Birthday fun!

It all started with a party at Sonshine Day.  Adeline helped me after nap time to bring a craft and ice-cream to the class.  We hung out for a bit on the playground as well. We love Ms. Beck, Ms. Shelia, Ms. Jenny, and Ms. Staci:

Then Our little family of four had some fun on the 22nd with a pizza dinner per Esther (and likely really Adeline’s) request.  Then off to publix to pick out a dessert and eat it at our neighborhood water fountain.

Here are pictures from her Elmo party.  They made Elmo hats and decorated the letter E (for Esther) with fun stuff. We even played find the shape!  We had Meme, Papa, Aunt Annie, Uncle Chad, and The Tilley family (Rob, Jill, Gracie, Claire, and Kate).  Thanks for coming everyone!

Here are my cupcake decorators earlier in the day (suppose to look like Elmo):

Some of the decorations (I cut these out weeks ago).  This party was brought to you by the letter E and number 2:

Time to blow out those candles:

And time to enjoy the cupcake:

Some party attenders:

 

Any idea how Adeline ended up in her Aurora dress and Esther in Tinkerbelle… I can tell you the party didn’t start out like that.  Oh, my sweet dress up girls!

Essie’s sweetest friend Kate (in her Elmo shirt of course!):

Here is front side of the invites we gave out.  Put together by Adeline and Esther:

Essie is TWO!

Oh what a blessing!

Esther you are a blessing from God to us.  For you created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. Ps 139:19; He cares for you 1 Peter 5:7; God  has plans for you. Jeremiah 29:11!  Oh Esther God has so much in store for you and I can hardly wait to see and enjoy it as it unfolds.  

You love to be our “prayer warrior”.  You pray over dinner with  our sing songs and when left to do your own thing you bow your head and pray very quickly “thank you God, Thank you God, AMEN!”  and then at night before bed you pray the same every night.  If prompted you thank God for each person in your family, most of the time each multiple times – so cute.  You have a smile and eyes that speak to the heart of us all.  You draw us in with these.  You give the sweetest kisses.  You have a lot to say.  You love your sister and have trouble falling asleep if she isn’t in the room.  Then again, you aren’t the best sleeper.  Here lately you have been trying to sleep in the same twin bed with her.  You love to paint and color. You sing your ABCs.  You know most of the words to Amazing Grace, Jesus Loves Me, Victory in Jesus, and Nothing But the Blood of Jesus.  You say “me do it” pretty often.  You LOVE shoes.  You are a little upset when others are without their shoes or shirts… even at the pool.  You go to bed often with shoes on.  You climb into bed with us from the footboard (sometimes at 3am and sometimes at 6am).  You rarely go back to sleep if up near 6am.  You love the tricycle that Adeline has outgrown.  You can pedal a little, but are not strong enough to go more than a foot or two.  Already you are a great mommy, caring for your baby. You push her around in the stroller and change her diaper daily.  She sleeps with you too! You love to spin to show off your dresses (just like Adeline).  You have the cutest way to say Adeline too!  You can jump at least 1-2 inches off the ground and love to do so at every chance.  You are brave and do all sorts of things most your age won’t (bounce houses, trampolines, etc).  You are a great helper.  Already you have taken to trying to help me in the kitchen and set the table.  You feed Calhoun too, though you have been doing this, but now it is in the right bowl.  You love to dance, dance, dance when you hear music.  You did great a VBS and jumped right in with the big kids. 

Here are a few (less than 200 pictures from this past year in two videos!):

Essie being cute.  We have done a couple of movie nights.  Here she is eating popcorn like her Sassy loves and feeding her baby some too.

Here I just LOVE how she says hippo!

Oh the memories of the day you were born.  So special to me the day our family became a family of four.  Thank you for joining us on these Conrad adventures!

Naples fun with the Shunks

Bryan had a conference… so we headed south.

