Katers turns FIVE!

I'm completely fascinated by personality types, and love watching how different all three of my girls are. It's becoming more and more obvious as they grow, really...and let's just say little Miss Katers gives us a run for our money. :)

I love (most of the time) the way she is so determined. So competitive. So witty. And, so stubborn!

She is definitely not the "girly" one of the group, and prefers playing with the boys on the playground, especially if they are engaging in some kind of pretend war as knights, or some kind of power ranger game. She is the fastest little thing I've ever seen, and reminds me quite a bit of Mighty Mouse.

She also loves to create. I mean, really loves it.

For our hundredth day of school (which I'll get around to blogging about someday), she made a life-sized Candyland game all by herself, complete with a spinner and a whole long list of rules. There were spots we landed on that had "100" on them, which caused us to lose two turns. Except when she landed on them, then that rule was temporarily suspended.

But, anyway, she loves a good game, and loves some good messy craft time. Especially if it involves tape and glue.

And, the girl really loves a party. Especially if it's in her honor. (We're trying to get rid of the whole "I'm the baby and I'm really special" mindset, but it's hard. Especially when we completely buy into the whole idea.)

So...I really can't begin to tell you what this year's birthday party meant to Abby Kate. Well, actually, if you've had any conversation with her in the last---oh, let's say---three months, then you've probably heard about her 5 year old birthday party.

This was the event of the century, and she has planned it and replanned it and obssessed over it for MONTHS.

The games have changed a thousand times. The decorations that she has come up with were CRAZY good...and impossible to pull off. (It included turning a room into a soccer ball.) And, the guest list changed weekly, although her "boys" were the main focus. She has a group of friends at school that are ALL boys. And, she loves it that way.

So, since she wanted a "boyish" party, she chose a soccer theme!

It really was alot of fun to plan with her, and I loved watching her get so excited that she literally couldn't stop running in circles as we planned.

The day before the party, I thought she was going to hyperventilate.

Her big request all along was that her party be ON her actual birthday, and start as soon as she woke up. This cracked me up! So, we started her party at 9:30 in the morning. She woke up just a little excited. And just a little earlier than 9:30. :)

I assumed with a party starting THAT early, that we would skip the whole "breakfast in bed" tradition. But, NO.

Not only did she wonder why I didn't have her tray ready, she made sure I was still planning to make eggs and pancakes! Seriously. We've created a MONSTER.

But, how do you deny this girl anything?!

Especially when she says "Thank you SO much, Mommy" and "I love you, Mommy" a hundred times, because she is so thankful. :) I'll take it!

She was so excited and felt SO special and big in her birthday soccer jersey

and got ready for her friends and her cousin Ty to arrive.

Of course, the soccer party, was on a rainy day. So, we moved our furniture and made an indoor soccer field in the living room.

All the kids brought soccer balls to give to kids in Africa, and Abby Kate (although she didn't LOVE the idea of getting no gifts at first) was actually very proud of her bag full of soccer balls after all!

Kendyll and Carlie were excellent coaches and ran the entire party.

It was SO nice to not be the one running the soccer games. :)

After some warm-ups and stretching,

It was time for some soccer drills!

These kids can KICK!! WOW!

And, then some fun blindfolded soccer fun!

Eventually, they were able to go outside for a little bit, and play the real deal.

Then, it was time for the CAKE!! Grandma outdid herself again and surprised Abby Kate with a soccer cake that was out of this world!

She closed her eyes for the big reveal.

I would say it was a success in AK's eyes for sure!!

We love our Grandma and her cakes!

She made her wishes and blew out her FIVE candles!

Oh my, how can my littlest one be this old? Five is really BIG. She is growing up so fast!

After her party, she wanted to send balloons to Chase all by herself.

She talked to him about her soccer party and gave the soccer ball a kiss before she sent it his way. :)

I love this girl so much.

Abby Kate, you are a precious treasure to this mommy's heart. You have always been my "baby-abby-kate" and always will be. But, I sure am proud to watch you grow up, and follow the Lord and love others like you do. God has created such a capable, confident, passionate heart in you, and I can't WAIT to see how He uses you for His glory!

We love our littlest Missy Moo, our little squirt, our Katers, Kater Laters, AK, and our Abby Kate SOOOOO much!

