Birthdays...

Dear Readers,
  I am so sorry for not posting for some time!! Life has gotten in the way. But let me assure you - good things in life have gotten in the way!! It was our birthday on the 18th, and it was amazing. absolutely. amazing. really, it was!  I am so thankful my mom endured all she did to give us life!
  Let me start at the beginning...

 We started to celebrate on Sunday, and got Krispy Kreme doughnuts for breakfast. We had a lovely, lazy morning, watching the Brady Bunch, going swimming, and having fun together. Mom, though, spent a large amount of time on the computer--which is unlike her. Hmm...    

   

 Day two of the birthday celebration: It's our birthday!! YAY! I got up early and the boys and I had some triplet bonding time before anyone else woke up. (We made sure to make enough noise to wake up others, though- it's just SO hard to wait!)  And then - we were walking the birthday mile. Through the hall, into the kitchen and -gasp- what was on the table??? Cards from grandparents and  two flat pieces of white paper. 'hmm' again...
   Let me cut the dramatic outline and get to the climax---  WE GOT A FACEBOOK ACCOUNT! 
  Yes - Mom and Dad gave us a facebook account! And we had not one friend, not two friends, but more than  one hundred friends apiece! We had profile photos, and all our sweet friends had written on our wall for our birthday, and Mom's post talking about  a 'Facebook Surprise Party' was at the top. OOOHHH!!!
   It was so much fun. And it STILL is so much fun! (Even though in the past two days I've spent WAY too much time on there..)


I cannot WAIT for our tea party...

    Any way, we then went to the musical instrument museum! And I got to play the piano in the lobby for all to hear. Amazing, again! I played my 'Sonatina in C major', which is my song for my recital. It was fascinating to see all the instruments, and the 'experience room' was such fun! I encourage all you Arizonians to visit...   
 Then we opened presents. I got an invitation to tea at the Tea room with Mom and Cate! Needless to say, I am exhilerated and cannot wait! AND, I will be taking a sewing class at JoAnne's in May. I am simply DYING to learn to quilt, but first I must learn to use a machine. So now I am DYING to make a pair of shorts, as well, so thankfully I will be doing that in my class!!   The boys will be going to a Newsboys concert with Dad and Len, which they have been wanting to go to. So, we really got lots of great experiences for our birthday - which I love! The good memories of your life experiences are something you can take with you where ever you go.
  And we definitely made a lot of great experiences on Monday. Thank you to all of you who helped to make our day so special with your sweet Facebook messages!


 With love and joy,

 Your Blogger Claire                                             

I love this hot pink sax and ornate violin!

We sponsor a boy in Uganda, and we loved seeing the instruments from his homeland!

'Mom-I want to learn to play the frying pans!'

It's so hard to be the only kid to not have a birthday...

I loved seeing all the parts of a piano!

Can you guess how to play this instrument? You put it on your bottom and shake,shake, shake!

promenading into the past....

   Dear Readers,

 Thou shalt travel back into a time when knights raged, elephants were given as gifts, and stunt men juggle chain saws. Okay - maybe not the last part. But if you travel to Apache Junction, AZ, you will find all of those things - even the stunt man!

  For our home schooling excursion this week, we went to the Renaissance festival. And may I say it was a blast!  There were buildings that looked exactly like that from Renaissance time, and in them we got to watch a glass blower at work, see two knights duel, (although the beautiful paint horses were my favorite part), watch a stunt man juggle a chainsaw, knife and apple, and THEN (as if that weren't enough to give any decent person sitting in the second row a heart attack-I was praying!) he held the apple in his mouth and sliced it in half with a chainsaw. I was thinking 'I would really hate to see this man go to the emergency room just for the enjoyment of others.' But you know what? No one was injured and that was Benjamin's (who was sitting in the BACK row!) favorite part of the visit. 

   I had the amazing oppurtunity to -are you ready? - RIDE AN ELEPHANT!



oh, to wear such old-fashioned splendor as this!



It was amazing. And I loved how he flapped his ears every time he took a step. So magestic! Cate and Mom had a great experience,too - they got to ride a camel! The camel was so sweet looking and I took about a dozen pictures of Mom, Cate, and Sahara.

     We also heard an Irish folktale over our lunch, held a goose in a diaper, listened to a Travelers' Saxophone, heard a beautiful harp, and just had an amazing day learning. Field trips are my favorite way to learn! So, now, allow me to stop talking and put up all the pictures!



I love the colors here...

See the strength in this beautiful horse?

                           

<>

And the only slightly cheesy performance!

And go to this...



We watched a vase start as this...

And end as this! I hope you'll excuse the not-so-great photos.

My real life Dumbo was precious!

  I know that chain is for safety, but can't help but think of Mrs.Jumbo. : (

I love the curled up trunk - but hate the chain. Just sayin'.



My view - looking down from my elephant, I snapped a shot of his friend!



