The Girls First Sleepover

Gracie has wanted to have her friend Lauren spend they night with her since…well forever.  They have known each other since birth, so as soon as she knew what a sleepover was Gracie has wanted to have one with Lauren.  This summer Lauren’s mom and I figured they were finally ready.  So we set the date and told the girls.  They were extremely excited to say the least.

We told the girls about a week before the big event {Gracie told me it was the longest week of her life}, so Gracie & Gwynie spent the time planning what we would be doing with Lauren.  It was fun to watch them plan this special time with their friend. 

Tamie dropped Lauren off that evening and we got went right to work crossing the fun things off our list…

• Item #1~ Make Homemade Pizzas: CHECK!

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• Item #2~ Go Swimming: CHECK!

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• Item #3~ Have Ice Cream Sundaes: CHECK!

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• Item #4~ Take a bath, brush teeth & get into PJs: {Okay…this wasn’t on the fun list but it was on Mommy’s list} CHECK!

{Before we went on to item #5 Mommy put Gwynie down for bed.  She had a great day playing with the “big” girls!!!}

• Item #5~ Do A Craft: CHECK!

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The girls decided to make bracelets!!

• Item #6~ Read A Story And Get in Bed: CHECK!

I was totally prepared to spend a couple of hours making trips up & down the stairs trying to get these two giggle boxes to go to sleep.  But, much to my surprise…they went straight to sleep!

The girls slept all night. They woke up about 7:30, we had breakfast and before you knew it Lauren’s Mom was there to pick her up. I would say that the much anticipated first ever sleep over was a huge success!  All the girls had a great time.  We will have to do it again soon!

Typing this post has made me realize how big these girls have gotten.  I found a few pictures of Gracie & Lauren from years past that I thought I would go ahead and add at the end of the post.  Some are from when we lived in the same neighborhood in The Woodlands and some are from when our families lived in apartment together in while our houses were being built.  It was fun to look back at these precious girls and realizing how much joy it brings me that they have remained such good friends!

 

 

Lauren playing in Gracie’s  nursery about a month before Gracie was even born

 

 

 

 

 Gracie & Lauren’s very first  picture together when Gracie was just 4 weeks old

 

 

 

The girls together in our apartment in Addison when Gracie was about 5 months old

 

 

 

 

 

Gracie & Lauren in our  new house the day we moved in.  Gracie was 8 months and Lauren was  just under 20 months old.

 

 

 

 

Halloween 2004

The girls were 2 1/2 & 18 months

 

 

 

 

 

Easter 2006

Each of the girls were just about to have birthdays but is this picture Lauren is 3 and Gracie is 2

 

 

 

   Gracie & Lauren’s first official sleepover together

Gracie is 6 and Lauren is 7

7-23-2009

Two Years Down, Really?!?!?

Today I was thrilled to see that my cousin Michelle has entered the world of blogging {I love getting new blogging buddies}.  She and her husband have so many exciting things going on in their lives right now.  I am so happy for them!  Welcome to bloggerland, Chelle!!!

Chelle’s first post got me thinking about my first post.  What was I doing…what was going on…what made the cut into the first ever post? Kathy had been blogging for a while and {Finally} talked me into setting up a blog {much like I have done to Michelle…you’ll enjoy it Chelle, I promise!} So I looked back in my archives and found it.  Much to my surprise The Taylor Family Blog’s second anniversary has already come and gone. The first post was on June 26, 2007.  Turns out we were anticipating some pretty exciting things too.  Enjoy a bit of a flashback in the lives of the Taylor Family!

Here goes nothing...

Swimming Like A Fish

The girls were supposed to start their last 2 week session of summer swim lessons today, but it appears that the rain had other ideas.  We need the rain, so I don’t mind missing a couple of swim lessons.

Back in June they had their first session.  The went the first day, then we left for the rest of the week to go on our vacation to Galveston.  Then they finished up the second week.

 All ready for our first day of summer swim lessons!

Gracie has been taking lessons year round since she was 3 with a couple months off here and there.  She has been able to “swim” for about the last year or so, but this summer she has really grasped the actual stroke techniques and is doing great!  She doesn’t have to wear her life jacket in our pool any more {which she is thrilled about}.  She absolutely LOVES swimming, I hope it is something she can enjoy for years to come.

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This was Gwyneth’s VERY FIRST swim lessons {besides the Mommy & Me classes}!  She was SO excited to finally be doing the same thing she has been watching Gracie do literally her whole life.  At first, she more excited about the idea of swimming lessons that they actual activity of swim lessons.

This is how she spent the first 25 minutes of the 35 minute class.

The swim instructors don’t want to frighten the kids by “making” them get in the water.  I knew that if she would just get it she would love it.  So I talked her into letting one of the instructors hold her and take her out into the water.  Just like I thought that is all she needed!

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Lance Is Back From His Mission Trip

Lance got home late last night from his mission trip.  He and 5 other brave adults headed down to Galveston/Houston area with 18 middle & high school aged youth {To go on a mission trip with 18 youth, none of which are yours, has to be a calling from God}. 

I loaded up the girls {in their PJs} and we were at the church waiting when the team got back.

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We were all so excited to see the caravan pull into the parking lot.  As soon as they saw Lance the girls ran as fast as they could to go give him a huge hug!

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They were excited to see their Daddy {to say the least}.  We had our calendar up that told us how many days until Daddy was coming home.  We started that when Lance went on his mission trip to Peru last year and the girls just love to watch the days go by waiting until they see the sign that says “Daddy comes home…TODAY!!!”.

Lance said the trip was great and he has several amazing God moments to share with others.  I am hoping to get him to type out his experiences so that I can share them with you all, but if he doesn’t, just ask him because I know he would love to tell you about Sister Luke, Johnny and the other BAMs {Big Amazing Moments} with God! 

Welcome Home Daddy, we are so PROUD of you!

The Wonderful World of Bangs

Gracie has been asking me for a REALLY long time if she could get bangs.  I have been very hesitant to take her to have them cut because her hair is so high maintenance already.  Yesterday we decided to go ahead and let her get them.  She was VERY excited and had a smile on her face the rest of the day!  Every time she would so something she would say. “This is my first time doing ______ with bangs”.  This is my first time to ride in a car with bangs…this is my first time to walk up the stairs with bangs…this is my first time to go to bed with bangs.  It was all pretty funny.  Today she said her favorite part about VBS was singing the songs were you jump up and down because she could feel her bangs bouncing. Too funny!Her bangs are having an identity crisis right now though.  For all six years of her life they have been pulled back {tightly}.  It’s going to take some training to get those suckers to lay down. She’s happy with her new do.  I’ll have to remind her of how bad she wanted the bangs we she is fussing about the hot hairdryer on her face. HA!

I AM Sermon Series

Sermon #1: The Word Became Flesh



Sermon #2: Light Of The World

Sermon #3: The Bread Of Life

Sermon #4: The Gate

Sermon #5: The Good Shepard



Sermon #6: The True Vine