My "pretend" birthday party...

A couple weeks ago the boy's had a special pretend birthday party for me...complete with balloons, gifts, and a birthday snack. Hayden had wrapped all my gifts in notebook paper and a full roll of tape...isn't it great to have your very own gift shop in your bedroom!?!?! They do!!!

My birthday gifts...

My birthday snack...

The party planners...

Have you ever had bullchicken?

Over the weekend the boys, my dad, Oliver Darby, Jim and I ate at one of our favorite places...Fireside...my dad and I usually get the mountain oysters...hopefully all of you who read my blog know what these are...anyway, Case just wanted french fries...so after he ate nearly half of Jim's steak...I offered him some of my "chicken"...he loved it...I didn't want to tell him what they really were, so I just started calling it "bullchicken"...yummy...we also were entertained by some weird guy going from table to table with magic tricks...he pulled numerous coins from Hayden's ears, belly, etc...Hayden was so excited...I could read the look on my dad's face that he WAS NOT entertained by any of his "tricks"...Jim also participated in some card tricks...we came home after that and dad was asleep by 7:10pm...good to see you dad, thanks for visiting with us!!! :)

coffee, friends, and freedom...

Last night we had a "MOPS Mom's night out" at our local coffee shop, Downtown Java. It was really great to get a couple hours of "me" time and laugh and visit with all the other wonderful mom's. I just noticed my eyes are barely open in this picture...I thought caffeine was supposed to keep you awake, not make you sleepy?!?! I had a wonderful time...thanks MOPS!!!

HAPPY 54TH BIRTHDAY on Wednesday...

Happy Birthday Mom!!!! I can't believe you're 54!!!! You don't look like you're a day over 50...just kidding...you do look FANTASTIC...and I am honored to call you my mom and most of all my friend!! I always enjoy every minute we spend together doing whatever...we can always make any situation funny and we're able to laugh til' we cry over anything!! I love you so much and feel so lucky to have you as my mother. Hayden and Case absolutely adore you and smile anytime your name is mentioned...you're the apple of their eye's and they love you dearly. Hope you have a great birthday...you deserve it!!!!

All four of us love you so much!!!



Senior beauty queen...

"Senior" beauty queen...

Be sure and pause the music so you can hear the video in the post below... :)

Powder bomb...

Huummmmm...where do I start...

Well, the boy's got in to some baby powder today upstairs in Hayden's room...luckily they kept it somewhat confined to one general area of the room, but the aroma of baby's butt was present through-out the entire house!! They did get in trouble...the pictures don't do them justice...the amount of powder on their body's and hair was unbelievable...Case looked like an old man with gray hair...and I hope you enjoy the video at the end...it's Hayden explaining why they don't need to be the one's to clean up the mess they made while Case is acting like some sort of animal the whole time...

Welcome to our home...

For the last couple days, the coons have been "building"a house in the corner of the TV room...

!?!?!

Hayden wanted me to make sure and get a picture of the flooring he put in his house (white blanket)...

and Case wanted me to take a picture of his suitcase...his lips look huge...

More pic's from a couple days ago...

I am caveman...we make fire...

Our family entertainment, a majority of the time, consists of burning stuff...you know...sticks, pine needles, big limbs that fall in the yard from the hurricane wind we have weekly here...and instead of throwing away food boxes or a lot of our trash that will burn, we save it...for the burn pile!!! As I've said before, it does not take a lot to entertain us!! I did get some photos of the boys standing around our glory the other evening...and the rest of the pic's are of Hayden and Case just simply being boys!! Enjoy.

ummm...more fire...

I think I'll just dance around the fire...

Hey, where's my 4wheeler...

An everyday occurrence...Amish wagons going by...

Hayden's wood shop...he told me it was Ace Hardware...they make wood you know...

Not sure what these drawn up plans and nail are for...I hope I don't end up sitting on that...

I love when they get caught-up in what they're doing...so very serious...right after I took this, Case tripped over that red toolbox and spilt the 40,000 nails that were in there...I guess we'll find out this spring when Jim gets the mower out if we got them all picked up...I told them all flat tire repair costs they'll be paying for...

where the heck is my 4 wheeler...

Rock throwing...a big sport around here...

the 3 little pigs built one of their houses with straw, why can't I?

ding dong's

this hand...

this hand takes care of his family...this hand waves "hello" when he gets home...this hand is so good at fixing everything around the house...this hand is comforting in times of need...this hand can also give out spankings to the raccoons...but most of all, the three of us know that this hand...loves us more than we know...

Letting the coons out to play...

Today was a beautiful day...for January that is...
It was time to let the coons out to play...we've been in the house way too long...it was great to get some cute poses and take in the fresh, crisp air...

FYI...if you're wondering what the thing on Hayden's head is (in every picture...I had to beg him not to sleep in it)...at preschool today they got to cut up straws and use the pieces with some pipe cleaners and make what they wanted...this is what he was wearing when I picked him up...his very own "king" crown...this kid is crazy...gotta love him!!!

Our annual trip to the "hairport" to get GG...

Well, I know that I've already talked about my sister being here over the Christmas holiday, but I thought I'd touch on the subject of how important and special for all of us it is to go and pick her up from the "hairport"!! We usually begin a countdown about a week before her scheduled arrival...any thing much longer would drive me insane...H & C are notorious for continually asking how many more days is it til' we pick up GG? x 100...then it's a thousand questions about where she's going after we pick her up, what we'll be doing, how many days she's staying, do we have to drive to Arizona, Phoenix do get her, on and on and on...so by the time the day arrives when we do actually pick her up, I'm exhausted and tired of talking about times, dates, hours, and events!!! :) Anyway, the boys have always been with us every time we've gone to the airport...no matter if it's a blizzard ( that's a whole other post...not something I'm proud of being a mother and all), rain, sleet, hail, etc...we are bound and determined to make it to the stinkin' airport...I do think that GG would be very heart broken if mom or I ever showed up without the boys...!! Hayden and Case's most favorite part is waiting for her to walk down the terminal...so they can see her and run really fast toward her and jump in to her arms...Hayden, this year, I think weighs more than her, so it was a little touch and go there for a second when she was trying so hard to pick him up with all her bags...you can see this happening in one of the pictures...!! Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that we LOVE aunt GG and always await her next arrival...she's a special person and we are very lucky to have her in our lives!!! We love you GG.


P.S. The weather this year was a little frigid for GG... you would have thought it was 30 below by the way she acted...it was simply Kansas weather...she must have forgotten how it can be "winter" here sometimes around Christmas...guess she's used to some warmer temps...therefore, that's why there are a couple pictures of her snuggled in our bed with the boys watching TV...I keep our house at 60 degrees and apparently that was a little to "crisp" for liking...so this is where she spent the majority of her time... :)