Bubbly Birthday

March 16, 2011 Laura

Well, as I write this I am officially a year older! And apparently feeling it, too, since I'm lying in bed and it's only 9:00. I had a wonderful birthday yesterday! I often say that I'm terrified of technology taking over the world and I'd be ok if we just didn't have it, but it does make it easier for a girl to feel loved on her birthday. Between the phone calls, texts, emails, tweets, and facebook posts, I felt like every time I turned around someone was wishing me well. I only received one paper card in the ol' snail mail (props to you, Meghan, for going old school) instead of the handful I feel like I received in years past. So, just for my birthday, I decided to call a truce with technology and bask in all the warm fuzzies it was sending my way. (Yes, I realize the irony of my hate for technology as I sit in my bed typing a blog on my laptop.)

I better get to the point of this post before I stray too far off topic and find myself standing on top of a soap box.

The topic of this post? My family birthday party this past Sunday. But before we could party, we had to catch bubbles. And before we could do that, I had to put batteries in the new bubble maker. And who patiently watched and waited for me to get it all ready? Bren.

She's so silly.

Who knew the $8 bubble maker from Walmart would require a screwdriver to put the batteries in? Bren was a good sport about it while I muttered four-letter words under my breath.

Finally, we had bubbles!

Is there anything in the world cuter than a two-year-old playing in bubbles?

Right as the bubbles really got going, we got some company!

I didn't check the package, but I'm guessing that it probably says somewhere on it not to let a five-year-old dispense the bubbles right into his little sister's face. But hey, no harm no foul, right?

Kinda makes you want to go buy some bubbles, doesn't it?

After our bubbly adventure we went in to get ready for dinner. I tried to get some birthday lovin' from my little people, but someone (ahem, cough cough Lolli) keeps stealing all my kisses.

At least I was able to squeeze a hug out of Parker.

I even got a kiss on the cheek before he ran off and left me for his real true love - his mommy.

Dinner was my request - tacos. But my mom made 3 dips too and I would've been happy just eating those. Man, I love chips and dips. Remember the Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie recipe I told you about? And the 8 candle from the bowling party? Well, put those together and you get my birthday cake!

I was excited while everyone sang.

Even with only one candle, I had to have some help blowing it out.

I may have gotten more help than I bargained for, as we had to do a little blotting on top of the pie afterwards. Good thing I like that little boy!

The pie, made by Doc, was just as delicious as I remembered it being. It's safe to say we all headed home full and happy. It was a great birthday celebration with my family!

Our Weekend and Lolli Update

February 24, 2011 Laura

The kids finally got to meet Lollipop this weekend, and I think they love her!

Anna especially didn't want to put her down. She kept holding her up like Mufassa does Simba in the Lion King.

Our two cute girls!

Anna, Lolli, and I cheered on the boys while they played a game of Knock-Out.

Friday night we were invited to a cookout at our friends' house. They bribed us with food but I'm pretty sure they just wanted to meet Lolli. (In fact, Mary Elizabeth admitted it here.) We were ok with that, though, because we really like food.

We also really like their little girl.

Wesley was nice enough to let Wyatt borrow her tree swing. I tried my best to give him a good push.

After dinner we played Pictureka while Lolli got acquainted with their dog, Ollie. It was such a fun night!

Friday night was all play so Saturday morning we had to get to work. Well, I'll admit I slept in a little bit, but Doc got right to work out in the yard. Wyatt was his helper until I brought Lolli out to play and he decided to take her for a ride.

The kids played with her so much during the morning that she was exhausted by lunch time. She fell asleep in Anna's arms so Anna set her down on her blanket that was sitting on top of the kitchen counter. We all sat down at the table for lunch and she never budged, so she ended up being our centerpiece for the meal. Poor thing was tired!

We spent the bulk of the afternoon at my parents' house. I arrived first and got questioned by the little people about "Where the puppy dog is?" Jett had to call Uncle Doc and sweet-talk him into bringing her over.

Lolli had her first trip down the slide. I'm not sure that she liked it.

Bren likes to hold "wolly."

While the kids were busy playing with the dog, I put together the hammock that we bought my parents for Christmas. Everyone took turns pretending to nap on it and testing the weight limit.

And somehow, Lolli ended up getting it all to herself.

We stayed over at their house late enough to enjoy an impromptu cookout. Nothing like burgers and dogs two nights in a row! After church Sunday morning I got to work in the shop. With the help of both Mom and Dad, I completed my first headboard. It's for another room re-do I'm working on - hopefully more pictures soon!

Update on life with Lolli: Things are going really well. She stays in her kennel during the day and does not mess it up at all. She still cries when she's put in it but calms down eventually. She's great about using the bathroom upstairs and only has accidents when we go too long without taking her out. She's learned to go up and down the stairs by herself - a new talent that we're not proud of (an unsupervised puppy running around upstairs on my carpet is the last thing I want). Her favorite things to chew on are our toes, and it's not uncommon for me to step into my slippers only to find them full of slobber. One day last week she jumped into the shower with me. It was an unexpected surprise for both of us.

Sunday night was a bit traumatic for her - it was time to get her first bath. Even though she got wet in the shower earlier in the week, she hadn't been shampooed yet and it was definitely time.

She didn't know what was coming - she was more interested in the cup I got out to rinse her with.

But as soon as I held her over the water, she threw those paws up and did not want to go in.

