Birthdays Galore

August is SUCH a busy birthday month around here! Cristin celebrated her THIRTIETH birthday this weekend (and from what I hear did it in style in NYC! Can't wait to see those pics.) Happy birthday, Cristin!

Daddy Ben celebrated his birthday this month (not sure I can count that high, so we will just call it 50). Happy Birthday, Daddy Ben!

This weekend, we had two parties to go to. Emma's friend, Maddux, turned 8 and the sweetest blond-haired, blue eyed boy we know, Owen, turned 5.

First up was Maddux's party. We try to let the girls go to their own parties with their friends. So, Travis and the little girls went to hang out at his Mom's. I took Emma to Maddux's party at Fun City. Emma was so excited to see most of her friends again before school starts back this week. While she was partying with her friends, I ran home to put some finishing touches on the house. We had a showing this weekend. (Praying that they fell in love and will make an offer!)

Saturday evening, we went to Owen's party at Fast Lanes. He was so excited that it was his birthday and the party was great! The kids got to bowl, have pizza and cake, and play games. All of the kids and dads went into a little black light room with air cannons on each side. They split up and had a blast shooting at each other, while the moms (and babies) stayed outside watching. After they played two games, the dads came out sweating like crazy! Maybe they took it a little too serious.

After Owen's party, we went back to the Brown's to hang out. Nothing like good friends, fried chicken and good wine to make the perfect night. I haven't laughed that hard in months! It was such a great ending on a fun, busy day!

MIA

What a wild week we had last week! I don't have a lot of pictures, but I want to update everyone with what has been going on.

Travis's step dad was abruptly admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. That was on a Thursday. Only 8 days later, he passed away. We were all saddened and shocked by how quickly he was taken from us and cling to the knowledge that we will see him again some day.

Leon passed away on Sunday night. Monday, I took the girls to school and went to him mom's with the rest of the family to help where I could. After spending most of the day over there, Travis and I picked up the girls and explained to them what had happened. Unfortunately, this is the second grandfather they have had pass away from cancer, so they understand it all too well.

Tuesday, I worked and the girls went to school. I arranged with my mom and dad for the girls to come stay with them for the visitation and funeral. Travis and I decided that they were just too young to deal with all of that. We need to shield them and protect that childhood innocence for as long as possible.

Wednesday, we loaded up and met my parents in Y-city for the swapping of the children. That night was the visitation at the funeral home. Lots of people showed up in support of Lisa, Leon and the family. Lewis and Robbie drove all the way from Conway just for the visitation. Lewis had to work at 5am, so they drove back that night.

Thursday was the funeral. It was a nice graveside service (soooo hot, though). Afterwards, our old church family in DeQueen provided lunch for everyone. Despite such a horribly sad situation, it was nice to see people come together and support each other during times like these.

During our quick trip to DeQueen, we also got to visit with Travis's Mimi and his step mom. It was so good to see them, as we don't get to see them as often as we should. While we were there, they gave us some old pictures of Travis when he was a little baby. They are hilarious. (There's a whole post coming on those!)

Thursday evening, we met my mom in Y-city and picked up Catherine. She kept the big girls for "Camp Honey" until Sunday. They swam, skied, played and got spoiled. I would say Camp Honey 2011 was a success!

Friday, I worked from home and ran some errands. While the big girls were gone, we started the great room shuffle (moving Catherine out of a crib and into a room with Hannah and Emma into her new room). All the moving, re-decorating and organizing wore us out.

Saturday, I finished up Emma's room. Once I got everything in place, I still had this HUGE pile (this picture does not do it justice) of stuff that had no home. Travis helped me bag up 3 1/2 trash bags of toys that will be going to the Children's Shelter.  (Emma and Hannah need to be glad they weren't home...because some of the stuff I found under that bed was RIDICULOUS!

By Sunday morning, I had our whole house cleaned out and re-organized. Boy did it feel good! My parents were nice enough to drive the girls all the way home. They had Emma's bed in their storage building, so they brought that and mom helped me get her room finished up. (I'll do a post on all the house changes/updates soon!). Thanks so much for helping us! Ya'll are the best!

During this craziness (if anyone is still reading!), we got our old dog Jack back. Catherine LOVES him and is always taking him pillows while he sleeps. Poor Jack!

Now that I have everyone up to date on our lives again, I will start posting regularly. So...stay tuned!

A Picnic in July

Catherine turned two on Sunday. What better way to celebrate than an indoor picnic birthday party?
First of all, I must give credit where credit is due. Tara did all of this. The idea came up and she ran with it. All the details that went into the party were her ideas and her creations. I can only take credit for the cake...and all I did was order it.  Thanks so much, Tara!

