Happy 7th Birthday Sophie & Grace

 Yesterday Grace and Sophie turned 7. It is so hard to believe that 7 years have gone by and these cute babies have become sweet little girls. Jason and I were talking last week and realized that we have been parents now longer then the time waiting for our children to come to earth. I see pictures like this and just want to pick my babies up one more time and love on them.

  

The girls had their first ever friends birthday party. It was puppy themed fun and craziness. Thankfully my good friends came to help. Even with 5 adults helping it was still barely organized chaos. Sophie and Grace were in heaven. They did so well as hosts, I was really proud of them. The welcomed everyone and walked them to the backyard, helped to serve the cake and ice cream and were super gracious about all of their gifts.

I thought the dog pinata was a little creepy to be beating with a stick but the kids loved it.

I am so blessed to have these girls in my life. Watching them play and  laugh yesterday as they celebrated their birthday was so fun. When we were opening gifts Luke gave the girls a ladybug habitat and Sophie was so excited she picked him up off his feet and swung him around in circles. One gerbil bite and several minor mishaps aside, it was a great day.

Poor Grace

We spent the evening in the ER last night. Grace was playing at the neighbors and dislocated her elbow. I thought for sure it was broken, so did the ER dr. We are super glad it is just a dislocation, she will feel much better in a few days and only has to wear a splint. Poor kid. She was such a trooper. She only lost it completely when they put her IV in. But this is the girl who screams bloody murder for a simple shot. Once they got some pain meds in her she was a happy camper.

We had a nice conversation on the ride home. When I was carrying Grace to the car to get to the hospital I asked her to say a prayer. She said that she already had and it was not helping! Poor kid. Of course I said multiple prayers the whole evening, especially on that 20 minute car ride with a child whimpering and crying in pain and trying to be brave. On the way home we talked about prayer and how it helps us, that it didn't take Grace's pain away, but that the Lord helped her to be brave and strong and everything turned out ok. Christ doesn't take away challenges in our lives most of the time, but He does strengthen us to be able to meet the trials we have. She totally understood. The faith of my children continually  inspires and humbles me.

On a lighter note. I had to laugh at the wood chips all over the hospital bed and floor and Gracie's filthy hands and feet from playing outside. The kids had been at the neighbors and tried to put up a tire swing on their own. Grace was the lucky soul to try it out first and it didn't go so well.  I actually had the nurse bring me a wash cloth to clean her up while she was still sedated. The nurse that helped us was named Ben and Grace thought that was fun. Our kind neighbor took the other kids for me since Jason is out of town, fed them pizza and put them to bed.  I was mortified that she saw the state of my house. Seriously. It was awful. All things considered I feel very blessed. Grace will feel better in a few days, be able to hit the pinata at her birthday party this Saturday and is overjoyed at the prospect of a day chilling on the couch watching tv. The Lord really did help her and all of us. Recognizing that fills me with gratitude.

What a Century!

 

Jason's "Tar Wheel" century ride stated in Elizabeth City. Here he is at the first SAG (rest area, no idea why the name) this is about 30 miles into the ride.

The 60 mile SAG was in an amazing little town called Edenton. It was chuck full of history that I had a blast learning about. This whole area is on Ablemarle  Sound, an enormous fresh water sound in northern NC. The kids played here while we waited for Jason. I had to take a picture of this amazing house. It was not as old as most in Edenton, looked like it was built in the 40's, double porches looking over the water...

 Cheering for Dad

 The kids made signs to cheer for Jason. This is with 14 miles to go. I don't know if you can read the one Sophie is holding here, it says: Your almost there! Your close to a chair! We cracked up about it all day. She made jokes all weekend as usual. I wish I could remember them better. I will see if she does and add some tomorrow.

 

104 miles and still smiling!

This was a ride, not a race, so the end was a little anti climatic. Pretty much people finished, loaded bikes into cars and drove off. We had such a good time and Jason did amazing! He was just over 6 hours. I am thinking I might try to join him next year. We'll see.