Emily's Birthday Party

The Birthday Princess rides in on her chariot.

The party venue.

The girls jumping on the trampoline.

Grace shakes things up.

Faith takes her turn dancing.

Faith in the ball bin.

They'd never seen so many balls.

Miss Emily, on the go!

Where's Grace and Faith?

Grace tries out the sit-n-spin.

Bouncing on the mini-trampoline.

Grace having fun.

Emily stops for a picture.

Grace, our Dancing Queen.

We find Faith in the ball bin again.

The girls trying to catch bubbles.

Faith.

Daddy was so surprised to see how strong Faith was.

She loved hanging there for a while and then falling unto the mat.

Here's the front view...

...and the dismount.

Our future gymnast?

Grace gives it a try, too.

Towards the end, they were just jumping into the ball bin.

Time for cake!

Emily blows out her candle.

Patiently waiting for cake.

We let the girls hold their gift bags on the way home.

Then we heard Grace say, "Umm, yummy."

She had opened her bag of gummy bears!

Here's what Faith thought of the party... "Woo-Hoo!"

(Blowing her birthday horn).

We had so much fun on Saturday celebrating Emily's 2nd birthday at My Gym. This was our first experience at a My Gym and boy, did the girls love it! Their favorite thing was the ball bin and Faith really loved the parallel bars. What a great way to tire out the kiddies... and the parents! Overall, it was a giant photo opportunity for all us parents. At this rate, the girls are going to think that every weekend is a big party with cake! It looked as though Emily had a great time and we were so happy to share in her special day!

Thank you...

... from our bathing beauties.

We managed to mail out all of our thank you cards from the girls' birthday party this week. As a memory of the fun day, we also included this picture of the girls in their cute little bathing suits. We took them to Sears on Tuesday to have their first real portrait session. Even though it was extremely difficult to get them to sit still at the same time (especially with daddy there), we did manage to get a few cute pictures. Let's just say that I was sweating when we were done! I'm hoping that next year's picture at 3 years-old, will be much easier! I had this photo printed the same day so that we could include them in our cards but the other photos will be ready in just a couple of weeks. Stay tuned!

Well, we've had another fun weekend. We're hoping to get lots of rest today. We went to Emily's 2nd birthday party yesterday and had a blast! I have lots of fun pictures to post from her "My Gym" party. Hopefully I can do that sometime today or tomorrow. Happy Sunday!

Polo, anyone?

The Empire Polo Club.

Tack Room Tavern.

Have I mentioned how much I love the Snack Trap?

Can't leave home without our veggies.

Me and my girls.

Exploring the gardens.

Over 7,000 roses.

The girls wanted a horsie ride.
(Pretty sure we weren't supposed to do this.)

A watchful angel.

The lion and the lambs.

A cool picture with the sun in the back.

It's dinner time for the horses.

Stables.

The girls watching them eat.

We are very fortunate to live virtually across the street from the Polo Grounds. Faith and Grace get to see horses everyday as well as the occasional polo match. Morgan and I also enjoy the feeling of living in a remote or rural area, even though everything we need is just a couple of miles away. Our neighbors have told us that the Tack Room Tavern is a casual, fun, and affordable place to eat. This is the little restaurant that's part of the polo grounds. They also told us that the Rose Garden and the grounds itself are amazing and that the kids would also enjoy it. Last night, we decided to make the very short drive over there. Our neighbors were right! Wow, was it magnificent! We had no idea that we lived so close to all of this! After dinner, we walked the expansive gardens, smelled the flowers, and got to see the horses up close. We also hear that they give pony rides but I think the girls are still a bit too young. We will definitely be back to do some more exploring! The best part is that you don't have to eat there to enjoy the beautiful grounds. There aren't too many free things to do anymore so this was great! It seemed like we were the only ones out so we were running around and having fun. Can't believe it's taken us over a year to actually go across the street.

My Little Shadows

I stumbled across this sweet poem and of course it reminded me of my little shadows that follow me everywhere I go. That is, unless daddy is available. :) This also brings to mind a question that some moms have asked me... "How do you even take a shower in the morning?" Well, the girls follow me to our bathroom where they sit on the step outside of our shower door and play. Otherwise, they play on the floor of our bathroom, waiting for me to get done so that they can hand me a towel. For the most part, they giggle and play together nicely. They know that they aren't supposed to do certain things like open the drawers or throw anything into the bathtub. They also know that I can see their every move through the glass door. Just this week, while I was taking a shower, I sent Grace to a timeout for attempting to bite Faith. To my delight, when I got out of the shower to check on her, there she was, quietly sitting on the designated "timeout mat." She had walked all the way from our bathroom to the living room area on her own. Of course, this is no giant feat on it's own but to know that you are being punished and to follow through with the consequences anyway, took great obedience and focus. She could've easily got distracted on her walk and ended up playing with toys or better yet, just flat ignoring me. I was a proud mommy.

Her Little Shadows

I saw a young mother with eyes full of laughter
And two little shadows came following after.
Wherever she moved, they were always right there;
Holding on to her skirts, hanging on to her chair,
Before her, behind her; an adhesive pair.
"Don't you ever get weary, as day by day,
Your two little tagalongs get in your way?"
She smiled as she shook her pretty young head,
And I'll always remember the words that she said:
"It's good to have shadows that run when you run
That laugh when you're happy and hum when you hum-
For you only have shadows
When your life's full of sun."

-Barbara Burrow

Easter 2008

Hapi & Hami before church.

A flash-back to Easter 2007.

What a difference a year makes!

The girls find jellybeans!

Grace and her cousin Shawn.

"Grandma, let us in!"

Goodies in Grandma's basket.

Faith and daddy.

Daddy shows them it's not an egg, it's candy.

Let the search for eggs begin!

Grandma got the girls these cute purses/baskets for their eggs.

"Look, Grace! There's one in the tree!"

Partners in crime.

"I see one!"

Grandpa admires Grace's baby soft hands.

Faith loves to color.

We started our Sunday morning at church where the Easter service was uplifting, powerful, emotional, and AWEsome, to say the least. From there, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's to enjoy brunch. The girls also had their first, real Easter egg hunt. Grandma did so much work in planning the food, candy, eggs, etc. It was all wonderful and we are so happy to have her feeling well, energetic, and healthy! I thought it'd be fun to see how much the girls have grown since last Easter. They are now active, talking, opinionated, pig-tail wearing toddlers!

Hope you had a Happy Easter! Hallelujah! Christ is Risen!