50 years

Today, my mother in law and father in law have been married for 50 years! In this world of 'it's all about me,' their example of love, devotion, and dedication to God's plan for their life is a shining example. So thankful for them!

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad Owens!

Mermaid Party

Well, today was ML's Mermaid Birthday Party! We had a great time and are so thankful for everyone who came out to celebrate with us.

This party was so fun, but difficult at the same time. Difficult because there are so many cute mermaid party ideas out there, it was hard to pick just a few things to incorporate into ML's party. It seemed that there were 2 basic color scheme choices: pale pink/ peach with creams and whites or turquoise and green. Since 'the' Little Mermaid, Ariel, was the original inspiration for the party (what little girl doesn't love The Little Mermaid?), I chose to go with the turquoise & green.

This wreath greeted party guests:
Once inside:

Finished! ribbon topiary:
Cupcakes!
Cake & Candy table (sorry the plastic wrap is still on the Swedish Fish! - ooops!):

Mermaid cake - my very first time making a cake for my children. It's not perfect, but it turned out okay and ML thought it was awesome, which was all I cared about!:

Sea Shells above the lunch buffet:
Fish Craft area:
Fishing Game - just your basic 'Fall Carnival' style throw the fishing rod over and get a small prize back type game. It just so happened that JR & ML's existing shower curtain fit perfectly with our theme!:
Some pictures of ML (& JR) with Ariel on our many Disney trips:
Beverage area:

I put ML in a sweet smocked mermaid shorts set, but as per her usual schedule, about 30 minutes into the party she had already stripped down and put on a princess dress:
Cake!
It was wonderful fun and even though I can't believe she's 5! I am so thankful for my little birthday girl.

She's Back!

So. I was one of those girls who played with dolls waaaaaay into the time when my friends were more into make-up and New Kids on the Block. Due to my 'delayed' development, I was - at that time- the proud owner of my own American Girl Doll, Molly.

Molly was much loved for the 2 or 3 years I kept her out in my room, but sometime in high school (at which point I hadn't played with her for years) she was lovingly packed up and put away. We brought her out again last year, roughly 20 years after she was first placed in her storage box. So, after 10 years in conditioned storage and 10 years in the attic, I was not surprised when her leg fell off in May when ML was playing with her.

I decided to ship her off to the doll hospital to have her fixed. I considered waiting until our next visit to Chicago and the American Girl Doll store there, but wasn't sure how long that would be. Molly looked so pitiful with only one leg, so off she went to be fixed. ML was totally devastated as she LOVES Molly. I think we sent her off the middle of May, so ML has been anxiously awaiting the mail lady every day for the past 2 weeks.

Today, the Fed Ex man dropped off this:

Reunited!!!:

Happy girls!:

Isn't Molly's hospital gown adorable? Molly also 'got her hair did' while she was in the hospital. Free of charge! How awesome is that? So glad to have her home.

2 Weeks of Crazy

First - see post below - urgent prayer needed!

For my IRL friends - next year when I say something like "I can't wait until it's summer and things calm down." Please smack me in the head - okay? LOL! It has been CRA-ZAY. And I know it's busy everywhere else too.

Last week, JR spent the week at the Camp where Big Daddy and I met 9 years ago this summer. Such a sweet feeling driving in there with my own child to drop him off for a week of (day) camp! Bittersweet though in that I'm no longer a 'cool' counselor. Instead now, I'm an OLD mom of a camper! Ha! :-)

So last week was a blur, but this week we have Art everyday and we have something else fun most every day too.

Yesterday we went to a local rural school to help distribute lunches to children in need. I did this for the group of 7th grade girls that I work with at my church (it was our service project) but I brought the kids along to help. I knew it would be an eye opening experience for them and that they would have a good time.

Love my small group girls!:

Also - this week is CRAFT CRAZY! ML's mermaid birthday party is Saturday - so excited! Just have to finish up 1000 ideas I have. Is that too much to ask? Heehee! A preview of ML's ribbon topiary:
Here's hoping it will look better once it's finished!

Asking for Prayers

Please pray for Rebecca and her triplets. Rebecca is 24 weeks along with 3 precious, much prayed for babies. Today Rebecca and the twins had surgery to repair a blood flow issue the twins were having. The next 24 hours are critical. Please pray that Rebecca and all 3 babies would heal quickly and there are 3 heartbeats in the morning. Thank you!!!

Baking, Crafting, and Baseball - Oh My!

It. has been. a week. QUITE a week, I tell you. It seems like I can't bake enough.

Blueberry muffins....... yummmmmmmm....... :

And not just muffins - cookies, cupcakes - the list goes on! What is with me and the baking?!

And then I got to make this fun stuff for JR's end of the season baseball party:

Have I ever mentioned how much I love being indoors in climate control? Whelp. Now might be a good time to mention it. Because to prove God has a sense of humor, I have been gifted with a boy who would rather be outside than any other place on earth. If we are at home, he wants to play in the front with his friends, or ride his bike, or play ball in the backyard. If there is an organized sport, he wants us to sign him up for it. The kid just LOVES the outdoors. Forget TV, video games, and all that jazz. Give this kid a bike and a ball and you won't see him for hours.

But back to me. Ha! Now that you know how much I love my air conditioning, maybe you can sympathize with the 6 - SIX!- games in over 90 degree heat we've been to over the past week. LOL!

JR digging in after another HOT game yesterday afternoon.

Big Daddy and ML waiting their turn:

Our awesome Coach giving a speech:

But of course, they weren't really serious when they said 'end of season party.' No, there was still the tournament to finish! And we kept on winning. (Did I mention it was HOT AS HADES?) So there was lots of this:

And ML did lots of this:

And in the end we came in 2nd - losing in the last game. So proud of these boys and their coaches!

ML was a total mess. Snowcone dye on the lips:

Hairbow missing, dirty sticky hands:

And oh my word, those feet! :

Yuck!

Loading up the bags one final time:

So proud of my little Nat! Way to go JR!!! It was an awesome season (did I mention it was also a HOT season??) - so proud to point out on the field and say "There he is! That's my son!"

Love you!