We stayed with my brother and his fiance, Sandy.  They put a ton of effort into making our stay comfortable.  My folks flew down and made it a reunion of sorts.  Adeline showed off her swimming skills she had just learned days before at Salt Springs.  Here is a video from our first time in the pool:

Here is a video after Bryan has worked with her on some tricks:

Sweet Andy, Sandy pants, and Addy pants:

We went on a boat ride to the beach and saw pods of dolphins, what fun:

Sandy and Essie (with Calhoun edging in):

Adeline loved it.  The day we left we saw an awesome urgent care doc who diagnosed her with swimmers ear (a first for her) and likely a middle ear infection as well.  She was tough.  The night before we were up a bit with ear pain and tummy ache, but by morning she was bouncing around the house (a most gorgeous home):

 

Look at these cuties and their suits!

 

Dolphins:

  

Even a project was done (notice Jim Shunk – Dad supervising!):

Adeline’s steps toward God

We had an awesome week this week.  Adeline prayed “Jesus come into my heart”.  Earlier that day we had lunch and play time with The Tilley’s our dear friends.  I can’t recall at which point during lunch but we talked about Gracie praying with her daddy on the couch asking for Jesus/the Holy Spirit into her life and how she had prayed that on her own earlier.  We did a mini celebration about this momentous decision and then continued on with our lunch.  Jill and I talked more about it after the girls were done and off playing in another room.  I thought to myself I didn’t think Adeline was near any type of decision like that, but have always prayed even before she was born she would come to know Jesus in a personal and real way at a young age. 

So that night after church we were in the kitchen talking and I don’t know how the subject came up originally but she said she had prayed at lunch for Jesus to come into her heart.  I told her I was there and that isn’t what happened, but that she did need to talk to God about Him coming into her life.  I asked her why she wanted to do this, “I love Him” is what she said then she went on to say “He died on the cross for my sins”.  I questioned some more that I don’t recall the specifics, but was sure I was uneasy through this all.  Could my 3yr old be ready for such an important step?  We talked being dead (and she mentioned that Jesus just died not that long ago – I think she might think He just died this Christmas as our church does the whole Easter and Christmas at their Christmas program.  She went on to say He lives forever in heaven).  After that we talked about  how some are separated from God while others spend every day with Him.  She then said she wanted to pray because she wants Jesus everyday.  I said she had to wait until Daddy was home.  Thank goodness he walked in just about then. We talked about what she wanted to do.  He full court pressed her on all the above points and she gave excellent answers.  Things we have never strung together for her: Jesus dying on the cross, dying for her sins, praying for Jesus to come into her heart.   At one point she said “you need faith”.  We didn’t question that statement.  So she and Bryan prayed on the couch.  She said “Jesus come into my heart”.  I started taking video at some point, but it was after about an hour of talking about all this and she was getting giddy and evasive. We gave her lots of prompts for my videoing compared to the prior interrogations.  I will likely post that at some point.  I think I videoed the prayer.  She then immediately asked to call her friend Gracie and Ms. Jill to tell them what she had done.  We called Meme and Papa and then Sassy and Grandpa.  Adeline told Ms. Jill, Gracie, Papa, and Grandpa that night what she had done with not an ounce of timidity.  She was bold and it was exciting.  I can’t wait to see what all God has in store for her.

I also strongly believe we have to give Sonshine Day Preschool some credit as she has come home from school talking about righteousness, the Holy Spirit, and other topics (like Jesus dying on the cross) before I know I had mentioned them.  I have an idea it is related to the weekly or biweekly Chapel time they spend with Ms. Heather.  I can’t wait to see her on Monday.  She has been out on vacation this past week.

What vs Why

So just when you think God has given you a baby food type of nugget to enjoy… on parenting this time…something comes up that makes me rethink and refine it maybe.  Pastor Phil at our church preached a few weeks ago on don’t ask kids why they did something.  We all know they (and we) have sinful hearts.  He gave the example from Genesis when God asks Adam, What did you do?  He didn’t ask why did you eat of the fruit. (Genesis 3:12).  He talked about when we answer the what we have a repentant heart.   I know that often I want to know they why of Adeline.  It was great to think the purpose is to get them to repentance.  Sometimes I don’t know WHY I have sinned when I know I shouldn’t have done it that way.  Pastor Phil talked about parenting from the Bible and not going off on Books. 

