Fit for a king

The kids were busy this weekend planning a surprise for Chad for Father's Day. They decided that they wanted to treat Daddy like a king. It was pretty cute! Here's what his "kingly" experience included:

A little homemade book, a mint, some pretend, hand drawn chips and drink all served on the finest china by Fisher-Price. They also made him a crown that you'll see below.




A red "carpet" that he walked on to get to his throne... As he walked on it, Ellie threw little pieces of confetti that she made!

A fan that read "you are the best"

The fans were used by his servants to keep him cool...notice the little sucker they gave him to eat!

A favorite treat...a rootbeer float

A picture with his subjects... :)

A blessed vacation

Hi friends!

We are blessed to be able to enjoy a vacation in Gulf Breeze, FL. We're having a blast and enjoying the warm weather! I will post pictures as I have a chance, but it won't be until I return as I'm not spending much time on the computer. I am excited to practice some photo sessions with my kids on the beach! I may even attempt a family portrait...on second thought...

This is where we spend a lot of our time...{and also the view from our balcony!!}

This picture makes me laugh as it looks like Ellie's posing for a catalogue! I didn't pose her!!

We let each of our kids pick out their own bag of chips for the week~ and we told them they didn't have to share any! They were quite excited about this experience!!! :)

How do you like our sand castle? Just kidding...there was a sand castle competition on one of the nearby beaches...some of the creations were amazing!

Check out this professional sand castle creator!

and I'll leave you with a picture of why you won't "hear" from me for a week...

Why we love you...

Today is Elliana's 4th birthday. It's hard to believe our baby is four! She is so full of a love for life. We often say that Ellie is our "little firecracker and that we went out with a bang!"



Here are just a few of the reasons we love her so. I hope you can capture a glimpse of her personality.

Happy Birthday Ellie~bean!!! We love you farther than the moon...

P.S. The little Belle cake is from the bakery at Walmart. It was only $5.88! You can get Belle, Cinderella, or Sleeping Beauty {and a couple options for boys too~ but I can't remember what}. They are really cute! I just made a 13x9 cake to feed everyone else!

A whole bunch o' randomness with pictures...

Life has been full lately. This has meant more time in the real world and less in the virtual one. I'm actually thinking that's a good thing. Does anyone else out there struggle with balancing the two?

So here's what I've been busy doing...

I took a photography workshop which was just perfect for where I'm at in this whole process of venturing into a little business. What a fun day, but I have so much to learn yet!! Here are a few images I took that day...

I've consulted for a couple more Women At Risk, Int. jewelry parties ~ I love doing those! It gives me a great outlet to talk about the precious women I met on my trip, to be able to bring awareness and raise funds for the battle against human trafficking. {Today I had training for being a consultant and I am so excited to be part of this ministry. God continues to confirm that this is the right place for me} Anyone want to host a party??? The hostess rewards are out of this world~ literally! ;)

Last week, my hubs and I took a getaway trip to the Smoky Mountains. We stayed in a cute mountain cabin in Tennessee. {Would you believe I won this trip at my church's women's retreat!!! I've never won any prize this big~ I was sooo excited!}

our cabin

We went for a hike in the Smoky Mountains...we were able to walk behind this waterfall.

Have I mentioned this area is my favorite part of the United States?

I've also been busy doing a few Tulip Time photography sessions {Our area has a big "touristy" Tulip Festival every year- thousands of tulips, parades, dutch dancing, shows, carnival, junk food, and lots of kids in dutch costumes}. Of course I had to do a little session with two of my own cuties...

Then on Monday, after watching all four kids in our town's Memorial Day parade, we spent the afternoon with family celebrating Elliana's 4th birthday!! {She'll get her own little post on her birthday on Thursday}.

A picture that captured her favorite things... the color yellow, Belle, ducks and a dress. {Grampy would make her "favorites" picture complete}. Notice the little bit of yellow frosting on the left side of her cheek!

If you've made it this far~ wow~ thanks for sticking with me!

The "write" of passage

This is what happens when your three year old is learning to write her name...

In the last 48 hours, I have found her name here:





and here:








and here:

{her bedroom wall}





and here:

{Her sister's sign for selling Freezee pops at our garage sale}

And apparently, she tried to write it here:

Of course we had a little talk, but it doesn't help that I've been taking pictures of "where she shouldn't be writing!" ;)

P.S. Since she is exceptionally bright and has created her own font, you may not be aware that she was writing E-L-L-I-E.

Paybacks!

I love surprises. I love being sneaky. I love laughter. I love practical jokes. April Fool's Day? My kind of day! I've been known to pull off some big April Fool's jokes over the years. I usually keep it pretty simple with my kids...but after yesterday, I think they're ready for more!


I like to play "food" pranks on my kids every year. Here's what this year involved...



A few drops of food coloring underneath their oatmeal at the bottom of the bowl. When they mixed up the oatmeal with water, it turned color!



Ethan thought some liquid dish soap somehow spilled into his bowl.






Emma thought her packet had been labeled wrong. Since hers turned into pink, she figured the strawberry kind had accidentally been put in her packet.


Audra was quite relieved to find out that this was a joke and there was nothing "disgusting" in her oatmeal! Looks pretty tasty, huh?





Elliana, after watching the other kids and not quite getting it, hopped up to the counter and with excitement said, "I wonder what color mine will be!!" {I quickly added a few drops to hers} She has informed me that she wants yellow {her fav color} oatmeal everyday! Don't you love her middle-of-the-summer pjs on a cold Mi. morning?!









Later, when they all got home from school, I offered them "kool -aid" which was actually jello.

This was my test drink. It looks pretty real, huh? {BTW, these two ideas came from Family Fun's online site}. I decided to put their "drinks" in cups with lids to help conceal my prank. I went a step further and had a pitcher of the real stuff sitting out on the counter. You should have seen their cute cheeks sucking in so hard and trying to figure out what was going on! They thought it was pretty funny, except Ellie who "couldn't get hers to work!" Notice Audra on the left who has her cup tipped upside-down.






Apparently it's in the genes, because they had planned to pay us back! {with a little help from Grammy}. Chad found a lovely bar of soap that leaves a black residue on your skin when he washed his hands...











While I was at a meeting, they were happily setting their grand finale into motion. They were already in bed when I experienced their final prank.



Upon seeing this...









I just about woke them and the neighborhood with my "excitement". Those little sneaks even made a lumpy body form in the bed! I started giggling when I saw this on my pillow:






Better start thinking about next year- they have now taken this to the next level!!! ha ha. Any other practical jokesters out there?? I'm going to need some new ideas!