Jackson's 5th Birthday!

Jackson turned 5! His 5th birthday party was scheduled to be at the park by the zoo and we were all going to ride the zoo train! In honor of his 2nd birthday when we very first did that and then I headed over to the hospital to have his Birthday sister on the exact same day!

The day jackson was born (2002) and the day Mia was born (2004) it rained torrential rains... and now in 2007, it did it again! We were unable to go to the zoo train, so we moved the party to The Incredible Pizza Place and had a terrific time anyway!

You can see his extreme excitement in some of these! His friends, family, bumper cars (1st time on them!) and his love for his new train lamp from Grammy and Papa!

Princess Mia Anabel's Birthday Tea Party!

We had a fabulous time having pink princess tea (pink lemonade) and eating sweet princess cake and wearing our tutus and tiaras! The girls were adorable and Mia loved every second!

Ella kept her tiara on the entire party!

Some random things I want to remember

With our house being on the market for so long now, i have not had the time to update the kids stuff like i would like too. Birthday pictures are still to come... promise.

ELLA-isms:

• ella is talking so much! she says things like "I want dat!", "Mah Mil" (my milk), bubba, Emma (mia), jackson, jack jack, daddy, mama, "Tank You" (thank you), ou sih (outside), OW,
• she was shouting down the front steps to Phil on Saturday evening and shouting "Bill! Bill!!" a million times. hilarious
• Ella loves to sing, just like her Mama and her big sister. She was in the back seat singing "Jesuh Jesuh Tank You Jesuh!" (Jesus, Jesus, Thank You Jesus!") and it was really pretty too!
• She loves her baby dolls and was pushing on in her little stroller the other day while eating a pancake. She stopped and smiled and walked over to the baby, bent down and handed a piece of pancake to the baby's mouth!!
• She was sitting at the dinner table with me one afternoon and I had a candle lit. She kept staring at it smiling and then moving her mouth like she was thinking of the words she was trying to form. I just smiled and waited. She finally said "I BOW!" and blew at the candle!

MIA-isms:

• Mia's comment while looking in the backyard: "There is no good about that grass! No good at all!"
• Her comment to me when I asked if I was her best friend - "Ummm.... Emma Cake is MY best friend. And I already have all my friends. Sorry!!" her face was priceless. And how could i be upset about this hilarious remark? She is exactly like her MAMA!

JACKSON-isms:

• Jackson asked Phil the other night "Daddy, have I been a good boy today?" and Phil said "Yes! You have" and he says back to Phil "You know why daddy? Because I prayed and asked God to help me be a good boy and not to whine or cry!"
• Jackson told me that Mia just said "Jackson is my best bubba!!" he is so happy!
• This morning Ella saw him and started sweetly singing his name over and over and that made him so happy too! he really is the BEST big brother!

All three kids are constantly walking around in a little clump playing together all day long, i completely love how great they get along and how much they love to be around each other! it is so much fun!

At least she gets it!

This morning the kids and I were doing our morning Bible study and we always end with praying together. Our study this morning was of Adam and Eve and obeying God and parents. So when I was praying I asked God to help us to always obey and to have a good attitude. Mia interrupted me and said:
"I don't' want you to say 'have a good attitude'."

Me: "You don't want me to say have a good attitude?"

Mia: "No, I don't. I don't like that"

Me: "You don't want to have a good attitude?"

Mia: "No, I don't. Please don't say it anymore!"

Jackson and I both just started laughing.
This girl is something else!

The Messiest Eater - BY FAR!!!!!!

Ella just threw a bunch of her lunch on the floor, as usual, so just now i got her out of her seat, stood her on her feet and cheerfully said:

"Pick up your mess Ellabel!"

and she said "MmmK!!!" pointed at it and started babbling away!
but then she walked off.

hilarious.

now, if i can only get her to really pick it up, that'd be awesome!! :)

Finally starting to earn her keep around here...

Here are some shots I got of Ella helping her Daddy clean off the back windows this morning, she grabbed a paper towel on her own and starting wiping.

FINALLY that tiny belle is starting to earn her keep! *wink wink*

Mia's Ballet Flowers

These Sisters are Worn out after a day shopping!

They fell asleep together on the way home from shopping at Market Days in Wimberley, Texas last Saturday. Mia is still holding her beloved trophy.

thus proving one can never get enough CAKE!

