Trinity Turns Four!

Okay, another post from our time in Virginia that I just can't pass over.  (I'm pretty sure after this one, we're ready to move to Florida!)

On December 3, Trinity Grace turned four years old!  We celebrated by throwing a party with all her wonderful friends.  Since we were currently living in the TLF (temporary living facility) on base, we had to come up with something fun to do away from the house.  Trinity decided she wanted a gymnastics party, so we had it where both Trinity and Mikaela took gymnastics.  It was a great time!

The Crew

Coming down a slide...Can you tell she's having fun?

That grin never left her face

Bubba having a good time as well.

All the kids got to try ("try" being the key word) to swing on the rope, but Mikaela decided to climb it instead.

The parachute was tons of fun!

Lifting it up and running underneath it proved fun...and maybe a little dangerous.  Watch out!

So happy so many of our great friends could help us celebrate!

The feast

And no party is complete without cake!

 After the party, we went back to the TLF where Trinity got to open all the presents that family had sent to her.  She is one spoiled little girl!

Trinity, you have filled the past 4 years with more love and laughter than I ever would have thought possible.  I thank God every day for knowing just what we needed to complete this little family of ours.  Happy birthday sweet girl!!



Praise Him

Some of you reading this might have already seen my post yesterday on facebook.  But this has been weighing on my heart ever since.  Yesterday morning I was doing some housework and had a Christian radio station playing in the living room.  I hadn't been in there for awhile and as I turned the corner, I saw Trinity dancing.  Now, those who know Trinity know that this is nothing new.  But this time, I actually stopped in my tracks.  Her dancing was something new...something pure.  She was dancing TO her Lord.  Now, I'm sure a lot of people are thinking, "She's 4.  She didn't know what she was doing.  She was just dancing like all kids do"  But if you would have seen her, you would have no doubt she did know what she was doing.  She was listening to the words of the song (At one point, it mentioned bowing to the Lord, and she bowed down) and I could just see her connection to the moment.  Now, of course, this was very precious to me.  What mom wouldn't be touched?  But it was more that that.

All day long I felt the pull on my heart.  At 4 years old, Trinity's relationship with her God is very basic.  She knows that Jesus died on the cross, but doesn't truely understand what that means for her.  Her only understanding is that God loves her more than anything else.  And that's it.  And that's enough.  That was enough to cause her to want to dance her praises to Him.  And I beleive that's what God's been asking me all day.  Why aren't I dancing?  How much more do I understand what God has done for me?  His daily blessings, his ultimate sacrifice.  Yet, when's the last time I danced for Him?

So that's what this post is about.  A reminder to me.  And maybe a reminder to you.  Dance your praises to God today.  Or sing.  Or just speak.  However you do it, remember to praise Him...constantly.  For His blessings are abundant.  "And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." 2 Corinthians 9:8

I will extol the LORD at all times; His praise will always be on my lips.  Psalm 34:1

Fightin’ Eagle Fini-Flight

So while I've missed a million things going on in our lives and there's no way I could ever catch up, if I'm going to blog, this is one of those things that I just can't skip over. So I figure this is a good place to pick back up.

On December 7, Matt had his final flight as part of the 27th Fighter Squadron at Langley AFB. What a bitter-sweet day for us. The kids and I absolutely love any chance we can get to go watch Matt fly. But of course, it also meant that we were leaving this amazing squadron family that we have grown to love so much.

Matt taxiing in after his last flight as a Fightin’ Eagle

 

Getting ready to hose Daddy down

They were thrilled to be able to be the ones with the water and took the job very seriously.

Get him!!

Notice Trinity.  She was NOT happy one bit that in the process of spraying Daddy, she also got wet.

It didn’t take much for him to overpower us and take the extinguisher away,

and Chance took the brunt of his wrath.

Trinity was still mad about getting wet.

So mad that she buried her face in my neck and refused to look at the camera (or anyone else) for quite some time.

We finally had to bribe her with ice cream so she would look at the camera so we could get a family picture.

We have several special memories of our time in Virginia and I can't imagine anything better than topping off the last 3 years like this.  (Well, Trinity might beg to differ, but 4 out of 5 isn't bad.)

(A special thank you to Schlem for taking the pictures for us!!)

Barely Blogging

I'm thinking this should be the new name for my blog.  Barely Blogging.  Yup, my last post...last March.  It's almost been a year.  I had decided that I was just going to delete it, but there's a part of me that really wants me to do it.  It's just too bad that part of me isn't more demanding.  My other part is obviously running things.  So, it's a new year.  One last shot.  If I don't do it this time, I'm throwing in the towel & that part of me is just going to have to deal with it.  Here goes nothing (only I hope it's not nothing, that would be nothing new!)  :O)

Trinity, the Gymnast

Trinity has been taking gymnastics for the past couple of months.  Today they let the parents in to take pictures and oo-and-ah over the amazing talent these 3 and 4 year olds have.  I'm not making reservations for the Olympics just yet, but it's a great way for her to have fun and exert some of that never-ending energy.

