Cousins

My very talented friend, Chantal, was brave enough to take on a photo session of my and my sister's kids together. It was no small task, but she did an excellent job. Here are just a few of the best shots.

This post is a little bittersweet for me because my sister and her family are moving to Oklahoma on Saturday. We've been extremely blessed to live so close to one another most of our adult lives, and anyone that knows us knows that K and I are closer than the average sisters. They came to Texas shortly after we did, and bought a house about five miles from us. We got jobs in the same school district and attended the same church. We were pregnant together TWICE, and have firstborn girls and secondborn boys only months apart from one another. I got to keep my niece and nephew while my sister worked part time, so we have a very special and close bond. They are moving closer to both sets of grandparents and it's a wonderful opportunity for them, but it's really sad to see them go. Our lives won't be quite the same without them. I hope that R is ready for some serious miles on our car, because I see quite a few trips to Oklahoma in the future!

Revive Carnival

Northwood Church has an amazing ministry called Revive, which provides a free "parent's night out" to families of children with special needs. It reaches out to many families that would otherwise never have a break from their many responsibilities. Northwood holds a carnival every year, which is a great opportunity for us to support this ministry. Of course, Tink was happy to oblige by using the tickets we purchased to ride rides with her friends :) Click on the link above to learn more about Northwood or the Revive ministry.

Birthday Girl

For Tink's third birthday (sorry, did I say THIRD? What in the world?!?!?) anyway, she chose her favorite character, Dora, as the theme. We had a great time planning and getting ready for this one - a full Dora reenactment! She LOVED every minute and was really excited to have her friends and family celebrate with her. It was a great weekend that she's still talking about - just a few weeks ago, she told Miss Becky all about it :)

Getting ready is half the fun! Stuffing her "Backpack" favor bags

Oh no! Swiper swiped the pinata! (I had to move things along before she started crying)

Who do we ask for help when we don't know which way to go? The map!

We went across Turtle Pond ...

past Lollipop Forest ...

through Rainbow Cave ...

and that's where we found Tink's pinata! We did it!
Three is the perfect age for "pretending", and most of Tink's friends had as much fun as she did. It was totally worth the late night effort :)

Happy birthday to you!

Sweet friends patiently watching her open presents

Her big present - a talking Dora house

Pancakes in the shape of I and 3

The celebration wasn't complete without a trip to her favorite place with some of her favorite friends

Tink, I am so proud of everything you've learned in the past year and I am having a blast watching you grow into your sweet, cautious, inquisitive, talkative personality! I love you and I'm proud that you're mine!