Straight from their mouths...



Ainsley:  Mom, do you have to get that thing where they put it on your arm and it gets tight when you have a baby?

Me:  Taking my blood pressure... yes, I have to do it every time I go to the doctor.

Ainsley:  Why?

Me:  Well... it is hard work for my body to grow a baby... and that is one way they can make sure that my body is doing OK and that I'm staying healthy.

Liam:  Wouldn't it just be easier if you could lay an egg?

(silence... not knowing quite how to respond and thinking to myself... Yes... maybe it would!) 

:)

Her Big Day

On the day she turned six, we had a big day planned for Ainsley!

After church, we headed to Red Robin for some lunch at her request!

She loved opening her presents there!  Two of them...

Earrings (for the ear piercing we told her she could do when she was six)

and her first CD - Jamie Grace!

 Of course she loved being sung to by the Red Robin staff...

and even better was the cherry on top of the birthday sundae they gave her!

 One other present... her own ipod!

(I think she liked it!)

 Later that day I snapped this picture of her because it is so "Ainsley" right now.

Sitting quietly on the couch, looking over some of the things from her

birthday and enjoying the new diary she received from a friend.

 It was finally time for the big moment... to head to the mall to get her ears pierced!

She has been begging us to do this for the last year, so I was surprised that she didn't seem more excited.  We arrived at the mall, and she got as far as picking out the earring she wanted and then

the nerves took over! 

She wanted to go home.  She cried.  She didn't want to be there anymore.

:)

 

I knew if we left the store it would be about 3-5 years before I would get her

back there... so we sat on the floor and talked for awhile.  We got to see someone else get

their ears pierced for the 2nd time (that you God for that little blessing)!

Finally, when I told her that we would get 50% off the whole store if she did this... and that she could pick out a few things... that was what made her turn around and say,

"OK... I'm ready!"

:) 

 

Marking the holes...

 

** Setting down the camera to hold my girl's hands...**

 

All done!  Seeing herself for the first time with earrings!

 Picking out a few new treasures at the store!

 Check out those beautiful ears!

 

I love this girl!

The Barbie Party

For the last six months Ainsley had been thinking through all the different types of parties

she wanted to have when she turned six.

There was the art party, the horse party, the American Girl Doll party, and even an ice cream party.

She went back and forth between these all these ideas, and when I said that she just had to pick one...

She out of the blue picked to have a Barbie Party.

So with a black and pink color theme, we threw a fun Barbie party for a few of her friends!

 Each girl invited was asked to wear pink and bring a Barbie with them to the party.

When they arrived, a pink chair was awaiting each Barbie by the girl's table setting.

 We started the party by designing some skirts for the Barbies. 

With a simple circle pattern, they were able to transform

the Barbie skirts into their very own fashion work of art!

Everyone had lots of fun designing their own skirt!

 While the skirts dried, we headed into the living room where the girls were

going to get their Barbies ready for a spectacular Barbie fashion show.

I had loaded a tote with lots of Barbie dresses, shoes, and accessories for the girls

to choose from.  They used all these things to dress up their dolls. 

They loved it!

 Once the dolls were dressed, the girls needed to get ready for the

fashion show too!  So we used some necklaces, pink sunglasses,

a little "make-up", and glitter body spray

to get them all glammed up!

Not only were they so excited, they were so cute too!!!

 I showed them a little example of how to walk the runway,

and then each girl had a turn showing off her Barbie

as she walked and twirled on the run way.

 After our fashion show, it was time for a little cake and ice cream!

 And of course time to sing Happy Birthday and

blow out the candles!

 Next, we played a few games like "Hot Barbie" (like Hot Potato)

and musical chairs with their Barbies. 

There were lots of giggles, laughter, and smiles all around!

To end the party, I gave the girls just a chance to "play Barbies" 

and dress up their dolls with each other.

It was so sweet to watch them play together.

The Barbie Party was a perfect way to celebrate
my girl turning six!

Later that day, we invited our family to come over for super

and celebrate Ainsley's birthday.

For this party we had to have the one requirement made by Ainsley for the Barbie Party...

A Barbie Cake!

 We had a few cake pops as well to share with our family.

 Some of the cousins!

Time for some presents...

A favorite - Cowgirl Boots!

Blowing out 6 candles!

Sweet and Sassy at Six!

We love you Ainsley Lyn!