To celebrate Catherine, we set up a picnic in our dining room, complete with pillows, a blanket, umbrellas, a balloon sky with clouds and a personal picnic basket for each child. There was also a cookie bar with a white picket fence, a lemonade stand and a milk and cookie cup for everyone.

The kids loved it. It was the cutest thing seeing them all eating their PB&J, Cheetos and drinking their root beer. After everyone finished their baskets, they got a pin making kit and made their own flower pins. It was precious!

At cake time, Catherine stood there with a serious look on her face while we sang happy birthday to her. I was surprised to find out that she knew EXACTLY what to do with those candles and blew them right out!

Catherine had a great time at her party and loved having all of her friends there to celebrate with her on Saturday.

Of course, keeping with family tradition, on Sunday, we celebrated Catherine's "real" birthday (Hannah kept calling Saturday her "fake" birthday) with our little family of 5. We spent Sunday afternoon outside jumping on the trampoline and playing in the clubhouse. (For dinner, we had Catherine's favorite things, "Dog dogs" (hot dogs) and chips, follow by some yummy petifores from Shelby Lynn's.

She opened her presents from us and her favorite thing was, by far, her new baby. She was so funny playing "mommy" with the baby all night. If anyone so much as looked at her baby, she yelled "NO NO! DAT MIIIIINNNNE!"

When we ask her "How old are you?", she holds up one finger (or all ten if she's feeling feisty) and says "I TWOOOOOO!" (How can she be two!? She's my little baby!)

Catherine,
Two years old! You are such a big girl. Time has flown by and the joy you have brought to our lives is immeasurable.
 I love watching you play with your sisters. You may be the smallest one, but you are definitely the one in charge these days. You love Emma and Hannah, equally, but differently. Emma is more like a mommy to you. You love to hold her hand in the car on the way to school and sit in her lap, if Daddy and I are busy. Hannah is your partner in crime. I catch you and her telling secrets, plotting and planning your next move together all the time.
You are so sassy and happy most of the time. But, you can thrown down like no other! I think it is HILARIOUS when you "genie blink" people, if you are mad or just not in the mood.
You have been anxious to "peepee in potty" and we are planning on tacking that in the coming weeks. You are so strong-willed and as we try to teach you right from wrong, we never want to break that strong spirit of yours.
I cannot wait to see what the next year with you holds for you, Little Grace. We all love you to the moon and back!
Love, Mommy

Up in two...or was it three?

At the beginning of the summer, Emma decided she wanted to learn to water ski. (I was beyond excited. This child is/was scared of EVERYTHING. To see her come out of her shell made me jump for joy.)

Of course, the moment the words came out of her mouth, I grabbed my phone and called Daddy Brooks. He was as excited as I was. We all know how to ski and have been doing it since we were younger than Emma. (Word is, Honey was able to get up on her first try. Pure legend, if you ask me. I've seen her get her hair wet ONCE, other than a shower, and that was this weekend!)

So, the next time we were in Hot Springs, there were a pair of kid skis waiting for Emma. (The brand is Ho Skis...really. HO SKIs? And, it's proudly written in large bubble letters on EACH ski.) The skis even came with a How-to-ski DVD. Emma watched it and wasn't too impressed.

So, that time, she opted out of skiing. We didn't push her too much, but were all anxious for her to try. The weekend of the Burton family reunion came and she decided it was time. We loaded up the boat and Travis got into the water with her. As they were getting her skis on, she decided she wasn't too excited about it. She started crying and wanted back in the boat.

Like any impatient forceful loving mother would do, I begged her to try it just once. So, she did and she fell. Water got in her eyes (OH THE HORROR!) and she said she was done. Travis pleaded with her to try it just ONCE more. She agreed.

After much delay on her part ("my skis are slipping", "I have sunscreen in my eye", "my life vest is choking me"), she said she was ready. Daddy Brooks pushed the throttle and Emma popped up out of the water. Unfortunately for her of all the instructions she was given by 800 different people, no one thought to tell her "Once you get out of the water, stand up." So, Emma skied about 200 yards with her booty dragging the water.

At that point, she was done. She was ready to go back and play in the pool. Honey was one of the few (there were 19 of us total and not everyone could go out on the boat at once) that stayed behind.

This worked to our advantage later in the afternoon. Honey was "dying" to see her ski, so Emma agreed to give it another shot. Same routine. Travis in the water. Emma getting nervous. Except this time, she said she was ready, Daddy Brooks hit the gas and....

Notice Travis in the background. That's one PROUD Daddy!

OH YEAH! She popped right up and did AMAZING! Jon, Travis and I took turns getting in the water with her to help her start off. She skied for so long that eventually, she was falling because she was so tired.

I was so SO proud of my girl. The cheering that was going on from the dock and the boat could be heard around the cove. Everyone was so happy for her.

As for Emma, well... she's already counting down the days until she can get back to Hot Springs and ski all over the lake!