Shark Sightings - Swim At Your Own Risk!

I kind-of can't believe my precious first born is FIVE YEARS OLD!!!! He woke up on Tuesday to #5 s everywhere (per his request! As in, "Hey Mom don't forget to put 5s everywhere for my birthday" HA!). We opened a few presents, including a giant inflatable shark of course, and then sang happy birthday over a gourmet breakfast of hostess chocolate chip mini muffins. ;)

Then we were off prepping all the last minute details for his shark party. Thanks to Nannie the birthday boy was dressed head-to-toe in shark gear and ready to party!!
All week as we were getting things ready Stacey kept saying, "Is that for my party? That is awesome! This is going to be the best party ever!" Pretty precious when the birthday boy is SO enthusiastic and easy to please.

The details:
The number five on the sign in table is from the numbers 1-10 that hang in the boys bedroom. The number 3 just happened to be orange and perfect for Wyatt construction party in April and wouldn't you know it the 5 was blue - score!









Those little orange crackers are actually sharks not goldfish. My father-in-law noticed them at Aldi, a new discount grocery store and of course they were a must!
The names and place-mats were all written in chalk an idea I noticed here.



We'd been collecting Snapple jars for the party for awhile, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them when we started gathering them, I just thought the S on the bottle would be cute for Stacey and Sharks. "Stacey's Shark Sippers" was the finished product
The back of each bottle had a fun shark fact.

The kids all got a little bucket with $1 bills in it so that they could "buy" their Shark Souvenirs. I copied this from a party I saw here where the guests bought their snacks.
The Shark Souvenir Shop:
Shark Squirters
Shark Repellent (silly string)
Shark Tank Bubbles
and super cool shades, among other things, were available for purchasing. :)
During the party we swam,
and swam,
and swam,
and swam.
Then we had a little lunch,
and sang Happy Birthday!
After the pinata was thoroughly doused with shark repellent, we busted him open,
and then wrapped things up opening presents.
Stacey thanked us repeatedly for his super cool shark party, so far I'm loving five years old!
His only complaint was that it was too short. But, all good things must come to an end.
This was the first time I've done a birthday party during the week, on the actual birthday and with a fairly small invite list. Stacey specifically requested big kids, more specifically big boys at the party so we invited his three best buddies, their siblings and our families.

As usual our families were a huge help! After the party Mom and Dad took the boys home to Waco for Cousins Camp and Angie and Kacey stuck around and rocked the clean up - seriously those girls are gifted!!

Thankfully no limbs were lost due to shark attacks and everyone returned home in one piece.

4th of July at the Lake

It was another great 4th of july weekend at Lake LBJ with lots of Red White and Blue,

Flexing,

Posing,
(Just love the differences in boys and girls) :)
Laughing,
Grilling,

Snuggling,

Swimming,Eating,

Celebrating,

and of course some pyrotechnic-ing.

Wyatt decided this was the best place to watch our home grown fireworks.

But he warmed right up for the big show with a front row seat on the boat.

God Bless America!

(My font color keeps malfunctioning so if there are no words on this post sorry, I'm sure you won't miss them.)

Wyatt's Wednesday Wisdom

Wyatt - Hey Mom, can I go swimming

Me - Why don't you go ask your Father

Wyatt - (pause, with a confused look on his face) Is that Daddy?

:)

Great Day!

We had our 12 week checkup today and got to see our babies. They were both PERFECT and doing beautifully. It is absolutely amazing to see two little people moving around and thriving inside of you. One baby had the hick-ups and the other was sucking it's hand. So crazy to see all that activity and not be able to feel a thing. Both babies had a heart beat of 164 and were measuring 12 weeks 6 days. We also found out the babies are fraternal, not identical twins. No doubt yesterdays appointment made things feel more real than ever!! :)

Baby A

Baby B

I have really struggled this month with letting my heart worry about all the worst case scenarios that could have taken place this at this appointment. With our first pregnancy we went in for our twelve week checkup with no signs of anything wrong to find the baby with no heartbeat. That experience has left me a little anxious about any 12 week checkup, but typically I am able to trust the Lord with whatever the outcome might be, without letting my imagination get the best of me. With this pregnancy however, I have struggled to surrender that control completely to Him.

I would surrender my thoughts to the Lord and ask him to bear the burden for me only to relinquish it back the next day. I was constantly reminding myself of His word, His promises and His character - that he LOVES me and that He LOVES my babies that he created them and He has numbered there days - that He is in control - that there is nothing I can do to earn this gift and so on. After several weeks of this back and forth I really felt the holy spirit convicting me to stop trying to write my own story. Because it isn't mine to write, and God's version is always SO much better than mine. Finally I was able to release the worry and control I had held so tightly to. It's embarrassing to admit how long it took me to get there, but I am grateful for the lesson, even if it isn't the first time I've had to learn it.

Yesterday before our appointment I felt completely calm and excited, something that had nothing to do with me and everything to do with God's grace and protection. I realize that is easy to say after a perfect appointment. But I'd like to think that regardless of how yesterday had gone my heart was in a place that would have allowed me to see God in the midst of any circumstance.

Here I am at 12 weeks

Leap Frog

I'd like to thank the geniuses at Leap Frog for this brief moment of calm at our house. I found the boys just sitting at their table both "reading" with their tags. Ahhh so quiet, so calm, so contained.

Of course moments later "Jeff Gordon" and "Batman" were ready to wage war on any princess who dares enter, but I'll take the calm even if it comes in small doses.