Guess Who Turned One Year Old?

I'll give you one clue: All I saw in my house was Pink! Yes, our Little Reesie Pie is one year old. I can hardly believe it has already been a year since I held the first little girl to be born in our family in 27 years. And she has definitely been worth the wait! She is such a girly-girl already, however she gets pretty feisty with her brothers and can hold her own ground!

This little darling has been such a blessing to our entire family. But she holds a special place in my heart. Not just because I finally get to have my little girl to enjoy. You see, Reese has always looked just like her mommy did. I mean from the moment she was born I told Brooke, "Oh my goodness, she looks JUST LIKE you!" Not only does Reese look like Brooke but she feels like Brooke felt when I hold her. I made that comment to someone the other day and they looked at me funny and told me all babies feel the same. Oh, no they do not. All of my babies felt different in my arms. Do any of you other mothers out there know what I mean?

Well, I of course have to share the pictures from Reese's first birthday party. Doesn't she look like she is "Queen For A Day?"
I love this shot. There hasn't been a baby doll in our house in years. Parker and Luke look as if they are not sure what to do with this baby!

Here Reese, you take care of this baby!

Having two photographers in the family can be a bit trying at times. While we were decorating for the party Brooke kept saying she wanted the food table here, the gift table there, etc. Then she would say, "I know you are going to roll your eyes at me Mom but the lighting is going to be so much better here (or there) for pictures."

Well. I didn't let her see me roll my eyes, I just smiled and moved stuff from here to there...but maybe I was rolling my eyes in my mind...just a little bit ;-)

As it turned out, though, she was right. The pictures look like they are straight from "Martha Stewart Living".

By the way, all the pictures in this blog were taken by Brent. Brooke did all of the decorating. They work pretty good together. They have done photography for a few weddings together. Who knew?

The ice cream cones you see in the background here are actually pieces of paper twisted into the shape of a cone and filled with cotton candy. The stand for the cones is simply a cardboard box wrapped in gift wrap with holes cut in it for the cones. It was so pretty and Brooke said it cost approximately $3.00! Note to self (and anyone interested): Do not put cotton candy in cones until ready to eat...it evaporates!!

Reese is a natural born mommy already. That amazes me! God puts those instincts in little girls to be nurturing but at one year old? Brooke told me that Reese now has about six baby dolls and she tries to carry them around throughout the day, keeping them all together and feeding them with her little bottle.

She also called me one day to say that Reese was so mad she was screaming/growling! Her brothers had taken her baby dolls, stripped them of their clothes and wouldn't give them back to her. They were playing pirates. Brooke-please do not share the rest of this story. It is too gruesome!

Finally, the pirates...errr...brothers get a turn to open a gift.

Time for some birthday cake!!
A girl doesn't have to eat like a lady on her birthday does she?

This picture says it all!
End of the party and time to get cleaned up! Did I mention that Reese looks like Brooke? This picture is a perfect example! Spittin' image!

Happy Birthday Reesie-pie, Cuppy, Reesie Cup, Cupcake, Princess...

Happy 50th Dear

We celebrated the big FIVE- ZERO for my dear husband this month!! Where has the time gone? I can hardly believe it!!

We had a wonderful evening with Brooke, Ricky and company. When we all get together now it totals 12 people, counting our little Reese! We were treated to steak (a gift from Monroe's very sweet and thoughtful sister) which we grilled here at home along with baked potatoes and green beans. Can you imagine how expensive it would be if we all went out to the steakhouse for dinner? Then we sang "Happy Birthday" and shot popper-confetti at Dad. It looks like Luke is getting hit here but he isn't. I think we just caught him with his eyes closed! See Parker in the background? He is watching from a safe distance!

We gave Dad a skinning knife for his birthday, just in time for hunting season.

It was a great evening spent with family and a great day to be thankful for a wonderful husband and father!

Happy Birthday to Brandon

Before I begin, let me just say two things. Number one: No children were harmed in the making of this party. All children were volunteers ;-). And Number two: I apologize for so many pictures...they were so funny I just couldn't choose!!

So, we now officially have another teenager in our home! We have only one child left in the single digits. This is not something I am very happy about. Thanks to Brooke and Ricky for keeping my arms filled with babies. I love you guys!!

Now to explain this birthday party. Brandon has been asking for a "Fear Factor" birthday party since we gave one of his older brothers this type of party a few years ago. The kids absolutely loved it and I recently heard it STILL being talked about. Well, now they have another "Fear Factor" party to talk about. Here is how it all went down.

The first round consisted of eating cold clam chowder with no fingers and no spoons. In the bottom of the bowl was a piece of bubble gum. The first four contestants to successfully blow a bubble proceeded to the next level. They all did pretty well with this round so we moved everyone to the next level.

This challenge was a type of relay race. Each person had to get a mouthful of rotten goat's milk (my recipe-fresh cow's milk, cottage cheese for texture, vinegar for taste, water and a few drops of yellow food coloring) and race down to the other table and fill up a small glass. The first four to fill their glass moved to the next round. This is where we lost the girls. Brooke, shown below, gave the boys a run for their money but in the end the guys won. I guess one could assume they have BIG MOUTHS??!!

Our four winners for the Goat Milk Run progressed to the third round. This round was two-part. First, a ball was tossed into the bucket of choice to determine which scrumptious delicacy awaited our tough guys!

The easy bucket's reward was a kabob of boiled, unsalted chicken liver. The next bucket would bring the lucky winner a kabob of boiled, unsalted chicken gizzard. The final and hardest bucket was simply a kabob of avocado, lime and fresh onion. Oh, one more little detail. If the contestant missed all three buckets he had to eat all three kabobs!

The final results were....Josh had the best throw and he had to eat the lime, avocado and onion kabob. The other three boys missed the bucket and had to eat a little of everything! The first two to finish moved to the final round.

Josh and Brandon ended up in the final round. In this level, each boy had to bob for...no, not apples....boiled chicken feet or I should say a boiled chicken foot. You see, they had to find the one chicken foot that had painted pink toenails! To add a little excitement to the game, the water was ice water! After bobbing for the foot, the contestant had to crack and drink a farm fresh raw egg. Whoever completed this challenge in the least amount of time was the winner. Our final winner was birthday boy, Brandon. He won a grand total cash prize of $10.00. Truth be known, these kids would have played this game with no prize.

Here is the happy Fear Factor Bunch!! I think they will remember this day for a long time to come!

I love you Brandon and I hope you had a wonderful Birthday!!!