Annabella's Birthday Party

Yesterday Olivia and I went to the birthday party of this precious 1 year old.

Devouring her beautiful cake.

It was so fun to be there with all of our littles. I think it's the first time we've all been together since all the babies were born last year. The only people missing were Melanie and her kids (she volunteers at Brandon's
school on Thursdays).

The moms' lunch.

Drinks and the kids' lunch bags.

Bella's birthday cake.

Dessert.

 Lunch was scrumptious. For the kids, Ruthie had bags with pb&j sandwiches (with crusts off), raisins, and bubbles (for the older kids) and toys (for the younger kids). They also had little cups with little fruit, vegi, and meat kabobs. The moms feasted on chicken pasta salad, spinach orzo salad, grapes, cantaloupe, and strawberries. For drinks, there was water, strawberry milk, and lemonade. For dessert there were little chocolate cakes, mexican wedding cookies, and some type of sugar cookie, I think.

Fruits, vegis, and meat for the kids.

Some of the kids turning 1 this year.

 There was so much to keep all the kids busy. There were lots of toys to play with, a little sandbox (which was Olivia's favorite, I think), and sidewalk chalk. One or two of the boys had brought their toy guns. Even the girls thought those were pretty fun!

Some of the "older" kids.

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Opening presents.

 

It was so much fun and such a beautiful day to be outside. It makes me want to have a "just because" lunch sometime. Maybe we can all meet up at the park or something...

Paci Free

The Monday after Hunter Liggett we "did away" with Olivia's pacifier for good. She was only using it to sleep, but still, it was time.

She fell asleep on the way home one night a few weeks ago. I guess the sunglasses acted as a sort of sleeping mask.

Rating it on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being "easy breezy" and 10 being "just give her the paci already!" I would rate it probably a 3 or 4. We took away her most prized possession and she is being so brave about it! She definitely has her moments when she really wants it and asks for it, but she's pretty good as long as you're willing to cuddle her through her sadness. It was really sad when the very next day after we took it away she burned her hand. It was after Tuesday night meeting so she was already tired, and then burned her hand on top of it all. It was so sad! And then of course nap time is kind of crazy again. She thinks she needs to get out of bed as soon as you're out her door, so I'm back to either sitting by her bed til she's asleep or rocking her to sleep. But we'll be back to her sleeping on her own again soon, I'm sure. Just in time to move her into her new room. :) Ah the joys! But I wouldn't trade it.

Hunter Liggett

The weekend of April 6 and 7th we went camping in Los Padres National Forest, aka Hunter Liggett. It was incredible in so many ways. Incredibly fun, incredibly relaxing (once we were there), incredibly beautiful, incredibly painful...

Our camp sight Sunday morning as we were packing up.

We got there Saturday morning around 10 and set up our camp sight. Then we went round saying "hi" to friends and checking out the baseball game that was in progress. I was very excited to see that Rachel was able to bring Gerritt down for the weekend. Not that I saw much of him - he was too busy hiking and having fun with his friends. After lunch we went down to the creek and let Olivia play in the water. Unfortunately the water wasn't high enough for us to use the sandy little pool that was there last year, but there was still a pretty good place for the kids to play around.

Ryan by the upper part of the pool that the kids played in last year.

Olivia. playing in the creek last  year at Hunter Liggett.

Mel and Brenda joined us down there with Lindsay, Corinne, and Claire, but by the time more kids started coming down, Olivia was ready to go back to camp for a nap. A relaxing afternoon, Ryan cooking a dinner of patty melts, and then changing into warmer clothes for the cold evening ahead. That's when I decided I would lay down for a few minutes before it was time to sing around the campfire. I still don't know if it was a good thing to do or a bad thing. I hadn't really felt the baby move all day because we had been so busy, so I thought laying down would help me relax and feel the baby move and give me peace of mind. But once I layed down I realized just how much the day had taken it's toll. I was so achy! I ended up not going and singing at all, but just stayed in the tent. Ryan checked on me every once in while, just to make sure I was ok. By morning I felt like I had huge bruises on each hip, but once I started moving around I felt better. Olivia was a super camper. She slept in bed with us and only woke up when she needed her paci. After breakfast, I helped Ryan pack up the bedding and suitcases, then I sat in a chair and people watched. We were camped across the road from Greg and Tamee. Luke was over there visiting Wyatt and they decided to play a game of tug-of-war. Wyatt wasn't too sure about that game.

Olivia had fun entertaining herself for a while, then went over and payed with Wyatt and Luke.

Not too sure what she's doing right here. I think she was using the tablecloth for a baby bed.

After meeting we ate lunch and went home. Olivia had her nap in the car, so by the time we got home she was ready to play. The rest of the day was spent cleaning up the house, Ryan doing yard work and playing with Olivia.

Olivia in her butterfly swimsuit.

    This Hunter Liggett was completely different from any other that I've been to. It was fun, but I feel like I hardly saw anyone. And of course next year we'll have 2 kids instead of one. ;) That should be interesting!

Have You Heard The Stars Sing?

"What?", you might be asking. What do you mean have I heard the stars sing? I was listening to Louie Giglio again. This time it was his message entitled Symphony (I Lift My Hands). Anyway, he read out of Psalm 148 "Praise Him sun and moon. Praise Him all you shining stars." I did not realize that some (maybe all, I don't know) stars emit radio frequencies that scientists have been able to pick up. He played some clips of them. It's so amazing! And crazy. ;) Who knew that something so miraculous was happening? I should have. After all, God created this magnificent place we live in. So then he goes on to talk about whales and plays a clip of the whales' song. Then he does a mash up of all of them together. All I can say is that you have to listen to it. I was blown away. And yes I cried. It's so amazing. It's so wonderful to think of what it's going to be like when we're singing in heaven. "How great is our God?"