My Favorite Valentine Gift

We had some of our usual Valentine's Day fun...heart shaped everything for breakfast, flowers and special cards from Daddy, and a new valentine mailbox exchange between each member of the family. We had a Valentine themed school day, where we learned the history of the holiday and did all kinds of heart math, heart science, and all-about-love Bible learning.

BUT...Mark and I really aren't that big on Valentine's Day.

We don't give gifts (I know, we're boring) and I don't really want flowers (although he did give them anyway). But, we had a great talk with the girls about what makes us forever Valentines.

Or, what we like to call smookies.

Yes, for those who don't know, we actually call each other this crazy awful annoying cheesy name. But, it's become something our kids really "get" and love. So, as we talked about what attributes we saw in each other, and how we KNEW from the beginning God had brought us together as forever Valentines, we summed it up for them like this: The way you'll know when God has brought you His best is by their "smookie-ness". They have to have smookie power to be good enough for you. And, we'll ALL know if he has it or not. :)

So, fast forward past this conversation to four days later, when my biggest Valentine gift came.

It was a special day in our house, and all the dresses were laid out. Matching shoes and headbands and necklaces and nail polish were all selected. And, it was all done in secret.

Daddy knew nothing of the choices yet.

After pulling out the sponge rollers, and tying all the bows, adding pink lipgloss and twirling a few times in my bedroom, they were ready for the great reveal!

It was time for Daddy to see his dance dates for the first time.

And, that is the moment when my Valentine's gift came.

Do you see it?

It's the expression on this sweet face that is my biggest gift of all.

To watch this amazing man twirl my three girls around, and kiss them and tell them how absolutely beautiful they are...

that is my gift.

To watch him pick them up "officially" for the dance and show them the way girls should be treated...

that is my gift.

To watch him share little moments with each of them and treasure them for who God made them to be...

that is my gift.

To see how he recognizes their differences and celebrates their strengths in such a gentle and fun way, where they know they are something special...

that is my gift.

My Valentine sweeps me away when he shows his amazing skills as the Mark Daddy Daddy.

And, when I hear from friends at the dance how sweet it was to watch him treasure his three beauties...

Oh, man, that is my gift.

From the minute I met this guy, and he told me of his years of changing diapers in his mom's home daycare, I knew he would be a great dad. When I watched him play with my baby sister on his first visit to meet my family (who was only 7 at the time!) and make her feel totally comfortable in minutes, I knew he would be a great GIRL dad.

And, now when I watch him smile his proud smile as he shows them off to the world, I am thankful he's the Daddy who is also my partner for life.

Smookie power. It's my greatest Valentine gift ever.

Double Digits

It's absolutely impossible.

How do I have a daughter who just turned TEN?

Our sweet baby Kendyll is now an amazingly beautiful (inside and out) 10 year old, and we have all enjoyed celebrating her entrance into double digits this week!

This pic was actually a self-portrait she took on her birthday, which she probably never thought I would use...but it was so cute, I had to use it. I think her freckles are the most beautiful thing, especially with those Daddy-shaped eyes shining through them.

Kendyll's celebrations actually began with a party she shared with her cousins and baby sister, as we do every year for the February birthdays. This year, we even included Braden in the fun as a late party for his December day. :)

I LOVE cousin LOVE.

It was a fun day full of LEGOS!! Legoland and cheeseburgers and a day of cousin fun helped Avery turn 4, Abby Kate turn 5, Braden turn 6, and Kendyll turn 10! Oh, and scoops of Blue Bell ice cream with candles in the top. :)

And, as always, we sent a little love up to Baby Chase. It never gets old to see the cousins sharing their "I LOVE YOU CHASE" shouts. :)

As soon as Legoland was done, Kendyll's sweet friends met her at the mall for the BIG...I mean BIG event.

The day Kendyll had been waiting for was finally here, after years of anticipating it.

So, the whole party centered around it.

Ear piercing was the event, and accessories were the party favors. There was some major shopping deliberation done over these decisions.

Emma and Kayla study the walls of Claire's...

While Daddy and Kendyll study the case of earring choices...

It was so cute to watch all the girls choose accessories that were so "them"!

Her friends were all "old pros" at the ear-piercing thing, so they gave Kendyll lots of pep talks and helped her through the trauma.

