Birthday's Birthday's Birthdays

Well, December is here and that means we kick things into high gear around here.  Not only do we have all the normal hustle and bustle of Christmas, but also 3 birthdays and 2 anniversaries.  Our Anniversary is first.  On the 4th Drew and I celebrated 9 years of marriage.  We had big plans (and actual reservations) for the weekend following our big day.  My parents would be in town to keep the kids.  (More on that later)  Anyway, so this year we had to have Andrew's party a week early due to some pretty busy plans on the 14th.  Plus another little boy in his class was having his party that day and once it gets so close to Christmas people get very busy.  Needless to say when Daddy celebrated his 35th birthday, on the 5th, Mommy was busy baking Andrew's 3 tiered birthday cake, so poor Daddy had to settle for red velvet cupcakes with his favorite swiss buttercream frosting.  (See, I did manage to somehow squeeze them in.)  So after Dinner we had a mini party for Daddy.  

And the best birthday present Daddy got....snuggle time with his little girl.

I spent all day Friday finishing the cake.  I think I went to bed at 4 am.  We had to be up early Saturday for a basketball game before the birthday party.  Mind you, it was 78 degrees on Friday and 80 degrees on Sunday.  Wouldn't ya know it was cloudy and about 55 on party day.  But that didn't stop the kids from staying outside.  The 61 foot bouncy obstacle course might have had something to do with it too!  This baby was delivered bright and early.  Andrew had to get a pre-game bounce in before we left.  

 Today was also Andrew's first basketball game of the season.  They won!  AND He scored the first points!  His party day was off to a great start!  Here's the birthday boy with his Wild Kratt's jungle themed cake.  (If you haven't heard of Wild Kratts, it's a show about animals on PBS; very interesting.  It's also on netflix)

 The party gang

 Apparently it wasn't too cold for ice cream.

 The birthday boy also requested a pinata. 

...which also doubles as a great hat.

Now his ACTUAL birthday was the following weekend.   Sumper had a little surprise for him that morning.

He takes after his mommy.  He is NOT a morning person!

 Sumper got Andrew a DVD he has been wanting for a while.

 After church we took Andrew and his 2 girlfriends to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch.   We didn't have much time because we had to be back for our choir musical that afternoon.  I made Andrew this cookie cake to take to his class at church, but he decided he'd rather have it at his other party, so we packed it up and took it to Chuck E. Cheese.

These are some "cheesy" kiddos!

Aubrey enjoyed herself....she liked watching all the kiddos run wild in the place.  

(It was a little too much for Mommy!  That place stresses me out!)

So after all that, we have a 35 year old and a 7 year old.  The 7 year old might as well be 35.  He's growing too fast and time just won't stop!  He is still such a blessing.  He is the kindest, most loving child I've ever met.  He's tender hearted and compassionate, yet he's very focused and persistent.  He's smart and funny and he's the best big brother!  You couldn't ask for a better kid.  He is my sunshine, my sweet boy, my firstborn.  Happy Birthday Andrew!

Marine Corps Ball 2013

After girls day in Birmingham, Aubrey and I had to immediately drive back to FL because today was the Marine Corps Ball.  My good friend, Kel, was in town so we got to spend a girls day of our own, so to speak.  She went with me to meet my hair gal Gigi.  We hung out at her salon while she did my hair and makeup.  (The thing I love about the Ball...not having to get myself ready!  It's one day out of the year that I can be pampered and then get to wear a pretty dress at the end of the day!)  

This year's ball was a little different.  We didn't have it at the Naval Aviation Museum.  (boo)  We did have a pre-party/dinner downtown, though...which we were pretty late to because of a little last minute wardrobe malfunction (thanks a LOT baby weight!  Man, I gotta get rid of the rest of that stuff!)

(look at that handsome Marine)

 HT-18 field grade officers

 Field Grade wives.  (Kim, remember what it was like in Hawaii when we were newbies...seeing the "major's wives" differently?  Now we are those wives!  So weird, huh?

 We got so busy talking and making some new friends that when we looked at our watch we were late for the ceremony, so we went home instead.  (Real party animals, I know!  But it wasn't at the museum this year and our kids were at home with Kel - thanks Kel- you're the best, and I wanted to go watch LSU beat Alabama.  (which didn't happen).  At least we stopped at Krispy Kreme on the way home!  Oh well...we still had a great night, even though we only went to the dinner/pre-party.  

**We heard later that we didn't miss a thing.  Since the ball was at the "O Club" at NAS Pensacola, there was NO ROOM for all the people.  They had tents set up outside with closed captioned tvs (that didn't have sound) so you could see the ceremony, which we heard was also cut short and skipped some of my favorite parts.  **

Big shout out to Gigi for my fabulous hair and makeup.  Thanks for making me look "beautimous." 

 Still looks fresh after 7 hours!

I hope next year's ball will have a few old, familiar faces! *Fingers crossed*

The Rest of Our June at a Glance

After our trip to Disney, we headed to Albertville for a pretty busy weekend.  A friend of mine got married and it was Father's Day.  When we got there, Aubrey and Trace were happy to see one another.  

The next day was Carrie and Tim's wedding.  It was beautiful!  I'm so glad I got to be there.  Our former youth minister (my first one ever) who has been a missionary in Brazil for the past 18 years, was home on furlough and actually performed their ceremony.  It was special.  The last time I saw Chris and Melody was at OUR wedding almost 9 years ago!

 Erin and Carrie

 Oh, I have lots of good memories with these girls!  How I love them so!

Later that night, some of the old youth group and their families got together at Catfish Cabin to reminisce.   Good times were had by all.

 The next day was Father's Day.  We went to Granny's house after church and I was able to catch a few pictures of "Daddy" with his kiddos.

 Later that afternoon we went to Granny Nita's where Aubrey  hung out on the table.

 Drew had to leave that day, but the kids and I stuck around for a few extra days to help out.  My grandmother had knee surgery and we needed a few extra hands around.   Being there a little longer gave us time to play and take pictures of the kiddos!  

Paw-Paw hung a giant swing for Andrew

Andrew also lost his second tooth!

I got to keep Trace Parker for a few hours on a couple of days while Mom was at the hospital with Granny.  Andrew liked playing babysitter.  He gave Trace his bottle and rocked him to sleep.

Cute pics of the Grands:

Some pictures of them NOT in their PJs!

 This picture cracks me up!  Aubrey very quickly lost interest in our little photo shoot and Andrew wasn't happy because he was being eaten by mosquitoes...it was just funny!

 Once inside she felt much better!

Two weekends later the kids and I made it back to Albertville for Mt. Calvary's 75th Anniversary Homecoming.  It was a quick trip this time but I'm glad to I got to see a lot of my home church family.  And of course, the kiddos got to spend some more time together. 

 Aubrey told Trace a story...

Apparently they both thought it was pretty funny...

 ...REALLY funny!

 Could we have a left handed pitcher on our hands??