59 Katie's Birthday Extravaganza

What a party!! Katie had such a great time with her friends. I tried to just take pictures in short bursts so that I could enjoy the party and our friends. As usual I just forgot a few things. I never put out the chips. I did not do the pinatas until some people had already started leaving. Heck, I did not get in the shower for the party until 2:30 ... and the party started at 2!! But, there are so many things that were right. Katie had some good friends to play with and a lot of great presents to open. I am lucky enough that some of her little friends have great parents for Chip and I to talk to. All together it was a pretty terrific type of day.

this is before the waterslide was overrun.
I have no clue how kids could get hurt on this thing ...

and yes, that is meant to be sarcastic!!
Make a wish ... and this year it does not have to be for a cure for diabetes

(though that would be greatly appreciated)
Jaclyn, Erin, Michelle, Shelby, Katie, and Lucas
!!Present time!!
HANNAH MONTANA
SO MUCH HANNAH!!
First swing!
waiting in line for their turn at the pinata!
Pinata number 2 is ready to bust!
The waterslide seems to have created a bit of a mud problem ...

Good Friends!
Me and Indira

(I have a 7 month old and she is almost 7 months pregnant!!)
POOPED OUT!

Katie's friend Mia spent the night. In the picture above she is just at the other end of the couch. They crashed for a minute to watch tv. They did end up drawing and coloring some more, but when it was time for bed I read the story and they were out before 5 minutes were up.

Still just can't believe that my baby is SIX YEARS OLD!!!

58 Mother Quotes

I was looking for a quote to put on a painting ... and thought I would share some of my favorites with you. Not that I know who any of you are since no one ever leaves any comments. Or maybe it is just that no one reads this...

If there were no schools to take the children away from home part of the time, the insane asylum would be filled with mothers.
--Edgar Watson Howe

You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your Grandmother.
--Albert Einstein

My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it.
--Mark Twain

There never was a child so lovely but his mother was glad to get him to sleep.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Grown don't mean nothing to a mother. A child is a child. They get bigger, older, but grown. In my heart it don't mean a thing.
--Toni Morrison

Mothers are fonder than fathers of their children because they are more certain they are their own.
--Aristotle

A mother's arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them.
--Victor Hugo

Whatever else is unsure in this stinking dunghill of a world a mother's love is not.
--James Joyce

57 Build-A-Bear

Just realized that I did not put any pictures of our new friends.

First you have to get them stuffed JUST RIGHT

Give them a squeeze to make sure they are perfect.

Pick out your heart (make sure to pick the one you actually have to pay extra for, it makes Mommy happy - really) Warm it in your hands, pat it to give it a beat, rub it on your nose to make it smell good, and make a wish!

Repeat for your brother's puppy :)

Give them a good brush and a fluff!

Get them all dressed up in their new duds and HUG! This is Katie with Hannah, and her baby Hannah. I tried to get her to name the baby Miley or Lily, but she wanted two Hannahs.

And Connor with ... who else, Oliver. Amazingly he really does like his puppy. He loves to be able to chew on his ears and tail.

Katie loved her Hannah ... until we went across the street to Toys'R'Us and she picked out more darn make-up. Thank goodness I subjected myself to the torture of bringing her to the mall to do that. And it makes it really worth it that we ended up losing Connor's only pacifier while we made her Build-A-Bear ... that she loved for 15 minutes. AAAARRRGGGGHHHH!! And to think I was sad when school started because I would not have her all day ... hehe!!!!!