Silly girl











Eight is Great!

That’s right, we just celebrated yet another birthday here. I really didn’t plan on having all my kids’ birthdays within 3 months, but that’s how it worked out. This round it was time to celebrate the beautiful life of Mikaela!!

I’ve always said my kids are some of the most loved kids in the world. Not only do they have family that loves them beyond belief, but they’ve also been blessed with friends across the globe who love them tremendously. I really can’t put into words how much these people mean to me. One of these people is my dear friend, Kristene. She decided that for Mikaela’s birthday, she wanted to take her on a “Girls’ Afternoon”. I knew from the start Mikaela would absolutely love this! So, the Wednesday before her birthday, Kristene surprised her by coming and taking her out. They spent the afternoon together doing what girls do…pampering!



Getting a manicure!

Ice Cream!

Hot Chocolate!



Mikaela had an absolutely amazing time!  She felt like such a big girl getting to spend the day with Miss Skalicky.  Thank you, Kristene!  We love you!!

We found out a few weeks before that the Harlem Globetrotters would be in town on Mikaela's birthday.  I mentioned it to her and from then on, it's all she could talk about.  So we got tickets and took the kids for her special day.  It was a great time!  I highly recommend it to anyone who has the chance to go.

Getting ready for the game to start

Fun times 

Even Trinity got a kick out of it!

Joining the Globetrotters in a little YMCA 

After the game, the kids were trying to figure out which tricks they would be able to try out at their basketball games the next day.  Mikaela did start shooting backwards shots before her game and was making most of them!!  No dunks yet though.  :O)

Here's a video I took during the show.  This one doesn't have any of the amazing basketball tricks they did...it was one of their many comedy acts throughout the show, a football act.  It is amazing how well they do it all backwards.  The best part of the whole video though is hearing the giggles from Mikaela and Chance in the middle part.  I absolutely LOVE that sound!

Mikaela also got to have her friend, Maylee, over to spend the night on Saturday.  Chance went and spent the night at one of his friend's house that night and it was probably a good thing.  It was a night filled with all things "girl".

First up, bracelet making. 

Silly Trinity got to join in on the action too. 

Then some pizza making.  (The one part of the night Chance would have loved.) 

Of course, you can't have a girls sleep-over without some manicures!

And to finish the night up, some "Mystery Date"!  They even got Matt to play and thought it was hilarious when he actually won!

Chance couldn't wait to give Mikaela her gift so she opened it on Friday, her actual birthday.  It was a Justin Bieber CD and, oh my, we've heard a lot of JB since then.  Bieber Fever has definitely hit the Howard home.  We held off giving Mikaela the rest of her presents until after church on Sunday.

An American Girl doll!!  Mikaela has been asking for this doll since before Christmas.  We had convinced her that there was no way she would be getting it.  I never thought I would pay that much for a doll, but Mikaela adores it and seriously has made every dime we spent on that thing worth it.

What else could there be?? 

Taylor Swift!  Whew.  Something else to listen to besides JB.  Luckily for us, she loves Taylor Swift almost as much! 

Mikaela requested a basketball cake for her birthday this year.  Easiest cake ever.  I almost felt guilty it was so easy, but she was thrilled with it. 

She blew out all eight candles in one try! 

After cake, we tried out her new Wii game, "Just Dance for Kids".  So much fun! 

Mikaela with her new doll, Melissa.  She got to name her because she's a "My American Girl Doll" that you create to look like yourself.  She decided on "Melissa" so that they would both have names that started with M.  Mikaela and Melissa...too cute!

When I look back at the past eight years, it amazes me.  I can still remember getting ready to leave the hospital with her thinking, "Are they really going to let us just leave with her?"  "Don't they know we have no idea what we are doing?"  And somehow, despite all of mine and Matt's trials and errors that she has had to go through, she has become such an amazing little girl.  She is smart.  Constantly questioning things and wondering why and how.  Sometimes it's so much that I say, "No more questions, Mikaela!"  She is so compassionate and really cares about other people.  She is very much a girlie-girl at times, but not over-the-top-drive-me-crazy.  I love the fact that she loves to dress up, paint her nails, do her hair, etc, but yet for her birthday, she wanted to go to a basketball game and have a basketball cake.  That's just Mikaela.  To me, she is the perfect balance of little girl.  She also has a spunky side of her.  ("Spunky" is my nice way of describing it.)  But how boring would it be if our little girl was all sugar and no spice, right?  It's been a wonderful eight years and I look forward with much anticipation to seeing this little girl of mine continue to grow and develop into the amazing young lady I know she will be.

Happy birthday, my dear Mikaela Lyn.  We love you with all our hearts!!