Video Clip of Mia's Recital "Beautiful Dolls"

Mia Anabel's 1st Ballet Recital!

practicing
starting to walk off to tell teacher about shoe

running back out to Mama

big congratulatory hug from Mama & flowers from Daddy
a shrine to Mia (just joking!)
Big brother very protective and proud!

My dear sweet Mia Anabel, June 3, 2007

Friday night you had your very first ballet recital! You were so cute in your new pink tutu and big pink bow in your hair. You danced to a song called “Beautiful Dolls.”

You LOVE to dance and sing and praise the Lord. It is a beautiful, wonderful, heart moving thing to watch your tiny self just twirl around and dance with your arms stretched high. God has put such a desire in your heart to dance and sing and I pray with such fervor that you will always use it to glorify and praise Him!

You and I got ready for your recital together on Friday, complete with hair washing, pedicures (done by Mama!) and fixing our hair and finishing up with a little lip gloss! You looked so pretty. We walked into the auditorium together hand in hand while Daddy, Bubba and Ella parked the car. You were so excited and just started to twirl and dance. I knew you didn’t know the dance completely as you had just moved to this new class, but I encouraged you to sing the song and dance to God and just dance the best you knew how. At one point I was telling you to make sure you smile and sing loud and you shouted at the top of your lungs in the restroom “YOU WANT ME TO SING LOUD LIKE THIS?!” I laughed and said “Maybe not THAT loud!” and you said “Like this” in a perfect volume that still projected. I reminded you one more time to dance to God because He loves it and I added “just like ‘Gigi princess’ does” and you stroked my head and said “Mama… Gigi didn’t dance.”
(oops… how about Cinderella?)
So then it was time and you went to your seat with your class, I held your head close to mine and whispered a prayer in your ear that the Lord would help you have a fun time and you would dance and sing so pretty to His glory and have a wonderful time!

We sat through 9 other dance numbers until it was your turn. I watched you from across the room carefully paying attention to some of the dances and copying what they did, while others you held your hands on your ears because the music was gross! You are sooo funny!

Finally, your turn arrived and you walked out on stage. You were so cute and tiny. You were the youngest one there at not quite 3 and the other girls were 5! You did a wonderful job dancing and we could see your cute dimples as you smiled and sang. Then I noticed you look down and see your bow untied on one of your ballet slippers, you paused to look at it, then paused to examine your fingernails, then you just walked backstage to let your teacher know about your shoe! She sent you back out, you walked right past your class and then ran right to the front of the stage, climbed down and ran out to me! The song was almost over and I was so proud of you and your cuteness that I held you tight and exclaimed “Oh Mia!! Yay!! You did a wonderful job! Such pretty dancing!!” You hugged me tight for a long time, your smile beaming. Then the other 3 girls in your class were walking off stage, so I asked if you wanted to go walk off the stage with your friends… so you ran back to the stage, climbed back up and started to run off stage! The audience laughed and your teacher turned you around, held up your hands and you blew a great big kiss to the audience and they cheered. You got the biggest applause of the entire night!

We brought you back to our seats where daddy gave you a big bouquet of pink and white gerber daisies and Grammy and Papa gave you some tiny pink roses. You were so proud. I kneeled in front of your seat and started to tell you how wonderful you were and you looked at me with a dreamy smile and sweet eyes and just stroked my hair and my face and kissed me and hugged me tight. It was one of the sweetest moments between us yet. I have frozen it forever in my mind to remember always. Oh my heart melts time and again when I think about it!

You were then presented a trophy at the end of the recital along with the other girls and you were so excited, and never stopped twirling and dancing! Daddy and Papa took pictures of you with your flowers and trophy and you insisted on setting them at your feet while you smiled.

Then Daddy took everyone out for celebratory dessert at a cute little restaurant that is an old converted home. We got our own private room and it was decorated very shabby chic and girly. Daddy gave you an angel figurine holding a shiny star and you loved it! All of this was a perfect finish to your first special night as a ballerina. You had a blast and you were perfectly wonderful and sweet.

My little girl.

Daddy and I could not believe that we were there and we have you. You are so wonderfully delicious and we thank God for giving us your sweet little feisty self and all the joy that comes from knowing YOU. You are amazing and it’s only been 3 years – what a lifetime of joy we know we have to come!

I love you my Princess Mia Anabel.

Love and kisses,
Mama

Pool Party Pictures

Lots of new posts today! Be sure to go all the way down to the "Bullet Point Post"!

Mia singing Karaoke!