Bowlin' with Nolan

It's taken me five long years, but I've finally had an epiphany. It's suddenly been revealed to me why people pay to have their parties done at places where everything is taken care of. There was no stress of making sure that our house was clean, lawn mowed, flowers planted (like we could actually keep them alive or something). And it was wonderful not waking up at the crack of dawn to make hot dogs and food.

And clean up. Need I say more?

Yes, of course it was more money but worth. every. penny. We're cheap, I mean really cheap when it comes to birthday parties. We've either had them at our house, at the park, or at our church. For the first time ever, we had it indoors and it was a good thing we did because we woke up to pouring rain.

Invitations went out. And yes, my husband has mad graphic artist skills. Don't hate.

 

You know you married a keeper when not only did he make this rockin' invite, but he meticulously iced bowling ball and pin cookies for me. That's love right there, folks. 

None of this would have been possible without my mother-in-law making dozens of cookies for me while I was at work. Love her.

Never mind the half eaten bowling ball. I had to make sure it wasn't poisonous. You know me, self-sacrificing and always looking out for the kids. 

Cookies…check

Cake in hand…check

Next? Get your bowling shoes on, it's time for bowlin'!

Nolan's only bowling experience has been with our Wii game. For a five year old, he pretty much shows us up every time we play.

He bowled  a 56, not too bad for a ball he could hardly lift. And I think the love for skee ball just might be in our blood.



Bowling actually kept everyone's attention, a full hour. It was hard for everyone to wait their turn but can you blame them?

Once we were finished bowling, we headed to the party room.

I don't believe you've met my amazing cake. Let me introduce you. My cake lady hinted that she might not do birthday party cakes anymore. Can you see when I'm a little bummed?



And no the cake lady didn't mess up on the bowling ball. That would be "Exhibit A" evidence that my two year old also was looking out for party guests to make sure the cake wasn't poisonous. Where ever would he get such a crazy idea?

It's a pillow! It's a pet! It's a PILLOW PET! This thing has hardly left his side since the party.

And Nolan's friend, Ben…seriously, could his face be any more priceless? Gotta love when kids have a good excited and this kid has it down!

I'm sure my niece, Madison, won't appreciate this next photo but it's a cute one of Campbell so she'll have to suffer.

This was by far the easiest party we've ever done. They even served all our guests and I actually got to talk with people at the party and enjoy him opening his gifts. What a novel idea. Again, worth every penny.

And this boy is a professional candle blower.



Is it just me or does it look like he's mocking the fact that he's growing and getting older so fast? I think he thinks this is funny.

5 years

I'm writing this in disbelief that it's the last night my Nolie Polie, my baby, is laying his sweet head on his pillow as a four year old. Tomorrow he turns five. And you know what comes after that…kindergarten, 6th grade, high school, college, marriage....AHHH!!! Brakes, please! How is that possible?

How is it that five years ago he looked like this?

At one year he looked like this…

Two years like this (tear)…

Three (sniff sniff)…

Four (Can a girl get a Kleenex around here?)…

And now that I'm completely a wreck going down memory lane, what makes me really freak out is how is it in ONE year he looks like he's grown 3 years. To me, he looks like he's turning 8 in this picture. Am I just imagining it?

That's it. I gotta get away from this computer and these pictures before I start crying so loud that I wake up the boys. And it doesn't help that just in the past couple of weeks he informed me that he's going to start calling me "Mom" and not "Mommy." Say it isn't so!

These are the days

It's a very rare occasion to be able to go outside and say the words, "Wow, what a beautiful day," here in Texas. But Labor Day weekend was finally full of several of those days. It was so great, in fact, that we went to play at the park four out of five days which might be more times than we went all summer. So if God's gives me this many days with my family that are this beautiful, you better believe that I'll be cramming it in til I can't go no more!

Isn't it amazing how much weather affects our moods? How rain can send you into a funk or into a feeling of having a fresh start? How snow can warm your soul and craving a bowl of soup? Well, heat just makes me crabby. It's bad, real bad. Since school started we've had no air conditioning at school FOUR days. Those poor kids have no hope. I have mood swings that could knock out a heavy weight.