56

Just 14 hours to go (at least there was when I statyrd this post) until party time here. Are we ready? Heck no! Connor has decided to be needy today. We could not put him down without him crying. And you should have heard the screams if we put him down and went out of his eyesight to do something real quick. I went around the corner to rotate laundry and he had a fit! I know he is teething, but he must be going through a growth spurt, too. It certainly does not help that his pacifier is gone. I took them to the mall to do Build-A-Bear on Katie's birthday and somewhere along the way we lost his pacifier. No big deal, right?!?! Oh no, HUGE deal ... his pacifier is one that was Katie's. His pacifier is one that we cannot find for love or money around here. I tried to order some online last night (or, I think they were similar) only to get an email today saying that the warehouse was out. It has a filled bulb, round with almost a little pointy spot at the end. We kept up with it for so long! We had a few mad searched through the house, but we could always find it ... and now it is gone. He does NOT like any of the replacements that I have offered him. After discovering its loss I even went to Babies'R'Us, but no luck. My poor bugaboo will have to get used to something else unless I can find some more soon.
Katie has ahd a full week with her friends. Her partying never stopped after the weekend. We set up her slip'n'slide thing and they played and played on that.
Poor, crappy made thing. It sprung a leak the first day, so I patched it. Then it got a different leak the next day. Walmart will be getting a lovely return as soon as we get the chance. Katie's Last day of school was Thursday, so I went ahead and brought her birthday cupcakes in for her class. Friday was her actual birthday (and my brothers and another one of our friends) and she wanted to go to Build-a-Bear. So, glutton for punishment that I am, I took her. She made a pink leopard named Hannah, and she made Connor a puppy named Oliver. It would not have been so bad if you did not have to dress the darn things. At least Oliver just got an Ole Miss t-shirt. Hannah got a whole Hannah Montana outfit, shoes, and a baby! Then I had promised her we would go to Toys'R'Us ... big surprise, she picked out another set of makeup. If it had not been her actual birthday I would have said no, but I let her get the makeup... like I said - glutton for punishment.
More when my brain works again.

54 Busy-ness as Usual

We had a wonderful and totally exhausting weekend. Two birthday parties and friends in town. All in all, it was pretty great.

Friday night we had some friends come in town that we have not seen in FOREVER! Clay and Jenn with their boys, Preston and Brandon. And Rick and Brady dropped in for a quick visit before they headed off to the BBQ Fest in Memphis. The kids played great together. Well, Katie and Preston had a blast - Katie must have liked him, she came in and asked me if she could invite him to her birthday party (which, right now, is the highest compliment you can receive from her). Brandon is just shy of a year, so Connor had someone to "play" with. We got to sit around and catch up. It was relaxing and fun and wonderful. I just love watching our friends kids becoming friends with Katie and Connor.

I wasn't anti-Greek in college, but I had no real desire to be in a sorority. Chip was in a fraternity, and it is those friendships that have been truly lasting. Thank goodness all those "brothers" married wonderful women!! We may not maintain constant contact, but when we do get to talk or email we are able to pick right back up.

Saturday we had Shelby's birthday party.
We were able to bring Mia as well, so the girls had a complete blast. Indira and Ryan had a huge waterslide set up and the kids were in HEAVEN!
Oh, and you can't leave out that there were two pinatas(good thing too since Hannah did not even make it all the way through the line of kids)! Poor Hannah ended up with an amputation and a nose job before succumbing to the bat. The mermaid did not fair much better. The kids are getting bigger and stronger now, so the pinatas do not last as long as they used to.

I am always so relaxed when I am with their family. Indira has a way of making you feel like part of the family. I am so glad we happened to meet in the park almost 3 years ago!

Sunday we had October's Birthday Party which was at a skating rink. As usual we got there late, but we did get there just in time to sing Happy Birthday! Katie has been trying to skate ever since we found her skates in Atlanta, but she has been mainly doing it on carpet or running through the grass. She was doing SO GOOD by the time we left. She even participated in the Skating Limbo!! Katie was so cute with Lucas! They were skating around holding hands. It was absolutely adorable. Connor was held and held and held some more. He made fast friends with Ms. Bonnie like all the babies do. Good times were had ... especially by Monica. After watching her skate backwards I got the impression that the skate party might have been her idea. I could not even skate backwards when I was a kid! She did get all the kids dancing out on the rink, and she played a little chase with them. She definitely got her exercise for the day.

53 Katie's Turning 6!

Because I can't make myself send out the store bought ones. And I have this weird need to create a memento for Katie. I made a little painting for Katie to have for her room, and then scanned and put the details on. I am sure that Hannah would not approve ...

