A Special Little Girl

(NOTE: I apologize for the lack of order of photos and the spacing of words...blogger is not my friend today!!!)

Last week we celebrated one very special little girl's life. Adele Grace turned three years old on October 21! If you have followed our blog for any length of time then you have probably realized that we like to be fairly low-key about birthdays around here. It all stemmed from our Thailand days when the thought of having a big party just wasn't feasible and we have come to enjoy setting apart a day for each child and celebrating her or him. This year was no different. Paul and I decided to have her party at the park that is located pretty much right across the street from our house (there is a row of houses across from ours but behind those houses is the park). I made cupcakes and Adele requested Corn Dogs (thanks to her OP cousins whoe introduced her to them!) for lunch. So, we loaded up all the food and gifts and headed to the park for a morning of celebrating our little girl.

She enjoyed opening her gifts but I must say Grammy and Grampy's gift was the highlight of the day for Adele. Adele has been very much into Angelina Ballerina for the past few months and she's always flitting about dancing and singing. Grammy, very wisely, picked up on this and for her birthday Adele received a pink tutu, slippers, leotard and accesories. She LOVES them! And, even though I know nothing of ballets or ballerinas I will tell her to arabesque and she does or plie...it's pretty funny. Boys and Girls are so very different!

Paul and I also got Adele some furniture to go along with the dolls she has. I also re-gifted and gave Adele some Cabbage Patch sewing cards that were mine when I was a kid! She has thoroughly enjoyed keeping her hands busy with all of them. Calvin got her some Play Doh and PJ got her a Grandma Doll along with a little boy doll.

Part of the joy in celebrating birthdays that I receive is seeing how my other children lavish love on the one being celebrated. It always amazes me to see how genuinely happy they are for the one that is getting gifts and getting all the attention. There seems to be no regard for their own selfishness...which is so refreshing to see because most days we are so laden with it!

I pray Adele will continue to grow to be the girl and woman God desires her to be. We also gifted Adele with a book entitled, The Princess and the Kiss. It's a book for young girls (especially) about God's gift of purity. This is my heart's desire for all my children, that they would love God and honor Him with their lives and remain pure before Him. If you are a mom to young children, NOW is the time to start teaching your children about purity...don't wait until their 13, it will be too late.

Fall is in the air!

And, since fall is in the air, we like to build campfires and enjoy the cool, crisp nights that are coming our way in northeast Florida!
There's Teddy, the most lovable and sweet dog you'll ever meet. He, too, loves eating s'mores by the campfire and running around fancy free. We are going to miss this guy when we move, and I think he might miss us too!


You never know what you might find up in the trees around here. Tonight, I found Calvin with a marshmallow fighting off the bad guys.

From morning 'til night, these four boys are running around the property like a gang. One will often hear words like "shadow knights" or "light sabers" or "Robin Hood". Often, at least one or all are barefoot and they usually all have some sort of weapon, usually a stick that easily transforms into whatever play they are working on at the time. Our boys are going to be lost without their cousins to play with when we move this weekend. I thank God for the many hours they've had to learn and grow and pretend together...I know there will be many more!

"Cheese!!!" These two little beauties are either getting along spledidly or trying to boss the other...it's their lot in life because both have two older brothers and so have had to learn to be experts at getting their own way! This, of course, can cause a fair amount of conflict when neither one wants to back down, but again, they're learning together how to be friends. Both refer to their brothers as, "the brothers" and Erin affectionately calls all her cousins, "the cousins".

Behind them, you will see the fire glowing and giving off it's comforting heat. It's been a blessing to be here, to have these months to share together with family. I am sure many fond memories are being made, how wonderful to be a kid!

cousins, friends, nature

I think these three words just about wrap up our life as of late. Last week Paul's sister was down in St. Augustine at the beach so we went down one day to see them. We had a great time. Vinnie (their 3 year old) and Adele (our almost 3 year old) had a blast together while Calvin and Lincoln (6 weeks apart in age) also had a fun time playing in the ocean and sand. This brings to mind a story...A few weeks ago (Labor Day weekend, actually) our family went to the beach. Now you have to understand that pretty much wherever we go there's at least one cousin we will see. So, we walk down to the beach and set up our chairs and stuff and Adele immediately spies another family next to us and says to me, "Mommy, come, let's go meet my cousins!!!" So, she thinks we're related to everyone..I guess that's what happens when you have 17 first cousins in all. (we're not even going to count 2nd cousins!!!)

PJ has been practicing on his cast net throwing skills and just like Daddy, he takes this stuff seriously. He has caught several tadpoles and some small bait fish. Paul took him shrimping a few weeks back and he got onto it then. We're preparing him for Thailand. I have visions of him and Calvin on some Thai boat working as boat boys...using their English and Thai skills to bring tourists and Thais together on excursions. (I know, my goals are a bit lofty, but hey, I can dream, can't I?!) PJ is often found outside chasing butterflies and other bugs. He thoroughly enjoys Grammy and Grampy's place...and he's a little sad about leaving. It's a great place for a young boy to explore creation...and his 2 boy cousins have made it a lot of fun too!

Calvin, Adele and I made a butterfly house last week one day. You can almost see it there in the background between them. I wrote "welcome butterflies" on it they drew flowers and butterflies on the sides. I don't think any of our winged friends made it their home but it was fun all the same. (I know that it looks like Calvin is half wai-ing (Thai greeting) but I think he was doing a karate chop....)
And, lastly, but not least, we had friends over the other day. It rained for 2 days (with a few breaks) but as a result we had some mega mud puddles and these guys had so much fun running through them. You can see Aaron (19 months) had the most fun. Baths and a change of clothes were needed before they piled in the car to go home!!! We had a great
time with our friends even if it was a little messy!