You are my Sunshine

I saw this birthday party theme on another blog and I knew that I had to do this for Judson's party!

He is our SUNSHINE! 

It fits him just perfectly.

He's our sweet, smiley, happy little 1 year old. 

I didn't want to stress about this party.  

I wanted to enjoy it and only do what I had time and energy to do.

I wanted it to be small but special.

Just a family thing.  

I think we accomplished just that.

 

Get ready for major picture overload.

I have tried to condense some into collages :-)

Family and Friends...

 Thank you for sharing in our joy, for helping with the planning, and for making long drives.

Beautiful smiling faces.

Great-Grandma loves her Great-Grandbabies. 

Some of the little lovies in attendance.

Decorations...

We stuck with yellow and blue colors mostly. 

Nothing too fancy but it was surely bright and happy!

I hung up some pictures of Judson throughout his first year of his life.

The Boy...

 The sweetest little birthday boy that ever was.

Your Mommy loves you so much Judson Carr.

It's my party and I can climb the stairs if I want to.

Cake...

My sweet husband wanted to make Jud's cake and the cupcakes too.

He is awesome.

 Jud Bud liked it :-)

Sweet Ava girl giggled as she watched brother getting all messy.

Looks like he is looking to me for permission at this point.

The yellow family.

Judson wasn't the only one who had some fun with the dessert.

After Party...

 

Quick honey, let's take picture together because we are both dressed in somewhat decent clothes.

I have my make-up done.  My hair is not in a messy bun.  You don't have your work badge hanging around your next, etc, etc."

Best sister and auntie ever ever ever.

Mimi was tired after all she did to help make the day special for Judson and less stressful for me.  We love you Mimi!  

Happy 1st Birthday Handsome!  

You are our Sunshine.

The Refrigerator Door

Can I get an amen from the Mom's out there who feel like their entire life is spent in the kitchen??

Kids just seem to be eating all the time!

I always tell James that I could have 20 kids if they didn't have to eat :-)

And then, there's the Refrigerator door.

What a gift.

It's covered with the wonderful and beautiful things that make up our life.

Looking at it makes me smile.

Currently, our fridge has...

take home sheets from VBS full of beautiful scripture that Ava has been studying, along with discussion questions that have been the topic of conversation around our dinner table for the past week.

a wedding invitation for my dear cousin and his wonderful wife to be.

a picture of a gorgeous little boy living in the Congo waiting for his Mommy and Daddy to bring him home any day now.

a pink haired princess drawn with such care by our sweet little 6 year old.

a photo of Judson with food hanging out of his mouth.  

So, I'm convinced that this tradition of putting up photos, art work, and exciting announcements on the fridge began when some mother somewhere was about to loose her mind in the kitchen.

  How sweet it is to see those faces and be reminded of the great privilege it is to serve them and raise them.  

How wonderful to share in the joy of our friends and family and to be a part of the exciting things going on in their lives.   

Blessed

Blessed is simply the best word to describe how we are feeling right now.

Ava had a great Kindergarten year.

We really couldn't have asked for better.

But we felt God asking us to make a change.

Schooling options other than public are difficult and limited for children with special needs.

The issue of teasing has not been a huge one yet but I know there potential for it.

It's my desire that when children tease her or have questions about her disability, that her teacher can respond with truth.  

That she or he can tell the students that Ava was made in the image of God and that he has a plan for her, just like he has for all of us.

I want Ava to be in a school environment with adults and children who love the Lord and who can point her to Christ.

I also felt God asking me to take on some homeschooling.

I KNOW!  

I never thought I'd say it.

Never thought I'd do it.

We have missed so much time with this sweet child and I don't want her in school for 6 hours a day and then in therapy for an additional 6 hours a week.  

I want her!  

I want her with me.  

Under my care, under my instruction.

So, God has given us the amazing opportunity to attend a wonderful school that will provide Ava with a Christ centered education and will allow me to home school her half day.

Kingdom Life Academy is the name of the school.

I won't go into the crazy details of how this school is intertwined with my life and how we were lead there for the coming school year.

I do want to share about the women who has said, YES to Jesus and who has opened up her school to our unique family.
 I have been so encouraged by her faith and her commitment to what the Lord wants for this school.
 

Renee's vision for KLA is that it be a reflection God's Kingdom.  

As she so beautifully told me yesterday,

"God's Kingdom is diverse.  Different cultures, different economics statuses, different abilities. "

That is what she wants her school to look like.  

PRAISE JESUS!

Yes, yes and yes!  

 I thanked her for giving us this opportunity and she turned around to thank me, 

telling me that Ava is just what their school needs.  

That she will teach them invaluable lessons as believers and as educators.

We are blessed and cannot wait to see what God has in store for us as a family this year.
 

