Fruit of the Spirit

Tonight Ashlynn informed me, "I am a fruit of the spirit to Julianna."

Huh?

I asked her what she meant and she explained, "On my birthday card Julianna wrote that I am a kind friend, and kindness is a fruit of the spirit!"

Guess those Sunday School lessons and songs are sinking in!

Did You Know There Are A LOT of Maps at the Zoo?

Today, I decided to be a "good mommy" and take Carter to the LA Zoo.  It was a good day.  There weren't many groups (we spotted only one preschool), the weather was perfect, and we didn't have a stroller, so our time was spent moving at Carter's pace. 

I took Carter so he could see and learn more about animals (of course!), but little did I realize that the focus of today's visit would be zoo maps.  Let me show you what I mean:

 We did see some animals too.

It was a fun day with my sweet boy!

Ashlynn's Birthday

Ashlynn's 6th birthday was Monday.  It was a school day for all four of us, so we celebrated with family in the evening. 

  Ashlynn chose sliders for dinner.

Fake pose after the candle was blown out

She chose ice cream sundaes for her birthday treat

 Happy birthday to our big girl!

Ashlynn's Doll Party

Ashlynn celebrated her upcoming birthday with a doll party.  Since she was turning 6, she invited 6 friends.  Each girl brought a doll (or in a few cases, a few dolls).

(BTW- Carter was napping at Papa's house during the party.)

There were introductions as everyone arrived.

Carter had insisted that we have balloons, so we blew some up at the last minute.  Those balloons turned out to be the first "game" and were a great ice breaker.

 The first planned activity was making bracelets with beads.

After some playing, the second activity had two parts.  First we played a kind of "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" game where each girl put facial feature or accessory stickers on the face of a girl, while blindfolded.  There were some giggles when things didn't end up where they belong.

 We headed to the family room for singing "Happy Birthday to You."  I got a few nice photos of the group, like you saw at the beginning, and then they insisted on a silly shot.

  Here comes the cake!

As the ice cream cake was being cut by Eric, the girls decorated faces ... this time without being blindfolded.

 

 

  

 

Time for cake!  The fancy drink was a "Shirley Temple".

 Next, the girls decorated party hats for their dolls.

 Here are the dolls with their party hats.  (Yes, it is a bit creepy.) 

 Finally, Ashlynn opened her gifts.  She received some fun things!

 After all the fun it was time to say good-bye.

 Thanks for celebrating with us!