Elizabeth's birthday and other happenings

My last entry was on Elizabeth's birthday so last weekend we celebrated with her friends. With finances the way they are, I wanted to make it simple so we planned it at one of her favorite parks on Saturday morning. Of course the weather had been in the 80's all week and then Saturday morning it had to turn windy and cold. But we managed to have a good time nonetheless. I let Elizabeth pick what she wanted to have at her party and she wanted a cake so Friday we made it together. She specifically requested sprinkles, so I took out some alphabet cookie cutters and used a funnel to pour the sprinkles in and write her name. Elizabeth was too long, but Lizzie fit perfectly. It came out pretty cute! Here she is ready to enjoy it!


The reason she likes this park is that it has a really tall slide there that she enjoys going down. She loves slides but the first time we took her there she refused to go down it. Knowing that she would like it if she tried it, we made her sit in our lap and slide down despite her screaming. There was an older lady standing nearby peering down her nose at our parenting tactics. She looked at me and said, "She'll never go down a slide again." I looked at her and politely told her that my daughter loves slides and goes down bigger ones at gymnastics. I kept to myself that I am her mother and I know what I am doing. So what was the result? She didn't want to leave the park that day because the slide was "so fun" and now it is her favorite park! We may not have looked like the nicest parents at that moment but we knew what we were doing! Anyway, the slide was a big hit at the party. In fact there was a minor traffic jam!

Elizabeth really enjoyed having all her friends there and I don't think the kids really paid much attention to the cold. They were all running around and having a great time!

This particular park has a nice wooded area around it with walking trails so we took the kids on a little hike. It was actually nicer because there wasn't any wind walking through the trails. Here are all the kids following the path down to one of the bayous.

Since it was so windy, blowing out the candles became a challenge. We all gathered in a tight circle with parents trying to block the wind and didn't light the candle until we were done singing. It worked!

Elizabeth had a great time so I consider the party a success! Afterward we drove out to the airport to pick up a close family friend who has been a missionary in Africa since last July. He was coming into town for a couple weeks and staying with us for part of that time. That was a treat for the kids because they have really missed him. He is like family to us. So we got to treat him to some of the food he misses including a Nestle cookie cake which we all got to enjoy! It was a busy but extremely enjoyable weekend and by Sunday afternoon after church, Elizabeth couldn't handle it anymore. Lulled by the sound of the Nascars going around the track on tv, Elizabeth fell sound asleep on the couch!

Yesterday, Gamma (Heath's mom) treated us to pedicures for our birthdays. Elizabeth loves getting her nails done but has never been to a nail salon. She threw a fit at first because she is very hesistant about new things (remember the slide?) so Gamma let her sit on her lap and watch her get a pedicure. By the end she was all about getting her nails done and is already asking when we can go back. Uh oh! We have created a monster!

She started off by letting Gamma put lotion on her feet and cut her toenails, but by the end she said the nail tech could paint them. They even treated her to painting her fingernails and covering them in sparkles! That's my girly girl!

So that has been what is going in with the Lockharts in the last week. Now we are looking forward to spring break, going to the rodeo as is Houston tradition in March, and Caleb's birthday at the end of the month.