Except when it got too hard to look. Then, they turned their heads, or took off for the back of the store. :)

But, then Daddy stepped in with his comforting kisses, which the birthday girl obviously loved.

And, then it was DONE!!

Our girl looks so old with earrings!!

I was proud of her for waiting patiently for something she's wanted for so long. I know she was ready for this "rite of passage", and she has been so thankful for it.

After mall time, we headed to get pizza at our new FAVORITE place, Pie Five! If you have one near you, you have to try it! You build your own individual pizza and it's SO yummy! It was Kendyll's choice for her bday dinner.

After dinner, we had another amazing treat, made with love by the talented cake-baker, Grandma, herself! I mean, seriously, her cakes are AMAZING. And, she incorporated every detail Kendyll wanted. It was the most adorable cake and was EXACTLY what Kendyll was hoping for!

Lots of candles to blow out this year!

And, lots of wishes made.

Let's just say that her wish this year--which she accidentally shared out loud---was for a certain someone to come HOME soon and join our family!! Okay, it was two someones. Our prayers for our little one(s) never stop, and neither do the birthday wishes. Someday.

Her "wish" inspired some time looking at videos of our trip to Rwanda, at all the precious ones they loved on last summer. She sure loves sharing their faces and their stories with her friends...or with anyone who will listen, really! :)

I LOVE all of these girls so much.

These are Kendyll's lifelong friends--literally--and we have pics of each of them as tiny babies with Kendyll! Their friendships are so sweet, and I kept getting teary all night watching them together. They really have something special, and it's built on such a beautiful foundation. I know they'll have years of supporting and loving each other, and it makes my heart so happy!

Then, after stuffing our faces some more, it was time to get busy! Kendyll had decided on a "dance party" sleepover, and decorated for her friends before they arrived, complete with fishnet gloves and glo sticks.

She made a whole CD of her favorite dance songs, which I'm very proud to say had NO Justin Bieber. We definitely don't have Bieber fever at our house. Britt Nicole, Jamie Grace, Francesca Battistelli, and Natalie Grant are Kendyll's top favorites and the songs she chose for THE dance was a tie between God Girl by Jamie Grace and Glow by Britt Nicole. So, they did a little of both.

{Can I just enter this little opinion here? There are GREAT Christian artists out there for young girls, who are amazing role models and who choose to speak out in a world where they could easily go a different direction and maybe even get greater recognition for it. Great dance songs with great messages that I love my girls taking in. Okay, that's all. Back to the party blog.}

Well, I thought I was back to the party blog. Kendyll just read this, and decided to share the lyrics of God Girl for everyone to enjoy. So, here they are! (pause my music at the bottom first!)

So, after a couple of hours of choreography, they were ready to perform.

They did GREAT! They videoed themselves while we served as an enthusiastic audience. Here they are reviewing the video. They were SO CUTE watching themselves!

By now, it was almost 11. And, the night was still young. So, it was movie time! And, then they STILL stayed up chatting and laughing after that! Needless to say, I took some tired girls home the next day, and I told them ALL to be sweet and kind to their mommies so I didn't get in trouble for keeping them up! :)

I know they were tired, because our girl DROPPED as soon as the last girl was dropped off!

I really don't think I've ever enjoyed Kendyll's birthday party more. Not only are they at such a fun age (and easy age too!), but it's in these ages that we see their true spirit coming thru, and many times throughout her celebration with friends, Mark and I looked at each other and smiled, as we thanked God for who He is making these girls to be.

Her friends are always so sweet about little Chase too, and wanted to send the balloons his way before they left. I am so thankful for such sweet ways he is always remembered by SO many who love him!

And, the fun still doesn't stop! She also got a special birthday lunch with Grandma a few days later, at a fancy restaurant, where she got her very special locket, a keepsake tradition being passed on from generation to generation.

And, on her actual birthday, one week later, we were at ACU Sing Song, Kendyll's favorite!! She got to go shopping in the school store, and got to spend the night screaming for Aunt Cailee and the Siggies!

Check out those Sing Song faces!

We love you, Kendyll Grace, and are SO honored to be your parents. We watch with great anticipation to see what God is doing in your life and through your big, compassionate, enthusiastic heart. We pray, as always, that your life "will be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God"! Happy Double Digits!!