Birthday Surprise!!

We had a cookout for Kaleb's 16th birthday a couple of weekends ago. We rented a shelter, had lots of food and good times with family and friends.


Here is Kaleb and his Maw Maw Sandy!
I also managed to get a couple of pictures of the "boys".




Trust me, it wasn't easy, you know it's not "cool" for your mom to take pictures when you are 16!
My sister and her husband brought corn hole to play and it was a huge hit. The guys loved it and played it most of the time.





Since Kaleb is 16, there were no games, no silly prizes, none of that childish stuff that you do at children's birthdays. I would have been in SO much trouble for that, but I did think of a good way for everyone to take something home with them.



I made a table consisting of Kaleb's "favorite things" with bags and had everyone take something home with them. This was a more "grown up" version of a treat bag-Ha!! His favorite things are Hot Fries, sunflower seeds, oreo's, doughnuts, laffy taffy and air heads. This really worked out well and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

I also had other things there for the little kids to do, bubbles, balls etc... Ayla loved blowing bubbles and she did this most of the time! She played with her BFF Kelsie and her parents for a huge part of the afternoon. Thanks Summer!!








After eating cake, it was time to open presents. I would say that Kaleb had a very GOOD birthday.... yes that is a 37inch TV from Maw Maw Sandy!!!



And when he was done opening everything, after a few minutes we just happened to find another gift that he FORGOT to open!!



We had car keys taped down inside a box, and the look on his face was so funny when he realized what that meant.





He just looked at his Dad like, "What is going on, are you serious". He was totally shocked and surprised. He had no idea he was getting a car so it was very unexpected.

We had the car sitting in the parking lot all day. We had him find it by using the alarm remote on the key chain.



Everyone was walking behind him while he was looking for his car.
He was very thankful and excited, I think it took a while to actually sink in!!


Here is Kaleb and his new car





and of course John bought him all of his car cleaning supplies, which I am SURE that he will use so often.HA!



It was a great day and before we left a friend of ours (yes, that would be you Jamie) remembered that I had bought water balloons. The "girls" had the bright idea to fill them up and have a little fun!!!







The boys of course loved it and it eventually led to coolers of water being dumped on each other!! I am pretty sure that everyone left wet, and yes that includes me, thank you very much Uncle Dunc!!!


So at the end of the party, Kaleb was allowed to drive a couple of his friends home in his new car. Of course his Dad was with him!



It brought tears to my eyes because my baby is growing up....way to fast and before you know it....



he will be gone.........

That is of course if I can not talk him into staying with me for the rest of his life!!!



Thank you to EVERYONE who made this day so special. I couldn't have done it without your help!! We love you all!!!

Here are just a few more pictures of the party!!

Slacking and update on Ayla

I know I have been slacking with my posts lately, but I have just felt overwhelmed with trying to plan Kaleb's 16th party, and now Ayla's at the end of the month and then Brennan's in October! Not to mention that I am going to be selling hair bows, hats and jewelery at the Arts and Crafts fair coming up in September. So in my spare time (HA) I am trying to get ready for that!



Oh yeah and then there was the inner ear infection that I had that lasted for THREE weeks.. every morning when I woke up I felt like I had the worse hangover of my life. I was dizzy and nauseous and just felt like doing nothing, which is basically what I did! It was awful, I didn't think I would ever feel better! Try taking care of two children under the age of two with a hangover, let me tell ya, it's not fun and I wouldn't suggest it!! But anywho...



So here we are in the month of August already and of course I am still stuck in JUNE.. imagine that!!



John has a PA conference at the end of this month in Myrtle Beach. I am still trying to decide if I want to travel eight hours away with the kids. They are terrible traveling and being off of their schedule, not to mention staying in a hotel room (with them) is not much fun. I would love to get away, but it may be more stressful to go. So that is up in the air at the moment!

Ayla is doing AWESOME!! The Enbrel is working great! She has been a different little girl lately. She is really coming out of her shell and just being so outgoing! She will strike up a conversation with anyone and she talks ALL OF THE TIME!!
We had her lab work done a couple of days ago and I am so happy to say that everything is within normal limits. We are on cloud nine! This has been the first time in over eighteen months that her lab work has been normal. Two months ago before the Enbrel, her sed rate (inflammation marker) was 69. It is now 7! Normal is 0-10. We are just amazed and thrilled! God is so good! I have been in touch with our local newspaper and they are going to do an article on JRA and Ayla. I am trying to raise awareness since most people don't even know that children can get arthritis. I would also like to start a support group for my area. I know there are other JRA families out there and I would love to meet them so we can all be a support for each other!


Brennan is doing great, he is still in the " I like pushing my sister's baby stroller's around" phase....and yes he IS wearing Santa pj's in August!



Kaleb is doing great as well, we had his birthday party cookout on Saturday and had lot's of fun! I am going to post about that soon and show you his big suprise!!

Okay well, I guess I need to go get busy and try to catch up to August before September is here..lol!!!!

Happy Birthday Kaleb

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KALEB!

My son Kaleb Andrew was born Sixteen years ago today! He was and is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I am so blessed that God chose me to be his mother. He has been the BEST son I could possibly ask for and I mean that in every sense of the word.


