Daughters of the King

We wanted to provide a place for the girls to feel beautiful. Beautiful in their skin, beautiful in their hearts. We wanted them to see who they really are. Not defined by the world’s standards but defined by their Heavenly Father’s. He says his daughters are beautiful, he delights over his daughters with singing, he brings purpose to his daughters’ lives. We wanted them to really see it, really feel it.

Emily transformed Laura, Susan, and Jackie’s back patio into boho chic with sari’s she acquired from her travels around the world draped over twinkling lights, lit candles set in mason jars, and flowers delicately placed in tiny vases. We thought it be appropriate to provide hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies—because, duh, what girl doesn’t love chocolate? And because we were going to share with the girls how they are daughters of a great high King, we planned to make crowns from ribbon and flowers.

A banana, a monkey, and a few heroines

I loved Halloween growing up and it's not much different today, especially now that I have a child. Like I said in one of my previous posts, activities are so much fun with a kid in tow! Last night we did it all: dressed up, went door to door with a few of our little friends, and passed out candy. The night was concluded with a pot of white chicken chili, Hocus Pocus, and a few bites of Anna's candy that we collected (shhh, don't tell!) 

A lot of you know one of Anna's many nicknames is "Anna Banana" so I thought it'd be cute to dress her as a banana and Travis and I as her monkeys. However, my costume changed entirely once my two volunteers for girls nights and I decided to go as a trio. You'll see below who we chose!

Cutest banana I've ever seen! She saw an airplane. She loves them!

Here's the thing, she didn't like Travis' monkey mask and mullet (I mean, who would?!) Like, she hated it. Wouldn't even look at him. So we improvised and got her one of her monkey stuffed animals to take pictures with. And the hairstyle below, we call that the "pulled hair bow out of hair" look.  

Look at that Zoolander pose!

Yes, I made her costume. Yes, it may look more like a fairy or a flower but hey, homemade costumes are always the best! My mom used to make ours, Travis (the creative one) used to make his, so I felt it only necessary I make Anna's. I think these shots below make her look most like a banana.

Our girls night girls are obsessed with the Powerpuff Girls. Do you remember the show? 

When I was in middle school my friends and I loved the Powerpuff girls, so much so that my AIM name was "blossom503". I guess you could say I was a little obsessed too. When our girls started calling us by the Powerpuff Girls names we knew exactly who we were going to dress like for Halloween!

Well, what do you think? 

Yours Truly as Buttercup (she just fit me better this time around)
Susan as Blosson
Emily as Bubbles

Too bad most of our girls were confused and it took a few tries for them to guess who we were! But we did get a random group of adult women ask if we were the Powerpuff Girls, so...YES! 

Anna refused to let Travis hold her or be within 5 feet of her when he had that mask on so he kind of had to sneak into the family shot. And just look at that nasty mullet. He seriously wears it every chance he gets (a lot of you already know this from previous Halloweens and dress ups!) 

Don't worry, Anna, Mommy and the Powerpuff Girls will save you!

Whelp, here's to hoping Anna won't be as scared next year! How was your Halloween? Did you and/or your kids dress up and get tons of candy to make you sick for the next year like we did?! I hope we're not the only ones :)

Brings Me Back: Tye-Dyeing T-shirts

Remember making your own Tye-Dye t-shirts? Even better, remember putting a scrunchy around your Tye-Dye t-shirts? Ahhh, those were the days, right? Not a care in the world aside from what colors you were going to use to turn your plain white tee into a masterpiece of art. I always had the toughest time choosing my colors and deciding where exactly to place those rubber bands. But it really didn't matter because the colors were going to bleed right through those rubber bands and in the end the outcome was much different than you had expected. It was even better!

With the help of my good friend, Emily (because without her I'd have no idea how to make them!) we rallied the girls and let them design their own Tye-Dye t-shirts! They had a blast and the shirts turned out awesome!

 

 

Group shot with our t-shirts in baggies:

And of course we had to take a silly picture!

The result!!!...unfortunately only 4 girls that made t-shirts came to Girls Night the following week. I even made a little one for Anna. 

So much fun! I just love these girls!

Girl's Night

Let me ask you: what is better than hanging with 20 girls, making delicious treats, and celebrating a 12 year old's baptism? I think you would agree with me and say not much! Last night Heather's home in Birchcroft Apartments was booming with laughter, songs of praise, and the aroma of homemade caramel apple bites and cookies! It was a beautiful display of God's love as the girls insisted on helping with the baking and rejoiced with Tina as she shared Psalm 17 and her story of why she chose to be baptized. 

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! 

AND THAT IS WHAT WE ARE!

1 John 3:1