Celebrating!

We are so blessed with wonderful, generous friends at our church! Several dear friends hosted a beautiful baby shower for the ladies at church this week to help celebrate our new baby girl. I dropped the ball and didn't get many pictures- I really wish I would have gotten one with the wonderful hostesses. Thank you, Laura, Allison, Chris, Meagan, Karen and Nancy for planning such a special evening!

Snowy May

Arkansas had its first snowfall in May in recorded state history this week. 2 inchess of the cold white stuff on the ground when we woke up on May 3!

The kids enjoyed a little time playing in the snow before a nice end-of-the-year May school day!

Maximus was baptized on Easter Sunday morning, March 31, 2013. He was ready, and we couldn't think of a better way to celebrate Easter! Lucas had the privilege of baptizing him. Check out the photos and video below and celebrate with Maximus!

Back in the Saddle

Okay, for all of you who report that you've been missing the blog updates (Hi, Grandma!), I'm back in the saddle in the blog world. I'll try to do better at keeping some updated photos and stories here for those who like to check it!

Craft Fun Galore!

Nothing pleases a house full of princesses more than CRAFTS! We kept all these cute little fingers busy during our tea party with several different craft projects from Creativity for Kids. As the girls were arriving for the tea party, they made these adorable pink zebra-striped tote bags (Maggie was THRILLED that this project included zebra print- she's a zebra fanatic!).

After the bags were complete, we started stuffing them with some more craft goodies for the girls to take home!

After tea and sandwiches, we all headed out to make fancy headbands and pop art necklaces. Both of these projects were definitely a hit with all these fancy little ladies! Maggie's cousin Susan was a big help and showed all the girls how to get started on their pop art necklaces.

And here are the little ladies with their fashion craft creations! Aren't they lovely?!

Happy Birthday, Maggie Mae.

Maggie Mae,

Happy Birthday! You are five years old today. I know this is the kind of thing moms say all the time, but I can hardly believe it's been five years since you made your grand and speedy entrance into the world in Nampa, Idaho. Your dad and 21-month old Max and I had just moved to Idaho a few weeks before you were born. We didn't know a single person in our new town, but the day I brought you home from the hospital I knew I instantly had a wonderfully tiny and precious new friend. I loved those first few months of getting to know you!

Even before you were born, I believed God had a special plan for your life. Now that I really know you– the strong, passionate, artistic, intelligent, loving girl you are– I believe more than ever that God has great things in store for you. I pray every day that God will capture your heart and channel all of your passion and strength and stubbornness toward the things that really matter, toward the very few things in life that will last forever.

I was thinking this week about a time when you were just over a year old. I was playing the piano at Grandpapa and Grandmama's house and you came in the room to listen. When the music came to a quite dramatic and beautiful resolution, you spread your arms out wide and let out a huge sigh. You got it. At one year old. This week you played your first real song on the piano. And I saw another glimpse of the beautiful soul that God formed inside me five years ago. I can hardly wait to see what the next five years will bring and all they will reveal about the woman God is growing you to become. I wouldn't trade this journey with you for anything. Anything.

I love you, sweet girl.

Mommy

Conversations with Maggie

Maggie: Mom, Why did God create Halloween?
Me: Well, God did not make Halloween. A person came up with that idea.
Maggie: Who was it?
Me: I'm not sure what his name was.
Maggie: Maybe it was that Lucas guy who came up with Star Wars?
Me: George Lucas?
Maggie: Yeah, maybe it was him. He's a pretty cool guy...

First Day of School

Maggie's First Day of Kindergarten!

I am so thankful- our first day of homeschool kindergarten could not have gone better with Maggie! Seriously, it was one of the best days we have had together. She is very eager to learn... I sure hope she keeps up her enthusiasm in the weeks and months ahead. Here are a couple glimpses from our day:

 We went on an alphabet hunt

We worked on some shapes.... and a lot of other fun stuff!

Max's first day of first grade!

Settling into his new desk in Mrs. Kennedy's room. 

His sweet class!

He was so happy that Jakin arrived just in time for me to snap a picture before I had to leave. He's so glad to have his best buddy in the same class! 

It's going to be a great year!

On its way to Lego World Headquarters

Alexander's First Year Video

Lucas put together this little video of Alexander's first year to play at his birthday party. We wanted to post it here, especially for all our our out-of-town family. So many people have invested in his life this year- Thank you for helping make his first year of life a great one!

Alexander is One

Today Alexander had his one-year-old check-up with the pediatrician. He weighed 21 lb. 13 oz. (50th percentile), was 30.5 inches tall (75th percentile) and head size of 18.5 cm (75th percentile). The pediatrician was glad to hear that although he's not the least bit interested in walking yet, neither were his big brother and sister at this age. Looks like he's following in the Roebuck tradition of watching his first birthday zoom by without first steps on the horizon. :-) We love our little one-year-old so very much!  Here are some photos to capture this fun stage:

COWS!

We LOVE Chick-Fil-A for so many reasons, not the least of which is that once a year they feed our family (and thousands of others, too) for free! Yesterday was Cow Appreciation Day at CFA, the one day a year that if you dress like a cow, you get a free meal. We got all decked out and enjoyed the fun together. Maggie wanted to be a Princess Cow (thanks, Aunt Suzie, for the nightgown that worked perfectly for her costume!), and I talked Max into being a King Cow to match. I was just a plain 'ol regular cow.... who enjoyed my free meal immensely. :-)

Hey, Great Mama and Great Papa, look what Alexander grew into just in time for Cow Appreciation Day?! Thanks for helping make him the cutest little cow around!

Thoughts from Maggie

"Mom, if an animal only eats wood, would he be called a woodivore? (pause) Hey, wait!! I think I'm a SUGARVORE!!"