tutus and friends

although she doesn't turn three until the twelfth of this month, a party was had to celebrate our sophie rayne. in the belief that with an ounce of encouragement and a whole lot of tutu goodness, any day can be made beautiful, so this day was made. joined by three other dancing, and twirling friends we played the afternoon away in the hope that she would know how much she is loved, how much she is cherished, how much she is treasured.

in and amongst the giggling friends these were some of the pictures taken to remember the day.

-the cake-

-decorations hung from above-

-stars of magic-

-dear beautiful friends-

charlee

taeya

halle -penelope and jane- -dance lessons from the wonderful juliet- -the tutu gang...charlee, taeya, penelope, sophie, halle and jane- -cake time- a blessing really, to be surrounded by and loved by friends. it is hard to find people who care deeply, who will love deeply regardless of where life brings you, who will hear you as you share your heart. it is a remarkable thing, friends. to enjoy ones company so much that you will show them your crazy side, fall to the ground in a moment of dramatic out pouring, run with them without letting go, or dance so hard you just need a break. yes, true friends are a remarkable thing.

Christmas time

a new way of understanding Christmas for me has been in the explaining of it to sophie, who is almost three. she seems to be in awe of all things Christmas and has some of the best lines, which brings a new excitement and joy to the whole season.

while holding the soap that sits by the kitchen sink and is held in a metal soap dish, sophie said, "mom, this is baby Jesus and this is where He laid, can i take Him to bed with me?"

after seeing a play with an angel, wise men, shepherds, mary, joseph and cloth that was wrapped up to look like a baby, sophie said,"it's okay mom, maybe next time i will get to hold the baby Jesus, okay?"

pretty much every day she wakes up and asks, "mom, is it baby Jesus' birthday today?"

when seeing yet another Christmas tree, sophie replied, "mom, look, that is for baby Jesus' birthday...there sure are a lot of His birthdays around."

little artists

i confess i lack any artistic ability whatsoever, and perhaps this is the reason that i subconsciously stock our house full of art supplies. smocks for painting, even if not needed they create a more painters feel. canvas for the safe keeping of the girls earliest work. pencil crayons of all colors, even displayed for easy access. and an abundant stock of white and colored paper on which to capture these profound and intricate pieces of art.

it has been raining a lot lately, and i refuse to complain about it, so it means there has been a lot of art created at our house, and a lot of thanks to Jesus for all the rain.

the painter;

another day with more artists hard at work; finished products; the last two are captioned and i hope fairly self explanatory as i feel rather embarrassed to share about the toilet water.

enjoy the rain today and remember to give thanks.

outtakes

oh the joys of having children who don't like having their picture taken...

or perhaps i should say, child who doesn't like her picture taken.