THE PENNY CARNIVAL (part one)

Let the Party Decorating Begin...Angie, Hendra, and Katherine arrive!

Thanks to Hendra's amazing picture taking and awesome camera there were over 900 pictures taken! As you can imagine there was a lot to sort through, so they may not be in perfect order, but the wonderful time we had together and the joy we had decorating and preparing for it is captured! Rainbow Fruit Kabobs were easy to put together and so cheerful too. Stuck the sticks into styrofoam covered with wrapping paper.

The food....always my favorite part of a party!

So many of us donned stripes that you would have thought we included "what to wear" on the invitation. A total kick. Katherine, Diane, Kara, and Myself in our stripey stripes....

I kept seeing cute paper straws all over pinterest and found some at the last minute at Party Plus. So much more fun to drink lemonade with these straws!

More foody pictures....

This picture is a bit out of order but here is the beginnings of the ice cream cone tower. This idea (and many other idea for the carnival) were directly off pinterest!

Kids and adults alike could bring their spare change to put in the donation jar to later be given to Joseph's Storehouse, a local food bank here in Redlands.

Mom and the Birthday Girls!

Praying before lunch

More girlies in stripes!

Mary

I am so thankful for my talk with Mary this morning. She opened up with me and sobbed with the pain of what we are all dealing with right now. Bless her 7 year old little heart. I believe so much of the circumstances have been eating away at her and her fear has come forth as anger. I have been praying for her especially over the last week. My own fear welling up in me. Tis why I love the verse from Isaiah that is below. "Thank you Lord for helping Mary to open up and share with me and please keep that tender heart open to me and open to You, help Mary to tell me when she is worried or sad and give me the right words to speak to her" Amen

And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the PEACE of thy children. Isaiah 44:3

Gratitude and Habakkuk

The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights. Habakkuk 3:19 It has been such a long time since I have recorded my gratitude here in this place, this journal...I have felt the incredible need to write things down once again, recording in the process God's hand in our lives all around despite the pain, despite the brokeness I feel, despite the fast pace of life as I set out each day to do my best at mothering my little flock. I know that when I am focusing on the good around me in the little things only then can I truly feel His arms of love and comfort around me. Otherwise I quickly get focused on the overwhelmingness of life and the uncertainty that the devil wants me to feel thus crippling me into a quick depression and numbness.

So here continues the list....#241-266 *Katherine loving to sew~ above picture of Katherine with friends Julia, Bailey, and Kara after completing a cute bag last spring *precious girls all snuggled up under the canopy of soft material *a boy, the only boy (!) curled up on the loveseat in their room because he doesn't want to sleep by himself *sheer bliss roses in the family room *looking up a newly spotted bird in Mary's bird book *knowing that He will never leave me nor forsake me *true friends who can laugh with you, cry with you, shop with you, feed you....just BE with you no matter what *kids laughing as we read Caddie Woodlawns Family tonight over dinner *dark skies and winds blowing *the smell of freshly cut grass *kind dentists who call to check on how the tooth is feeling *a girl who caught herself before she lost her temper, who smiles up at me as if she is saying..."mom, I did it!!!! I stopped myself!!!! I can do it!!!" *kind emails from older women in our church checking on me *bright yellow iris flowers picked and adorning the patio..."sunshine" on the table! *stripes...clothes, bags, paper, socks, rugs, fabric, shoes...fun! fun! *story hour cd's *good movies, The Young Victoria *bright yellow scrambled eggs, kids love breakfast for dinner and so does their mother *#3 reading books to me! pure joy! *seeing Thomas kiss Caroline when she was hurt *big brown eyes full of expression as he tells a VERY long story *patience when all are talking at once *cashmere hot water bottles *snuggling with Mary on my bed reading Rainbow Garden *an appointment with my pillow that was sucessful for over 45 minutes, ahhh rest for the weary! *#2 being diligent all day long, no hassling or reminding or pushing...hallalujah and praise the LORD!

EASTER

The Beautiful Easter Table~~~ Patsy made a wonderful breakfast, waffles, an egg dish, fruit, applesauce, orange juice and Angie set the table so beautifully with awesome place cards that she made..."He is Risen!"

Angie's family had the tradition of hiding the kids Easter baskets somewhere in the house and as soon as the they woke up they would start looking. Angie said that once she hunted all day, right up til bedtime! Allen hid a basket for each of the kids. The older girls baskets were hid in very tricky places! Below Carolina has just found her basket!

Decorating Eggs...When did there become such amazingly creative ways to make an egg look so beautiful? What happened to the basic colors? When did things become so complicated? I am feeling old!

Sara and Family came over to Patsy and Allens for the Easter Egg Hunt. Fun to get the kids together. It was fun for my kids to be with Megan and Seth and for all of us to hold and enjoy baby Kate who is 5 months old, an angel baby!

Uncle Allen made an awesome treasure hunt that took the kids all over the farm, typed to rhyme and cleverly written!

The Hunt Begins.....