Sarah Turns The Big 4!

This past week has been SO busy celebrating Sarah's 4th Birthday!!!! She enjoyed a small party at school with all her preschool chums, a family party at home, and finally a "girls-only" Hello Kitty party this past Saturday. Here are some pictures from the WEEK of celebrating! "Whew"..., I'm worn out from all the party fun! :-)



The birthday girl at her "High School Musical" theme school party. Elizabeth had to get right in on the birthday action too. :-)

Everyone saying the blessing before they eat.

Mommy and Sarah

Daddy LOVED coming for Sarah's party at her school.

Sarah blowing out her "number 4" candle during our little family party at home. And the little plate sitting there to your left of the cake is a "birthday dessert" plate I recently made at a local pottery place to use for our family birthday parties. Whoever is having a birthday gets to use the "special birthday plate" for their slice of cake. I'll post a better picture below so you can see it more up close. Maybe this would be a fun idea for you to try with her family. So far, it's a hit at our house. :-) This cute bunny cake above is actually a Carvel Ice Cream Cake! Mmmmmm! I just adore Carvel Ice Cream Cakes. They can be found at your local Harris Teeter - if you are not close to an actual Carvel Ice Cream Shop.

And, here are some pictures from her "Hello Kitty" party at our home the weekend after her birthday. Thanks to her Grandma for coming and helping me. I couldn't have done it all without her help! I also have to thank a very special friend of ours, Jessica for assisting me during the party. She is 11 years old- she made slushies for all the little girls, painted finger/toe nails... (the list goes on).

Sarah is out front in this picture waiting for all her friends to arrive. :-) She is wearing Hello Kitty flip-flops with her dress. She was SO excited for everyone to arrive.

Elizabeth and Jessica. I LOVE this picture!

Sarah and Grandma dyed all the eggs before her friends arrived. Aren't they beautiful!?! They did a really great job! :-)

Decorating Easter Eggs

Abigail working hard on her eggs and Elle "lovin" her slushie! :-)


Little Miss Ellie!



Don't you just love it? Check out Elizabeth... LOVING her slushie! :-) Jessica is in the background giving Elle a Hello Kitty tattoo.

One happy birthday girl! :-)

Ellie and Savannah

Love this one - Elizabeth and Grandma

Sorry for such a LONG post, but I hope you have enjoyed seeing some pictures of our past week of celebrating our sweet Sarah.

Happy Easter Week,

Until next time...

Leaves and Blueberries

Are you all enjoying these beautiful fall days as much as I am? Isn't it amazing how truly wonderful each season is that God has wonderfully created for us to enjoy? I mean... each season of its own, has such a matchless beauty to behold! Think about it... in regards to this time of year... He could have made all the leaves on trees to simply turn a shade of brown and fall off, but NO, He instead causes the leaves to turn "many" amazing, vibrant colors before falling off. For example, there is a tree at the end of our driveway that seriously looks like a yellowish/orange highlighter marker! It's glorious looking! His incredible beauty is so evident everywhere throughout His creation. I just adore His touch for detail. Don't you? His touch for detail is indescribable!!! I couldn't even put it into words if I wanted to.

Speaking of detail... when leaving Sarah's art class this afternoon there was a beautiful tree stretched out in front of our car... Sarah looked up and said, "Look Mommy". And, so... of course I said, "Yes dear". I thought she was referring to the many different colors of leaves, but no, she had spotted a tiny bird's nest perched up high in the tree and was so excited to point it out to me. This picture above shows the bird's nest really well, but it's because I zoomed way in with my camera before taking the picture. I seriously don't know how she spotted the nest. It took me a minute to find it as it was hidden so well amongst the abundance of colorful leaves. She must have an eye for detail. Both of her grandmothers have an immeasurable eye for detail so I won't be surprised if she inherits this gift as well.

I just LOVE to see what her art class is going to do next.
Today Ms. Jenny did a lesson on leaves - starting in the art gallery itself (which I love), and proceeding to the classroom. Here are a few pictures below. Ha! A little side note for you - Sarah may not appear in these pictures to look like an overly thrilled "pint-size picasso". The little girl next to her accidentally got some glue in her hair and she wasn't too thrilled, to say the least. :)







After art class we came home and looked for leaves from our yard. We brought them inside and traced around them on paper and colored them in. I think she really enjoyed continuing the "lesson" at home.

And... our day continues. We ended our afternoon by baking some homemade blueberry muffins. As most of you know, Sarah loves to cook in the kitchen, so needless to say I try to include her as much as I can with cooking and baking.

Here is the recipe we used as well as some pictures. I was encouraged to bake muffins due to the fact that I have recently discovered these wonderful frozen blueberries prepared by the company, Dole. Maybe they have been around for a while... I don't know, but I have just discovered them. I love how they are packaged - the blueberries are not all stuck together like other frozen berries are that I have purchased in the past. They are really fresh tasting and actually won a CHEFS BEST TASTE Award for 2008. They're great for eating straight out of the bag or for using in smoothies or for baking purposes. If you look closely, Sarah's lips are a little blue. She enjoyed eating a few frozen ones while I stirred the batter. :)

Blueberry Muffins

1 1/2 cup blueberries

3 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup melted butter

3 large eggs

1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin tins. Combine dry ingredients; mix with fork in a bowl. Combine melted butter, 3 beaten eggs, and milk. Add to flour mixture. Fold in berries. Spoon into tins. Bake at 400 degrees about 20 minutes.

Here is a picture of the packaging so you know what to look for.

The finished product ~

I know... I probably shouldn't post all these "food" pictures on here- kinda makes you hungry huh?..., maybe just a little? :) Sorry...

However..., I do recommend snacking on these while they're warm, with a tall glass of cold milk..., and on a fall day! :) Mmmmmm!


Gazing upon His beauty,
Until next time...

A Mother's Dream

I'm sure you're expecting to see and read about our recent beach trip but I simply must share today's news with you first. Today has been a dream come true for me!!!
This afternoon I took my daughter, Sarah, to purchase her first pair of ballet and tap shoes. O, just the thought of that makes me smile all over. :)
Sarah will take her first dance class next Tuesday and can hardly wait! And, I have to admit, I can hardly wait too! I'm so excited for her! She was just thrilled today when I told her we were going to buy all her "ballet" stuff! Before we left home I pulled out my first pair of ballet slippers. She tried them on and instantly wanted to wear them to the ballet studio. So, of course, I let her. I thought inside how special this was that my daughter was wearing my first ballet slippers as we drove to purchase hers.
Thank you Lord for such a special afternoon for both Sarah and myself.

Below is a sweet picture of Sarah after she tried on my ballet slippers and also two adorable short movies of Sarah dancing in her new ballet leotard and shoes. Click on the play button under each movie clip to view! Don't forget to grab your popcorn! :)

And now... "Take Two"!

Isn't she a dancing doll!?!

Blessings,
Until next time...