We are getting so excited...so a little sneak peek!

I cannot describe how much Larry and I love "Knight Camp" with our grandkids. We start talking about the next years theme and what we might do about as soon as one is over! This year is another special year because it is so fun when a grandchild is old enough to come...so Emma will join in this year! Plus another exciting thing...we have moved Knight Camp to the Fall. I love the cooler temps and it just seems like "camping weather" to me! We will be heading out in a few weeks so I am super busy planning all our activities...crafts...food! I just had to share with you what my talented daughter designed for us! It is so nice to send her the info and theme and "TA-DA" this is what she created!!!

How cute is this!!! I am gonna give her little business a plug! If you need invitations of any type and either don't have the time, energy or creative juices to make it happen...please consider giving her your business! Here is her blog: Snowbird Design

The little guys have been super sweet about Knight Camp this year. They are always excited but also they have been so sweet about Emma joining in the fun. They were quite concerned that we find Emma a pink tackle box. Isn't that so precious! They all received a tackle box on their first year to Knight Camp and so they are super pumped about Emma getting one too! They have so sweetly told me over and over that they will help her get her worm on her hook, help her pull her fish in and take good care of her. They have no idea how much this warms my heart. One of my greatest desires is for not only my children (Zach, Meg, David and Ashley) to remain close but also for our grandchildren to grow up close and have lots of fun memories to share!

So...hopefully in just a few weeks I will be back on here with some really sweet pictures and funny stories of Knight Camp 2012!!! Yahoo!!!

I do believe we surprised her!

Ashley turned 30 on Saturday. David called a month ago and ask us if we would help him surprise her with a little party. David took her for a little overnight trip and while "we were keeping Emma" we got the house ready, decorated and when he brought her home Saturday, family and friends were gathered to wish her a her a very happy 30th! Here are a few of the shots...

 The table is set with her favorite...a fajita bar from some of her favorite restaurants...

 She's here...

 A trying to figure out why all these people are in her house...

 Yep...she didn't suspect a thing!

 A very excited daughter to see her mommy!!!

 Hugs from friends...

 Jenny, Andrea and Ashley...sweet friends!

 Emma and David celebrating with the birthday girl

 A few decorations...

 The center of the flowers...buttons from her Nanny's button box

 A banner of the ABC's of Ashley

It was such a fun weekend. Patti, David's mom came in and was a huge help getting things ready. 

 It was fun to celebrate 30 years of life and look forward to the years to come as Ashley as our daughter. We love you and happy birthday sweetie!

30 years ago today life got even sweeter for us...

It really doesn't seem possible. 30 years ago today, Larry and I welcomed our second child into our family. We had babies before you really had the opportunity to know what you were having...I have to say there is something I really liked about that. The anticipation of that day was like none other. Would we be given another boy and be a little family of boys. Highly possible in our family as boys way out number girls! Or would God give us a little girl and we could experience the joys of both sexes. We wondered and we waited. When Ashley decided to finally come (she was a week late!) we were beyond delighted. We had always dreamed of being parents to a boy and a girl and our dreams...no our prayers had been answered. A beautiful nine plus pound precious baby girl! I was thrilled, Larry was thrilled and Zach, oh my, he was beside himself. From day one, Zach took it on to be her protector. He loved his baby sister and it become pretty clear right off the bat, that she was pretty keen on him as well. We could not have asked for more...a boy and a girl to raise, to love and to now watch them raise their own!

Today we celebrate 30 years with Ashley. We always laugh as our two kids were as different as day and (k)night. Ashley was content to sit and watch Zach fly around the room...he was her personal entertainer. It we needed a smile or laugh...just ask Zach to look at her! He could have her laughing or smiling in seconds. She was and really continues to be laid back, quiet and easy-going. Ashley loved to lay in her bed in the morning and look through a stack of books we kept by her bed. Zach hit the ground running. Ashley would savor each bite of food and eat small amounts while Zach would eat his food and anxiously await to see if Ashley needed help cleaning up her plate. Ashley would play or do whatever her "bubba" was doing. The Little Critter Book called "Me too" was surely written with Zach and Ashley in mind! Those two words, "Me too" were heard hundreds of times a day!

Fast forward (and fast is exactly how I am feeling today...how did 30 years go by so fast!!!) and now I have the honor of watching her as a wife and a mother. She goes about her jobs quietly and continues to be laid-back and easy-going. She is a wonderful little mother. Somehow I knew she would be from the time she owned her first baby, it was always with her. She mothered every little doll she owned. What joy fills my heart as I watch her teach Emma about God. It is obvious to us that Emma's days are filled with teaching moments! Ashley is doing a wonderful job raising Emma. She is a lovely wife and takes both of those roles seriously. She is also a wonderful and loving daughter to me. She is not only my precious daughter but my best girl friend. We are so blessed. We have been not only given wonderful children to raise but now we delight in being a part of their lives as they raise their own. We are so thankful to God for giving us this role.

