Silver + Gold

I get nervous, excited, and intimidated every time I meet someone new.  Especially someone I really hope to be friends with one day.  Melissa Chaney was no exception. 

While it took some time for our friendship to blossom, it was well worth the effort and wait.  Melissa and her family became the kind of friends I plan to keep for a lifetime.  I share things with her and she just "gets it."  I guess being wife to a youth pastor (with our husbands being oh so similar) in the same small town calls for a lot of common ground--and very unique common ground.  While I've always known the Chaneys wouldn't be here forever and I trust in God's perfect timing, it has still been so hard to let go.  In fact, I haven't been able to even write about it for a while now without tearing up.  What am I talking about--I still do.

It was especially difficult to say goodbye when a lot of our "goodbye events" were canceled due to sickness in our family.  Thankfully, we did squeeze in one day for a meal at Pepper's and some playtime at the park.


These silly three had fun running up and down the sidewalks downtown. And playing at the bayside pirate ship park. Micah *loves* jumping to daddy. Ivory likes jumping...but she's a "big girl" and can jump all by herself. And of course Addie can't be left out of the jumping excitement.
Korban + Olive spent some time bonding. Ivory, "Will Mr. Sabian be coming?  Yes?  Oh good.  I don't hardly ever get to see him."  She was glad she could spend time coloring and sitting with him.  He's such a sweet daddy. 
When we got home we had one tired boy on our hands.
It never gets old watching them sleep.  So sweet.

Africa Video Slideshow

As follow up to my last Africa post here are some videos from my sister's trip. The first one is a video she put together with dad and is about 5 minutes long--totally worth every minute. The second one (put together by her teammate) is also great but a little longer but don't think it's not woth every minute you spend watching it. Don't start them until you have a box of tissues by your side.





These people are real. And they need the church to rise up.  What can you do?  Find Melissa Bennett (my sister) on facebook, tell her you're my friend, ask her what you can do.

Appreciate The Cow

Every year Chik-fil-a celebrates Cow Appreciate Day.  It's a blast--dress up like a cow, get free food.  Um, yes?!   We are huge Chik-fil-a fans.  Love their always pleasant, excellent customer service, delcious food (they've (never once messed up my order or given me food I didn't love), generosity, company policies, and family values.  As a teenager I read a biography on Cathy Truett + his company and I was extremely impressed with his business as well as his values.  This is one generous, kind hearted man.  Once his sons were looking all over him to get his advice about a business decision.  They couldn't find him in any of the offices.  Then it struck them, they knew exactly where to find him.  Sure enough, there he was playing with the foster kids at the children's home he opened.  They said that was a perfect description of what kind of man Truett is.  And it shows all the way down to the employee who serves my delicious lemonade or cookies 'n cream milkshake.  Since I love the company so much I *almost* felt guilty taking free food from them...but then they did offer and I must admit we are rather avid supporters year round.

While Jason wasn't too sure about the cow shirt, I think he appreciated it when he went to pay for our meals and his card was slid back across the counter to him.  4 free meals?  Yes, thank you.  Korban promptly wiped his cow nose off + Micah refused to allow his cow ears near him.  And my two oldest drew the line at cow hoofs on their hands.  But, they're still pretty darn cute. 

We plan to make this an annual tradition (two down--lots more to go!).  We really enjoyed the fun these past two years with our friends Sabian, Melissa, and Addie.   little cows -- check out our tails! Little cows loving the play place.  Love that moment between Ivory + Micah while Addie runs to climb in and join the fun.  So sweet.  We also enjoyed a spontaneous outing to Under the Oaks by the Bay after dinner.  The kids enjoyed a very spontaneous romp in the salt marsh (yuk!) where they had an absolutely completely messy blast.   

And for fun:

Thanks for the smiles Tim Hawkins.

What's On Your Phone

I realize I've been very absent.  There are many reasons for this, mostly I'm just feeling completely unmotivated.  So, here's my trying to pull my blogging self together and posting about our recent activities for posterity.  Ivory and I are excited about Mom's new cell phone!

We rejoiced with Tim's mom when Tim bravely went down the big slide!  We're also really excited about seeing Tim very soon!!

Before going out of town we squeezed in a play date with Addie and Melissa squeezed in some baby loving.