52 And now the rest of the story...

I am so tired of the phone ringing with Unknown and Private numbers!! On the off chance that it is someone calling from the school about Katie I have to answer. Believe me, waking up to Laura Bush's voice is not at the top of my list. Could be worse, it could have been Dumbya - I mean Dubya. We get about two calls a day from Greg Davis's campaign ... man, Republicans can be insanely annoying!! I did get a Travis Childers call today, but at least it was made by a real person and not a recording. The third Greg Davis call today was a real person ... but by the third call it could have been anyone and it would have pissed me off. If I wasn't so darn lazy I would go campaign AGAINST Greg Davis tomorrow. The only thing that makes me more mad than campaign calls is the almost nightly call from the University of Mississippi. It does not matter how many times I tell them that Chip works nights, they insist on calling the next night. Oh wait, I also hate when the Fraternal Order of Police calls, they must have me down as someone not to talk to now :) I have even had police officers tell me not to contribute to them. Most of the proceeds go to paying the guy at the other end of the line. So, do you get the idea that I am not a big phone solicitation type of gal??

I did have a pretty good Mother's Day. Although it was marred by the absolute Carrie-ness that surrounds me. The hubby went to get me donuts for breakfast ... they only had 2 chocolate covered donuts left. We went to Olive Garden for lunch, waited an hour and fifteen minutes. But, on a good note. Chip bought me a pen tablet for the computer (though I did end up exchanging it for a slightly different one). Katie gave me a card she made at school, and a marigold planted in a styrofoam cup that she has decorated. And all day long Katie and her friend Mia colored pictures for me. We even had fun waiting for Olive Garden. We played tic tac toe with the rocks from the landscaping. We plain played with the rocks. Katie and Mia ran and danced when they got tired of rocks. Connor was a perfect angel for the most part. He did get a little feisty, so we took him out to hold and he was fine. That boy is perfect! And Chip took the world's worst Mother's Day picture. Connor is faceless, Katie is pouting, and I am fat. Not that it is Chip's fault I am fat ... well, maybe a little bit :)




Countdown is on for Katie's Birthday, too. We have alot to do in the next two weeks. We have two other birthday parties, friends coming in town, and Katie's Field Day at school. Guess I need to get crackin'!!

51 The Kindergarten Musical - a week late :)

Katie had her Kindergarten program a week ago. They performed the Wackadoo Zoo Musical. Katie's class were pigs, that barked. Poor girl did not seem to be feeling well. She was lacking her normal animation, and her teacher even asked me if she was feeling okay. Her sugar was high, so we will chalk it up to that ... although it could have been a little stage fright. She barely sang, though she was not the only one. I was too far back to get a good shot (since I left the big lens at home - doh!), but they were all adorable. And, as usual, Katie and Jacob had to chase each other around. I made them stand still so I could get one decent picture. I could not resist using my Mother's Day present - a pen tablet - to play with this picture. How cute are these two??

50 Connor is 7 Months old!!

My wee one is getting less "wee" by the moment. He is sitting up without support pretty well, and he is doing his best to learn to crawl. Both feats made harder by his large melon (and his chubby little tummy). He has had his first taste of popsicle, and now he is a popsicle fiend. He had his first "meat" when I baby-grinded some roast beef, potatoes and carrots. On Mother's Day he enjoyed a trip to Olive Garden where he discovered the joy that is a breadstick - at least the inside of one! Still no teeth, but he is teething like crazy. He loves his sippy cup, especially when it has ice water he can dribble over his gums. He is chowing down on something called a Mum Mum, which is a rice rusk. He is still the sweetest happiest baby boy ever.
We reached the end of testing on his eye. And the outcome is .... NOTHING! They found nothing. He had an x-ray, an ultrasound, a CT scan, and some urine test that involved hydrochloric acid (which they told us later was to look for tumors), and they found nothing. Apparently he is just meant to have pupils that dilate differently. I am still rather perturbed that we have yet to hear any of this from the opthalmologist.

Yum Yum - Connor loves his "Mum Mums"

I swear he is just drinking water.

"ME WANT POPSICLE!!!" says my Popsicle Monster.

Don't you just want to nibble on his back chubs!!

and I know this one is blurry but it is the only sitting picture I have!!

49 My Mother's Day present

Mom, have the irises ever been this color???
All the others are the normal light purple. These were my Grandaddy's irises, and I never remember one being this color. I saw the bud and I thought that a one of the neighborhood kids must have crushed it (I already found one bud in the birdbath), but today it blossomed. They usually look like this ...