Ezra turns SEVEN!

We celebrated Ezra's seventh birthday with a little boat ride with the cousins and a stop at the Chickamauga Dam, where Mamaw and Papaw were waiting to surprise Ezra with some birthday fun.  Mamaw had sack lunches for the kiddos with some treats.  

Ezra had his favorite dessert- dirt pudding. :)

The kids swam.  It was the most gorgeous evening.  The sunset was perfect over the water.  But this pic below is quite literally the calm before the storm.  A little later out on the boat, miles from where we parked, an unpredicted lightening and thunderstorm popped up with sheets of rain coming down.  It was intense.  I am thankful God protected us through the storm. "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Psalm 46:1

 On Ezra's actual birthday, we celebrated with his neighbor friends with pizza and cupcakes.  

They smashed cupcakes in their faces.  Look at Sophia's face. LOL.  

Every year, I ask them these questions on their actual birthday.  I love this tradition and to look back over their answers thru the years.  

1.   What is something that Mommy always says to you?  I love you.

2.  What makes Mommy happy?  When I give her hugs and coffee.

3.  What makes Mommy sad?  When I make her cry. Is that true?

4.  How does Mommy make you laugh?  Tickling me.  Please don't tickle me. 

5.  What was Mommy like as a child? She loved jump-roping.

6.  How old is Mommy? 36

7.  How tall is Mommy?  6 feet.  Wait. 6 feet 11.  No, 5 feet 11.  Is that right? 

8.  What is Mommy's favorite thing to do?  Do photography.  You love photography.

9.  What does Mommy do when you're not around?  Clean.  Sometimes. 

10.  If Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?  Loving God. 

11.  What is Mommy really good at?  Photography

12.  What is Mommy not very good at? Doing the splits.   

13.  What does Mommy do for her job?  That's obvious.  Photography.

14.  What is Mommy's favorite food?  I'd say fish.  Well, you love fish, right?  But without it cooked, it tastes disgusting.  Dad doesn't like fish.  He hates seafood.

15.  What makes you proud of Mommy?  Photography

16,  If Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?  A photographer.  Dressed up with cameras all over.

17.  What do you and Mommy do together?  Hug each other.

18.  How are you and Mommy the same?  Eating food and cleaning. (We love the same types of foods.  We have very similar tastes.)

19.  How are you and Mommy different?  In photography.  Well, I like photography.  In drums.  You wouldn't want to play drums.  But I gotta start practicing now if I wanna play when I'm an adult.  But I wanna play soccer in college.  Are you still a kid when you're 19?

20.  How do you know Mommy loves you?  Because she kisses me a lot.  Because God loves me.  

21.  Where is Mommy's favorite place to go?  McDonalds, I'm just kidding.  Oh what is that coffee place called?  Where you get chapafrinos? (He means frappuccinos. Lolol!)

22.  What makes you happy?  When you and Dad give me hugs and kisses.  

23.  What makes you sad?  I don't know, that I don't get to play outside with my friends.

24.  What makes you laugh? Oh, when you tickle me.

25.  What is your favorite thing to do?  Soccer

26.  What is your favorite food and drink?  Fish and iced tea.

27.  What is your favorite color? Green

28.  Where is your favorite place to go?  Probably CiCi's Pizza or Taco Bell.

29.  What are your favorite movies or TV shows?  Oooo.  Lemony Snicket's

30.  What is your favorite book? Power Rangers.

Ezra Sartin, you are such a blessing to our family.  We love you so very much!

Amos is THREE!

For Amos' third birthday, we just had a little family party over at our house.  The kids had a lot of fun playing with their cousins (as they always do).  Mamaw and Papaw brought over a ton of water balloons already filled, so we played water balloon toss and threw water balloons.  The kids swam in our little pool in the backyard.  

These kiddos are awesome.

These two are only 5 weeks apart.  And they just adore each other. :)

Birthday boy is having fun!

Hard to believe my baby is THREE!!

It's Cake Time!  I chose to make a cake with cars because this little guy loves playing with cars!!

Haha, I love this next picture.  Amos does not love sudden loud noises and chaos. So this is his face while everyone sings happy birthday and celebrates. :-)

He's happy to blow his candles tho.  

This boy loves some cake.  For a couple days after the party, he would ask, "I want birthday." Which meant, I want cake! :-) 

Amos, you are so very loved.

When the kids turn 4, I have certain questions that I ask them every year on their birthday.  Since Amos is too young to answer questions, I will just share a few things about him for me to remember.

-He is so very affectionate.  First thing almost every morning, he runs out of the bedroom to give me a hug.  I get multiple hugs and kisses a day, and he will sit and snuggle with me for a long time.  This means so much to this equally affectionate momma. :)

-He is happy and content.  Lots of smiles and laughter from this baby boy.  He can easily play alone and entertain himself.  

-He is very smart.  He could recognize his letters at 2.  

-He is expressive and animated.  

-He is probably the quietest of my 3.  I can easily forget that he is in the back seat after listening to Sophia and Ezra the whole ride. Lol. :)

-He is a wanderer.  I have to especially keep my eye on him because he will unintentionally just completely wander off in his own little world.

