Happy 6th Birthday JD!

Yesterday was JD's official 6th birthday. He started the day off with a phone call from his cousin, Timothy.

Then Kelli, Jane, Ryan, Amo and I went to his school and ate lunch with him. Midway through lunch, they stood him up on a table and everyone in the lunchroom sang "Happy Birthday" to him.

Then Jane and Chester took us all out to eat for dinner at Sammy's to celebrate. The boys all goofed off, acted crazy and didn't really eat, like usual. But we enjoyed the evening. I guess they're finally getting to the age where we can take them out for dinner to celebrate their birthdays.

After dinner, JD opened up one last gift from Bud, Ryan and I. We got him the Big Buck Safari shooting game. He got one similar for Christmas from my dad and it quit working because he played it so much. Needless to say, as you can see in these pictures, he LOVED it!

 OMG!

 YES!!!

He hasn't stopped playing it since then.

First 100 Days

Tomorrow, Feb 1st, marks JD's 100th day of Kindergarten. This is something the schools all celebrate these days - it's a milestone (and they should also be able to count to 100 by this time). So he had an assignment to turn in a baggie with 100 items by today, Jan 31st. The instructions weren't totally clear - or maybe they were, and I just completely misunderstood.

The directions were to put 100 items in the bag (ie. beads, rocks, m&ms, barettes, etc). I thought that meant to put 100 different items in the bag. So we did that. We filled a gallon-size bag with 100 items from all over the house - 1 cotton ball, 1 rock, 1 pencil, 1 penny - you get the idea. When I walked him to class yesterday to drop off his cupcakes for his birthday, I saw someone turn in their bag with 100 Skittles. I asked his teacher, Mrs. Wilson, if it was supposed to be 100 of the same items or different items. I thought the kid had done it wrong. She didn't really say one way or the other - just said that the bag that was turned in was ok.

Then that night when I was on Pinterest (are you seeing a Pinterest theme? Yes, I'm addicted), I saw a teacher friend pin a picture of a 100-day counting mat that had small items of the same kind sorted out. OOPS!!! It finally hit me that my child was going to be the only one in the room with a bag full of 100 different items. Silly, silly mom!!! And poor JD would have been so embarassed.

So when the boys woke up the next morning, we re-packed his First 100-Day bag with more reasonable items: 10 Q-tips, 10 pennies, 10 marshmellows, 10 silly bands, 10 pieces of candy, 10 pencils, 10 balloons, 10 rocks, 10 nerf bullets, and 10 buttons. Man. . . . .I guess I really need directions to be spelled out specifically. But thanks to my quick visit to the classroom and my friends on Pinterest, I caught it before I embarassed JD too badly.

11 Years and Counting

Bud and I have been together for almost 17 years (in May) but our 11th wedding anniversary was yesterday, January 27th. We went out tonight after JD's party to celebrate. Kelli and Jason took our boys home with them so we could have the evening together to celebrate, so we went to Saltgrass Steak House and had a very nice dinner, complete with steak, cheesecake and a warm cup of coffee to top it off. So delicious.

What did we do afterwards? Um. We went home. Haha! You know you're old when you have the night together away from the kids and you don't have the energy to do anything after dinner. So sad. But honestly, it's totally fine with me. We had a great day, and a delicious grown-up dinner with just my hubby was a great way to end it.

Happy Anniversary Bud! 11 Years Down, Many More to Go!

JD's 6th Birthday Party

It was a Toy Story-themed party, held at our house, on Saturday, Jan 28th. The weather was gorgeous - a little cool and windy - but sunny and nice for an outdoor January birthday. We had a bouncy castle in the front yard, and whiffle ball game on the side of the house, and a sandbox in the back yard. The party was a blast and we had 52 people here!! What a great turnout. A bunch of friends from church, a few of his friends from school, and our family.

These are the Toy Story Alien Cupcakes I made (thank you Stacie for helping me decorate them!). I can't take total credit for these though - I got the idea off Pinterest.com.

We did a Toy Story version of Pin the Tail on the Donkey. We played "Put the Parts on Mr. Potato Head." Since we had about 25 kids, I made two Mr. Potato Head boards and we did it in teams. We split the kids into two teams and as each team member took their turn, we blind folded them, spun them around, then led them to the board where they had to place their part on the board. The kids really seemed to enjoy playing. Afterwards, we held up each board and all the party guests had to cheer for their favorite. It got pretty loud in the house with all the cheering.

Since we had all the kids rounded up in one place and we had their attention, we went over to the table to sing "Happy Birthday" and cut the Toy Story cake. I can't believe my baby is 6 years old!!! Before I know it, he'll be losing all of his teeth, then wearing deodorant, asking girls out on dates, driving, and off to college! Agh!!!