Micah has cried whenever getting near the Barbie jeep and would just about lose it when he had to ride in it.  But all our little man needed was a ride with daddy.  Then look at how he bravely rides with Addie.  Love this excited expression on my son's face.  Love his daddy, too.

Addie's Three

We were excited to spend the afternoon at Addie's house celebrating her third birthday last Saturday.  Ivory made Addie's birthday card, wrote Addie's name all by herself and drew Ivory + Addie.  Love it + love the sweet 3-year-old birthday girl.  And there was a princess castle jump house!
+ great friends

+ a ball pool (Micah's personal favorite)
+ bubbles + sunshine + delicious ice cream cake

+ adorable rainbow party favors.

And the sweet birthday girl gratefully opened each present.
Korban was worn out by all the party fun and crashed in Addie's bed for a little while. 
Thanks for inviting us, sweet birthday girl!

Play Date

Last week Addie's Mom invited us over for a play date.  We had such a good time.  And, of course, enjoyed some delish cinnamon rolls.  Melissa getting some baby love.  We're so excited that soon there will be another baby to love in July!

Love these sweet little blondies. I love the wonder and awe of childhood captured in this photo.  The girls snuch into the dark bathroom to enjoy Addie's shiny, spinning, glowing toy.

Thanks for having us over--we had fun!

Play Date + Art + Sunday Best

Life has been hectic, crazy, and exhuasting.  Korban is snuggly...very snuggly.  As in he wants to snuggle lots and lots and lots.  He enjoys being held...pretty much always.  If he's awake he's probably fussing...or soon will be.  Thank goodness he sleeps in his little moses basket well or I think our sanity would be questionable by now.  The kids still adore him and we love him dearly.  He's now 10lbs and 23inches.  He is our special blessing. 

One day last week we went for a fun play date at Addie's house that included face crayons, cuddles, toys, and cinnamon rolls.
Ivory's recent artwork: dinosaur.

Dressed in their Sunday best.  Micah was thrilled about having his picture taken...

Play Date Painting

Preparing for our playdate.  Love how focused Micah was...until he saw the ball.

We had a fun visit with Addie and her mom.  Painting was the biggest hit that followed snack time.  Ivory, in true artistic style, enjoyed painting wet wipes and her fingernails the most.  Addie painted the traditional way--and quite well I might add.  Micah enjoyed painting a little spot. screwing the cap on, taking the cap off, repeat.  Again, and again, and again.  This child's patience constantly amazes me.
Ivory's self-manicure later led to a "real" manicure complete with blue nail polish.  Mommy was stingy today--only one color.

Daddy went for a brief out of town conference and even though the trip was short, we missed him and are so glad that he's home!  Thanks Addie for helping us pass the time while daddy was away.

Pink & Blue Ice Cream Parlor Party

Invitations sent.

Decorations crafted.

Party favors prepared.

Birthday clothes sewn.

Out of town guests arrived (minus Nana & Grandaddy who couldn't come last minute because of sickness. We were so disappointed and pray they get well very soon!)

Micah & Uncle Matt having a stare contest.

Ivory excited to wake up next to Aunt Mel as soon as the sun rose.

Desserts baked.

Awning hung (no small feat--thanks Jason & Uncle Matt!) & balloons inflated (we were going to leave them all over the gym floor for the kids to play with, that is until they began popping at random all around us. Lesson learned, no last minute balloon purchases from Dollar General).

Cupcones & cake iced. Can I just say I've always been amazed by Aunt Mel's cake decorating skills, but was doubly impressed this weekend. I have to admit, when she told me she planned to ice them with Ivory I was a little disappointed thinking they might not look as beautiful but immediately realized the fun Ivory would have and how much that would mean to her. That obviously means so much more then perfectly iced cupcones. Well, not only did they have fun icing & decorating together--they came out looking as adorable as ever. Aunt Mel, you are truly a cake decorating marvel and a very patient, fun aunt. Oh, and the cake was just leftover batter that she last minute iced and decorated. This girl's got skills.

Tables set.

We had an *amazing* set-up/prep crew.

Popcorn popped & homemade ice cream churned (thanks MikeMike & Jason!).

Stephen stopped by Saturday so we snagged him for set-up help and invited him to join our little party. So glad he could make it last minute--he truly is a joyful servant.

The boys managed to stop for some pre-party fun...