-He is a picky eater.  It is very limited on what he will eat.  If he hasn't seen or tasted it before, more than likely he will not touch it.  He does love all fruit, peanut butter, cucumbers, chicken nuggets, cereal, popcorn, and pretzels. He does love to drink water.

-He loves playing with cars, trucks, and balls.  He loves taking baths and showers.  He loves music.  He loves wearing his pajamas.

Did I mention he is HANDSOME!

Amos Cole, your whole family loves you so much.  God blessed us with you, and we know that He has great things in store for you!

Sophia is NINE!

This girl is NINE years old today!!!!

Oh how I love this girl!  She is smart, funny, sociable, thoughtful, sweet, sensitive, funky, silly, and one-of-a-kind.  There isn't a prissy bone in her body.  She is just Sophia.  My girl.  

We had so much fun celebrating her all week!  She and her cousin, Ian (also the birthday boy), got to make and decorate their own birthday cakes with Mamaw. 

On Friday, we got to hang out with a few friends at the park.

Then Saturday was so special for both of us.  Sophia and I got to hang out and have a whole "Girls Day"!  This so rarely ever happens, and it was so wonderful.  We went out to breakfast and then went to the Creative Discovery Museum.

Creative Discovery Museum had a chess exhibit, and she was definitely the Queen of the day. :)

Then I took her to the Hot Chocolatier.  This was her first time; my second time.  We splurged and each got gelato and a hot chocolate.  Yum. Yum.

We also did a little shopping, and we found her an Easter dress.  I could really tell that all of this quality time with Mommy meant so much to her.  It was such a wonderful day!  

Sunday was her actual birthday. She brought treats for the kids in her Sunday school class.  She picked to have lunch at one of her favorite places, Bojangles.  (A girl after my own heart.)  She also got to go to another friend's birthday party.  It was a great day.  I can't believe how much older she is looking!

Every year (since they were 4 years old), I ask the kids these questions on their birthday and type out their exact answers.  I actually asked Sophia her questions this year on the day before her birthday, since Sunday was going to be such a busy day.  I love that I started this tradition.  I love to go back and look at their answers.  Here are her answers this year!  Happy Birthday, Sophia!  We are so thankful to God for you!

1.   What is something that Mommy always says to you?  The usual.  I love you.

2.  What makes Mommy happy?  When I give her hugs and kisses and sometimes when I tickle her.

3.  What makes Mommy sad?  When I say I don't love her.

4.  How does Mommy make you laugh?  By tickling me and telling me jokes, because she is really funny.

5.  What was Mommy like as a child? Good at jump-roping and really nice.

6.  How old is Mommy? 35

7.  How tall is Mommy?  5 foot 2.  No, like 5 foot 10 or 9.

8.  What is Mommy's favorite thing to do?  Do photography and take care of her kids.

9.  What does Mommy do when you're not around?  Reads, cleans, and takes care of Amos and sometimes Ezra.

10.  If Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?  Being a photographer, cooking, or cleaning.

11.  What is Mommy really good at?  Photography and cleaning

12.  What is Mommy not very good at?  Going to the bathroom in one minute.  

13.  What does Mommy do for her job?  She's a mommy and photographer.

14.  What is Mommy's favorite food?  Salad, chocolate, salted caramel, kind of coffee but that's not really a food.  If you said drink, I would say coffee.

15.  What makes you proud of Mommy?  Being a good mommy

16,  If Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?  Hmm, let me think.  Maybe one of those photographer My Little Ponies. ??

17.  What do you and Mommy do together?  We go places.  We watch movies.  We have reading competitions.

18.  How are you and Mommy the same?  We have the same nose.  We're both nice and pretty.  We both love people.  We both love reading.  And we both love each other. (Awwww.)

19.  How are you and Mommy different?  We have different color hair.  We have different favorite colors.  She's married, and I'm not.  And all her teeth are big and mine aren't.  And we have different colored eyes and different size clothes.

20.  How do you know Mommy loves you?  Because she hugs me, kisses me, tells me I love you, does things for me and is nice to me.  

21.  Where is Mommy's favorite place to go?  Bed...(and she laughs.  It's true tho...lololol)  Restaurants, Hobby Lobby, Panera, Home

22.  What makes you happy?  When people tickle me, tell me jokes, say I love you, and they're my friend.

23.  What makes you sad?  When people say I don't love you.  When people hurt me.  When Mommy is mean.  And Daddy.  And Ezra.  Sometimes Amos.  It makes me mad and sad.

24.  What makes you laugh?  When someone tickles me.  When someone tells me jokes.  When people are being funny.

25.  What is your favorite thing to do?  Go places.  Play outside with my friends.  Spend time with Mommy and Daddy and Ezra and Amos.  Sometimes when I take a bath because it's relaxing.  

26.  What is your favorite food and drink?  Ice cream and Dr. Pepper

27.  What is your favorite color? Neon green

28.  Where is your favorite place to go?  Creative Discovery Museum, Lake Winnie and The Jump Park

29.  What are your favorite movies or TV shows?  My favorite shows are Girl Meets World, My Little Pony, and Kickin' It.  My favorite movies are Little Women, Shark Girl and Lava Boy, and Zathura.

30.  What is your favorite book? Little Women and Texas Pete