Welcome Home Charlie!

Pictures of our new puppy. He has a thing for shoes. :)

Notice there are no pictures with Faith with the puppy. She has labeled herself a "cat person." She is finally starting to warm up. We've tried to convince her its okay to like our dog even if she isn't a huge fan of the general dog population.

A Puppy Party-Grace turns 6!

Our "Puppy" for the puppy themed party. (for now anyway)

The Menu:

"Pup"cakes

Peanut Butter Bones
Puppy Chow
Hot Dogs

"Kibbles N' Bits" (cocoa puffs, m & m's & raisins)
Bone Dip with graham cracker bones.

My kids love the number shaped candles. Grace picked out this one.

We decorated the plates with puppy paw stickers. Grace got to add as many as she wanted to her plate.




The Birthday Girl.
Getting ready for the BIG surprise....
Her reaction was much calmer than I anticipated.
After a few minutes I asked her if she realized she got to keep the dog as her pet. I'm pretty sure she hadn't put that all together. Then she was estatic!

Me explaining the puppy was here to stay.

The whole gang.

Taking Charlie for his first walk.
Unfortunately one of the most memorable moments of the day came when Grace's party was wrapping up. She was walking Charlie in the yard and the excitement of her long answered prayers were being realized. I was saying goodbye to Jo Jo when I heard a horrible yipping sound. Grace & Charlie were running and the leash tangled her up and she had stepped on his leg. Major uh oh!!! We called Papa who was still close and it was more bad news. He had to take Charlie home with him to get an x-ray of his leg. It was a horrible moment as I held my little girl hysterically crying while her papa took her first dog away! It was a very difficult 24 hours as we adjusted to the disappointment of the big surprise not going as we had envisioned and helping Grace working through her sadness and guilt over accidentally hurting the dog she already adored. (I don't think I've EVER prayed that hard for a dog)

Sunday brought good news. Charlie's leg was not broken. However, we decided to let him do a couple of days of rehab with Papa & Gramy before going to pick him up on Tuesday. It was a very exciting reunion when we were able to bring him home for good 3 days later. Grace loves her dog and he is becoming a part of the family. This was definitely a learning experience as we dealt with the highs and lows of Grace's crazy 6th birthday. One thing I know for sure its something I don't think we will soon forget.

Grace's Birthday Weekend

Grace had a whole birthday weekend.

Friday:

Grace took cupcakes to school to share with her classmates.

Here she is with her birthday crown she brought home from school.
Friday night we ordered pizza and had a sleepover. Jeremy was gone helping his dad so the girls and I spent the night watching the movie Annie (one of my all time favorites) and sleeping on the couch together.

Saturday:

Daddy helps Grace decorate plates for her Puppy Party (more on that in a later post.)
Opening her cards that came in the mail.
Sunday:

Feeling a bit sad (see puppy party post). We celebrated with cinnamon rolls Sunday morning. Grace took her left over cupcakes to share with her Sunday School class. Then Sunday afternoon we ditched rest time and snuggled and watched the movie Nanny McPhee Returns as a family.
It was a roller coaster of a weekend, but we hung on. We are so glad to be celebrating six years with our sweet girl Gracie.

Grace,

I am so proud of the young lady you are becoming. You have a compassionate heart towards others and a helpful spirit. I love to see the way you care for your siblings and your class mates by encouraging them and praying for them when they are sick. You love to nurture (and occasionally boss) others. I see so much of myself in you, but you have a way with people that is all your dad. We feel so blessed the Lord entrusted you to our family's care and we are excited to see how God is going to use your life for his glory.

Mama