If you are in the Orange County area and are looking for a school, check out their website...

www.kingdomlifeacademyschool.org

Crafting and Creating

Ava has Vacation Bible School this week.

The church looks amazing.

All the kids are having a blast.

Here is sweetie pie in her VBS shirt looking oh so snazzy.

I am taking the 3 hours to spend some one on one time with Judson and to craft and create while he naps.

I've been sewing, painting, and doing some artsy things for Judson's first birthday!

It's a GOOD outlet for me and I am very much enjoying it.

 

 I made a set of Alphabet letters for Judson's present, 

painted this sign for his Sunshine Birthday Party,

 took some pictures with his big number 1,

And taught Ava an art lesson which she did an amazing job on right?

Nothing too amazingly fabulous but I am having fun, escaping the heat, and ignoring my housework which is the best part. 
Hoping to get some more crafting time before the week is over. 
And maybe I'll get a vacuum in too. 

Hair

We were at the mall the other day and my Juddy needed his hairs cut :-)

His first one!!

The boy was looking a little like a baby bird.

Cutest baby bird ever, but a baby bird non the less.

Here is a before picture from the salon courtesy of my Best friend's I-Phone.

Aww, little buddy in his rocket ship waiting for his trim.

I have no horror stories of him screaming and crying during this event.

He was pretty cool with the whole thing.

Just a few more before pictures from home.

Mostly because I love these pictures and I didn't know where else they would fit in this post.

The after picture from the salon will not be posted due to the crusty, non-showered ME that is in the photo.

So, TADA..

I could just eat him and his little fohawk too! 

But, on a more serious note, this experience also brought some sadness and here's why...

My sweet girl is just in love with her long, beautiful hair.

This is what she looked like the very first day we met her in Kazakhstan.

I know, it's incredibly hard to believe that this was her 3 years ago. 

I remember so well how much she loved when we would bring hair clips to our visit. 

She loved to look at herself in the mirror.

I understand the reasons why they had to keep the children's hair shaved but that doesn't mean it doesn't break a Mama's heart.

It's especially hard now that I KNOW Ava and I know how much she loves her long, thick, brown locks.  

Whenever I mention a hair cut to her she absolutely refuses and that's just fine with me.  

She can keep that hair growing until she's ready.

She waited a long time.

I'm sure most of us remember the one horrible hair cut we got as a kid.  

That one hair cut that we vow to never, ever, ever get close to repeating again!

I have a feeling she'll have long hair for a very, very long time :-)

  

Today is...

Ava's talker has a button that speaks the phrase, "Today is______"

The user can then insert any word like, "Friday", "Beautiful", "Cloudy", etc.

When I hear this coming from her talker,  I fill in the blank with whatever is floating around in my head about the day.

  So here's a recap of our recent "Todays"
in a word.

Today is...exhausting

We decided to take an impromptu trip down to Sea World.
Erica was working and we were planning on spending the day with my mom.
My best friend was also there with her mother in law and kids.
It was a great time but by the end of the day I.was.tired...exhausted...completely useless.

Today is...friendship

Look at little Av with all those big kids!
Our moms group at church met at the RSM Beach Club for a day of fellowship and fun! 
I had a great time talking with some adults. :-)
Ava had a great time playing with the kids. 
There were kids her age but she stuck close to her teenage buddy.

Today is...messy

 Love the beach, but boy oh boy, my kids are a mess by the time we are done.
Sand packed in their suits, salt water crusting in their hair.

 Then Mama got ready for a rare evening away.
I got all cute in a white and yellow dress that was quickly dirtied by little hands covered in avocado and yogurt. 
It worked out because I went out for a craft night that ended up being a bit messy as well.
Paint would have been worse I guess.

Today is...adorable

 The older Judson gets, the easier it is to have lazy days around the house.
Ava actually has a little playmate and I don't feel so guilty if we don't get out of the house.

Everyday is different
Wonder what today will bring...

YES

I've been wanting to have a YES day for a while now.

Ava is not the best at playing independently and is always asking me to do something with her.

Always!

If she had her way, I would be playing games with her every moment of every day.

And I do play with her A LOT.

But for the health, safety, and sanity of all of us, there are other things that just must get done.

Well, last week I decided to dedicate the whole day to playing with the kids.

I didn't even shower till 4 pm and we were all still in our jamies when Dada got home from work.

We played find the tape on Rapunzel, did puzzles, played hide and seek, dressed barbie in human sized clothing.

I cuddled on the couch and watched Dora, did countless pages in Ava's activity book with her, and let her take pictures of her dolls with my camera.

The buddy loved playing on the floor all day with Mama and sissy too. 

It was fun.

Maybe I'll do it again next year :-)