Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend has been filled with all kinds of treats.

Sand box/bin. Friends. Lollipops. Popsicles. Ice cream. Cookies. Pool. Water. Fun.

Sawyer has had a blast! We are going to a park tonight with a bunch of friends. Should be great. All this outside/summer fun gets me excited for all the fun we'll have in Louisville.

Here are pictures that recap our weekend and our sweet, busy, loving, toddler!

My helper

This girl loves helping me do anything these days. Check out these adorable pictues. And notice her new sunglasses. Daddy bought them for her today when we went to the King of Prussia mall. It is the second largest mall in the county. It's only 20 minutes from us. I could get in a lot of trouble if I went there alone =D

Summer like weather

We've been having some gorgeous weather the past couple of days. Sawyer is loving her outside time. Especially if Gigi and Marissa are out. These girls sure have fun together. They are teaching Sawyer some big girl things.

Sawyer has almost gotten the hang of the tricycle. She loves doing it. Of course she still loves riding on Marissa car. Love this face.

I kinda felt like I have been in a slump when it comes to doing things with Sawyer. We do the same things everyday. So I motivated myself last night to research some creative things for us to do this summer. Today we tried one of those things. We painted the sidewalk with a homemade sidewalk chalk. I did 2 T of cornstarch, 3 T of water, and 5 drops of food coloring. Sawyer loved it. The paint washes off with water. We will for sure be doing this again, she played with it for about 45 minutes.

I had fun too!

We've been dealing with discipline issues with Sawyer recently. She is at such a fun age but still struggling with when she doesn't get her way. She's slowly learning that life isn't all about Sawyer. We are working with patience and self control. I love this little girl so much and I am trying to put in the hard work now of disciplining her so that she will be an obedient, lovely little girl =D The Lord is teaching  me patience and self control as well. This parenting thing is hard work but the most rewarding thing I have ever done. So thankful for this opportunity to raise this little one along with Clint.

Mother's Day Weekend

I am feeling so blessed right now. Not only do I have the best mothers and best grandmother but my daughter sure knows how to make me feel loved. Of course her Daddy helped in making this weekend special. Saturday morning we went to breakfast at a little diner close by. It was wonderful. While I was getting a refill of my coffee Sawyer and Daddy went next door to the flower shop and bought me these beautiful purple tulips. Such a treat.

Then we went to a farm about 20 minutes from our house. It was a beautiful drive and I am glad we went to check it out. First we saw the cows. She calls them moos. Now anytime she pretends she is going bye bye I ask her where she is going and she says "see moos" =D

Then we saw pigs, chickens, baby cows, ducks, goats, and donkeys. Sawyer loved looking at all the animals. You couldn't touch any of them, but it was so fun watching her look at them all. She would say "I wanna see" over and over again.

But I think Sawyer's favorite thing to do was eat homemade peach ice cream. I couldn't blame her, it was delicious!

After the farm we went over to a little flea market down the street from us. Lots of junk to look at but we didn't buy anything. Off to home we went for Sawyers nap, but she had to get some cuddles in with Daddy before her nap.

When she woke up we planted some morning glory seeds. Sawyer loved getting dirty!

This morning we went to church and came home for a quiet lunch and nap time. Dressed up and ready to worship!

After nap time Sawyer and I went to the store and then played outside for awhile. Our neighbors got a tricycle and play car for their girls and Sawyer loves  playing with all their things. She has also been practicing throwing a ball. She's getting pretty good! Glad our neighbors like to share =D

This weekend has been everything I hoped it would be. I truly am grateful for the gift of motherhood. I've learned from some pretty awesome women!!

“Mothers are always on call, expected to have all the answers and limitless energies. They’re supposed to do everything; it’s taken for granted. How can you be and do everything expected of you? What you need is a habitual sense of the presence of God. Think that Almighty God, who created the stars and keeps the seasons revolving in perfect rhythm, is there in your kitchen, in your bathroom, in the laundry room, in the grocery store. Mothers, be prepared for an arduous struggle. Your calling is impossible without prayer, the comfort and instruction of the Scriptures and fellowship in your church.”
~Elisabeth Elliot

Thank you Mom, Grandmother, and Susan for always being on call for us! We love and appreciate you so much!

Derby Party

Clint and I love having Derby parties, especially since we live up here in the North. People have heard of the Derby but don't really know what an exciting day it is. We like to show them how the Kentuckians like to party. Every Derby party has to have three elements: hot browns, mint julips, and derby pie. And now every party has to have an adorable 1 1/2 year old =D

I forgot to take a picture of our hot browns but here are the empty pans with one serving left over for lunch for Clint. They were delicious!

Clint was our bar tender and he did a great job as usual. My parents bought him the offical bourbon of the Derby.

My parents also brought us up some Derby Pies. Last year I made some but it was so nice to just pop these in the oven, and they were wonderful!

And you can't have a Derby Party without people. We invited our Community Group over. Hope they now will have an appreciation for the Derby and want to watch it every year!

All the kids got some candy for having their horses "win". I didn't really think to give Sawyer any but sweet Marissa was so kind to share with Sawyer.

This made Sawyer very very very happy...it was precious watching these girls play together

The kids got to play outside while we were waiting for dinner. Sawyer loves playing with the big kids outside. She has a hard time keeping up with them though, hehe

I'll close with this funny picture of a horse balloon that my parents also brought up. Sawyer loves it, she calls it her neigh. I love the position he is now in. He floated into Sawyers room like this while I was putting her jammies on and he was starting to float in her bed and she did not like that. She said "No neigh" and got up and pushed him away from her bed. Too funny!