How Can She Be 10?!?

This sweet girl of ours is 10 today!  We woke her up to special birthday pancakes. (There is supposed to be a "V" made with chocolate chips on the round pancake and a #10 made on the other plate.  Oliver thought I just spelled "Vio" and didn't finish her name. . . Probably not my best efforts, but I was trying!)

 She had a gift with new shoes and new big girl underwear!  We decided that since she's been doing so well using the bathroom, it was time.  Fingers crossed, all goes okay!

 We lit some candles on her birthday pancakes and sang a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday (well, Russ and I did anyway; not sure the other three were even awake yet).

 After she blew out her candles, we once again marveled at the glorious sunrise and thanked God for our big 10 year old during our morning devotion time together.

 Monday morning is her usual Coffee Corner time at school, so I headed in to have my favorite barista make my morning coffee. 

 Russ and I both went in at lunch time to have lunch with our girl. . .

 . . . and we went to the school yet again at the end of the day to take her birthday treats: Root Beer and Coke Floats!  They were a big hit with everyone.

 What fun she had at school on her birthday!

 And the fun wasn't over yet!  Her friends Haylee and Tatum came over after school, but before we left, they gave Violet an extra-special candy bouquet for her birthday!

They picked the perfect card with silly cats -- Violet loved it!

 Violet had an awesome day celebrating with her friends and family.  I'm still in denial that my Violet could possibly be in double digits.  This is how I still see her:

She was beautiful then, but even more beautiful now.  I just love how her personality shines through in all she does.  She is truly a joy to be around and makes everyone's day with her hugs.  God knew what our family needed when he gave us Violet, and I am SO blessed to get to be her momma.  Happy, happy 10th birthday to my "good and perfect gift from above" (James 1:17)!

Johnny Appleseed Week

The first grade celebrated Johnny Appleseed all week.  They learned songs, made crafts, and of course learned all about the man John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed, who has become an American legend.  This is a book they made, as well as some of the crafts.

On Friday, they got to sample multiple varieties of apples. . .

. . . and then we made some homemade applesauce!

I love all of the fun ways my kiddos get to learn at school.  Happy Johnny Appleseed Day!

Football Cheer Clinic

Friday night was the much-anticipated Cheer Clinic at the high school football game.  As soon as the flier came home for this over a month ago, Violet carried it around the house, saying, "Cheer clinic to-morrow??"  It was a very long month.  Once again, the shirts were super-cute, this time a colorful tie-dyed one.

The game was moved up two hours because of a storm coming through, and it was H-O-T.  But the girls didn't seem to mind.

I'm so thankful for all the "big girls" that take such good care of my Violet.

She did some cheering, but spent most of her time scanning the crowd, looking for familiar faces.  She loved waving at people she knew.

Evie looked so big out there this year, especially with the preschoolers next to her group.

In Violet's working the crowd, I managed to get her to stop by li'l sis for a quick picture.

They had so much fun with their friends!

Evie took a picture with Julia, and then their twinning moms took one, too :)

We love those Friday night football games!  And I'm so thankful for the high school girls who work hard to make the cheer clinic a blast every year!

Girls Aquarium Birthday Bash x 4

After we went to the Clearwater Aquarium for our big family vacation this summer in July, the girls decided they wanted a dolphin birthday party.  And when I say "girls", I mean all of our birthday girls: Brynn, Violet, Kyla, and Evelyn!  We got the place looking like an aquarium celebration as best as we could and then waited for our guests to arrive.

Hamburgers, hot dogs and lots of sides were on the menu for this party. 

About 5 minutes into dinner, these girls were asking when it would be time to open their presents.  My goodness, we have beautiful girls in this family.

Violet has always LOVED new cups, and this year was so exception.  I mean, look at my girl's face as she unwrapped her cup from Grandma.

Then Aunt Joy got the girls their very own personalized cups (with a gift card to the coffee shop) like their moms and they were pumped!  Evie and Kyla opened theirs first. . .

And then Violet opened hers. . .

I mean, if that doesn't bring a smile to your face, I don't know what will!  She just kept saying, "I love it!" Here are the 3 younger girls with their new cups. (Brynnie already got one from Aunt Joy.)  They were a hit, for sure.

More gifts to be unwrapped. . .

. . . including this Vampirina lunchbox from Aunt Sara, that Violet also LOVED, as you can see.

These two besties always like to be twinning.  I love that they got to celebrate their birthdays together!

After the gifts were all unwrapped, we moved on to cake.  Grandma Cheryl made a fun ocean-themed cake with dolphins and baby sea turtles.

Violet loves singing Happy Birthday and she danced along to the song this time.

What a great crew of kids (and young adults -- so glad Syd and Jack were able to come back from college for the party)!

What a fun evening!  Evie and Kyla played and played with their new stuff.

I love these girls so much.  We had a great evening celebrating them!  Happy birthday to my sweet girls!!