Ellie Kate's Circus Birthday Party

The girls went to their cousin's 3rd birthday party this weekend and had sooo much fun! It was a circus theme complete with games, a photo booth, face painting, and LOTS of fun food.  They had a GREAT time and are still talking about the fun they had.

Makenzie and Emma Grace in the photo booth...

Presley loved the face painting! She had a butterfly on one side, and a rainbow on the other.

For more details and pictures of the party along with "how-to's" for a circus theme, visit If You Think Our Hands Are Full, You Should See Our Hearts. 



Ready for a Vacation!!

We are overdue for a MUCH needed vacation, and thanks to my parents who gave our family a trip to Gatlinburg for Christmas, we'll be headed that way soon enough!  We usually spend our summer vacations on a beach somewhere, but our girls have never been to Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg so this will be something new for them.  They are sooo excited!!

I just love all the nature trails and waterfalls that you can see during the summer!  We have a day planned at Dollywood, and we're seeing a couple of shows as well.  THEN, after a few days in Gatlinburg, my parents have graciously agreed to take our girls back home with them so that Wayne and I can have a couple of days to ourselves.  We're going to head up to Ashville, NC and visit The Biltmore Estate.  Neither of us have ever been and have always wanted to see it!  It will also be Wayne's birthday so it should be a fun day.

Here's the thing...since neither of us has ever been to The Biltmore, can those of you who have give us some tips on what to do/see and how to use our time there most effectively? 

Thanks!!

***Images courtesy of Google Images



Last Day of K4...

What a sad day for Mommy! My little girl has finished a whole year of school, and she learned sooo much!  We were invited to come to her classroom for a final pizza party, and her teacher gave each student an award for the year. 

Makenzie and Ava with their awards...

Mrs. Carr gave Makenzie the Helpful Friend award, and on each award she wrote a Bible verse that reminded her of each child.  Makenzie's Bible verse was Ecclesiastes 4:10 which says, " For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falleth for he hath not another to help him up."  Mrs. Carr went on to explain that Makenzie is the "little Mama" of the classroom. She takes care of everyone and let's Mrs. Carr know if there is a problem or if someone is hurt, angry, sad, etc.  It really describes Makenzie to a "T".  She is such a mature soul for her age, and she can be so helpful and caring towards others.

I am SOOO VERY PROUD of you Makenzie!! You have had amazing grades this year, and you were the only student in your class who could count to 100 without looking at the numbers (something else your teacher shared with us during the awards).  You can read amazingly well, and you have excelled in everything you've done so far.  I have loved hearing you come home and recite the memory verses you've memorized and sing the praise songs you've learned.  You are a blessing to us in more ways than one, and we love you very much! We are so excited to see what you'll learn next in K5.

Love,

Mommy



Last Field Trip of the Year!

Makenzie's class took a little field trip to the park last week, and the kids had a BLAST! She loved getting to play outside with all her little friends.  They had a picnic snack at the park, and then we loaded them all up and took them to McDonald's for lunch.  To five year olds, that makes for a pretty fun day!

Makenzie and her friends Ava and Caroline having their snack

Makenzie, Ava, and Rose playing at the park



Presley's Birthday Gifts...

  In my previous post, I told you guys that the only two things Presley really asked for this year was a wheel barrow with a shovel and a John Deere Gator (battery powered of course).  Well....her Aunt KK and Uncle Brad made sure she got the wheel barrow and shovel, but they took it a step farther and made sure it was pink!  They also painted her name on it along with "Daddy's little helper".  It is adorable! And they didn't just get her a shovel.  They got her a hoe, small gardening tools, and gardening gloves too.  She LOVED it! Here's a picture of her seeing it for the first time.

 

Presley's in the purple...we'd come directly from her birthday party :)  She pushed that wheel barrow all over Uncle Brad and Aunt KK's yard, and dug some holes with that shovel too lol!

Mommy and Daddy got Presley the Gator she wanted sooo badly! Yes, she's spoiled...we know! BUT, I have to say, this poor child has lived with hand-me-downs and shared EVERYTHING with her sister since the day she was born so when she asked for her own "car", I hated to tell her no. Especially when we bought her sister a Barbie Jeep for one of her birthdays. It just wasn't fair.  Her excitement was worth every penny too! She has been on this thing NON-STOP since we gave it to her, and she doesn't want to leave home because she just wants to play with it.

She actually was nice enough to let her sister have a ride...

 

Then they had a race! They are having sooo much fun riding around our yard.  Love seeing my girls so happy and having a great time.

Presley's 4th Birthday Luau Party

For Presley's party this year we decided to have a luau by the pool.  Unfortunately after having 90 degree temps for a week, we had a cold spell that took the temps into the upper 60's, lower 70's, and it was FREEZING!!  Those crazy kids didn't care tho! Most of them jumped in the pool anyway.

 Makenzie, Presley, and Addison ready for the luau

The party food and drinks...

The cake...

AND the pinata and candy...lots of fun even though the pool was freezing!

We Have a Winner!!!

Wow!! Thank you guys so much for all the support you gave this blog while we worked toward reaching our goal of 300 followers! We were sooo close-by deadline, we were at 299 followers! Amazing! AND...there were 267 entries into the giveaway!  It took me a couple of hours this afternoon to sort through entries and add extra entries in.  You guys really took advantage of those 5 extra entries lol! Love it!  We had several ladies who earned anywhere from 10-20  (some even more)entries alone...that's huge!  I know it was a lot of work on your part, but it was greatly appreciated ladies!

And for one of those ladies, all those extra entries paid off!  Random.org chose entry number 112 which was....drum roll please....Jolanthe from Homeschool Creations!!!

Congratulations Jolanthe!! You have been sent an email and have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

I can't wait to send you this gift basket...I just hope it all fits in the box lol! You have some GREAT things coming your way.

Thanks again everyone!!!

We'll have more giveaways coming soon so please check back often!

Jessica

**None of the items in this gift basket were donated or sponsored.  Each item was  purchased by me specifically for this giveaway.