Birthday Party

Okay...I tried to come up with a catchy title, but I just couldn't do it.
SO, here we go...


William, William, William. What a funny boy. Man, was it hard for him to wait for his birthday this year. Hard luck being 3rd in the birthday line-up. He has pestered us for MONTHS about his birthday. He started in on us back in January, while we were planning for Samuel's party. But, it's finally here.

Here's a photo barrage from his actual birth-day.

I love how they all lean in to check out the gift...one from Samuel...


From Grandma and Grandpa...the long awaited bedding:


Sweet smile...there's gum in the box:


Ya gotta smell it...


Undies...


And, Aaaahhhhh....the Mother Load...


No surprise what we had for breakfast...




On to the Birthday Party! The KARA-TEE PAR-TEE!

Decorations: Meager, but passable.


Little Take-Out boxes full of Puppy Chow (got em from Walmart)


His Sensei, Miss Emily, and her college-age son led the kids in a karate lesson. They loved it! Usually they line up, for class that is, but I liked that they sat in a circle for the party.




Check out Samuel's good block...


They learned how to say Happy Birthday in Japanese...


After we sang...


...Miss Emily helped William cut the cake with her huge saber.




Fun Party!

And would you believe, we had even more partying to do?

We had a birthday lunch at Sharon's today--Pigs in a Blanket for the kids and Hamburgers for the adults. Then, we reused that cake, and sang all over again.




I include these to illustrate what kind of photos William usually tries to give me. When I get a smile, it's a big deal.

This is typical...


And so is this...


And this...


Makes me really appreciate pictures like this:


Ah William. We love you, little buddy.

In other news...
We ate well this week. We enjoyed grilling out Friday night. Tim grills some good burgers. Samuel likes his with a little cheet-o on his...which William thinks is hilarious. He took a picture. Thought you'd like to see it.


Notice the pickle...Samuel doesn't like the skin, so he just eats the inside part. Weird-o.

Afterwards, we made Fried Icecream. Ah-ha-ha! Yum!


We liked this video that shows how to do it...Click Here.
Also, Paula Dean has a good recipe...just about the same recipe as the video.

Here's the recipe as I made it:

6 Ice cream balls (Ice cream scooper sized)
2 beaten egg whites
1.5 cups Honey Bunches of Oats, crushed fine

I froze the ice cream balls on a sheet of waxed paper for a couple hours, right after lunch.

In the afternoon, I rolled each ball in the egg whites, then in the crushed cereal. Then I re-froze them till dinner.

After dinner, we broke out the Fry Daddy! Tim fried those suckers till they started to melt...maybe 30 seconds total. He had to roll them over in the middle, since they didn't submerge completely.

They were really good with Carmel sauce on top!

Plus, they make a really healthy dessert! :)

Almost Lastly...

We are on Etsy! I'm so excited. We only have 3 products on there so far, but they're good ones, and there's more coming.

This votive holder is on there...


You can check it out HERE.

And this one is at the Antique Mall...


Plus, I've started a Poplar Head blog...we'll see if anything happens with that.

Okay...Lastly...
If you've read this far, you must really love us. So, I'll share something that encouraged my heart this morning. This is a hymn we sang this morning in church. With Tim's new job, and a new baby coming, there's a lot of uncertainties in our family right now. We feel like we are at God's mercy, and I really appreciated the perspective of this hymn. We sang it to the tune of Crown Him with Many Crowns.

Commit Now All Your Griefs by Paul Gerhardt

Commit now all your griefs
And ways into his hands;
To his sure truth and tender care,
Who earth and heav'n commands.
Who points the clouds their course,
Whom winds and seas obey,
He shall direct your wand'ring feet,
He shall prepare your way.

Give to the winds your fears;
Hope, and be undismayed;
God hears your sighs, and counts your tears,
God shall lift up your head.
Through waves and clouds and storms
He gently clears your way;
Wait for his time, so shall the night
Soon end in joyous day.

Still heavy is your heart?
Still sink your spirits down?
Cast off the weight, let fear depart,
And every care be gone.
He everywhere has sway,
And all things serve his might;
His every act pure blessing is,
His path unsullied light.

Far, far above your thought
His counsel shall appear,
When fully he the work has wrought
That caused your needless fear.
Leave to his sovereign sway
To choose and to command;
With wonder filled, you then shall own
How wise, how strong his hand!