Happy New 8th Birthday...

So many reasons to celebrate today, but the first that comes to mind is our sweet Jaelyn's birthday! The girls actually went to their first birthday slumber party last night, New Year's Eve, for a friend whose birthday is also today. When I picked them up shortly before church, they looked like robotic-like zombies stuffing donuts into their mouth. I can't believe they actually made the whole day without napping or falling apart! And we didn't have any difficulty putting them down early, to start back into the school routine tomorrow. Well that is, everyone except me:) I whined two weeks ago as everyone was out of school days before me, but now that we are on the back end of vacation, I'm happy to have a day of rest to myself. Did I say rest? What I really meant was a day to catch up on all the little things I have neglected and procrastinated on completing earlier!

But I digress; back to Jaelyn's birthday....after I picked them up from their robotic state, Jaelyn was shaken back to reality by opening one gift before church. Little did she know that it contained two things that she would use at church today (which by the way, was the most empty I had ever seen it today. Let's not do New Year's on a Sunday again for awhile!). It was a shoo-in that she would love the new dress, since it had a doggy on the back. And she had asked for a new Bible that she could read, but wasn't too babyish, so she was thrilled by that too.

Look how tired she looks!

But not 15 minutes later, all spoofed up and ready to head to church!

Thank goodness for the beautiful weather today, so my loud children could go outside to play fight. Poor Kellen was trapped inside his car, as the girls had their swords drawn (Josh's Christmas present to his sisters) as he pulled up, waiting to pounce the moment he opened the car door. This photo is blurry, but that's because none of them would stand still long enough during the battle. This one has all four in one photo, with Jaelyn's shot ready to penetrate Josh. When it's your birthday, it doesn't matter if someone claims to be impervious to nerf guns, so I think the girls won!

After everyone settled down, we played Uno, ate Jaelyn's birthday choice of pasta dinner, followed by some delicious cake, to top off a wonderful day of celebrating. Kaia requested to say the prayer at dinner tonight, and I couldn't help but grin as she said "Thank you God for choosing Mom and Dad to be Jaelyn and my parents." It doesn't get much better than that!

Next weekend will be the birthday party, when life after the holidays slows down just a bit....