Sunday Snapshot~ 3 years today

really??

can it really, truly be that long? three years ago today we were on a 16 hour flight home with a screaming, wailing, unhappy Lil' Lady who didn't know us from a hill of beans and let everyone on that plane know it. it's taken me these three years to even speak of that plane ride again, but I can tell you now that just like childbirth, it was completely worth it. just look at that smile...  

as always i couldn't get her to even look at the camera let alone smile. she just wasn't interested in having her picture taken this afternoon.

step in- the First Lady. if it wasn't for her we couldn't have gotten the job done. she put on such an act that the smile and laughs kept comin'

i look way back and i just can't believe there was ever a time without her. she has made our family complete.

just a side note...the dress she wore today is the matching dress her big sister wore to meet us at the airport that day. she can already wear it!

 

 Happy Homecoming Lil' Lady

 we love you so very much

God is Good:)

Favorite Photo Friday ~ the county fair

2013 county fair!

 the kids decided to each enter something in the fair this year! 

our resident foodie baked his favorite cookie recipe...chock full of coconut, chocolate chips and a few other secret ingredients these babies are good. somebody else thought so too since he was awarded second place in his age category! boy, was he excited:)

the First Lady took a few weeks this summer to create a Mexican Day of the Dead mask. she was very picky about her colors and design which got her quite frustrated a few times, but she got it done! 

 we tried to find her mask in her age category but it was nowhere to be found and I was afraid it had gotten lost when they were put up for display. lo and behold she found it in a glass case where it placed first for her category along with an extra ribbon awarded for excellence! i don't think I've ever seen this girl so excited. there was jumping, screaming and more jumping until I finally got her settled down to take her picture.

guess all that frustration paid off! 

our oldest created a beautiful graphite drawing based on an original civil war photograph.  

it was hard to photograph it through the frame glass, but the detail and shading was awesome. 

he received a ribbon of participation and was a bit bummed at first but that was mainly due to the $6 prize he was hoping to spend!! 

the Lil' Lady didn't enter anything this year but sure enjoyed the animals at the fair. 

she got her first pony ride ever compliments of her Great Uncle Rick... 

 everyone else riding was dead silent, but she was hollerin' yee-haw and giddy-up the entire time!

check out that huge smile on her face!

 

 of course, the food was fabulous. i think we all overdid it on the food, but we certainly enjoyed the process!

 and then the girl people watching too, that's always interesting.

yep, our county fair is just the bees knees. the kids were so excited about their entries they're already talking about what they're going to enter next year.

see ya at the fair next August folks!

Sunday Snapshot~ turning 4

 a lil' somebody turned 4 a few weeks ago...

 and that lil' somebody wanted a Scooby Doo birthday party. ruh roh...

 i mean, do you know how hard it was to find anything Scooby Doo? i was told by one salesperson that Scooby was old school and not so popular. that made me sad, but anyway, i was able to find some things and they were actually on clearance so that was a plus.

 we didn't tell her that her party was that night so it would be a surprise, so while her big sister took her upstairs to play we got ready!

 those masks sure came in handy

when it was time her big brothers waited for her to come down the hallway

 and surprised she was.. the first thing she said was "thank you everyone for my birthday party" ;)

 she loved her Scooby (and her daddy)

 and was completely smitten with her new blue bike!

 you see, blue is her favorite color

 i know i say it all the time, but it really is so hard to believe how much our Lil' Lady has grown and is off to Pre-K this fall.  

  i remember being so nervous about having a baby again and being able to go back to those nighttime feedings and diaper changes but here we are already at four and i'm wondering where in the world the time went.

 sure wish i could find that pause button i've been searching for these last few years....

but Happy Birthday baby girl, we love you so much and can't wait to see what the next four years bring:)