll! The longer we sat there the sillier she got.

After a fun filled evening it was time to go home and get to bed...

Sitting at Dairy Queen after a fun filled birthday was my favorite part of Jennifer's birthday. Our family sitting together being silly and laughing. Sweet memories made on Jennifer's 9th birthday.

9 years-old!!!

Today was a big day at our house...

It was this sweet girls birthday today!!!! In case you may not know it, Jennifer loves it when it is anyone's birthday. But she definitely loves it when it is her birthday. So there was a lot of excitement going on, starting at about 6:15 this morning.

Our morning started off with a special birthday breakfast, a doughnut.  

 A candle in a doughnut and singing Happy Birthday, makes this girl very happy!

 She could hardly wait to open her presents.

 Jennifer was pretty excited about this present- roller skates!!

 Kelly was just looking cute while Jennifer opened her presents so I had to include a picture of her.

 We got Jennifer some elbow pads, knee pads and gloves to go with her skates. She looks like she is ready to go skating!!

 Striking a pose and looking so cute.

 The picture is a little blurry but Jennifer spent a good portion of the day in her skates. She rolled around the living room on her own and down the hall with a little help. While Jennifer loves her new roller skates, I may have wondered a time or two why we thought they were a great idea, it probably has nothing to do with the amount of times my toes may have been run over already...

 This afternoon we took Jennifer bowling!! She was pretty excited about getting to go bowling. And what made it even better was that some friends joined us for the fun. 

Sadly I didn't get very many pictures of the kids bowling but it was a fun time! Jennifer may have been more excited about eating at the bowling alley than she was about the bowling. We ended our fun day with ice cream (I actually have a bunch of funny pictures of us but I will save those for another day!).
As all 5 of us laid in bed early this morning, Bill asked if I ever would have dreamed when I woke up 9 years ago that this is what our family would look like. I laughed out loud at him! I never could have dreamed what God had in store for our family beginning 9 years ago today. And yet I am so very thankful and love how God has shaped our family into what it is.
Happy Birthday Jennifer!!!

Where's Kelly?!

Bill and Jennifer were off to soccer practice tonight, so it was just the little girls and I at home. We had a busy afternoon so Mikayla was vegging out on the couch playing the I-pad and I was putting a few things away in the kitchen. Kelly was playing on the floor with her toys. 

I look out in the living room and this is what I see! Kelly had some how gotten her toy basket on her head. At first I thought she was getting fussy with it on there but not the case. Girlfriend was cracking herself up! She kept laughing while trying to take it off. It was so darn cute.

 Of course once I got the camera out Mikayla noticed the commotion and had to come take the basket off. Kelly looks as if she was not too happy that the basket came off. 

 Then Mikayla needed to have her picture taken with Kelly and she insisted that she hold her. I tried to bargain with her and just have Kelly sit beside her but she was not having it.

 I love watching these two lately!

 Then I was just trying to snap some pictures of the baby girl...

 And then Mikayla thought we should all have a picture together...

Fun times with these two girls!

Hair cuts

I will be the first to fully admit that I hardly ever have the girls' hair cut. But their last haircut was almost a year ago and it was time to get a trim. Usually a sweet friend will just come to our house and give the girls a trim. But with crazy schedules I decided it was time to just take them somewhere. This was the first time either of the girls has gone to an actual salon to get their haircut! They loved it!

Here they are before. Their hair was getting so long...

 My first attempt at getting an after shot of Mikayla.

 Here they are after their haircuts. It may not look like much but they both a lot cut off! Jennifer told the lady she wanted short like her moms! I am not quite ready for that short yet.