Payton Joy is 3!

      My BABY is 3, y'all! I'm not sure how it happened, but the past 3 years have absolutely flown by! We love our Payt-the-Great so very much! She is so energetic and full of life. She brings joy and laughter wherever she goes! I am so very glad that God chose me to be this angel's mommy!

    Well, we had 3 days of birthday fun for our 3-year-old darling. We started on Friday with her preschool party. She was so excited to bring cupcakes and cheeto puffs to share with all of her friends!

    Saturday we had her birthday party. She chose a Paw Patrol theme this year and it turned out super cute! She begged for "2 ponytails" and I think her curly little pigtails just perfectly matched her sassy little personality so.

  She got so many presents and she loved them all and has been playing toys evy free moment she has had since she opened them, but if you ask her what her favorite part of the party was, she will say "hitting the pinata!" I think all the kids loved that!

    She absolutely loved when everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to her. She and her sister are polar opposites in that area. Ha! She also enjoyed eating some chocolate ice cream and making herself a "mustache". It was such a great little party. I am so thankful that we were able to celebrate her little life with lots of people who love her!

 Today is her birthday. We had our church picnic today and she thought it was another party for her. Of course no one told her differently.

     When we got home from the picnic, we gave Payton 3 presents: 1 from Rylee, 1 from Mommy, and 1 from Daddy. Rylee picked her out a Princess Zelda doll and stick puppet and she has been so excited to give it to Payton. She was thrilled when Payton opened them and loved them. It makes my heart glad to see Rylee being so loving and generous to her sister.

    I got Payt a talking minion toy and Ryan got her a nerf gun. She loved it all. She is one spoiled little lady. We love her so much, it's impossible not to spoil her a little! 

   Unfortunately, after she opened her presents, we realized she felt warm and took her temp. It was over 101, almost 102. She hasn't been herself this whole week and ran some low grade temps here and there, but never anything I'd really call a fever, but today it really hit her. I was sad she was sick on her birthday, but Ryan took her to urgent care and it turns out she has a double ear infection. The nurses felt so bad that she was in urgent care on her birthday that they gave her all the stickers she wanted and a slushie! She was so excited. She came home talking all about it. She keeps saying it has been the best day ever. I'm glad she doesn't let anything get her down. She's my little Joy!

Labor Day Weekend 2016

   Well, we got moved in last weekend. Thankfully, we had lots of help or we never would have got it done. Even so, it was absolutely exhausting, and the unpacking seemed endless.

    I felt like a zombie all week, going through the motions, but unable to focus. It was crazy. We were so excited when this weekend rolled around because 3-day weekends are the best, and I knew we could get a lot done and get some much needed rest.

     Saturday, the kids enjoyed playing outside for most of the day while I finished unpacking inside, and Ryan ran some errands in town. The weather was gorgeous, and the kids had a blast. I got everything unpacked, pictures hung, and the house cleaned. Then I could finally rest.

     Sunday, we went to church. It was such a great service on marriage on God's design for relationships. I really enjoyed it. But then, on the way home, Ryan went off the road a bit onto the shoulder, but unfortunately the shoulder had been washed out and he hit a big pothole which damaged both of passenger side rims and flattened the tires. We are thankful that we didn't have an accident as a result of hitting the hole, but it does stink to have another unexpected expense come up after having such a rough month in August. I'm really wondering if we will ever be able to catch up.

    Today we spent the morning talking with the insurance company to get a claim started, so my car could get fixed. They set us up with a rental car, but when we went into town to pick it up, the rental place was closed for the holiday, so Ryan is going to have to pick it up tomorrow. We tried to make the best of it while we were already in town, so we stopped by Granny and Paw Paw's and the girls had a blast playing with Maddy and Jenna.

    So far, the kids are loving the new house. August was really tough on them, but after the move they both seem so much more relaxed and happy. Now that everything is unpacked and in place, it is starting to feel like home. I don't know when life will settle down for us, but I'm really hoping we catch a break soon. But no matter what comes, I trust God has a plan and He's working all this craziness for good.