As a single parent putting myself through school while Kaleb was young, I can honestly say that he made it very easy. He never gave me any problems and anyone and everyone that has ever met him, loves him dearly. He is loving, caring and has a huge heart! He was raised with many loving people surrounding him. My mom, who helped so much especially when I was in nursing school, his Dad, who lives out of state but has always been there for him and our friends who we consider family, Mama Sandy and Papa Randy!!! I would like to think that we have all played a part in molding and shaping Kaleb into the wonderful person that he is today!



Kaleb has always had an infectious spirit. He loves to make you laugh and unfortunately that translates into being a class clown! He has been a wonderful student thus far and is always on the Honor Roll. Of course he has been in trouble for talking here and there, oh and there was the time that he and another girl were caught kissing on the playground when he was in Kindergarten! His teacher referred to him as the class "Romeo". But other than that, our KK (his nickname since he was a baby) has been a stellar individual!



He has had some wonderful opportunities in his life, he has been to Disney a hand full of times, traveled to places like Hawaii, Chicago, California, New York to name a few. He has swam with dolphins, been on cruises and went snow boarding in Colorado. He was fortunate enough to go to the Michael Jordan basketball camp in Santa Barbara, CA and then to the New York Nicks camp in NY. The best part is, he is always thankful for everything and never takes anything for granted. He rarely asks for anything and has a very laid back and mellow personality.





For his birthday, we met family and friends in Naples Florida for the weekend. We had a great time and basically celebrated his birthday EVERY DAY!! We were able to leave the little ones at home so we could spend quality time with Kaleb! It was an awesome time! I will write more about our trip later!



HAPPY 16TH BIRTHDAY KK, WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!



Oh, did I forget to mention how incredibly handsome he is...okay well he is!!!!

Brennan + Shrek = Free entertainment!

My children are quite fascinated with music and singing. One day a couple of months ago The View was on the television and the Broadway "Shrek" was there performing a couple of songs. The children were enthralled with Shrek and the whole cast and the singing and the dancing. I must have replayed those songs a few hundred times! So after that every once in a while I would pull it up on you tube and let the kids watch Shrek.

If you remember this post, then you will remember that Brennan is obsessed with my IPhone and he carries it around playing games, listening to music etc..for a large part of the day. I really can not find too much fault with that because he is not even two yet and he knows his shapes and most of his colors. He can operate the IPhone like an adult and I am not kidding.

So one day while we were out, I had the great idea to pull up the Broadway Shrek and let Brennan watch it so he would stay in his stroller. It worked like a charm and now when I need him to be quiet or if we are at a restaurant or if I need him to stay in his stroller, I will let him watch it on my phone. He has watched it soo much that he sings along with it and says some of the words to the songs. It is the cutest thing EVER! Great news Right?

Okay for the bad news. The first song is a duet with Shrek and Fiona called, " I think I got you beat". This happens to be Brennan's favorite song as well. Towards the end of the song Shrek starts to burp and then Fiona starts to burp, then Shrek starts to "pass gas" if you know what I mean and then Fiona does the same. Ayla and Brennan think that this is HILARIOUS and therefor they mock Shrek and Fiona and start making obnoxious burping noises right along with them. This is all very cute when we are at home, but when we are having dinner at a restaurant more specifically on "Father's day" last month, um it's not so cute. But on Father's day we were eating out and the only way I could get Brennan to sit in his highchair and be some what quiet was to let him watch Shrek.

Of course towards the end he starts making his loud burping noises and although John and I were looking around making sure no one was shooting angry glances our way, the family of four right beside us with two young children of their own didn't mind so much because Brennan was providing FREE ENTERTAINMENT for their two small children and they were all laughing!!

So more often than not, Brennan is usually singing shrek and providing entertainment for all when we are out in public.

Oh, well, It could always be worse...............................I THINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So here is a video of Brennan watching and singing Shrek the Broadway. It is a little long but I promise you it is worth the wait!! He is so funny!!

Future Sports Illustrated Model??

We just go this sweet swimsuit in the mail the other day and Ayla being the girly girl that she is, loved it! She wanted to try it on right away, you can see the tags are still attached! Normally, Ayla does not like to have her picture taken, which is one reason why this is so hilarious! On this day, I was telling Ayla to "POSE" for me and this is what she came up with. I did not tell her what to do or how to do it. This is all AYLA!! As I was looking at the pictures from the "modeling session", I could not stop laughing. These pictures are so funny. I immediately had John come and look at the pictures and he too was in stitches laughing!! I told John she just may be a future Sports Illustrated swimsuit model but Dad didn't think that was such a good idea! Oh well, get ready for a good laugh, if you are drinking something you may want to wait so you don't accidentally spit it out when you are looking at these pictures-Ha! Okay, here is Ayla's modeling debut in her bikini!


Okay, starting out nicely on the floor...


thinking about doing a split......

but this was as close as she got......

Hmm....striking a sultry pose on her back....um, with her diaper sticking out! Always a good look!

Now moving on to the POLE, I mean "column"

She is really working with the "prop"


Work it sista!!


moving on to the couch......


And now for the BEST pose of the day......


Wow, Look at the flexibility, I must say, I was impressed with this one. It cracks me up everytime I look at it!



Okay, all good things must come to an end. I hope you enjoyed the modeling session as much as we did! Don't you love her flower clip? I decided to get crafty the other day and made her a few of these!

So what do you think, SI material or NOT?