"Dad, stop taking pictures and get me the heck out of here."

I've never bathed a dog with so much fur. I made sure I didn't miss any spots - even around her little mouth.

And then, y'all, the craziest thing happened. The softest, fluffiest, cutest little white puppy that you've ever seen turned into...

...well, this:

Does anybody else think she looks like Splinter from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? No? Just me?

Doc kept showing me "before" pictures so I'd remember what she looked like, and I kept reassuring her that she'd fluff back up. I wasn't sure she would but my fingers were crossed.

And that's how our weekend ended - with a soppin' wet dog that wasn't too happy with us. At least she smells better.

Poppy's Birthday

January 23, 2011 Laura

It's 9:30 pm and I almost forgot to mention that today is my dad's birthday. Yes, that would be this guy:

The guy who can't take a serious picture to save his life. I even told him it would be on the internet and he told me to just let him know when directors called asking if he could be in their movies.

We had birthday cake - carrot cake at dad's request - tonight at my parents' house. The little ones could not wait to help blow out the candles.

You can't tell in this picture, but I did arrange the candles in a 5 and 8 since we didn't exactly have enough.

Everyone in the family officially knows all the words to the Happy Birthday song. We still haven't mastered singing it to the birthday honoree instead of singing it to the cake.

Parker thought the song was lasting a little long so he went ahead and started blowing. Luckily, Poppy managed to cover him up before the candles went out.

And finally everyone got to ~~spit on the cake~~ help blow out the candles.

Now, if you're Bren, you take this time to look around and make sure everyone's attention is on Poppy opening gifts...

...then you go in for the scoop...

...get a good-sized glob...

...and score!

No one saw that, right?

Of course, we should've seen that coming after Parker's birthday party. I guess if you ever want to have cake with our family, you just have to be ok with little finger prints in the icing.

Parker's shirt said it all for how much excitement was in the house.

Hey, raise your hand if you're two!

Parker and Bren had nubbin' arms after they found some cardboard fabric rolls. They thought they were fun and we thought they were hilarious.

Did anyone reading this make a new year's resolution to lose weight? If so, my dad has come up with the perfect diet solution for you. Don't waste your time counting calories, exercising, or eating low-fat foods. All you need is one of these:

As Dad demonstrates, simply wear the cone during meals and it's impossible for you to eat.

The pounds will just drop off! That's my dad's gift to you on his birthday.

Happy birthday, Dad!

Final Christmas Celebration

January 5, 2011 Laura

This past Saturday may have been New Year's Day, but for us, it was another Christmas celebration. We usually get together with my mom's side of the family the weekend before Christmas, but this year it didn't work out that way. It was our turn to travel to their house, so after ringing in 2011 Friday night, we loaded up our cars and hit the road. Here's a cast of characters. First, my mom and dad on the right, and my mom's sister Kim and her husband Ron on the left.

Here are the boys from my generation. From left to right: cousin Joel, brother Nick, husband Doc, brother Ben, and cousin Roger.

In the girls picture we have me, cousin Rebecca, sister-in-law Beth, cousin Paige (holding Sevens), and sister-in-law Erin.

This last picture was the hardest to get - and you can see why! Here's the youngest generation, from left to right: Parker (2), Jett (5), Bren (2), Carter (2), Gracie (8), Roaney (2), Sevens (1), Neely (4). (I think those are the right ages.)

Talk about a full house! The little people love getting to play with each other. Gender and ages don't matter - the boys fight over the tiara and the girls play with the guns, too. And sometimes, they all end up with a boo-boo.

Bren was the first to need a band-aid for her boo-boo.

Parker, while sharing doritos with Bren, noticed her band-aid and needed one too.

And then, of course, Carter needed one too.

It's a good thing we didn't invite the DFS to our Christmas meal since it looked like we'd been beating the kids.

The girls headed out on a mini shopping trip and left all the kids at home with the boys. I think the kids wore them out!

Luckily, when we got home from our shopping trip, lunch was about ready to be served. We sat down to a delicious meal of steak, potatoes, shrimp, salad, corn, and rolls. It was yummy!

We all waited patiently (sorta) while the kitchen was cleaned up before we could open our gifts.

I got to sit next to Roaney while she opened her presents and guess what she got...a new makeup kit!

She spent the rest of the afternoon turning herself into a beautiful little princess.

New Year's Day is also my uncle's birthday, so we got to have cake to celebrate.

With that many candles, it's extra impressive that he was able to blow them all out!

It was getting to be late in the day so we all stuffed our faces with cake and then hit the road. It was a great end to the Christmas season, even if it did fall in the new year!

White Christmas (and the days thereafter)

January 1, 2011 Laura

(Guest post by Doc) As southerners (me a convert, while Lucy & the kids are born and bred), we don't often get to see a White Christmas.

Fortunately, we still have the option of seeing snow outside over the holidays if we are willing to travel to the frozen tundra north of the Mason-Dixon line.

Christmas night we hopped on a plane and headed to Indiana. While it did not receive the massive amounts of snow that crippled the East Coast, we were blessed to have a smooth flight, clear roads and 4-5 inches of rather pristine white snow.

It was late when we arrived, so we first attended to the business at hand - a birthday celebration for this young lady.

Not quite 13 going on 30, but definitely 10 going on 15. After cake and a good night's sleep, we woke up in time for a Christmas celebration with the whole family. Lots of gifts and lots of smiles.