Ammie is 101!

Evie and her great-great grandma, Ammie, have birthdays just a day apart.  A few years ago, their ages added up to 100 and now Ammie is 101 all by herself!  We took a break from Wellsville Days activities to stop by and see her on Saturday, her actual 101st birthday.  Here are the beautiful birthday girls!

Then on Sunday, all of the family got together to celebrate this wonderful lady.

I hope my kids realize how lucky they are to know their great-great grandma.  She is such a spunky and fun woman, and we are all blessed to have her in our lives!  Happy, happy birthday Ammie!!

Wellsville Days is How We Roll

We just finished up one of our favorite weekends of the year: Wellsville Days!  

Calvin was on the Jr. High football float for the parade so we dropped him off to get loaded up with the rest of the boys.

It was a bit rainy before the parade and this is how our tough guys deal with the rain.

Thankfully the rain let up when it was time for the parade.  As usual, Violet loved the loud fire engines. . .

 . . . but she loved the fact that Syd was back in town from college more than anything else!

 There were several very creative Monopoly-themed floats rolling down the bricks.

 Here come our boys!

 After the parade, the skies opened up and it started pouring.  It's crazy, but I had just told the kids that I can't EVER remember it raining on Wellsville Days.  As we were standing under an awning, I talked with our Mayor, Bill Lytle, who has lived in Wellsville for 70+ years and he said HE couldn't ever remember it raining on Wellsville Days.  And when we visited the nursing home a little later, one of the residents there said in her 90+ years, she said SHE couldn't ever remember it raining on Wellsville Days.  I'd say we'd had a pretty good run and we were probably due. 

 

 Thankfully the rain didn't last all that long and the KidZone was back up and running for the majority of the day.  I didn't hardly see the boys at all as they ran all over with their friends, but Evelyn enjoyed several of the inflatables and slides. 

 

And they brought back the great petting zoo they had the past few years.  Hello, Llamas.

The bigger rides this year included the swings and "Rock & Roll" -- Evelyn really was having fun, despite the bored look on her face.

The only "ride" we could get Violet to go on was the trackless train, and she took several trips.  Mostly she was just happy to hang out with her favorite people, Ms. Ashley and Ms. Jenny.

At one point, Vi and I found ourselves in a bit of trouble!

What Wellsville Days would be complete without a giant blue raspberry snow cone??

As evening wore on, we all enjoyed the live music on the bricks.  They had some great entertainment again this year with a country music singer and those fun dueling pianos.  I finally found my boys!

Jackson and Pastor Dennis showed up with bags and bags of s'mores supplies!  The kids feasted on all you can eat s'mores by the fire pit.

Evie and Violet found comfy places on Emily and Jeff's laps to listen to the music.  We also did plenty of dancing before the night was over.

In spite of the rainy weather, we had another wonderful Wellsville Days!  I just love this time of getting together with all of our community.d

Oh Thank Heaven for my Evie Who's 7!

Today my baby girl is 7 years old!  The boys were so sweet and baked her a cake while we were out getting ears pierced last night and they surprised her first thing this morning with it. Can you tell these kids woke up approximately 2 seconds before this picture was taken??

We sang Happy Birthday and she blew out her candles before the sun even came up!

My slime-lovin' girl was thrilled with her new slimy lab.

I could tell we were going to have another pretty sunrise so we went out on the back deck for our morning devotion.  What a beautiful morning with my beautiful birthday girl! 

Per tradition, Russ was Watch Dog at school in honor of his youngest's birthday.  I met them to eat lunch. . .

. . . and then Russ and I went to work building some yummy banana splits for Evie's birthday treats.  We thought this would be a fun change from the usual cupcakes and they were a hit!

I love being able to hang out with my girl on her special day!

As soon as she got home from school, she went straight to work making some awesome rainbow slime.

What a gift and a blessing and a perfect "cherry on top" this one has always been for our family.  She is more beautiful every single day and I'm so thankful that God picked me to be her momma!

A Piercing Day!

I'd been wondering when Evelyn might request to have her ears pierced.  I don't know if she remembered me telling her that I got mine pierced on my 7th birthday and wanted to be like me, or if she just decided it was time, but she told me about a week ago that she'd like her ears pierced for her birthday this year.  I thought this was a great idea, but didn't want Violet to feel left out.  When I asked Vi if she'd like earrings, she gave an enthusiastic "Yes!"  Grandma Cheryl was excited to be able to give this to the girls for their birthdays this year and it worked out that we could after school today to get it done. We got to Claire's in Lawrence and thankfully, there was no one there except the two friendly ladies working. They gave us the necessary paperwork and let the girls pick out which earrings they'd like for their starter sets.  While I was filling out the papers, Violet hopped up in the chair to go first.

I knew the pain wouldn't be an issue for Violet, but the excitement and squirmy-ness definitely would be.  I held her cheeks tightly and thankfully, the ladies were quick and efficient as they pierced both ears at the same time.

Is this girl excited or what??

Evelyn decided she wanted to do one ear at a time and did great.

 I'm very thankful for the ladies at Claire's who made this a super-fun and nearly painless experience for my girls!

 They look so beautiful!  The rest of the evening, Violet kept saying, "I'm so cute!"

 Thanks, Grandma Cheryl, for a birthday gift these girls will never forget!