Five

 You all know how much I love celebrating birthdays. 

(If you don't know, I LOVE celebrating birthdays!)

My oldest child had a birthday recently. 

She turned 5. 

FIVE.

(How did she get so old?!)

Her birthday was on Sunday this year, so we planned some special treats before church:

Her requested vanilla cake with chocolate frosting:

 

Cake for breakfast is the BEST.

After church (where the very thrilled birthday girl received many happy birthday wishes), we surprised her with a trip to the zoo.

Our friends joined us, much to Ava's delight.

Included was a trip on the train. Not a huge train, but the first ride ever for the girls, and Ava got to blow the whistle since it was her birthday. That made her day!!!

It was a very special day! 

We finished up at Wendy's (nothing too fancy, but time commitments back in town didn't allow for an extended meal). 

A couple days later, we went to Pizza Ranch with my side of the family and celebrated a few family birthdays that evening.

The following weekend, we were visiting Mr. Wonderful's family, and had another special birthday celebration with them.

Each celebration was special for Ava, and she felt very loved and enjoyed. :) 

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Ava is in Kindergarten, and learning reading, writing, math, spelling, science, history, and all about her world. She loves school, and always begs to do her workbooks!

She prays well, and I know she prays with a clear faith-it is remarkable to see her prayers answered so evidently. One example is that on nights she prays for good dreams, she has them. This is a huge answer for a girl who struggles with scary dreams.

As Ava continues her fifth year, our prayer for her is that she continues to grow in the grace and knowledge of her Lord Jesus Christ. She has professed faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and we see her growing in Him. Every day she makes choices to honor God, to respect her parents, to put others first, to be a helper, to use kind words, and to encourage her sisters. This is an enormous blessing and encouragement!

Ava....I love you forever.

Favorite Things {January Photo Dump}

The amazing husband and daddy I love and adore:

 (Parts of movies get intense, you all.)

 Church friends! Look how cute those kiddos are helping out...

Concerts:

When Lucy is a butterfly:

Any dress up, ever:

Big sister, little sister:

Reasons I can't walk like a normal person:

Life skills education:

 Laughter:

 Fingerprints on my windows:

This:

And my newest little daycare addition:

 (Lucy looooves him. Olivia does too, but mostly because she thinks he's a live baby doll.)

 The adorable Seeley Christopher has joined our weekly life.

He's so sweet!

I've been watching Riley for 2.5 years, now. 

We have some very crazy days around here, but I love it!

The reason I have food on my floor, smudged windows, and toys everywhere.

I wouldn't change it for anything!

 It's so sweet having babies around.

Speaking of, these chubby little hands are fast approaching a year old.

 

I'm so blessed to be a mommy!!!

Here we are, flying through the year already! Hard to believe it.

As you enjoy each day, remember, God created it-

thank Him.

Flashback

May went in such a blur! We were quite busy for most of it. Here are some highlights from the past month:

Olivia at 8 weeks:

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Scott and I again coordinated the NICHE (Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators) Conference Children's Program.

This year's theme was set during WW2, so the costumes were all for that time period. 

It was a wonderful conference, and we came away both tired and refreshed. :-)

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Memorial Day Weekend was the annual Vessels of Honor conference in Kansas City.

Ava and Lucy stayed with my family, and had a great time while Scott & I took just Olivia and enjoyed the conference!

The conference theme was prayer, and as we traveled home we discussed how, as a family, we could clean up, de-clutter, and spend more time on things that matter. 

This is what we came home to:

 

God definitely had us prepared for 8 inches of water in our basement, and gave us hearts of joy as we cleaned up the mess.

It was a great opportunity to get rid of things just lying around. Things that were now ruined and even more useless to us.

This was a blessing--no disguise on it. For all the hassle and sweat and work put in, I never felt frustrated or angry. Scott said the same. It was absolutely incredible how we never were upset about this.

 There are things we would like to replace. Things it would be nice for insurance to cover, since that's kind of their job, right? But still...so thankful. So blessed by the Living God!

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 Miss Olivia is now practically 3 months old.

She wiggles and scoots around on her back, on the floor.

She talks to her toys and coos with delight over just about anything.

When she is mad or scared, she really gets dramatic about it.

Even her mad, crying face is so cute.

Her smile lights up the room when she sees someone she knows!

Olivia is still very even-tempered. And clearly a 3rd child. Just today as I was running the vacuum Ava and Lucy were running around shrieking and Olivia just calmly played in her bouncy seat. Pretty impressive stuff, I have to say.

 All the girls love each other! Olivia adores her big sisters, and they dote on her. 

Can you tell??

 Strong baby, growing up so quickly!

Lucy and Ava--the "very bestest big sisters EVER!!!"

Highlight of the day, captured:

The exact reaction as Daddy walked in the door!

Because my Husband loves God, because my Husband has given his life to Jesus Christ, our home is blessed. I can only say that the loveliness in our home, in our marriage, in our children, is only because of the Living God working in our lives. Can I get an AMEN?!