Birthday Kids!

Well, the last few days have been full of birthdays! Of course, yesterday was Samuel's (my new nephew's) BIRTH day. (New picture taken by his Aunt Alicia!) But in the last few days we have also celebrated Emma's 3rd birthday and Derek's 5th birthday. Emma lacked 5 days being born on Derek's birthday! Below are some pictures of their big days. Emma wanted Strawberry Shortcake & Derek wanted Diego (Dora's cousin). We just had our little (well, kind of big) family celebrating. We had what they wanted for dinner. So that was two nights of pizza in one week... a RARE (perhaps unheard of)occurrence in our house. We had applesauce on Emma's night & watermelon with Derek's pizza. Then we had cupcakes! One of the good things about having birthdays so close is I can make one batch of cupcakes, use half for Emma's b-day, then freeze the other half til Derek's b-day. Not so much cake to eat this way!

One day earlier this week, we went & celebrated their birthday at a Child's Museum (Charlotte at Play). Basically, it was a big play place but NOTHING like Chuck E Cheese. It was divided into play areas. They had a music area, a dinosaur dig, a pirate ship, a race track, a princess castle, a vet shop, a grocery store, a diner, an art center, etc. All the kids LOVED it. They want to go back. If we lived close, I think it would be worth the investment of a family membership. It was great fun... and educational! Dano went with us, so it was a big family event. They are ready to go back again!

On a side note... as you may guess, we kind of "stick out" with 4 kids in this 2 & 3 kid family culture. We especially stick out now that our new one is sticking out so much. The questions we get... Are they all yours? Were they all planned? and from there the questions usually get worse! BUT it is becoming an awesome opportunity to share our faith in God! We are able to say how we trust Him to provide for our family & for Him not to give us more than we can handle. We also share how we haven't always had these convictions, & sometimes we're able to share how God started changing our hearts. We share with them that God's Word always speaks of children as being a blessing. What other blessings that God gives would we limit? Then people think we are some kind of saints or very patient people. So, once again I have an opportunity to share how God is using parenting to change me & grow me... because believe me... I am no saint! And I KNOW patience is a virtue... but I'm still working on mastering that one! The best thing about it is that this is all in casual conversation as we watch our children play. I love how God can use every day moments to bring Him Glory as we share His Power & His Grace!

Okay... here are the pix...