Happy Birthday Brina & Karlie!
Happy 7th Birthday to Brina & Karlie! We love you sweet girls. It is amazing how quickly these last few years have gone by and we are thankful for the many wonderful memories we have shared. Wishing both of you many more awesome years of great times! 🙂
Family Activities: Celebrating Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day Heart “Attack” surprise for the girls
Our family had a blast celebrating Valentine’s Day together! Jake and I went out the Saturday before Valentine’s for a Date Night and to celebrate. On Valentine’s Day I took goodies and helped at the girls class party as well as celebrated with the family that evening. It was a fun relaxing time together. The girls loved having an extra special dinner together in the candlelight as a family. For dinner we a fun conversation as we ate steaks, baked potatoes, fresh vegetables, bread, fresh fruit salad, Cherry Limeade punch, and cheesecake. Here is a little tidbit from our Valentine’s Day celebrations:
Heart shaped cinnamon rolls for breakfast
Valentine’s Day Breakfast
Valentine’s Day “love” notes on the girls bedroom door
Valentine’s Day fun for Brina & Karlie (looking from their room out to the hallway)
Brina’s Goodies’ from Grandpa & Grandma
Karlie’s goodies from Grandpa & Grandma waiting on her barstool at breakfast
Hugs & Kisses Tigers
Karlie’s Valentine goodies from her classmates. (With the word “Bushta” written across the front too, silly girl)
Brina’s Valentine envelope full of goodies from her classmates
Jake’s dinner plate – stick of dynamite with little heart notes….
You’re the bomb!
You’re the extra spark in my life!
You ignite my heart!
My heart explodes with love for you!
You light up my world!
The girls loved Daddy’s sticks of dynamite made out of rolos and love notes, they couldn’t wait for him to see them!
One of the girls plates for Valentine’s Day Dinner with the family
Our Valentine’s Day Dinner table
Be My Valentine decoration hanging from the ceiling fan over the dinner table
Conversational hearts center piece
Valentine’s Day Dinner table
Brina & Karlie worked hard on their Valentine’s Day Cards!
A stack of love notes for Jake to take with him on his next trip……one note for every day we are apart!
“I Love Jacob” written in hot pink lipstick on the mirror (the girls wanted to know if it would clean off the mirror or be permanent)
Heart balloons with love notes attached and flower petals to make the room more romantic
It was a wonderful Valentine’s Day with our family! We had a great time decorating, talking, celebrating, and enjoying our time together as a family. Thankful for days when we can relax and celebrate our love for each other. Although, we spent time this week to focus on our love it is important that this isn’t just a once a year activity. Taking the time to celebrate our love regularly is just as important.
Family Celebrations: Happy Birthday Skipper!
Best Buddies - A Girl and Her Dog (Brina and Skipper) The fifth member of our family is full of energy, a loyal friend, loves to play outside and adds a lot of laughter to our family…….Skipper! She is our sweet black lab who the girls absolutely adore! Our little Puddle Skipper Hayes was born on March 14, 2010 and she had fun celebrating her 1st birthday with us! It was a busy day full of a lot of activities but ended it with a little celebration for our furry family member. The girls were so excited to celebrate Skipper’s birthday.
Here are a few pictures from our fun together!
Brina and Karlie wrapping Skipper's birthday gifts! The girls wrapped Skipper’s gifts in newspaper and A LOT of tape! They even had tape on the floor when they were done (you can see a pile in between them on the carpet). They were so excited and had a blast doing the wrapping for their furry sister!
Skipper's Special Birthday Meal! The girls thought it was hilarious putting Skipper’s candle in her special meal. They thought it was funny she would rather have a special birthday meal with “bacon” then a birthday cake. The girls were worried that Skipper was going to burn her nose so she barely got close to the bowl until the candle was blown out, glad they were looking out for her. It was great watching them trying to keep her away from the candle while we sang Happy Birthday!
Skipper eating her birthday treat! The best puppy birthday meal you can ask for – Meaty and Moist, simply delicious! Plus she got to eat her special birthday treat all by herself (no one was wanting to share it with her).
The unwrapping part of the birthday celebrations was exciting and confusing for Skipper, good thing the girls were there to help! Skipper was very excited to get new bones and a toy! She immediately took one bone into the yard, then realized the other one was still on the porch so went back for that one. I really think she stayed up all night playing and eating her bones!
Happy Birthday Skipper! Hope you enjoyed your play time with the family, your feast, bones, and toy! The girls had fun picking them out, wrapping and celebrating with you!!!
Family Celebrations: “Welcome Ranch” Birthday Party
This year did the girls birthday party celebration at Welcome Ranch. It was our first year doing their party outside of the house and after calling several locations we made the decision to do it at Welcome Ranch. Brina and Karlie’s personalities and tastes are very different (one of the many joys of having twins), however, they both LOVE animals especially horses. Jake and I booked the party and when we sat down to tell the girls they were thrilled. They were okay that we wouldn’t be decorating the house since they would be riding horses for entertainment this year. I think every day after telling them they would ask “Is it this week?” When the day finally arrived they asked every few minutes “How much longer until we can ride the horses?” Thankfully we had another activity planned with friends earlier that day so that distracted them for a couple hours. They were very excited when we were on our way to the horse ranch to celebrate. Here are a few pictures from our day at Welcome Ranch:
The sign at the entrance of Welcome Ranch said "Happy Birthday Karlie 6 & Brina 6" The girls were thrilled to see their names on the BIG sign at the entrance of Welcome Ranch! “We have never had such a BIG sign to wish us Happy Birthday!” They were pleasantly surprised and excited!