<>

Sorry if my pictures are blown up - I'm having difficulties with Blogger, and can't figure out how to fix it. Please keep scrolling and enjoy! Each of you are in my prayers. Your Blogger,

      Claire

The loose ends...

 Hello, my sweet Readers! We are back in sunny AZ, and I've got more pictures! (I told you I would need to do a Mississippi in recap post! )
 Well, that picture is showing Dad, Cate and Princess. The second Dad walked in the door, Princess lunged for him and followed him everywhere he went. She was CRAZY for him!
  And Cate in that picture has her hair done up beautifully, all set for the wedding.

  

<>

I love love LOVED the mason jars on the trees!

Aren't those mason jars beautiful? Really, the whole wedding was beautiful. The bride was beautiful, the church was beautiful, Cate was beautiful,-it was all so sweet and beautiful!




Uncle George and the triplets!
It was SO great seeing him...

Moving on once again, let me add this one photo of Bess and I. (my mom took this so I couldn't add it to my 'friends' post!)
 Did I mention how much I love that girl?!

Cate- another one of my dear ones! She shined at that wedding, and so deserved some play time!

 We went to Joyner playground with Nana and Papa,
and so I loved taking pictures of Mom's former school - which is beautiful!

I told you this post was to tie loose ends, right?! I'm looking at it thinking, 'How in the world did I get  from Dad to the wedding to Bess to Joyner?AH!'
  But, really, this post is to add all the lovely pictures that A.) I took after I last blogged, or B.) My amazing live-in photographer (who we call mom) took and only just now got them downloaded to our computer. So, please excuse the hopping around, movings on and so forth! : )

One of my favorite things to do at Grammie's house is to dig. I delight in searching all the closets, drawers and purses the lady owns. The best things to find, in my opinion, are those little bits of a person's past found in a  book. I guess you don't think about it, but I bet nearly every book on all of your bookshelves has a piece of paper, ribbon, or picture tucked inside.

  So, as I searched Grammie's bookshelf, I found a scrapbook with lots of pictuers tucked into the back of it. What treasure!! I took pictures of nearly every one, but the above is by far my favorite. I know it's not the best picture, but isn't GrandDaddy Mason so handsome? Even though I was disappointed to find no family videos, I found such joy in the pictures I found. I encourage all of you to take lots of pictuers! Moments that may seem minute today will probably mean a lot in the future. Through pictures and stories, I feel like I know my wonderful GrandDaddy Mason. Readers, never underestimate the importance of a good story, or the legacy a picture can hold.

                                                      

                                                              Staying true to my words, let me show you what happened in the Shrader household.  Mason, Mom and I got new glasses! Mom's are so cute with bright designs on the side. She looks ravishing. Can you guess what mine have on the front?! Calico! I love them...

Well, my Readers, I hope you've enjoyed this post and have a wonderful weekend! Your Blogger,

                                                                                                                 Claire

I took this upon arriving home and thought it would make a nice 'closing photo' to this post! Love to all of you! : )

So thankful God made...

     Friends. As we are in Mississippi, we have been blessed with so many great reunions with dear friends.

Monday night, we were blessed to have the Sheltons visit. Bess and I have been penpals since I was in third grade! We have talked so much by mail (and email!), that  it's always a blast when we get together in person.

Cate,Bess, and I

              I'm so blessed to have her as a friend. I'll share more pictures of us that my mom took when we get home. She's taken some great photos, so I'll have to do a Mississippi in recap post with all her pictures! 

Riley Hailey and Cate

                       Mom's dear friend Mrs.Carol drove from Meridian yesterday. She and mom have so much in common - same name, they both homeschool, have two 5 year olds, are from MS, both worked at Garaywa, and both can still sing all those camp songs beautifully! So, of course they're friends.

 I had the best time photographing these two dear ones. They are naturally beautiful and were wearing the perfect colors!

Nick Bell's picture and State's logo

 Another thing I'm grateful for - Mississippi State! Without State not only would I not exist, (my parents fell in love there!) but we also would not know many, many wonderful people. As soon as we walked in the door to see a dear friend, a man came to us, welcoming as ever, and got us the cutest Jr.Bulldog club t-shirts. Mississippi  State really is something special.     

        
     Another blessing, I believe, lies in the spirit of family fun!
We had such a good time the other night, filled with hooting and hollering, laughing and screaming, and my camera flashing about a hundred times. We stayed out of the rain by  playing  Scattergories and Bible Trivia. Grammie made delicious finger desserts, and we had the best time. (I've said that a lot this week!)

I hope all of you, sweet readers, have had a wonderful week as well! Please remember to keep thanking God! This week, we've been showered with so many blessings, and yet I find my prayer time almost only intercessory. I'm working,though, to praise God as the blessings come - and encourage you to do the same!

Another thing I'm grateful God made - all of you! Thank you, my wonderful Readers, for allowing me to share a corner of my life with you. I hope I've been able to lift you up and encourage you along the way!

 Your Blogger,

 Claire