Celebrate Eight!

What?!? It's my birthday??? And I'm 8?!?  Well, let's celebrate!!  

We started the celebration by taking cupcakes to Violet's classroom (and throughout the school).  She carefully passed them out to all of her friends, and then everyone chowed down.

She shared with her wonderful paras, Miss Jenny and Miss Ashley.

 And as we were taking them around the school, we ran into her fantastic paras from last year also!

Although her party was last weekend with Evelyn, she had one extra-special gift to unwrap on her actual birthday.  

You may recall that Miss Vi received a cheerleading jacket from the high school squad a few weeks ago.  Well, the jacket was just  the final article to her FULL cheerleading uniform!  As soon as Sydney helped her get it on, she was running around the house cheering.

 I really wanted to get a nice picture of her in her uniform, so we headed outside.  

 Once again, I couldn't get her to stop cheering long enough to take a picture!  This girl was excited!!

 She discovered her shadow on the house and had so much fun 'watching' herself cheer.

A HUGE thank you to Jodi, the cheer sponsor and friend of mine, who got this all-time-favorite gift for my girl.

Maybe someday these girls will be on the high school cheerleading squad together??

Eight looks GREAT on this one.  Such a beauty she is!

 Every year when we celebrate Violet's birthday, we have so much to be thankful for!  I think she is through with any major surgeries and we continue to 'graduate' from doctors, as she no longer needs them.  Her vocabulary seems to increase daily, and she is such a delightful little girl.  She is a true blessing and a gift, and I'm so thankful she's MINE!

An Under the Sea Birthday Celebration!

Violet is still obsessed with all things Nemo, so it was no surprise when she told us she wanted a Nemo birthday.  When Evelyn then said that she would like a Little Mermaid party, we had the makings for an Under the Sea Celebration!

 

Grandma Cheryl with her ocean-themed cake creation!

Love these girls so much!

We enjoyed dinner of salad, smoked pork loin, barbeque meatballs, homemade macaroni and cheese, roasted broccoli, applesauce, and honey wheat rolls.  I love having all of the family over to celebrate my special girls!

 Next up: presents!  Do they look ready??

 The girls got some super-cute clothes and plenty of toys to play with, too.  They are so spoiled!

Evelyn loved her new Best Friend necklace she got from Kyla, and it was so cute listening to Kyla speculate on who might get the other half of the necklace. . . of course it would be her!  I hope these girls are always BFFs!

 Once dinner had settled a bit, it was time for some birthday cake!  

 Blow out those candles, pretty girls! 

 I love this cousin crew!!  What a gift that ALL of their cousins could be at their party!

 What a fantastic day celebrating these sweet girls.  I'm so thankful that my girls get a sister, and I love that their birthdays are so close that we can celebrate them together!

Wellsville Days

This weekend was a big one in our little town: Wellsville Days!   We got uptown to get good spots to watch the parade and met up with Syd and her friends.

 The kids had a front row seat on the bricks to watch Grandpa Evan and his Legion companions start the parade.

 The theme was Mardi Gras, and there were some awesome floats!

 The Methodist Church always does an incredible job with their Wellsville Days float.  This year it had a gorgeous dragon with the message: "Life Dragon you down? Get Fired Up with Jesus!"  Great float, great message!

 Uncle Scottie's truck was in the parade this year to promote their newly-founded Quail Forever chapter in Wellsville.  They had live pheasant in his truck bed!

 After the parade, Violet met up with her favorite para, Miss Ashley, and then checked out those pheasant a little more closely.

 Joy, Mom, and I walked around with the girls to explore all of the great booths lining Main Street.

Calvin and his posse are too cool. . .

 . . . and Violet met up with some of her sweet friends, too.

 The kid zone was definitely a happening place, and the kids took plenty of turns riding the rides.

They also had to get Wellsville Days staples to eat, like root beer and kettle corn.

Violet stopped off at the FBLA stand to get her face painted.

As evening wore on, we enjoyed the bands playing on the main stage.  While it was extremely hot during the day, the evening was just beautiful.

It was one of the hottest days I can remember for Wellsville Days with temps nearing the 90s, but the heat couldn't keep my boys away, as they stayed on the bricks ALL DAY.  We girls came back home in the air conditioning during the hottest part of the afternoon, and enjoyed the fun and games later as it cooled off a bit.  I just love Wellsville Days and I love that my kids love it, too!