{stay tuned}

I have a feeling the boys that came to Noah's BD party last night.....may

never forget it.  For good reasons & not-so-good reasons.

I have LOTS of pictures to blackmail them with through the years.

Senior year was mentioned a time or two.  Or, three.

Tons of laughs, one man down {BLESS HIS HEART}, a houseful

of super-awesome kids that I am VERY proud and

thankful are a part of our life; we adore their parents

just as much. I do think I inhaled one too many fumes

from the massive amount of silly string, but other than

that, I made it through the night unscathed.   And, despite the event

of the night I wish would have just passed right by without stopping, 

I did get one on JC.  And, oh, happy day that little moment was!!

I think he was pretty much cringing.  I'm sure of it.  Definitely

more on that later.  hehehehehehe!

The house is almost back in order.  A few things to dry out still. ;) 

A little man, the birthday man, is sound asleep on the couch and has

been for hours.  Aviator glasses and all.   

I'm still finding silly string in my hair, carpet, shoes, etc. 

Not a lot of leftovers thankfully; these boys have become

big eaters.  :)   At one point about 8 of them were piled

on a couch.  They were on the arms, the backs - completely

squeezed in laughing their little heads off over funny youtube

 videos.   I freeze-framed that moment.  Most of them have

been together since they were around 4, if not before.  Our time is

definitely fleeting with them, but I can't let myself dwell on that; 

I am so looking forward to the years to come with these little guys. 

And, I'm planning my own counter-attack to the silly string fiasco

for next year.  Boys beware!!!! :)    

{2/19/11}

Okay, so the big 10 did not go off as planned.

And, of course, major-mommy guilt ensued.

Three weeks of illness, definitely dampered the Secret Agent Party.

And, even the family party. 

Dampered, not quite right, postponed to be exact.

Rain checks were issued and he  accepted as a trooper. 

But, we did take him out to eat at The Barn {his choice} Friday night.

He had the lunch of his choice yesterday:  grilled steak, Pioneer Woman

mashed potatoes, hot rolls, Ceasar salad {for evan}, guac {for Scott and I} 
and Paula Deen's Strawberry Sponge Cake.

{p.s. I bought this years cake at Wal-mart.  Last year
for Easter I made her 3 or 4 layer Strawberry cake,
which was so good, but has actual strawberries
in it, so, Evan will not eat it. But,
this store-bought cake was sooooooo good!
Very impressed}  Now, to just STAY AWAY
from it!

He got several new spring shirts

 {all sports related, what happened to the cute-sy stuff?}

An iTunes gift card and a new Donky Kong Wii game. 
We got his new bike a couple weeks early when we had several
nice days.  You never know about this Arkansas weather.  
We could have been in the middle of a blizzard on his birthday! 

We had an "abbreviated" photo session.  I wasn't able to

even get his outfit {clothes, according to N, he hates it when I

refer to them as 'outfits'} for the urban shoot I had planned.  But, 

those have now been ordered.  Rain check for that shoot as well,

he was happy about that one for sure. ;)  

I am doing as little as possible today, in hopes that my back

will rebound.  It feels different today.  Not great, but, I'm not

in the agony I was yesterday.   I feel terrible that his day

was so "blah", but thankfully they both always seem to enjoy

laid-back days. 

 We got to have lunch on the patio, so nice!!!  Although we had to block

the candles by pillows so they would light. :)

Now, to start planning two belated birthday parties!!  

{happy 10th birthday my sweet boy}

Where do I even start?

We are now in double digits. 

I told you to stop growing so fast YEARS AGO.

And, you continue to totally disobey me. 

So unlike you!

But, on a serious note {not that I am not being serious with the 

slowing it down directions}, but, as always today is such a big

day for all of us.  I cannot make it through the day, just like every other

mother, unless I am constantly looking at the clock immediately

going back to exactly where and what I was doing all.day.long.   Until we

got THE call that would forever change our lives. 

I know that we tell you constantly, but, there is nothing that we would

change in our journey to each other.  God's plan for our family was

bigger and better than anything we could have dreamed up on our own.

I looked at scrapbooks today {and, yes, of course I cried}.

I read this for the first time in forever.  I remember when I wrote it,

I felt as though my heart would literally burst out of my chest.   Simply

from the sheer happiness and thankfulness I felt. 

"Before You"

Before you were in my thoughts,

You were in my heart.

I have always carried you,

We've never been apart.

Before I ever saw your face,

I saw you in my dreams.

I saw your tears, I saw your fears,

I knew what you would need.

Before I held you in my arms,

I held you in my heart.

You've always been a part of me,

You've forever been my plea. 

Before I heard your cries and laughs,

God brought me to my knees,

To pray for you and pray for me.....

For the family we would be.

Before I ever called you mine,

I knew that I'd be yours.

For as long as you would need me,

You've been that deep within.

Before God placed you in my arms,

He placed you in my heart.

Before God placed you in my life,

He placed you deep within.

So, that when we would be together,

We would know we've always been.

I love you Noah Benjamin!

It is a privilege to be your mom and you make my

job unbelievably easy.  Thanks for being such a great

& wonderful son!

Happy, happy 10th Birthday my sweet lil'man!

{modeling}

My birthday present from Angela.  She MADE it!  I am very impressed.  The picture does not do it justice.  But, super-cute knitted scarf and the gigantic flower {which I love} pinned to it.  But, i was wearing it wrong I think?  And, poor Noah, I had to grab him for the picture.  Couldn't do it alone.    Love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks Ang!  Now, if I could just find your present???

{cake, anyone?}

I'm about all caked out.

Just for the record {my memory} I wanted to jot this down.