Ashley, we love you and are so very honored to be your parents. Happy 30th Birthday!

May your day be as special and wonderful as you are!

Girl Weekend in Houston

I have so many wonderful memories of girl trips with my Mom and Ashley. The ones that really stick out were when we got to stay in a hotel! We always had such fun and it was such a huge treat. This past weekend, Ashley, Emma and I took a little trip and started building our own scrapbook of memories. We were headed to Houston to see our dear friends the Sellers and the Smiths. We decided to stay in a hotel and it was not only a treat but so fun to experience it with Emma! Isn't it just so fun to see the world through the eyes of a child!

We were able to do lots of visiting with friends, went to a Children's Museum-which was just a small one in The Woodlands but the perfect size for the kids to run and play and there was hardly anyone there so it made it extra nice! Kade and Emma had such fun! (Even I had fun playing with Emma and putting on a puppet show!)

We ate lots and lots of yummy food, went shopping and got to meet Shelli's newest little one, Kellan. What a sweet baby boy!!!

Shelli and Linda not only had great food cooked for us to enjoy but also took Ashley and I to Tommy Bahama's for a joint birthday lunch, and that place was SOOOO fun!!!

It was pure delight to watch Emma, Paityn and Kade playing so sweetly together. They don't see each other but once a year but they get along so well.




Emma was SO excited to stay in a hotel. She made us laugh so hard as she was so delighted over everything! When we checked in, she loved riding on the cart with the bags

then we got to the room she was so excited about the two beds! She jumped on one and then counted them...one bed and two beds! Then she looked up at Ashley and I and said "three girls...two beds" and then sat down on her bed and said "Emma's bed".

When we got back to the hotel that night, she was just jabbering because she was so excited. When I was putting her PJ's on her, she was standing on the bed, and just kept repeating..."I am just so excited, I am just so excited". It was so priceless! The last morning there, we ate breakfast (which was another complete delight as Emma thought the "free breakfast" was such a "Big Restaurant". Then we let her swim...

then checked out of the hotel and made a couple of quick stops before heading to see one of Ashley's sweet college friends. Chelsie and Steve have a new baby girl and it was so fun to get to meet her. She is adorable and so sweet natured. It so fun for me as a Mom to see these girls I grew to love as they were going through college together, as Mom's and seeing them taking their role so serious! Makes my heart sing! We stopped by a couple of shops on the way out of town and then headed back to Mansfield. Emma crash, poor little girl...she was so tired!

Ashley and I enjoyed some good talk time while driving. I think David was glad to see his girls when we arrived home. I spent the night, just to break up the trip and also because Ashley has asked if I could help her with Emma's three year old pictures. ( I will put some of my favorites at the bottom!) We got up Monday and headed to the park where we got some really sweet shots of our Emma-girl! So fun. Then it was time for Honey to hit the road. It was a wonderful trip and I am so thankful for the relationships God has placed in my life...both family and friends.

Here are a few of MANY favorite pictures we took...she is growing up way too fast!

33 years of wonderfulness...

33 years ago today, this little boy entered the world and changed his Mom and Dad's life. We just thought life was good. We had no idea until God blessed us with our firstborn, our son, Zach. Today he turns 33. We have watched him enter the world and literally take it by the tail and live it to the fullest. As a toddler he was all about checking everything out! He was as curious as George! :) He loved to be outside and came in the house each day with pockets brimming with "treasures". He has grown up loving God, loving nature and loving his family. He continues to bring us such joy. Now he is sharing his love for God, nature and family with his own three sons. I love to watch him when he is telling a "story" on one of them...the way his eyes literally light up! The way his voice expresses such love and tenderness when talking about something one or all of those three little "Zach's"has done or said.  We are so blessed to have been given Zach to raise and to now be a part of his life as he and Meg raise their own little family. Today we celebrate all the blessing God has poured out on us as parents. We love you Zach and are so honored to call you son!

M-I-C-K-E-Y MOUSE came to Emma's house

I have been waiting for this since last December! That is when Ashley and David made the decision to go to Honduras on a Mission Trip with their church. We are so proud of them for making the choice to spend their total vacation time serving God. When they told us they were going, they asked if the grandmothers might be able to divide the week up and keep Emma! DUH! Of course. I think I can speak for Patti, "Happy" here, that we are both thrilled to babysit Emma! Now, I will say here that I was super disappointed because I thought Bud (Larry) was going to be able to come with me and that would have made the trip even MORE special...but work kept him home. We missed him BIG time!