Then . . . . . .it was time to open presents. Holy cow that was insane. He had so many gifts, and all the kiddos were literally sitting right on top of him as he opened the presents. It was a complete whirlwind. Writing down the gifts and who they came from is certainly a thing of the past, unless you can write 500 words a minute. It was crazy!!!

 Ryan was so mad because he didn't get to open any presents. Poor little guy. He doesn't quite understand yet, but Bud did a good job of trying to explain to him that his turn is coming in 5 months. After a 15-minute meltdown, he finally calmed down and returned to the party.

 He got baseball stuff - new cleats, batting gloves, helmet and a ball bag.

He also got several new guns, books and Toy Story paraphenalia.

 We got him new cowboy boots. . . . .

 . . . . . and a Red Ryder BB Gun. He was thrilled!!!!

A Sprinkle for Baby #2

Last weekend, on Jan 14th, we had a baby shower for Stacie's #2. We held the shower at my church in the fellowship hall. After Jackie was done decorating, the typically plain room looked absolutely gorgeous.

As one of the activities, the guests all pitched in and made a scrapbook for the Baby's first year of life. I brought all of the paper and supplies for guests to make a page - one for each month of the baby's first year. They had full creative license, but just had to leave room for at least 1 photo. That way, later, all Stacie has to do is insert a photo each month and she'll have a complete scrapbook capturing her little one's first year, one month at a time. It's really hard to find time to scrapbook when you have a newborn to care for, and a 2 year old to chase around, so without this, the chances of Stacie making a 1st year scrapbook right away is slim. Now she doesn't have to!

The guests seemed to enjoy making pages for Stacie. I just realized I don't have a picture of the completed album. I should get one from Stacie. . . . . . after I finish the last pages (I need to finish the Newborn and 1st Year pages).

Unfortunately we didn't a photo of all of the party hostesses, but they were: myself, Jane, Jackie, Terry, Amo and Sue Rankin. Here's a picture of some of us, along with the guest of honor.

Declutter 2012

One of my goals for 2012 is to declutter my house. The entire thing. One room, drawer, shelf, cabinet at a time. I found a great Declutter Calender on Pinterest (my newest addiction right now!) and each day it assigns you a small task such as "declutter one bedroom shelf" or "go through your spices and get rid of expired ones." I've done pretty good with keeping up so far.

I'm not even sure what today's declutter assignment was, but I had my own idea. I really really needed to declutter the boys' rooms and get rid of some toys. Lots of toys. Both of their toy boxes were completely full, overflowing with toys. So when Bud left this morning to help his dad take down a fence, me and boys set out to declutter their toy boxes. Surprisingly, they did pretty good.

We started with JD's room and put out 3 boxes - labeled "Keep," "Donate" and "Trash." Then we pulled everything out of his toy box and piled it in the middle of the floor, and I explained that anything that was broken, missing pieces or not a fun toy to play with anymore, put in the "Trash" box. If it was still a good toy but he didn't play with it and probably wouldn't play with it anymore, put it in the "Donate" box. Anything he still liked to play with, put it in the "Keep" box. I was shocked when he started throwing stuff away. At the end, the "Keep" box had less stuff in it than the others!

We did the same thing in Ryan's room. We ended up with 2 full "Donate" boxes and 2 full "Trash" boxes. His toy box is now less than 1/2 full - plenty of room to get filled up next weekend when he has his birthday party. Haha!

BEFORE PICTURES

AFTER PICTURES

I still don't know what to do with all of his monster trucks. For now, they're piled up on his headboard. We'll see how that works. Seriously....if anyone has any suggestions, please share.

New Years Bliss

I welcomed in the 2012 new year the best way I could have. No fireworks. No kiss. No black-eyed peas. No champagne (well, ok a very small glass - I had to).

I welcomed in the 2012 new year doing what I love most . . . .scrapbooking! I went to Rockin R for a weekend scrapbooking retreat 12/30 through 1/1. There were about 15 ladies there and we were busy scrapping away when we realized it was nearly midnight on New Years Eve. So we all took about a 5 minute break from the scrapiness to pour a small glass of champagne, turn on the TV to see the New York Ball Drop, count down the last 10 seconds, then do a quick little "woo hoo," clink our glasses together, and drink a sip or two of champagne. Then we went right back to our work.

For several years, Bud and I spent New Years Eve at his aunt and uncle's in Somerset, standing around a campfire, eating BBQ, riding horses, etc. That was fun (and cold!), but not nearly as fun as this. I so thoroughly enjoyed ringing in the new year doing my favorite thing. Some of you are probably thinking "Gosh, how selfish! Wouldn't she rather ring in the new year with her family?" Here's the thing. . . .we don't do anything for New Years anymore. It's honestly too dangerous to go out and drive late at night --- too many drunks on the road. My family is in bed before midnight, so I didn't really feel like I was missing out on anything.