We had a double layer {albeit it was smaller than ordered, thank goodness!} pirate cake for the birthday party. But, because it was smaller, I added the above 30 cupcakes.

Then, for his actual birthday - I couldn't stand the thought of him not having a cake - depite the fact we still had a massive amount of leftovers. Thus, a double layer fudge cake. He was in fudge heaven.

And, the family party. Well, you can see where this is going because I have a crazy personality when it comes to birthday parties. Two more cakes.

I know, I know?

Another fudge because he requested {had left overs from two nights prior}, but because my mom cannot eat chocolate - a double layer Italian Cream.

I do not care if I ever see another cake for a year! :)

But, I will ;)

{evan's birthday party!}

Of course, I loaded these in reverse order.

But, who wouldn't want cake first?? And, I used those trick candles I mentioned earlier.....so fun! As you can see, he didn't give up too easily!

He huffed and puffed and huffed and puffed some more......






It totally cracked me up!

The cake was half the size it was suppose to be....thus a mad dash across town for 30 cupcakes. Of course, we had WAY too much cake!

But, pretty cute nonetheless...

He had alot of sweet friends there to celebrate.....we missed those who could not make it!

I failed to take any pictures of the swimming little fish! {& I'm missing little Olivia in the pictures, I think she was over at the slide pretty much the whole time}. The kids stayed cool and despite the horrid heat we've been having the adults fared pretty well except for about 30 minutes in between the shade and breeze leaving and a nice little shower that moved through. Really, that part couldn't have been much better!

Thanks to everyone for making his day so special! He loved it!

{my dear little man}

It is official now.

You are SIX.

You have wanted to be six since the day after you turned five. I disputed it fiercely, but you got your way today.

and, I love you even though you went ahead and did it. ;}

You are everything and more than I ever imagined I could or would have. Just like your brother. {the one you adore more than anyone else on this planet}

The two of you absolutely complete us.

You are a daily reminder of God's miracles. I can never thank Him enough. You are that 0% chance the doctors said would never be. I'm so glad they did not have the final say.

You have brought out the best in mommy and daddy. The very best.

I love that you love me so much. You are my biggest fan.

I love the way your hair is WILD. And, that you want it to look like Keith Urban.

I love how your tan little body is perfection.

Your eyes.......they melt me. I thought I would be sad when they finally changed from sky blue to green shortly after you turned two. But, I'm not. They are the prettiest green I have ever seen. Your brother has the blue covered for us.

Your chipped teeth? Still not sure about those, we are still confused on how that happened. But, your Aunt A is not worried so neither are we.

I love how you love God and Jesus. And, I know they do as well.

I know the time is fleeting in which you will continue to call me mommy. I will miss that more than you will know. But, I am thankful you have called me that much longer than you naturally would have because you know how much it means to me.

I love your kind heart. You wanted to resuscitate a cricket today. You got a huge piece of Grandpa Buddy's heart for sure. What a precious gift!

You, your brother and your daddy are 3 of my greatest blessings. I love you more than words could ever convey.

You are my heart.

I love you so much! Happy, happy birthday little man.......

{family party}

On Sunday, we celebrated N's birthday with family. Not certain how we got to the point of having two parties every year - but, of course, the more parties the better for the boys. No complaints there! And, I don't mind skipping my bd! Funny how age works. :)



Noah wanted a blue cake. Although I gave the wrong instructions....he wanted dark blue icing....it still turned out pretty cute!

I love my frizzy hair! That is due to being caught in a rain downpour without an umbrella. Shouldn't be shocking as I showed up for nursery duty at church almost an hour late and thought I was on time? That is after I showed up two weeks early last time. TH: you may seriously want to fire me. So, I scrambled a bit as the party started at 1 pm. :)

Sweet Olivia in the background :)

The cake = a thumbs up.

Pictures courtesy of Angela. :) I was a little side-tracked. Unfortunately, Uncle Shawn wasn't with us. I know he is sad that he missed out! ha! But he was flying to Alabama for work. Or, was that Austin, Texas? Or, maybe Tennessee? (sorry, inside joke) but, we missed you.....Mr. Uncle Shawn Sir.

Happy, happy birthday sweet boy! We are one blessed family to have you grace our lives!

{i love these guys!}

N has definitely been blessed with some great friends; and we have been blessed with their parents. Truly. Last Friday night after some craziness on my part re: pick-ups, I brought a vehicle full of little guys home to celebrate N's 9th birthday. Although the guys in charge of the hay bales ran out of time and I didn't get the forts I had planned.......I don't think it phased the boys. In fact, they rearranged them so many times it wouldn't have mattered! :) And, I was right in the middle of the fights, even though my pink can of silly string got snatched from me and turned on me. It isn't suppose to work like that? Honestly, I was so sore by the next afternoon I could barely walk.

Seriously, is N praying before we started? :)



I promise, no one got hurt. Thank you GOD! We tend to have a track record for injuries when we get together like this in groups. I guess that is how it works with boys?!?

Rearranging, tearing down, and building.....

I love this one of sweet T! He had already had a rough day at school with a mishap on the playground. So happy he was still able to come!

It didn't slow him down any!

Running for his life! :)

Noah had confiscated the bag of nerf bullets above. Bad move. ;)

Hmmm...do you think they are plotting?

To the moms & dads - thank you so much! N had a great time. It is very bittersweet to see these boys that just yesterday were swinging their bats at t-ball practice for the first time. They are all growing into sweet young men. They are always a joy to have around and although I may cringe when I hear......."yes, ma'm" (really, am I a ma'm already???) they are really great little boys!

And, who would have thought? Hay bales from the barn, a few cans of silly string and nerf guns could have yielded so much fun. Note to self: it doesn't take "elaborate" for little guys! :)