As time got closer, I decided I would plan some activities based on Mickey Mouse, because really, this little girl loves Mickey like nobody's business! 99% of the time, she has a Mickey Mouse figurine in her hand...usually more than one. She can still do all sorts of stuff while holding those tightly in her hand.

Here are just a few activities we did together to celebrate our friend, Mickey!

Mickey Mouse Lunch-Tea Party-
We invited some of Mickey's friends. I let Emma set the table...with a little instruction from Honey she caught on quickly. Here is our first Mickey Mouse Luncheon. We had many! If fact any time it was time for a meal, she would ask if we could have a "tea party". I loved it!

Painting and coloring masterpieces...of Mickey of course

Minnie Mouse Cookies-
Okay, I really had planned on making them from scratch but then we saw this dough at Wal-Mart and really, it was just as fun and NO MESS! She loved getting them out of the box, putting them on the cookie sheet and then standing at the oven door watching them cook. She kept talking non-stop about Minnie's pink bow! :)

Swim Time-
Of course Mickey and friends also joined her in the pool. She played for a good 45 minutes with them...taking them down the slide, watching them under the water, having them jump off the side of the pool and even making boots for them to ride in out of her crocs! What an imagination!

More Tea Parties-
I brought her a couple of new figures, Minnie and Daisy who were having a tea party of their own...so of course she wanted to do the same...and Honey loves having tea parties with this little girl!

Park Time-
We went to one of the parks in Mansfield to play, though we didn't stay long because the heat got to us both!

 Love the curls!

Playing Mickey Mouse Matching Game-

I loved how many ways we found to play with Mickey Mouse. I had printed off this very simple matching game...but she took it a step farther after she would make the match with the cards, then she would find the figurine to match it and line them up in a row. Or we would play with the stacking blocks, then they became "houses" for Mickey and all his friends. Or the barn would become Mickey and friends little "house". It was like every toy could be re-invented by Mickey Mouse!

Bubble Baths with Mickey and friends-

Each night when I would tell it was time to take a bath, she would get so excited and start staying words...Bubbles...Mickey...Friends...Emma...Bath...Play...Bubbles...Honey...Minnie...Bubbles...

You get the picture...the girl was excited and when she gets excited instead of saying full sentences...she just starts hopping up and down and saying all the "key words". So cute.

Swimming with Mickey Mouse and all his friends.

Bath time for Mickey and Friends:

While I was getting supper ready one night, I let her give her friends a bath in the kitchen sink. Amazing how long she played with them in that sink. I figured as much as they were being played with and carried around...a bath probably wouldn't hurt them! :)

Town Square Toy Store-

Mansfield has a very nice toy store so of course we went to check it out! Right now, along with Mickey, Emma loves Wonder Pets. She used to only want to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse but rigth now if she gets to watch a movie...she will request Wonder Pets. It is so cute, she knows all the songs and characters and so when we were in the toy store, we found little Wonder Pets Stuffed Animals. I let her pick out one to bring home. Linny was the winner! Funny thing about Linny the Hamster, he eats celery and guess who has developed quite the taste for celery...you guessed it. Every meal, she would ask for "celery like Linny eats".

The girl and her Mickey:

One thing that was so precious to me is how this little munchkin can do all sorts of things all the while holding on very tightly to Mickey. Mickey stays in her hand pretty much ALL the time. Minnie often joins the hand but she will release Minnie if necessary. Mickey, not so much. 

David and Ashley require Emma to put Mickey and friends into their "house" while she takes naps and at nighttime...because she would lay in bed and play with them for hours! So, each time it is time to go to bed...she puts them in their house...the microwave of her kitchen. It is pretty funny. She has to arrange them all...sometimes they stand and other times she would lay them down. As soon as she gets up...that is the first stop!

Games:

We had so much fun playing games, working puzzles and dancing to her CD's. She is so fun to play games with...one of her favorite is Busy Town. I love how she would get her microscope to look for things in Busy Town. Pretty fun stuff.

 Even the timer became a telescope!

To say we had fun would be putting it lightly.

The best part for me was just being in her little world for 5 days in a row! I loved every single second and my heart is bursting with sweet moments and funnies from this little one who has completely stolen my heart. Just like her cousins she has a extremely special place in my heart.

I love you Miss Emma Grace!