happy birthday baby girl

oh my, how this little girl has brightened our home!  she is funny, loves her sameredith (yes, she combines their names), adores her daddy and gives me numerous hugs and kisses each day.  we all have our patience tested by answering  472 questions daily, having lego creations taken apart and  polly pockets broken.  but we all agree that she makes up for it with her laughter and joy! 

hard to believe that when we discovered she was on the way we were so shocked we did not even speak about it for an entire week!  not because we were not excited but because after all we had been through with infertility and ivf it was just a shock to realize we were having a third.  God is good. 

john david borrowed a bounce house from the milligan family (thank you very much!) so a few minutes before the party we headed outside with just our family.  the bounce house was not blown up and just laying on the grass and m2 completely ignored it ~ we would later find out that she thought it was several blankets for the picnic lunch with her friends.  as john david started inflating it she looked intently and had the greatest expression once she realized what it was. 

john david looks relaxed as the children bounce behind him... the grandparents chat before the other guests arrive.  as always i think about pops on a day like today ~ he is missed greatly. 

john david and little man set  up the back yard for some relay games.  after dividing up the teams we were ready to go.  m2 and her friend cmc (m2 is her middle name ~ funny huh?) are at the starting line with their boiled eggs in large spoons. 

and they are off... running towards granddaddy and passing off the spoons... running towards the grandmom's who are holding a rope to climb under...

grabbing stuffed animals from the deck and running around the house and finally tagging the next person waiting in line. 

landon and kayliegh are up next... run guys run! 

as the older kids waiting in line i pulled out tea spoons for their eggs ~ little man groaned.  seriously dude, did you think i was going to let you run around the back yard with the egg in the pasta spoon?  you need a challenge boy!  

i did not get pictures of the younger kids doing this, but after crawling under the rope they had to run and make some ball tosses into buckets on the ladder.  of course little man excelled at this part! 

last up was m1 squared.  (cmc's older sister shares m1's name)  go m1's go!

crawl m1's crawl!

run m1's run!  our m1's team won but they all had such a fun time they wanted to run the relay again and again.  while they ran and ran some more i came inside to set up the food ~ typical birthday fare: hot dogs, chips, fruit salad, and lasagna soup in the crock pot for the adults.   present time was next.  the grandparents went in together for a new bike with training wheels.  such a great gift since morgan has so many hand-me-downs!  little man and m1 wrote clues and sent her on a hunt around the house for it... this is her running back into the family room. 

m2 making the loop around the downstairs... she did very well except for the braking part.  her tricycle goes forward and backward so she has to get that skill mastered. 

cupcake time!  the birthday girl's cupcake looked like a flower; the others were all purple, which little man loved! 

thanks to the two families that shared our day with us...  we appreciate your friendship! 

grandparents ~ thanks for the love and encouragement you lavish on our children.  they love you and are blessed by you! 

happy birthday sweet baby girl mgw!

pitching in

little man and m1 pitched in (after m2 went to bed) and created this happy b-day banner out of scrapbook and construction paper.  i was putting the icing on the cupcakes and they were working together on the kitchen floor ~ they were so excited and came up with the idea themselves.  after cutting the scrapbook paper they hung it on baking twine using a stapler.  they safety pinned the construction paper letters to the banner paper because we were out of glue sticks.  pretty good job guys!

getting ready for the party

who doesn't love some fun colorful cupcakes!?? with m2 as my helper it took twice as long but it was fun to complete.  mmm, where did she disappear to when it was time to clean up the mess?  and how much batter did she end up eating?

national zoo trip

after the early service at church we headed home for a quick lunch and to pack the car for a road trip.  the children had monday off from school so we wanted to have some family fun (instead of my usual monday routine of laundry, changing beds and chores).   bethesda, maryland was where we stayed sunday night.  sunday afternoon we watched the end of the masters and then ate dinner in the hotel restaurant (great deal on kids meals).  monday morning we took the back roads into d.c. and 15 minutes later were at the zoo.

m1 and i ~ yeah i know she's only seven i might be looking up at her in a few years. 

last trip we were able to see the orangutans climbing overhead but not today.  they were still fun to watch as they played about. 

little man was enthralled with the large gorilla.  the smaller monkeys climbing around and jumping from rope to rope also captured his attention... he is much like a monkey on the playground.  the small monkeys are also john david's favorite to watch.

yes, m2 is milking the cow.

we all love the large animals that make up the zoo but our favorite part of any large zoo is usually the rain forest area.  there are plants and animals that you just don't get to see at every zoo.  it's filled with loud birds and a monkey or two overhead... make sure you don't get pooped on! 

we had a great family day and the children were tuckered out from all the walking!  we got there early and left late ~ and then got caught in the traffic that makes up the area around d.c.  this was m2 within about five minutes of being in the car... completely sound asleep.  the others also slept about an hour before we stopped for dinner.  of course that hour was spent only moving about 20 miles or so. 

after dinner the children were well rested and well fed.  john david surprised them by popping a movie into the computer and setting it up on the cooler so they could all view the screen.  that was certainly a treat since we don't have any fancy dvd players in our vehicle.  next time though we should bring bungee cords to keep the computer still on the turns. 

easter eggstravaganza

our church has it's annual easter egg hunt, along with pony rides, a small petting zoo area, crafts and face painting and multiple bounce things.  the black-light puppet show was great also.  hearing puppets rock to "God's not dead he's surely alive" and my kids singing along was amazing.  i didn't take many pictures since the children were all over the place. 

a new obsession

this game, qwirkle, is our newest obsession ~ we play about five nights a week!  the kids love it and are learning to be strategic in their moves to block others.  we have been keeping the score sheets and see much improvement in their skills.  for those with smarty-pants kids this game is mensa approved.  so what does m2 do while we are playing?  webkinz junior is her screen time.  fun that we are all around the table at the same time!

fancy hair

i need to work on my bobby-pin placement but m1's hair is getting long enough to do some fun styles with.  the goal was four little buns closer together... maybe next time.  oh, and the added bonus?  this girl with stick straight hair had some curls once we took the buns out.