Brina and Karlie listening carefully to Ms. Lisa's instructions! Lisa did a wonderful job of getting the kids (and parents) attention while making the whole experience fun for everyone. She even got a few laughs when explaining the rules. Brina and Karlie were listening carefully so they wouldn’t miss out on anything! They picked out their ranch hats earlier that week at Wilson’s Five & Dime store on Lauren’s Road. I was surprised they wore the hats the entire time!
Karlie and Brina leading the way with Ms. Lisa to the horses! On our way to ride the horses! Karlie and Brina led everyone with Lisa to the horses. They were ready to ride!
Brina talking and riding Montana! Loving it! 
Karlie all smiles riding Chocolate their miniature horse! 
Brina having a blast at Welcome Ranch! 
Karlie riding with Daddy on Montana! Hang on tight kiddo! 
Brina LOVING her time with the horses! 
Karlie riding on Mickey! 
Brina riding like a pro on Mickey!!! 
Brina and Karlie riding together on Montana! 
Karlie riding on Chocolate! 
Mommy and Brina riding Montana! 
Karlie volunteering to ride again! Always ready for another turn on the horses! 
Brina going for another ride on Mickey! 
Brina and Karlie on top of the Firetruck!!! 
Karlie putting out the fire! 
Brina putting out the fire! 
Firetruck at Welcome Ranch 
Daddy putting out the final flames! 
One of their signs at Welcome Ranch, love it! 
Happy Birthday Brina and Karlie!!! 
Karlie and Brina taking the candles out of their cake! 
The birthday girls enjoying a slice of delicious cake - Brina and Karlie! 
The girls liked their cat - Supervisor! They thought his name was very funny! 
Karlie had so much fun she crashed in the van on the ride home, too funny! 
Brina playing with her toys on the way home, love the crazy hat hair! 
Skipper joining in the birthday fun by wearing Karlie's hat! The girls had a wonderful birthday party at Welcome Ranch! Lisa, her Mom, and the crew did an amazing job. The kids loved riding the horses petting the animals (goats, donkey, dogs, cats, etc…) eating pizza, drinking ice tea, koolaide, a delicious cake and enjoying time with their family and friends. Thanks to Welcome Ranch for making their birthday extra special and memorable. We had a lot of fun celebrating with everyone that came to their party.
Happy 6th Birthday Brina and Karlie!
WE LOVE YOU!!!
Happy Birthday Brina & Karlie!!!
Today is my little ones birthday! It seems like it was yesterday we were in the hospital and NICU with them. Even though their due date was in April they decided to come 7 weeks early. They have brought so much joy and laughter to our life! It has been wonderful watching them learn and grow. We pray daily that God will continue to develop them into beautiful young women with a heart for Him.
Happy 6th Birthday Brina & Karlie!!!
Our sweet girls - Karlie and Brina! This picture was taken a couple months ago. Now both girls have glasses!
Getting My Attention
Do you ever have those wild stressful days? Recently I had one of those days when I had a lot going on and the girls were trying to help but they were slowing down the process. Since we had to get going soon I told them to relax quietly together so I could finish up the last few items then we could leave. It was one of those rushed days that are more stressful than usual and I had over committed myself.After completing the necessary tasks I went to find the girls, they had been quiet the past fifteen minutes so I was interested in finding out what had captivated their attention. My heart about burst when I went into the dining room. They were standing at the table taking turns reading The Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm together. As I stood there listening to them share story after story and point out the pictures on the pages I was so happy that they were sharing this time together. It was amazing how much they remembered from going through the book with them even though it was several devotional books ago.
However, at the same time I was convicted because it was a fast paced day and I hadn’t taken the time that morning to do my devotions. God used my sweet girls to grab my attention and gently remind me of the importance of having quiet time each day. How I chose to live my life has a ripple effect on my family and the people around me. I am thankful for these quiet reminders. I trust that God will continue to do a work in my life.
We do devotions with the girls in the evenings before bed (most nights). They always look forward to reading together. Typically, Jake will read them a chapter from a book we are going through together then I will do the devotional book with them. If time is tight we just do the devotional book. During the Holidays we were staying up too late so we would just pray with them before tucking them into bed at night. We are excited to get back into the routine and see all the neat things that they will learn this year.
Crafts: Painting Christmas Ornaments
Karlie and Brina's hand painted ornaments! We went to early service one Sunday with the family. Love getting up early going to church and coming home to a relaxing time with our family. On the way home we stopped by to get a newspaper at Walgreens. As a super special treat Jake went to Dunkin Donuts, the girls were so excited to get donuts. They picked out some yummy sprinkle ones and we headed home. We had a relaxing time sitting around the table eating donuts, talking and laughing.
After finishing up the donuts the girls wanted to do a craft. We pulled out some ceramic ornaments, striped the girls down to their underwear and let them paint. They had a BLAST! We had to give them a bath after painting but it was well worth a bath in the middle of the day. Jake watched the girls and started the crockpot for our potluck at church that night while I took a quick nap. Sundays are a wonderful day with the family. Not every Sunday is as peaceful and relaxing, however, we treasure the ones that are that way. It is fun creating memories. Hopefully they will look back at the ornaments and remember the sweet time we had together.
Brina painting her tree! 
Karlie being silly! 
Brina checking out her ornaments.... 
Karlie painting.... 
Karlie's decorated ornaments! 
Brina's decorated ornaments!
