Grace's 3rd Birthday

I thought I would highlight Grace's birthday party. We had a great time! I did a "farm theme." But honestly I didn't have to do too much because we got a pony to come and well..that's pretty much all you need for a bunch of small children! I choose pink and blue and loved the color combo. It was a cute combo!


The weather (as it is every year for Grace's birthday) was PERFECT! So we had the party outside. I made Peanut butter cupcakes and wedding white cupcakes with my favorite Swiss Meringue Butter cream frosting. I colored pink and blue. The then made little pink chocolate animals to put on top. Of course, they melted in the hot sun, but oh well! I also made my favorite push up pop cupcakes, which were a big hit with the little ones.

I followed the same theme as with Isabelle's party, I bought several pieces of material and made pendants, wreaths and table decorations with the same swatches of material. Easy!

For favors, I got cowboy hats and blue bandannas. I also got little cats and put labels on them that said, "Adopt a barn cat. My name is..." and we named each one. I got M & M's and packaged them as "Kitty Food" and we painted birdhouses with paint markers. Good stuff!




We ended the night with smores over an open fire.

Grace got some awesome presents...one highlight was new bedding! I love it and she needed it. The child has only ever had hand me down stuff, so I was glad she got something new of her own!!



Thanks again to all of the sweet family and friends who came to celebrate with us!

Happy 3d Birthday Grace!

Dear Grace,

I cannot believe that my baby is three years old! Time flies and you have been, from the moment you were born, a joy and a pleasure to raise. You are sweet and funny. Even when you are sick, Daddy and I never mind getting up with you because you are the least self centered sick person I have ever met. Today we were in the grocery store and you looked at me and said, "I love you Mommy." You tell me you love me at least as much as I tell you! You cuddle and smile and make everyone laugh! You are super smart (not that I'm biased) but you talked in complete sentances before a year old. You walked at 10 months. And you are a performer! On some level, Im almost afraid you'll want to go into show business when you grow up! You dance and sing with your whole heart ALL THE TIME, and I'm not exaggerating!

Everyday, we love you more and more. We are happy to see you grow up and sad to see you grow up. Each day our baby disappears a little more and this bright little girl appears. But we love her too!

All our Love,
Mommy and Daddy


Grace @ Birth

Grace @ 1 year

Grace @ 2 years

Grace @ 3 years

A Perfect Saturday

We had big plans last weekend to go pick apples. But it was COLD and rainy. Because it was also very soggy, the apple orchard closed for the day. Bummer! So we re-arranged our plans to make the best of it!

I used to travel to a small city in Ohio named Xenia to conduct a vision clinic. On the way to Xenia I passed through a small very quaint little town called Yellow Springs. It's the home of Antioch University. It's VERY small but oh so cute. They have lots of theaters, restaurants, and toy stores. They also have more than their fair share of hippie-type granola stuff. It's very tree-hugging, especially for the mid-west.


In Yellow Springs is a cider mill that is one of the only mills in Ohio that sells un-pasteurized cider. And we all know of my LOVE of un-pasteurized cider. So we set off to Peifers Orchards to get a few gallons for Grace's birthday party coming up next weekend. I know, I know, I'm planning on feeding apple juice teeming with bacteria to a bunch of 3 year olds! But they will be warned and alternative options will be offered!

I also knew that there is this great dairy farm called Young's Jersey Dairy that has amazing homemade ice cream and lovely cheese curds. I thought we could stop for lunch and make a day of it. Unbeknown st to me, they were having a big fall festival complete with all things fall festival-ish.



Our favorite (free) thing was the ability to go tour their cow barns. They had goats and baby cows and big ole' milking cows. They were docile and let the kids pet them, and the farmer even came out and showed us how to milk the cows and gave a little talk on dairy cows. The kids loved it..we loved it! All of the kids especially loved it when the cows pooped. I know, very exciting stuff, right?