Brina & Karlie’s Birthday Party
Silly kids! They wanted a goofy picture with the banner.
We did a small birthday party celebration this year for the girls 10th birthday. My parents were in town and my brothers family came over to celebrate with us. The kids had fun eating cake, opening gifts, and playing with family. We got to try out some of their neat gifts too which was fun! They are officially 10 years old (still cannot believe it).
It has been a wild couple of weeks with all the snow days from school. I have been spending more time playing outside with the kids since they have been home more the past two weeks. The disadvantage to all the fun is that I am behind on my blogging. It has been fun, but I promised to get caught up soon. A lot of fun stuff has been going on around our house lately!
Happy 10th Birthday Girls!
Ready for some strawberry cupcakes and blue velvet cake!?
Lots of flames! Happy Birthday Brina and Karlie!
Brina relaxing!
My nephews helped the girls open their gifts.
Checking it out!
Mom & Daughter Date Night at Hearts of Clay
Brina working on her new plate!
Earlier this year I took the girls to Hearts of Clay to make their first pottery creations. We were super excited when we got the call from Hearts of Clay saying that the items were ready to pick up, however, one of the pieces had broken (Brina’s big flower plate). They were very sweet and offered to let her create another plate if she wanted to come in and do it. Although, she was sad about the broken plate that she had worked so hard on she was a good sport and felt a lot better knowing she could create another one. We made it into a Mom-Daughter Date Night and had a great time being creative together. Thankful for Hearts of Clay and their kindness in letting her come make a new plate. We had a wonderful time and look forward to another fun activity at Hearts of Clay in the future.
Brina’s new plate! She made the plate beautiful, but simple this time around. Instead of a flower she chose a square shape. Her colors are very similar to the last one she created.
We also picked up the pieces that were done from the previous visit to Hearts of Clay! They turned out really well! Glad the girls enjoyed this fun adventure!
All the pieces that survived the first fun creative evening at Hearts of Clay. Karlie’s is the rocket plate and the goat! Brina’s is the purple heart, black lab, giraffe, and cat (whose tail fell off).
Karlie was so thrilled “Oreo” the goat came out well.
Karlie loves space so her rocket, stars, and planet plate was a perfect display of something she enjoys! She was pleased with how it turned out!
We are looking forward to seeing how this Brina’s recent plate turned out along with her other little creations she made with the extra clay. We met up with Jake and Karlie after finishing up at Hearts of Clay and the four of us went out to dinner together. It was nice to spend a little one-on-one time with Brina as well as a relaxing rest of the evening with the family.
Heart Reflections: Raising My Girls
Sweet Brina Bee!
I am so thankful for my girls! They are growing up too quickly. It doesn’t seem like it was that long ago when they were little ones crawling around the house. God chose to bless us with these girls. It has been a fun adventure raising twins! Not everyday has been perfect, but we have so many reasons to be grateful for these two blessings. They have made me grow more as a person. They bring more love and laughter into my life than I ever realized was possible.
My sweet Karlie Kool Kat is always game for a road trip!
Both girls are very different, yet perfect and gifted in their own special ways. I pray that God will give us as parents the wisdom to raise them into amazing young women. I know I will make mistakes as their Mom along the way, but hopefully they will overlook those mistakes and know that I love them despite those not-so-good-moments. It is my prayer that they will seek God’s wisdom and direction in their lives.
I want to go through life focusing more on the good memories and letting go of the little things that get my feathers ruffled. Life is too short to not have fun, smile, and enjoy the blessings God gives us everyday. For those of you who are new to my blog these two girls were the inspiration for my blog, Blessings Multiplied. They continue to amaze me with their creativity, learning, talents, and their love for life! I look forward to many more awesome memories with these two sweet girls and seeing how God uses them to make an impact in the lives around them.
Pottery Creations at Hearts of Clay
Karlie and Brina having fun at Hearts of Clay
For the girls birthday they received a Hearts of Clay gift certificate so we did a “Girls Night Out” this summer. We had a blast figuring out what they wanted to create, making the moldings, painting, chitchat, and having fun together. It was neat watching them come up with and create their treasures. One of the best parts was when the store worker told them that at the end of the session they can dump any of their remaining paint from their pallets onto the floor, they girls thought that was awesome! They asked the worker several times to make sure she wasn’t just kidding….how often do kids get permission to spill paint onto the floor.
They both made plates – Brina made the flower one and Karlie the square one
Karlie made a miniature goat and named it Oreo!
Painting their pottery creations!
Brina having a grand time!
All smiles!
Karlie’s rocket, planet, and space plate!
Brina’s flower plate
With the extra clay leftover from their plates they made a black lab, Oreo the goat, a heart, cat, giraffe, and an egg!
At the end of their session they let the girls dump their remaining paint onto the carpeted floor! They thought that was awesome!!! Karlie’s ready to dump hers now!
Karlie emptying her pallet of paint onto the floor!
Brina putting her paint onto the floor! So exciting!
Need to get all the paint onto the floor…..can’t forget to clean the brush off onto the floor too!
