Mother's Day Celebrations

We had my grandmother, mom, sister and sister-in-law here this weekend to celebrate Mother's Day with us. We had such a great time! It was a very special weekend. On Saturday, we celebrated with gifts, cake, playing outside and having fun together. I've got lots of pictures from the day! We opened gifts before lunch and all of us moms were spoiled! Ma-don got a tea kettle and frying pan that she had been wanting, Mama got a Pandora style bracelet with several beads and charms, and I got a Belk gift card, a new Francine Rivers book, and new charms for my own bracelet to represent each of my girls. We also each got lots of pretty cards, both store bought and handmade. Those handmade cards are pretty special! Here is a picture of all of my treasures! After that, it was time for a picnic lunch outside in the shade. As long as we stayed out of the sun, it was really very pleasant! We finished off lunch with a slice of yummy cake. Then it was time for some fun in the sun! The girls had a blast playing in the water all afternoon! They played with tupperware buckets. They played in the sprinkler. They ate popsicles. It was really lots of fun. Before heading inside, we took advantage of our time together to take a few more pictures.

The Dragonfly Whisperer

For the past couple weeks, we have seen so many dragonflies around here! And apparently our backyard is their headquarters. And Annlee loves it! This weekend, she earned the nickname of Dragonfly Whisperer. She could sit very still in the grass the dragonflies would land all over her. She could put her finger underneath them and they would hop right onto ther fingertip. She was even able to catch a few of them. Then she decided it would be fun to teach Elianna about dragonflies. Elianna loved it for a while and was very fascinated with them. She was even able to catch one too, but she didn't like that too much. It was so neat to see all those dragonflies! I was even able to get a few to land on me!

Creativity

Hmmm, perhaps we could patent this? They weren't going to let just 2 swings stop them from having fun. I love their creative minds! Of course, the only problem is that the pressure of the stick has started to rip the swings and possibly make them unusable... but I digress. I'll continue to focus my thoughts on how creative these little girls are! Isn't it amazing that God made our minds so we can figure out solutions to problems even when we are so young? The human mind - at any age - is an awesome thing!

Wet Fun

The girls all got new bathing suits in their Easter baskets and have been anxious to try them out. After enjoying the sprinkler so much the day before with the garden, they decided it would be fun to do it again the next day in their suits. It turned out to be a bit too cool still, but they had fun anyway. Kaylin and Annlee played in the water most of all and had a great time. These two are really such good friends. It makes me so happy to see them together! Maryella and Elianna couldn't quite make themselves get into the sprinkler, but they had fun running around in the backyard anyway.

Look Mom! No Training Wheels!

We've been really bad about getting the girls outside to ride their bikes. We go outside plenty, but it's rare that we get their bikes out. It involves moving cars around at times, putting air in tires, and then it's a pretty small area in the driveway to ride. To find a really good place to ride, we have to load up the bikes and take everyone down to the cul de sac at the end of our road. Of course, then we are without a bathroom, etc. It's just a hassle. So this weekend, we decided that it's high time that our 8 and 6 year olds learn how to ride without their training wheels. The cul de sac wouldn't really work for that because we needed a long straight area. We tried just riding in the street in front of our house and it worked out fine. We still had to take several breaks for oncoming traffic, but we made do! We were completely amazed at how well Kaylin picked it up! She caught on immediately! And she LOVED it! Check out that smile! Her determination was amazing to watch! She even taught herself how to start going on her own!Way to go Kaylin! Annlee wasn't too sure about it yet, despite some very personal and special instruction. She ended up asking for her training wheels to be back on. She'll get it soon, I have no doubt. She usually tends to be more athletic than the others. But for now, we are really celebrating this for Kaylin. She can sometimes get pretty down on herself and is quite the perfectionist. So for her to pick this up so quickly has been super for her! Here are a couple videos from the next day...