Kids dressed and ready for the party...a feat in and of itself as they were woken from naps to go to the party. Ivory, excited about going to her party until Mom begins dressing her, "I don't WANT to wear this dress! It hurts! I don't want to wear those socks. They hurt! Don't want to eat nothing! Don't want NOTHING!" I knew the balloons, sugar, guests, presents, etc. would quickly distract so we pressed on. Needless to say, our getting dressed pictures didn't turn out super pleasant...

Time for the big entrance of the birthday girl down the hallway of balloons (great job Uncle Matt, Daddy & Aunt Mel!).

She entered her party with all the excitement, awe and wonder this Momma had hoped for.

So excited to *finally* be able to eat the candy she's been eyeing in jars on Mommy's dresser for weeks.

Micah found the whole affair nearly as exciting as his big sister did. Please disregard the crooked front haircut--have you ever tried cutting a 15 month old's hair? 15-months: seventh hair cut. 3-year-old Ivory? She's had two.

Ivory was extremely excited to be surrounded by so many of her favorite people. This girl has a lot of people she adores and we could have filled the gym with them, but for her sanity (she's not a big crowd person--like her mom) and ours we try to keep the parties small.

The ice cream was delish!

The kids were on such sugar highs they kept running into furniture and each other.

There were some salty food options such as salty blue popcorn, blue corn chips & pink queso dip, and then the slightly healthy chocolate covered strawberries.

Thanks Daddy & Uncle Matt for taking lots of pictures! Oh, and Debi, look closely at the white tablecloths--remember them? Discovered leftover tablecloths from my sister's wedding (nearly 6 years ago) and decided to put them to good use.

Once the party actually began I nearly crashed, in spite of the coffee & sugar! I know, perfect pregnancy diet. Don't worry it's not something habitual. =) Thanks to all the people who kept the party running smoothly and my children happy while I took a break and rested.

Daddy is so much fun!

We never can convince our guests that their presence is present enough. Ivory doesn't seem to mind, though...

She was THRILLED with every single gift. These people know what this 3-year-old girly girl likes. Melissa *made* her an adorable bag with her name & an ice cream cone on it. Ivory loves reading her name and she loves bags--winning combo.

These people know my girls loves coloring & crafting.

The birthday girl gave sweet hugs & thank yous for each gift. I was proud of the gratefulness she demonstrated. Boy is she growing up!


Funny story: Grandma takes Ivory shopping for her birthday. They're at our tiny Dollar General for an hour. When they arrive home Ivory runs in the door yelling, "I got CHAPSTICK!!!" This is no fancy sparkly princess chapstick, just an ordinary blue label tube of chapstick. Cracks me up. An HOUR and the chapstick is what she showed off first. Of course, she had other goodies like a rubber snake (which she sleeps with now, only a few months ago we battled snake nightmares. Guess she's emulating Batman and embracing her fears), princess ball cap, light up ball, juice boxes, and hair things. Grandma said pick three things. I guess that's three items in Grandma math. She had such a good time and apparently made friends with everyone in the store in the process, even striking up an argument with a man about the correct way to sign three. Brings back memories of going to lunch & shopping with my grandma for my birthday. Those were special times. It's fun watching my mom continue the tradition.

A big thank you to Melissa for keeping Micah & Addie entertained across the gym during present time. I loved glancing over periodically to see them so happily playing. Micah loves Addie & Melissa!

Not only are these people sweet enough to come out for our little girl's party, invest so much in her, and bring presents, they all stayed to help clean up, too. We were amazed and relieved by how quickly the clean-up went.

When we got home I had just enough energy to throw together some potato soup before crashing. The kids had short naps, a late bedtime, and exciting day. I sure was counting on a late morning rising...or at least one on time? Micah decided to wake up at 5AM. His screaming brought us to his room 30 minutes later. Woke up his sister. So much for sleeping in, attending church, joint naps for the kids, etc. Normal schedule completely crashed. Oh well, plans change. The weekend was fun and we managed to rest when we could. Overall, it was very fun and I'm feeling so blessed to have had three very special years with our joyful, precocius three-year-old Ivory Rae. Thank you, to the many people who've invested in our family over the year.s Most of all, thank you Lord for the good times and the bad times. Your presence & salvation is what we value more then any earthly blessing. I pray that very soon our little girl will come to realize how precious a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is. There's no better gift she could receive.