Six Years Old

No words could ever describe this girl... or what she means to our family.

I smile when I think of the day she was born, and how God knew we needed her.

Today she turns six... she has seemed to leave all "little" girl behind her in this past year and

has become just a very sweet and special girl.

 Ainsley, you are...

Sweet

Sassy

Creative

Sensitive

Caring

Silly

Tender

Spunky

Lover of fashion

All Girl

Dramatic

Precious

Imaginative

Loving

 You are our girl...

And we love you so much!

Telling the Kids...

We didn't really have a good idea of how to tell the kids that we were going to be having a new baby in our family.  We played around with a few ideas, but then right before supper on the night we needed to tell them, we came up with this simple idea that turned out to be super fun!

We started by making a "fancy" dinner... which at our house is pretty much any dinner on our china plates.  We got out the nice table cloth and candles, and we even put the fruit salad we were having in a Champaign glass.

The kids started asking why we were eating supper in the dinning room, but we do that every once in awhile so our, "just because" answer was good enough for them. 

They didn't even notice that there was a small "extra" plate at the end of the table.

Once everyone had food on their plates, I said, "Oh no... not everyone in our family has food on their plates."  The kids started looking at everyone's plates and were slightly confused because to them it seemed that everyone did have food on their plates.

 

Then I got up and put an empty baby bottle on the extra plate at the end of the table and sat down.



Right away Ainsley said,

"Oh!  I get it!  We are going to save up money in the bottle for kids who done have much food!" 

(just a note: this is what one of her grandma's does for a mission project at their church...) 



We said no.... why else do you think we have a baby bottle at our table.

Kallan said, "because we need something that has sauce on it... like a pizza!

???????? 

(can you tell he's three and Captain Random!)

No.........  :)

Then Liam said, "Are we having a baby?"

 

As I nodded my head... all the excitement let loose! 

Ainsley immediately said, "What is it?  Are you going to be pregnant?!?!"

Liam said, "Where'd you learn that?  How long have you known?"

Lots of smiles! Lots of giggles! Lots of "Oh my goodness!"  Lots of, "I must be dreaming!"

Kallan was pretty oblivious toward the whole thing.  When I told him mommy had a baby in her tummy and that he was going to be a big brother his response was as he looked at his fruit salad...

"Can I try the blueberry?"

 

Other topics of conversation... what we should name the baby.

Ainsley quickly thought that if it was a girl, we should give the baby a name exactly like hers without an "i"... so she thought Ansley would be a good name.  ;)

 

Liam said that whatever we have, the first name should start with an "E" because we have an

L.... A.... K.... and it would just make sense to have an E so we could spell, LAKE!

 

:)

 

It was such a special evening... filled with so much joy and excitement!  And without a really good plan heading into the evening, it turned out the perfect way to tell our kids!

 

 



Remembering...

today these truths from His Word...

But You, Lord, are a shield around me...

You are my glory....

You are the One who lifts my head high!

You are the One who sustains me!

from Psalm 3:3,5

In You, Lord, I put my trust.

I trust in You!

Show me Your ways Lord....

for my hope is in You all day long.

 

According to Your love, remember me...

for You, Lord, are good... and what You do is good!

All Your ways are loving and faithful!

from Psalm 25

and from Job 1:21...

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away..

may the name of the Lord be praised.

A gift from Him... two little blooms on my clematis at the end of summer

 just for me... a reminder for my heart of His faithfulness... always.

Enjoying the end of our summer!

I know for most that summer hasn't "officially" ended, but for us when school starts, it feels like it has.  So here's a look back at a few of our favorite summer memories in July!

Being crazy with friends!

 Daddy's birthday.... complete with peach cream pie, homemade vanilla ice cream, and a few of his gifts... a new water cup, and some famous KC Royals BBQ sauce!

 Riding on grandpa's float in the Henderson Days parade.

 Watching their relationship grow.

 Melting mama's heart when he still cuddles up with one of his animals!

 Just goofy!

 A Kazoo concert!

 Eileen's Cookies

 His little finger swelling up after getting attacked by a bee...

The bee got a bit of mama's nose too as she tried to save him!

 Hanging out with our neighbors.

 "Putting up" sweet corn.

 So excited about writing our whole family's names (even little "?")

(and her name is backwards because it is written on a slide in sheet that she put the wrong way... ;)

Summer time just has to be the best!!!  So thankful for all the memories!