This is 3 birthday posts in one so it's very long!
(I was going to do individual posts right after each of their birthdays but then I decided to combine them all into one birthday post. Then I was going to write this right after Abby's birthday in January but then I thought I would wait until after her actual party. She is having a "Tangled" party with her little friends & we pre-ordered it on DVD/Blu-Ray so that she, her sissies & her little girl friends could watch it together at her party. It comes out on March 29th so we're having her party after that. She decided that she wanted to wait even though it is over 2 months after her birthday! She has always been a very patient little girl & her Mommy can learn a lot from her about that! : ) We didn't do "friend" parties for Amy & Ashley but Amy got to go to Arizona to be with Poppy, Gram, Auntie & Uncles for her birthday & Ashley got a special birthday lunch out with her little girlfriends. Aaaanyway, I decided that I didn't want to wait any longer to write this post so......here it is.) : )
I can hardly believe that my girlies are getting so big! I've been a Mommy for ELEVEN years & I am sincerely still amazed that I get to do this Mommy-ing thing to my 5 precious little girls! : )
Amy & Ashley are 2 years, 3 weeks & 1 day apart & Ashley & Abby are 2 years, 3 weeks & 3 days apart! I always thought it was pretty amazing how similar the spacing between them is! It was definitely God's planning & not ours! : ) Our girls having their birthdays got me thinking about how much they are growing up & what a joy it is to be their (all 5!) Mommy! My big girls just keep getting older, sweeter, more mature, more helpful with their baby sissies & around our home, more sensitive to God's working in their little hearts, more excited about one-on-one Mommy & BIG GIRL time &.......sometimes (& sometimes a smiiiidge more than just SOMEtimes!) ; ) more of the emotional-I'm-becoming-a-big-girl-&-I-don't-quite-know-what-to-do-with-these-strange-emotions-that-are-going-on-inside-of-my-heart kind of days! : ) When we have more days like the latter, it's okay because I welcome the pre-teen, tween & teenage girl days completely. Everywhere we go people comment on how sweet & well-behaved our girls are but they always always always "warn" us about what's to come with F-I-V-E teenage girls! : ) Needless to say, according to what they say I should expect, I will spend most of my days on my knees asking God for grace & mercy AND in deep conversation with my very talkative, deep-thinking girls! (Okay, so needing God more & getting to explore my girls' hearts seems like a good thing to me!) I know it will be hard, I know I DO & WILL fall hopelessly short of what I need to do this right & I know I will be utterly dependent upon my God to help me everyday! But, there is nothing else I would rather be doing! So, I say.......bring it OOOOOOON! : ) I love, I adore, I am crazy about my five little girls! So, watching my 3 big girlies growing up before my very eyes & faster than I can seem to comprehend in the past few months has been bittersweet but wonderful at the same time! My big girls are no longer "little" but it has been such a delight to watch them grow "up" in many ways! I would say that for every struggle, every tear-filled response, every time I have to sit down & delve into the depths of one of my girls' hearts with her, I get to experience five : ) times as much sweetness, cuddles, love, thoughtful things they do for me, watching them cuddle their baby sissies, watching them work together for "team Palmer", seeing the sweet sweet, heart-melting friendship these little girls share & watching God work in & change their little hearts every day!
For all of our girls' birthdays, we had a separate family dinner party near their actual birthday. I thought that it was cute & funny that each of our 3 big girls chose the exact same "favorite" birthday dinner! For each of their special dinners we had steaks on the grill, broccoli, mashed potatoes & gravy, corn on the cob, rolls, sweet tea & homemade ice cream cakes! For each of their birthdays, we ate dinner, watched a movie, opened gifts & celebrated how much we love them & how precious they are to us! I love seeing our girls loving on each other & being excited for them to have their special day!