But a perfectly sunny day with a breeze sends me into my rainbows and sunshine mood. And Labor Day weekend definitely had me in one of those moods.

Seeing my boys just run carefree while I just sit back on a blanket ranks in my Top 10 things to do with my children.

And if I could, I would have a picnic every day of my life.

Especially when I've got smiles like these coming at me so fast I can't catch them fast enough.



Even more so when I've got both my boys thinking their dad is the funnest, coolest dad in he world. Because, let's face it, he is.

Gosh, I love this picture. I think it might just be framed.

When life gets insane and I dream of good days, these are the days that I dream about.

In my dream land, we'd have picnics everyday and ride bikes or tricycles.

He can't quite reach as much as he's trying to grow up too fast. It gently reminds me that even though I feel like life is flying, I can calm down because he's still my baby.




We sucked the bejesus out of that weekend and we were passed out come Monday night. But I wouldn't have it any other way.


Did I mention these days make me giddy?

LMNOP

There is not a better sound created on Earth better than a child's laugh or hearing them sing. You can't help but smile. And there's definitely nothing as cute as hearing a toddler choke on the letters L-M-N-O-P in the alphabet song. 

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Soccer season

It's that time again...soccer season! You know I'm a soccer hater. Ok, maybe not a hater, but seriously it's about as exciting to me as watching paint dry. But here I am three seasons later, taking Nolan to practice and games.

It doesn't hurt that he looks this stinkin' cute in his uniform.

Last year's season ended with Nolan finally scoring three goals in the last game. And in his first game, I really noticed how much he's grown from that very first season a year ago. He's not so timid. He even showed that he might have inherited his mama's competitive gene.

I couldn't believe how determined he was and dude, that boy hustled!

All that running and hustling made for one thirsty boy. And Campbell was his biggest fan with his little snack cup in hand. Can I just tell you how cute he is screaming, "GO NOLAN!" GO FIRECRACKERS!" It takes everything in his 2 year old body to keep from going on that field to play with his bubba.



At half time, Campbell saw an opportunity to show his soccer skills and get in a little game time. By the way, this kid is hysterical with his elbow run. This is the closest I've gotten to capturing it on film.



It's only a matter of time before I'm driving my swagger wagon around town going from one practice to another. And I'll swear to myself that it's crazy that I put myself through this, but then I'll remember how much sports teaches them and that it's worth it.

Since Campbell thinks he's part of the team, he shakes hands at the end of every game. And it was definitely a good game.

Oh, and Daddy's helping coach this year. Now, we just gotta keep this mama's mouth shut and coaching from the sidelines.

Labor Day Lens

Just in time for the holiday weekend, we got a new toy. Justin's company really emphasizes health and wellness. They have a program full of incentives and they give you "bucks" for every workout, doctor's check-up, etc. So we've been working out and getting all our little health assessments and worked up enough bucks to buy a new camera lens with our bucks. It was like Christmas seeing it on our front porch.

I'm in love. I still have SO much to learn when it comes to our DSLR camera, but I'm getting more confident as I use it. When Justin finally put the camera down, he gave me a chance to play.

And there was definitely opportunity over our three day weekend to use it. We went to the park every single day because that's how we roll when we've been locked up in the house for the months of June, July, and August because of the miserable stinkin' heat. I even told the boys they weren't allowed to play inside, they had to play outside because it was so beautiful. Seriously, how frightening is it to hear your own mother's voice when you're talking to your own children?




Sunny days + happy children+ family time = bliss

For the first time this weekend, I could actually taste fall. And, it tasted awesome.



I'm not sure if it was the new lens or their undeniable cuteness but my boys were working that camera crazy. I couldn't get a bad shot. Gotta love those days because they are few and far between. Normally, for every 100 photos I take, I might get 10 decent ones.



The more pictures I take, the more it fuels my addiction. I don't care if I don't have enough walls to possibly display the pictures or even enough memory on my computer. In these moments, photos are the next closest thing I can do to bottle them up and keep them forever.



And this is just the beginning of our weekend. Stay tuned for more. I told ya it was an addiction.