Howdy Birthday, Afton!

I am privileged to be friends with Brother and Deana B for many reasons, many, many reasons. But, one of the more superficial reasons why I am privileged to be friends with them is that they know how to throw a party. Seriously, when they throw a party, they do not play around. Today we went to Afton's fourth birthday party ~ a farm party because that sweet little girl loves horses.

She was all about riding the horses that Sean and Deana had brought to their home for the party. She wanted to ride again and again!!

Joshua riding. . .

Erik Daniel riding. . .

Oh, my goodness, I love this picture. . .

Some of Deana B's incredible decor. . .

Deana B and her little man. . .

Deana's Daddy, I think he has ridden a time or two before. . .

Riding with the birthday girl. . .

I love the look on Afton's face in this picture. . .

A picture of our whole family! Wow! That never happens!!!! :-)

All the kiddos. . .

The cakes. . .

And, now let the fun begin! As the party came to a close, the kids began to play in the hay! I love, love, love these pictures!!!!!!!!! :-)

My doll baby. . .

Sweet sleepy Quin. . .

The three Musketeers. . .

And, I have to show you this! Deana put together an adorable party favor bag, and in it she put a number of things. But, the most amazing thing was this bag of M&Ms that, seriously, say "Howdy Birthday" and "Afton" on them. Personalized M&Ms, seriously. It is all in the details, people. And, Deana B is all about details.

Okay, I admit the picture below is a silly picture. But, I think of Afton a lot like I think of my own kids, and I notice little things and get all mushy. And, for some reason throughout the party I kept looking at her little feet, her little toes. She didn't wear shoes most of the party, sweet little barefoot girl. So, by the end of the party her cute little feet were quite dirty, and they were just precious to me. Thus, I had to take this picture. . .

And, I will end there.

The Power

When Erik and Sean were in residency, they did everything together. Seriously, I think we ate dinner with Sean and Deana five out of seven nights a week. Sean and Erik were nearly inseparable. And, every so often, Deana B would get frustrated with Sean for going to play basketball with Erik or for going to a game with Erik. (You must remember that we were both newlyweds at the time.) So, Sean started saying, "Deana, he (Erik) just has this power over me. I can't help it. He asks me to do something, and I just can't say no." And, Erik's "power" became a joke between the four of us.

Well, today Erik attempted using his "power" on Deana B. You see, Erik and Sean go on one sports trip every year. They have done this for years. They have gone to the ACC tournament, the final four, the Big 10/ACC challenge, Duke vs. Carolina, etc. Well, Sean promised Deana that they were going to take a year off with the new baby and all. But, the baby was born 7 months ago, and in the meantime he and Erik have concocted a plan involving. . . 2 trips. One to see the Steelers play the Vikings, and the other to see Duke play Wisconsin. (Erik just proofed this post for me since it is about him, and he wanted me to tell you why these trips are sooo important. He is just defending himself, but I'll tell you. The Steelers are Seans favorite pro team, and Erik loves Brett Favre. Sean, of course, loves Duke, and evidently it is difficult for any team to win at Wisconsin, thus making it a great game.)

So, now you can understand why Erik was attempting to work his magic today! Just look at her eyes! Judge for yourself if you think his power was working. . .

Here he is laying out the plan. . .

Making a little eye contact with Brother. . .

I love the look on her face in this one. . .

Now for a little group discussion. . .

And, here is Sean adding his two cents. . .


I'll keep you posted on whether or not they go on both trips or one trip or no trips! (When Erik proofed the post and looked at the pictures of Deana's face, he laughed and said, "We're not going!") We'll see. . .

Relay for Life 2009

Last night my sweet mama and I took the boys to our community's Relay for Life. The weather was perfect ~ sunny with temps in the 70s. We met a few of our favorite friends there and had a blast. . .

The kiddos enjoyed mechanical bull riding. . .

Joshua. . .
JCT. . . And, sweet Afton. . .

I love that little girl, and I always tell her mother that she reminds me of a butterfly ~ the way she flits and flutters and dances around on her toes. . . And, last night, ironically, she had a butterfly painted on her cheek! That made me smile!

Me and one of my favorite hometown heroes. . .

After several bounce houses and obstacle courses, the boys discovered boxing and talked Brother into letting them try it!

Joshua, you are supposed to punch the bag, baby, not Brother!!!!!