Amy got to go to Arizona (Thank you so much Poppy & Gram for your amazing generosity to make her trip happen! We are so grateful!) for her birthday week. She had SO much fun but, OH MY GOODNESS.....I MISSED my sweet Amy so SO so incredibly much while she was gone! She got to go horseback riding with Auntie, on a Starbucks date with Auntie, a manicure & pedicure with Auntie, she went out for the birthday dinner with Poppy & Gram, they drove around looking at Christmas lights & they rented one of Amy's favorite movies to watch at home! She got lots of special time with Auntie, Poppy & Gram & her cousin Koby & she had SO much fun! A few days before her trip Amy & I went on a birthday date together since I knew she would be gone on her birthday. (I'm so happy she got to have such a special trip but it was definitely sad to be away from her on her birthday!) We went to Starbucks, Target & got her a new cute little outfit, jewelry & some other special things for her trip. We had so much fun together! (When I picked Amy up from the airport, she looked so beautiful & grown up! I was so happy to have her back in my arms & I could hardly believe how mature she seemed all of a sudden!) When she got home, we celebrated her birthday with a family dinner party with her favorite colors, turquoise & lime green! I usually do themed parties but she chose to just do colors this year since there was no theme that she really wanted. One of my favorite things was watching how happy Amy was to see all 4 of her little sissies & how happy they were to see her! It was so SO sweet how they all ran to each other & they hugged & kissed & told each other how much they missed each other! We watched one of her favorite movies & talked all about her trip!
Ashley had a "Narnia" family dinner party. We transformed our dining room into "Narnia" & we dined at "Aslan's Table"! Ashley & I had so much fun shopping & decorating for her party! We found shields & swords, compasses, a tiny glass pitcher for Lucy's "Fireflower juice", lots of candles in different size & shape candle holders, miniature Aslan figurines, plastic wine glasses (for sweet tea, of course!). Each of our girls wore their "Lucy" & "Susan" dresses they got for Christmas! They all looked so sweet! It looked so beautiful & I was actually surprised how much it looked like a magical scene straight out of Narnia! Ashley worked so hard to make it beautiful so she could surprise her sissies & "invite" them to dine with her at "Aslan's Table"! Ashley looked so grown-up & beautiful in her "Lucy" dress with her hair braided! We played Narnia-like music, lit all the candles & then she stood near her table & she said, "Will you please come dine with me?" as she did a cute little curtsy! It was so adorable & SO so precious that she wanted to surprise & bless THEM on HER birthday! We watched "Narnia" as her movie (of course!) to go with her theme!
Abby had a "Tangled" family dinner party & she'll have her "friend" party when we get the movie. I bought double of everything so that we could have it for us & then for her friend party. I made her a 7-foot-long Rapunzel wig (because she is SEVEN & just because 7 feet is really long!) out of light yellow yarn since she has very light blonde hair. Abby looked so adorable in her new little purple outfit (since Rapunzel wears a purple dress in the movie) & her "hair"! Amy, Ashley, Abby & Ava spent an entire day making beautiful Chinese lanterns (not exactly like in the movie, but pretty close!) to hang all over our dining room ceiling. They made close to 100 lanterns & hung them all at different heights. They did an amazing job & it looked so beautiful! When my Hubby came home that night he thought I did it & our girls were quite excited that Daddy thought it looked so pretty! It was so SO precious how Abby was so happy & grateful that her sissies got to help her decorate! She was so sweet to want them to be such a big part of her day! We bought individual little frying pans (if you haven't seen the movie, Rapunzel carries one throughout most of the movie!) & each of our girls got to eat their dinner out of them! It looked so sweet, perfect for my adorable little 7 year old & very Rapunzel-ish! We found the opening song (which my girlies love & have already memorized!) online & listened to it over & over as they sang at the top of their lungs!
I love my 5 sweet girlies so much! I'm so grateful for them & so amazed that God has given us such precious gifts!
Happy 7th Birthday to my little Abby Kate, Happy 9th Birthday to my little Ashley Noelle & Happy 11th Birthday to my little Amy Rose! Daddy, Mommy & all of your sissies love you all SO much!
Here are some pictures of my 3 big Birthday Girls!
We laughed SO hard taking this picture! Ashley is helping be Amy's "eleventh" finger & it was SO funny! 
LOVE you all my Girlies!
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