However another Pastor in our church has mentioned a good resource is Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp.  In the very first few pages it mentions that we, as parents need to get to the why (the heart of the child) and not just the what of the actions of the child.  Okay… so at first I am thinking Why do I read or listen to anything on parenting when God keeps directing me I need to know His word all the more and lean less on men.  Then it seems to start melding together.  We need them to repent, but we also need to teach them or as Tedd Tripp says lead them on a path of discovery.  This path being to the attitudes of their heart.  That being what would help them see how God works from the inside out.  To a 2 year old I don’t see it working.  To my now oh so sweet, but pushing all the limits 3 year old I see some room for instruction on self control, enjoying a toy and bringing sadness to someone else (by not sharing) is also a sin.  I am really only on page 11 (and it put me to sleep, though most books do at 9pm).

So for now, my girls will hear who, what, when, why and how just to make sure I cover all the bases…. ha ha!

Salt Springs Fun

All the Preston Clan headed to an Elite Resort at Salt Springs.  We had cabin camping.  So much fun!  Adeline and Faye R. were best buddies!  Here is Martha’s summary:

We sure had ALOT of kids there!! I think I counted at least 19 for Saturday dinner!!!  crazy....
Addy and I had a great time the last couple of days....she was an absolute doll....we asked Fay to spend Monday night with us and they were really cute together!!  Fay said she was 'sleeping over with her cousin'!  One time, after they had a disagreement, Addy came and said that Fay said that she wasn't going to be her cousin anymore!!!  :)  Sounds like she had heard some other kids say that about friends, I guess.  Oh, and they also asked Uncle George if he had a 'baby in his tummy'!!  Guess they got even for all that 'teasing ' about sucking their thumbs!!! [Which Adeline does not suck her thumb]

Peer pressure can be a good thing, and when that happens we call it a good impression. Adeline had all her swimming lessons from last year combine to help her follow her cousin Faye’s lead these past few days.  All last summer she never put her head in the water to look at the bottom of the pool and swim.  After seeing Faye do it, she was after the goal.  Go Adeline go!!!  So proud it clicked.  She caught us so much by surprise that I didn’t get video of it while we were here.

We had golf cart riding going on as well as riding bikes.  Adeline was on her 4 wheeler (2 plus training wheels) for the first time other than her birthday last year. As below Faye and Adeline were not separate often or by much!

Essie with her Papa:

A side note is that Sunday we had a great great bathing suit service with an awesome camp pastor who changed her sermon to reflect to all those with kids. It was about protecting their minds.  Keeping the garbage out so we don’t let bad stuff slip into their lives (i.e: watching cartoons with violence,  scary movies, etc).  She prayed over each of our families and it was awesome to feel the Holy Spirit right there with us.

Saddleridge Ranch – VBS 2010

was awesome!

Bryan and I taught the 3/4yr olds (Adeline’s class).  It was exhausting and overwhelming.  Praise God for good friend that help me cut out a ton of verse/necklaces/hanging decorations from the ceiling, make western vests, decorate the room, cut string, and a million other details.  A big thanks to all the Sunday help by Katie, Deborah, Angela, Annie and Martha.  Thanks to Martha for getting me all sorts of stars and other craft odds and ends I couldn’t find and didn’t take time to find due to the rush leading up to this event.

It was great. The kids LOVED it.  We did Welcome time (2-3 crafts/coloring pages), snack (another couple did this), Bible story (each night I recreated some fun Bible story), Craft (2 crafts at a minimum), then recreation (aka bounce houses, balls and hula hoops), Worship time (our friend Sarah – high schooler and 2 others singing ultra fun VBS songs), followed by video time.  Bryan made me a triangle to ring (or let the kiddos ring) with each transition. You made up things to do, like have Annie (who braved it with us one evening) lead the group around the room on a journey from Cannan to Egypt.  She did great being impromptu to help with timing until we could go to recreation.  We had a wonderful youth worker Megan who set up the room several nights and did a great job helping without even needing to be asked.  We got to make new friends and play with some we already knew.  Since I was teaching I got a CD with the VBS music.  Adeline still is requesting it.  It is a lot of fun because we learned hand motions with several of them.  I need to video her singing and acting them out for a great post. 

Essie participated too and was in one of our friends classes most or all of the evenings.  She got bumped up to the 2yr old class with Terri and Sam Delucca.  She was doing crafts and all sorts of stuff.  We got to see her during the Worship hour which consisted mainly of singing the VBS songs.  She was cute “jumping” and clapping to the music.