Who knew a punching bag could be so much fun! We may have to invest in one of these!


Fun!

Purple-Headed Post

It was all Sean's idea. Erik will tell you that he is "the fun one." I think they make a great team. They balance each other well.

The deal was made at the first game of the season. Sean said that if every single member of the team scored in one game that they (Erik and Sean ~ the coaches) would color their hair purple. It is kind of ironic that Sean made the deal when you consider the fact that he shaves his head. But, still, the deal was made, and the kids worked hard every game. And, finally on the last game of the year, all the kiddos scored ~ with a little help from the refs who knew about the deal. Anyway, today was the Upwards awards banquet, and Erik and Sean came with purple heads/hair much to their team's delight!

Here is the artist at work. . .



With his proud son. . .



The boys asked Erik several times over the course of the day to keep his hair purple. I am just praying it comes out easily! JCT referred to him as "the purple headed man" all day!

It was a fun memory for Erik and Sean to add to their collection of fun memories! And, it was a fun memory for Joshua and all his teammates!

Happy Hearts. . .

For as long as I can remember, I have scribbled hearts on everything ~ every note, beside by name, exchanging o's for hearts in certain words, etc. I love hearts. Always have. And, so it is no surprise that I love Valentine's Day!!!! I love it, but this year has been a little crazy! Last week I did birthday all week, and this week it has been Valentine's. I love it, but it has been a bit busier than I like! Of course, I got kind of used to being able to take it slow in the mornings ~ sipping my coffee for several hours with babies playing all around me, you know, before my big boys were in school. Now we are up and at 'em each morning!! But, I love mornings, so I really shouldn't complain!

Anyway, I helped with both Joshua and JCT's school Valentine parties this year. JCT watched intently as I made this heart shaped cake. . .


. . . that I was asked to make for Joshua's class. And, as I iced the cake, JCT asked the question that I was afraid he would ask, "Mommy, what are you making for my class?" I couldn't tell a lie. His teacher asked me to make ham sandwiches (we don't like ham around here), so I told him, "Ham sandwiches." He looked at me horrified. I mean, really, Mom. Joshua gets a fun cake and I get ham sandwiches. So, I added, "But, I am going to make them in the shape of a hearts. . ." And, I smiled sweetly at him, but I don't think it helped, and I don't blame him for being disappointed. I was, too, when the teacher assigned them to me. . .


That morning, as I put the sandwiches together, I had Elijah sitting on the counter "helping" me. I turned my head for no less than a second (the child has quick hands), and when I turned back around, my 3 heart-shaped cookie cutters were missing. I looked all over the counter. . . they were nowhere to be found. . . Where did I set them? Then, I looked up on the bar. . .

And, there in the bottom of our two fish bowls, lay the cookie cutters. But, thankfully, no fish were harmed. I couldn't help but chuckle because the child is a mess, I tell you. He continually creates work for me. Life is never boring with Lijah around ~ that is something I can count on.

But, a few minutes later when I found one of Joshua's "ilove" valentines in the bottom of the fish bowl, it wasn't so funny anymore.

This is what Joshua handed out to his classmates. . .


And, I loved these so much from last year, that I used them for JCT's class this year. . .


Oh, and want to know what we are wearing this Valentine's?

We made these T-shirts one afternoon this week. . .


Here is my attempt to get a picture of all three in their t-shirts. They simply would not hold still!!!


It is never boring around here, can you tell?

And, I surprised Erik by showing up to our church's Valentine banquet wearing this. . .


I had many husbands ask me to give their wives the website where I bought my shirt! It was definitely more of a hit with the men than the women!!! It was a hit with my man, and that is all that matters to me! :-)

Now here are a couple pics from my boys' school parties. . .

First, JCT's. . .

Elijah was a huge hit. Don't ask me why? But, the kids couldn't get enough of him!!! They weren't interested at all in the adorable baby that I was wearing, but they were all over little Li Li. . .


Cute. That is all I have to say. . .


Cute.


Cute.


And, now Joshua's. . .

Here he is eating at his desk/table. . .


Goodness, I love this little man. . .


We gotta lotta love in this house! Love, love, love, sweet baby love!!! Noone can keep their hands off this sweet little guy!!


I simply cannot wait until tomorrow!!!! I got a couple fun goodies to make for the boys, and I recorded Charlie Brown's Valentine for them to watch! I love weekends, and this is a long one!!! Hurray!!