Happy 5th to My Lil' Ladybug

Ava wanted to have a ladybug birthday party this year.  (She has only been talking about it since the day after her 4th birthday!).  We decided to keep it simple and have it at our house.  I love it that her birthday is in the summer because we can move the party outdoors.  Our house may be on the small side, but we have lots of room in our yard.  The only issue we have to battle is that her birthday is in August and the heat is extreme.  We decided to have a water party this year and make it as late in the afternoon as possible.  Don't get me wrong, it was very hot, but it was not TOO unbearable.  We had a wonderful turnout for her party and I think everyone had a blast.

Our awesome friends, Davis and Shanon, were nice enough to let us borrow their water slide...it was a hit!  The kids loved it.  Add in water balloons, pizza, cake, ice cream, and a pinata...and we had a considerable amount of happy children.  The only sad thing is that I can't believe my baby is 5 now!  Where does the time go?!?

And...last, but not least...here's a little video of the pinata.  Don't let people try to tell you to go the safe way and not use a bat....just pull a ribbon.  Um...yeah, right.  That didn't really work as planned.  However, all the kids still got candy, so I suppose they are happy.  :)

40th Anniversary Celebration

Hello all.  I am back.  I know we've all heard this before, but my computer has still been giving me serious issues.  I will not bore you with all the details.  I am sorry to my two readers for my absence...lol.  Needless to say, as usual, I have some catching up to do.  

I skip way back to the end of July when our church celebrated our 40th anniversary.  It was a weekend long celebration that consisted of softball antics, ice cream, snow cones, fun at the park, a few dinners, and a look back at our church's history.  There are many things our church has done right, and equally as many that haven't turned out as they should.  I am very thankful to everything my church has meant to me.  It has given me life-long friendships and family.  Some I don't see as much as I would like, but they will forever hold a special place in my heart.  

Many will tell you that I am not sentimental about things in the least, but I am quite sentimental about people and places.  It was good to have this weekend to look back and reflect.  It was nice to have my kids there to participate in the activities.  Chance actually played in the softball game (which was more of a crazy fun alternative to softball).  I was excited to see him jump in because he is usually much more content to watch from the sidelines.  The softball/ice cream event was my favorite event because it was a simple, relaxing evening that included everyone from the small kids to the senior adults.  Everyone worked together and had lots of fun.  

I included some pics of the kids at the bottom.  Enjoy. :)