The Birthday Girl Gives Back

We all live together in this not-so-perfect world. We hear of those that are homeless and hungry and yet, we manage to give back so little! I was raised by a wonderful man that taught me the importance of giving back. I watched him donate his time, him money and his encouragement to families and less fortunate children my entire life!! As I have gotten older I now appreciate these values so much more. I am lucky to be married to a man who too loves helping others. We try our hardest to help those in needs and we make it a priority to dedicate ourselves to several projects each year!! When it came time to talk about Gray's birthday party we decided that she didn't need the toys...and what a great opportunity this was to start teaching her the lesson of giving to others. We found a local organization called Smart Start and found they were in need of childrens books. In lieu of gifts we asked each child bring a childrens book to Gray's Ice Cream party. All books were donated to Smart Start, an organization that is dedicated to helping less fortunate families and children in the Charlotte area. It feels so good to help others and as parents it feels so good to have your child be involved. Of course she's young - she really didn't understand but one day she will... and what a wonderful story to share. Marble Slab Ice Creamery did a great job with an ice cream and toppings bar!! The kids had five flavors and eight toppings to choose from.

Here is a shot of all the kids, each holding one of the books donated to Smart Start. Gray is a lucky girl with amazing friends!!

And here she is... the birthday girl and her basket of books ready to donate!!

Birthday Fun!!

Here are a few snapshots of Gray's bday activities! Thank you so much to everyone that was able to celebrate this big 2 year milestone with us!! Gray had a wonderful day and just loved having all her friends and family around to spoil her rotten. Gray anxiously awaiting the arrival of her friends at Pineville Park.

Daddy and Gray testing out her awesome new bubble machine!! This little girl loves bubbles and we really love this no-spill container!!

2 years old Paw Paw bought Gray her first bike!! Im hoping he's planning on purchasing her first car too!

The birthday girl - covered in streamers and bubbles!! Whew.... what a celebration it was!!

Pizza... Pizza

We love Friday nights!! A few Friday's ago the Sipe Family came into town and we managed to entertain all three girls with a pizza party! The girls just loved it... down to the last bite!!

Duke Blue Devils.....

Crazy title for a blog post huh? Well before I start writing I want it to be known that Im doing this post for Grandpa Mike. It will only happen once and after this is posted I would like the war between Duke and the UNC Tarheels to be put to rest :)

Let me explain... you see Paul's Dad (Grandpa Mike) is the BIGGEST Duke fan I have ever met. The man loves Duke Basketball. And those of you that know my husband, you know that he is the exact opposite. This house always does and always will pull for the tarheels. For those of you from NC - you understand this rival is a big one - so to have it between father and son is almost dangerous!!

When Gray was born Grandpa Mike did the unthinkable... he traveled to Franklin street (right in the heart of the UNC Tarheel campus) and actually went into a Tarheel Fan Store and purchased Gray and entire wardrobe of tarheels attire. She's got t-shirts, hats, shoes, socks, cheerleading outfits and the list goes on. She has size newborn to 5T - so she's set for most of her childhood on tarheel merchandise. So this was a big deal - what Duke fan would do this?? Grandpa Mike would. He's made friends with the folks who own the store due to his frequent visits. They know him as "the Duke fan who is here to buy clothes for his baby grandaughter tarheel fan". It's quite funny!!

Well this year at the start of the NCAA tournament Paul and his dad made a friendly agreement - If Duke won, Grandpa could buy Gray a shirt and we would let her wear it. Why... why would Paul make this bet when the Tarheels had thier worst season ever. Our hopes were high that another team would win and it came down to a final, nail-biting game where Duke was crowed the National Champions. Grandpa Mike then went out and bought Gray 2 Duke shirts.... they came wrapped in Duke shiny wrapping paper with a big Duke Blue Devils bow and on her 2nd birthday she wore her duke shirt all night long.

Here you go Granpda Mike... here's the pictures to show the world (well the very small portion of the world that follows my blog) that Gray for one day was a duke fan!! We love you!!