That being said. . . .
In my 48 hours at Rockin R, I competed 31 pages and pretty much completed my 2011 scrapbook. Here are a few fruits of my labor:

"We Love Nanie"

A close up of the monogram "N"

"Planking"

"Hot Stuff"

"Future Heartbreaker"

I'm not sure when I'm going back to Rockin' R, but I can't wait!!!

Christmas 2011

I can't believe it's been a couple of weeks since I last wrote. Well, yes I can. It was a very busy few weeks. Christmas always is. It's so busy that sometimes it's hard to enjoy the holiday season. We definitely had a lot going on, but we really did enjoy it this year.

12/14 - JD had his school Christmas program where he sang 3 songs. He did really great - sang his little heart out. After the 1st song, it was quiet as they were preparing for their 2nd song and JD suddenly spotted Ryan in the front row of the audience. He didn't realize the microphone was still on (and apparently directly above him) when he shouted "Ryan! Ryan! Up here!"  The audience erupted in laughter. It was adorable. JD was so excited to see his little brother in the audience.

12/18 - After church, we headed to Lisa & Rodney Vollmer's for the Bacon Christmas Party. Then went back to church for the Kid's Christmas Cantata Show where JD, Timothy and Ashton performed. They were dressed as shepherds and sang several songs, including one of their favorites: "Shaggy, Smelly Sheep." It was a very cute show. . . a huge success.

12/23 - Bud and I took the first day of our 10-day vacation, and that evening, we hung out at Kelli & Jason's and celebrated Christmas with my mom, Kelli and her family, and Amber and her family. We had a Mexican food potluck - enchiladas, tamales, fiesta corn, rice and beans. Way too much food, but oh so yummy!

12/24 - We celebrated Christmas with my dad and Linda, and Kelli and her family at our house. We had red beans, rice and sausage (we used deer sausage) and cornbread. DELICIOUS!! Afterwards, the boys made cookies for Santa. We have a very creative group of boys, that's for sure.

12/25 - We had Christmas at home first thing in the morning. Well, almost first thing. Normally, the boys are in my room, wide awake between 6:45 and 7am every weekend morning. So on Christmas morning, I expected the same. I was awake at 6:30, anxiously awaiting their excited little faces at any moment. But they didn't get up at 6:30. They didn't get up at 7:00, or even 7:30. Finally, I woke up Bud at 8:00 because I was worried that they were afraid to come out of their rooms since we'd made such a big deal about not getting up in the middle of the night as to not spook Santa. We also had to leave around 9 or 9:30 to head to Jane & Chester's. But right about the same time I woke up Bud, I heard little footsteps padding through the house. Ryan walked in my room, eyes red and puffy from sleep, and in a loud and excited voice he says "Mom! I found the Elf! I found the Elf!" I couldn't believe it. He saw the Elf sitting on the speaker holding our video camera, ready to film the day, then ran right past the 2 bikes and living room filled with presents, bags and toys, to tell me he'd found the Elf! Hilarious!!! And a little bit unexpected.

At that point, we woke up JD so we could get Christmas morning started. Yes, we WOKE UP JD at 8:00. I can't remember the last time he slept that late. As soon as he was awake, the morning and excitement got under way. It was awesome watching them dig into the gifts -- yelling with pure joy and excitement. We had lots of fun opening presents. The boys got bikes, guitars, Toy Story toys, puzzles, jeans, belts, and more. I got a zoom lens for my new Canon Rebel camera and a 365-day Women's Bible. I want to read the entire Bible this year and need a "plan" to do it (so like me. . . . always planning). Bud got new snake boots for hunting and a GPS tracker for his dogs.  Oh yeah, and we all got tickets to the Monster Jam! Woo hoo! Can't wait!

Afterwards, we headed over to Jane & Chester's to celebrate with them, Amo, and Beau and his family. Great food, lots of gifts, plenty of noise, and fun times.

12/26 - We got up early and headed up to Spring, TX to celebrate Christmas with Aunt Kathy, Uncle Robert, Rebecca and her family (in from Indianapolis). As always, we had a really great time and ate well. The boys all had a great time playing together, while the adults had fun playing our games - Balderdash, Trivial Pursuit, and of course. . . . FARKLE!! It's always so hard to say goodbye after our couple of days there. I guess it'll be another year before we see everyone again.Unless . . . .I can talk Bud into an Indy vacation this year. :)

I love Christmas, but I'm kinda glad it's over and we can get back to a normal routine. Now I'm planning Stacie's baby shower and JD's 6th birthday party. Maybe things will start slowing down in February. (I hope!)