Happy 3rd Birthday Sophie!

Happy Birthday to our sweet little Sophie Rose who is 3 years old today! .

Sophie had a wonderful birthday celebration at The Little Gym with lots of friends and their moms and dads.
Sophie was dressed to be a princess ready for some tumbling fun at the Little Gym. She picked out her fabric for the crown applique birthday shirt I made for her. She also chose her tutu. Sophie is quite the clothes fashionista!
Emma-Caroline and Sophie enjoyed a bit of free play together before the guests arrived.

We all sat in a circle and sang Happy Birthday to the birthday girl.

Sophie was excited to celebrate her special day with her friends.

We had lots of fun with our friends who included Sam, Charlie, Davis P., Jack, Davis T., Katie, Mary Helen, and Cate

Daddy even joined in the fun and tumbled and played with his girls!

Sophie showed off her skills at donkey kicking . . .

and clapping to the beat . . .

and running . . .

and jumping . . .

and hanging from the high bar . . .

and playing hide-and-go-seek!

Sophie had a delicious cake complete with three of her favorite Disney Princesses.

My camera battery died and this was the only shot I got of Sophie with her birthday cake. We all had a wonderful birthday celebration with our sweet Sophie. It was a party fit for a very special princess!

It's Done . . . Well Sort Of!

WHEW! I never have run a marathon, nor do I think I will do so in the near future, but after single handedly packing down our house on Swathmore Court last week and staying up until 4:30 am today to get the rest of it done, I feel as if I have run a marathon. I am WORN OUT!
My whole body hurts, but it was worth it. I will say that I DO NOT want to pack down another house for many, many years to come. The House on Swathmore Court and I had some major wrestling matches as I crawled into eves to retrieve all things left from Avery Past, slid under beds to pull out all of those forgotten "keepsake" boxes, and swept out cobwebs that probably have been around for at least 7 years.

When the match was over, the House stood as the winner with sparkling floors and walls, empty spotless rooms and an impeccable garage and yard.

Meanwhile I took on a gazillion bruises (even one on my finger!) cuts, scrapes, and SORE muscles. Did I mention I am BEAT!The girls too are worn out from the first part of our move. We are in a temporary residence at a corporate apartment until our house is ready in mid July. I am thankful for the reprieve from packing, moving and ultimately unpacking.

I am also thankful and blessed with a smooth move to our storage unit and temporary apartment. I look at our month long venture into the apartment world as a mini vacation. Let the party begin!

It's in the Box!

It's finally here. It's time to pack and MOVE! Howie and I have moved six times together as a married couple, so you would think we were experts on moving. I will say we are veterans of moving, but maybe not experts. I have made some new best friends during this packing time. I don't know what I could do without you, Packing Tape and Sharpie Marker.

In all the times past that we have moved, it has just been Howie and my stuff that we have had to pack and move. Not so bad. Now, we not only have our stuff, but the girls' stuff as well, which has magnified packing by the 1000's.

(Check out Fancy Nancy looking out of the hole in the box. Reminds me of Toy Story)

It's getting done, and it will ALL be done by next Tuesday, which is our official move date. "YIKES! and YIPPEE!" basically wraps up my feelings at the moment.
The girls have been helping by mostly keeping out of my way while I pack down the fort.

This is just the beginning of our pile.Sophie has worn herself out from all the packing and even fell asleep on the stairs the other day. This time next week, I will be clicking my heels that our task has been completed. Then it's off to the next task . . .unpacking!

Monograms, Bows, and Snakes???

June has been a busy month! Ironic, as we are supposed to be in the "lazy" days of summer time. But it seems that we are even more busy than the regular part of the year. That's not to say that we aren't happy with being busy or that we aren't enjoying it. This week we have been at VBS at our church enjoying the "High Seas Expedition." We have one more day and as a core leader and planner on the VBS committee, I am thankful for a great week and to also see the end in sight. Before adventuring into the "High Seas" at VBS, we had a different kind of adventure at the zoo at our little friend Davis Taylor's 4th birthday party. The girls had a fabulous time and we are planning on copying a zoo party for one or both of them for next year. I was truly surprised though that both of my girls LOVED the snake named Eddy. They petted him as if he were a cute little furry puppy. Ironic, doesn't even describe the picture of my matching-outfits-big-bowed-southern-princess girls cozying up to Mr. Eddy the snake. I guess he was charmed by their beauty or vice-versa! (Pics below)

Monograms, bows and snakes the perfect combo!
Sophie loved Eddy!

Emma-Caroline loved him too although she looks a bit more cautious!