Tabitha has naturally curly hair. But we give it a behavior-boost before pictures. She and I went to JCP Saturday for her annual birthday photos.
We included little sister in the beauty prep.
This would be an even better blog post if I also had after pictures, huh?
Nope.
Daddy got a birthday, too.
No Chuck E. Cheese for him.
But Tabitha did request a trip to Walmart to buy him scissors and duct tape.
Our Tabitha turned seven this year. Spunky, girly, intense, opinionated, insightful, tremendously intelligent, tornado-like Tabitha turned 7. “God’s special number.”
Breakfast fail… someone put the puff pastry package in the fridge instead of the freezer a few nights before. It was impossible to unwrap it, so instead it just got rolled out-ish. Still yummy.
Nan and Nene came over for dinner… pancakes, sausage, and orange juice. YUM!
Johanna watched carefully… her birthday is next.
A fan for her bedroom. I love easy-to-please people!
And she mercifully asked for an easy-to-make cake from the microwave!
Molten Lava Cake.
YUM some more!
Happy birthday, Doodle Bug.
I remember the Chuck E. Cheese commercials from when I was a kid. I don’t see TV anymore, so I don’t know if they use the same slogan.
My kids don’t lack much in the kid-being-time… but they do like the place. So do I. This year we headed there to celebrate Tabitha’s 7th birthday with her family, grandparents, aunt, and a friend. We didn’t tell her we were bringing the friend until she got in the car and noticed I had C in the back seat! I love fun stuff.
My sister brought the crowns. I loved them!
The place was mobbed, but while official parties were taking place we were able to get around and enjoy the attractions.
We partied after the masses started back into the play area.
Tabitha has been in to dogs lately – hence the dog themed cake. 
The bonus – those beautiful dogs are toys for later! YAY.
While I am pretty sure it will be a long time until I experience an empty nest of my own (Thank you, Jesus, for these great kids) my girls were excited about the empty nest they found under the deck.
Ahem – the story goes… that Tabitha SAW it on Easter Sunday, but didn’t touch it. So when Marie found it on Thursday it wasn’t REALLY her discovery…
Or something like that.
We have a sweet little baby… who delights us tremendously. She came home from the hospital quickly demonstrating her ability to sleep long chunks of time. Then, the week leading up to Easter, she stopped. Sleeping that is. She woke with alarming frequency through the night. She’d fall asleep quickly when nursing and I quickly determined she was not hungry. She just needed help staying asleep.
A quick checklist down the five S’s and I realized that at night we’d been missing a few items.
Swaddled? check
Suck? check
Side? check
Okay – but
Shhhh? – I’d forgotten that one! – out came the white noise machine.
That helped a tad, but still, something was missing.
Ah –
Swing? Hmm – might she need SWING at night? She certainly loved SWING during the day…
So – one sleep deprived Friday I carried the swing into her room…
And she immediately resumed her 7 hour stretches.
I vaguely remember Stewart demonstrating a similar night time pattern. But, in those days I was afraid to start “bad habits” and would never have given in to the swing.
These days – I went and borrowed another one for daytime use on the first floor.
In February I posted an entry titled, “What’s in a name?” highlighting the MANY rules John and I abide by in our quests for the perfect baby name for our children.
The most important rule, however, is this one…
“Pray about the name. God has given us the name for each of the other children either in the form of confirmation, or breathing the entire thing to us in spite of our initial dislike or shock. These are His children and we desire to ask Him what He would have us call the child. Amazingly… God has followed all of the above rules as He has directed us. 😉 “
Well, it turns out that the name God led us to for Katriel Summer doesn’t exactly follow all of OUR rules…
We missed Rule #7: Despite rule #6, we will not invent any name or use a name that can’t be found in average baby books.
Katriel does NOT appear in average baby books, just the bigger, more expanded ones. It means, “God is my crown,” which to us means that all praise and honor goes to GOD. HE is the one exalted. Our praises are not to go to man, ourselves, our doctors, our finances, our abilities. Honor and praise are His alone.
Her middle name, Summer, however, TOTALLY jives with Rule #9: Middle names are fun. Do not worry about what the world thinks about the middle name!
Summer is just plain pretty – AND – it is our favorite season.
Hmmm – Season… that would be a good middle name someday, too. 🙂
These are going to be my memories of Easter 2013.
~ the climax of sleep deprivation
~ pink eye (me)
~ no hosiery so I had to wear sandals to church
~ 35 degrees Fahrenheit
I did manage to hide baskets around 6AM. John wondered if I was not planning on them ever finding them. Yes, I was that good. 
Johanna’s was “easy” – it was in the dryer.
Tabitha’s was in a cereal box fortress in the pantry.
Marie’s was inside a pull-over coat on a hanger in the center of the front closet.
Nigel’s was in a box of baby clothes in Katriel’s room. (I left the lid ajar.)
Stewart’s was in the linen closet behind a wall of linen.
The funny thing is Marie’s and Stewart’s locations were assessed at least 15 times before we finally insisted they look more carefully in those spots.
Nigel’s picture says it all.
Baskets were slim. A shirt for each of the big four, a bathing suit for Johanna, pencils for everyone and Seabreeze passes for the summer.
We cleaned up as best we could… kids need haircuts… parents need sleep… And went to church. My eyes were watering SO MUCH and I couldn’t figure it out. The worship and the message were so good. I’m glad I got to go.
Then we came home and dropped Daddy off to hide eggs. We drove in a straight line (almost) for 12 minutes, then turned around and drove home. He still had not completely hidden all 75 eggs (15 per kid). [On a side note • as I got in the driver’s seat of the van I did mumble something to John about him trusting me to drive our precious family around on the fumes I was running on. I admit we both did hesitate a moment. The straight line helped.]
Then, everyone’s favorite part…
Johanna’s faces remind me of an almost two-year-old I knew one April 16th Easter Sunday…
After the pictures, I skipped lunch, grabbed a nap, and woke with conjunctivitis.
BUT – THE BABY HAS SLEPT WELL EVERY NIGHT SINCE! But that is another post.
Dayspring Disciples 