It was a great evening out at Hearts of Clay! Thankful for a nice evening with the girls.
Launching Rockets at Legacy Park
Setting up the rocket! 3….2….1…. Blast Off!
We met Jake at Legacy Park over his lunch hour to shoot off rockets. The girls had a blast setting up, shooting it off, and chasing it down. We shot off the rocket several times, on the last shooting it got stuck in the tree! We had a grand time even though the rocket didn’t make it back home again!
She found it!
Karlie turning to look at the cheering squad. There was a daycare at the park while we were shooting off the rocket! A whole group of kids were sitting on the steps cheering every time we shot off the rocket. I think the had as much fun as we did. Jake is trying to untangle the parachute so we can do the next round.
The girls are helping Daddy set it up for another round.
Ready for blast off!
Putting the rocket and parachute back together for another launch!
Setting it back up!
Karlie on the run for it! If you look closely in the upper right corner of the picture (in the blue sky) you can see the parachute and rocket coming down.
Brina helping prep for one more launch.
Brina ready to push the button for launch!
Ready for take off….just need to push the button!
Opps! The rocket got caught in the tree! You can see the yellow in the upper middle of the picture. The little “Fat Jak” rocket provided entertainment for quite awhile! Thanks Daddy for meeting us at the park on your lunch break!
Celebrating Dad!
Yes, I know I am a little late in posting about Father’s Day, but I promise we did celebrate it! In fact we are packing in so much fun this summer it is going by too quickly. For Father’s Day the girls made Jake breakfast in bed! They were so sweet!
The girls put together a scrumptious Father’s Day breakfast! Complete with cashews, homemade Egg McMuffin, blueberry yogurt, granny smith apples, cottage cheese, and a twizzler heart with Jelly Beans inside. I don’t know if the lighting was off or what but none of my breakfast in bed pictures turned out! 🙁 So moving on to the main meal of the day….another special treat for Dad!
Daddy and his girls after church!
Special Strawberry Fruit Punch for our drinks!
Happy Father’s Day Jake! Wishing you an amazing, relaxing, and super fun day! Thank you for being such an awesome Dad to our girls! You’re the BEST!!! We decided to enjoy our meal on the deck under the canopy. We’ve been loving our meal times outside lately!
Dinner – cube steak covered in cheese, sauteed onions and mushrooms in a hoagie roll, green beans, and salad!
Daddy opening his cards and gifts!
Watching MiP run around, fascinating!
A robot on the counter.
MiP carrying some legos!
Skipper even joined us up on the deck for the Father’s Day festivities. She is not allowed to beg and has to sit or lay quietly during meal time. She did well. At some point during the dinner Brina went searching for her napkin…..this is where it was found (under Skipper’s head)! Guess she needed a pillow / drool napkin during dinner!
Happy Birthday Brina & Karlie!
Happy Birthday Brina and Karlie!
We love you so much sweet girls! It is amazing to think you are turning 9 years old today (the years have flown by very quickly)! We prayed for a long time for you and are so blessed to have you both as our daughters!
Wishing you an awesome birthday and many more wonderful years packed full of great memories! We are praying that God will use you in great ways this year! We are grateful for our kind, thoughtful, loving, smart, funny, and beautiful girls! You both bring so many smiles, sunshine, and laughter into our lives! We are blessed to be your Dad and Mom!
Lots of HUGS & LOVE,
Dad & Mom
XOXO
Dear Mom…
Dear Mom,
I love you Mom! Can you read to us? Skipper loved her bone. As I write this letter Skipper is looking at me. Can you play with me Mommy? I love to play. It is cold outside. I had a fun day. Love, Brina
I found this letter and picture one morning from my sweet Brina. These little gestures from my family makes my heart want to burst. Not every day is perfect or easy as a parent so seeing these sweet letters totally make my day brighter! In case your wondering, yes we read, played, and had fun together that day. Love my family!
Bouquet of Fresh Flowers
Bouquet of flowers from my girls
My girls know how to warm my heart. Last week we spent some time with extended family in Vermont. Jake’s grandpa has a green thumb and when we first moved into our house he brought down some of his iris bulbs from his garden. Every year the girls pick some of PopPop’s flowers and bring them inside to make a fresh bouquet for a counter top. Here is a picture of one of the bouquets they brought to me a few months ago. Thankful for my girls and their little tokens of their appreciation that brightened my day. Grateful for Grandpa for sharing his beautiful flowers so we can enjoy them every year.
On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Last week I finished reading On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder to the girls. This is the fourth book of the Little House series. In this book Laura and her family start their time in Minnesota on Plum Creek in a little sod house. Later Pa builds a new house with manufactured boards, glass windows and a hinged door.
The wild game at Plum Creek was more scarce because it was a more settled area but they did find plenty of fish in the creek. They were close enough to town that the family could attend church on Sundays and Laura and Mary could go to school. The land was good and the wheat crop looked great until the grasshoppers came which meant Pa had to look for work elsewhere.
It has been a lot of fun reading about Laura’s adventures with the girls. I am reading the same books to the girls that I read as a little girl. They are always eager to have me read the next chapter to them.
