Happy Birthday, Laney Hope!

As you can see, Laney had her birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese this year. She went

with a princess theme. Thanks Haleigh for the cute cake!
Here is our own Princess in the middle of all her other princess friends.

I know I'm going to blink and I'm going to be taking a picture of her driving

a real car...hope she likes silver Honda mini-vans...he he! That will keep the boys away!

Her new dress she got for her birthday from Gampa and Diane. She is still our girly-girl.

She opened her gift a few hours before her birthday party and immediately asked if

she could wear it to her party.

A trip now down memory lane...

Laney's 3rd birthday. Doesn't that smile warm your heart?

This was her at 2 years old starting Mom's Day Out.

Our sweet girl at her 1st birthday...cute as can be!

Laney-bear at 8 months old.

Laney, we love you more than words could ever express! You bring us so much joy and we love you from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

Prettier than the Flowers

These pictures came out much better than I expected. All of this came after...

a.) Jason telling the girls to let him go first so that he could make sure they didn't step in any ant beds which of course made Ashlyn paranoid about stepping in an ant pile

b.) Me trying to position the girls and Ashlyn standing up and the top of her head slamming into my chin and giving me a bloody lip ("shoot" was the only thing that escaped from my lips but to be honest, it wasn't the first word that came to mind...it hurt like crazy)

c.) Having to somewhat have everyone not only together (a feat in itself now that Reese is mobile) but also having everyone looking in the same direction...almost impossible.

Easter pics

Easter eggs by artists Laney and Ashlyn

Loaded up with the goods

Posing for the camera

Reesie enjoying the hunt

All things fancy for every occassion

"Hey Drew, do you see any Easter bunny?"

The four cousins before being in their Easter best...

...and all dapper in their Easter outfits!

The famous sister pose...getting harder with Reesie being mobile.

The fam

"This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations." Luke 24:46-47

He is risen! He is risen, indeed! And I am forever changed. How about you?

Take me away...

I am well aware of the fact that I am about to date myself here. I imagine most of you youngsters out there won't have a clue what commercial I am about to talk about. I remember seeing it when I was in elementary school and honestly, found it quite annoying. Any guesses from my title which commercial I am referring to? That's right. The old Calgon commercials. Remember the weird ones with the mom sitting in the bubble bath boldly asking "Calgon, take me away?"

For some reason this odd commercial has come to my mind the past few weeks. One thing for sure...the commercial was written by a woman, not a man. Secondly, without knowing this woman, I am going to say that she is the mom of more than one child. I'll venture even further...I'm thinking that maybe she has an almost-four-year-old who decided in the last week that she would rather not do anything that her mom asked of her. When consequences began to be talked about I can only imagine this child putting on her "ugly" face (which unfortunately for the mom trying to discipline is still quite cute). After yeilding the cute, yet "ugly" face the child then stomps out of the room. This, of course, retracts much of the cuteness still lingering and makes follow-through discipline a little easier on the Calgon-take-me-away Mom.

But let's go on. She probably also had a 17 month old...cute as can be!...that felt the need to be around her mom 98% of the time and will cry if someone else tries to take her if sweet mom is still close by. And while this precious child will melt any heart...she can also have her own dramatic little fake "melt-down" if she feels the need arise. Thankfully, for the Calgon-take-me-away mom these are extremely short-lived.

And my imagination doesn't stop there. I'm guessing there was one more bright, adorable child in the house. This one probably usually gets wound up just before bed-time and because she is like her amazing mother...feels the need to get the last word in, even if not necessary at all.

On top of all this, in order to complete the perfect family, the Calgon-take-me-away mom has a dog...a dog that she used to adore much more when there weren't three children in the house. This pooch probably began acting as if it were going to have a nervous break-down...walking around the house whining, following within inches anywhere anyone went, sitting in the middle of a room barking at nothing at 11:30 at night. This smart woman probably called her vet and put the dog on puppy prozac for a pretty penny.

Yet, I imagine that this Calgon-take-me-away mom, whom I have never personally met, had these thoughts as she soaked in her bubble bath (thankful that the bubbles covered up her stomach which housed these three precious children and now is it's own secret pouch that could hide small objects)..."I wouldn't change anything. Okay, maybe a free maid and cook...but still, even with my husband's dirty clothes on the side of the bed and dishes in the sink...I know all of this represents the fact that I am blessed. Very blessed, indeed."

Well, not sure why the commercial came to my mind :)....

(Easter pics coming soon!)

You're my Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

I have been pretty "down" and discouraged this week. I'll save everyone the details, but did want to share what God uses to bring sunshine into my cloudy days....enjoy! Know that my sweet husband does too but he doesn't get camera time like my girls.

Could these 3 be any cuter?

That's right...pigtails!

How can you not smile at this precious face?

Cute as a cupcake!

"Cheeeese", scooter-style!

I can't lie...the girl loves rocks, and I'm not teasing!

No wonder everyone is attracted to our Laney-bear!

"Mommy, you're so funny!"

Throwing the ball with Daddy...and lookin' mighty cute doing so!

First t-ball game today. Only girl on the team...she rocked it!

Pictures from North Carolina

Well, my luggage arrived with my camera. Here are the promised pictures of Reese and my trip to North Carolina. Here are 6 of the 8 Ashford grandkids and their spouses and kiddos. Andy and Joy, y'all were deeply missed.

Reesie having some fun with her Gampa! Not sure why she was sticking out her tongue...

My mom's oldest brother, my Uncle Tom, with my Aunt Bea, John and Jocelyn.

My mom's middle brother, Uncle Bruce, and my Aunt Bobbi. These precious people took great care of my Grandfather. Grandfather moved in with them for over a year. Seriously, they have large crowns to lay down at Jesus' feet one day!

Reesie playing with my cousin Peter's little girl, Laurel. She is a cutie! They seemed to enjoy each other's company and Reese can't get enough of babies!

I am blessed, blessed!