David's Birthday

This tells you just how far behind I am with my blogging! Here's a couple of pictures from David's birthday. We had a fun celebration with family. I made him his favorite Fruit Pizza as a surprise on his birthday. I think he liked it!
David's parents bought him a Bruster's Ice Cream Cake. That was a nice treat. We all enjoyed the time together. I am so thankful for this man's birth!!! :)

7th Birthday Party

Today we celebrated Mackenzie's 7th birthday and Lauren's 6th birthday with a double party at the pool. What fun! The two girls who share a birthday, one year apart exactly, had been planning this double party for over a year now. I believe today was a success for everyone. The kids really seemed to have a great time swimming and playing together. Between the two girls, there were almost 30 kids at the party today! The best count I got was 29 or so. Amazing turn out, and so much fun!!! Thank you to all who attended and helped celebrate with us. Above is Avery, Mackenzie, and Abby, friends from school.
This is Mackenzie with Alyssa, another friend from school.

Mackenzie is on the right with Lauren sitting beside her. The two birthday girls! Sweet friendship. We enjoyed having our friends from our H2H group at church there to celebrate with them both, too. I never figured out a way to get all the kids in one picture, so I just picked a few of Mackenzie to upload for the blog.

Mackenzie loved the double party! Sweet birthday girls...Happy Birthday to you both!!! I am so glad we could share the day together with so many friends.

Mackenzie's Birthday

Somehow, among the chaos of this past week, my baby girl turned 7 years old! She is in the second grade. This was the first full week of school, and between early mornings and full days in school, we are exhausted! She has complained of not feeling well all week. Josiah has a cold with classic clear runny nose and sneezing. My case load at work has doubled, which is what I requested in order to have plenty of hours...however, one of the cases was "inherited" from another case manager who kinda went missing. Weird. She just stopped working. She did not really go missing, but she is not returning her calls or getting her responsibilities done. Therefore, her cases are being "off loaded" to other case managers. Problem is, there are MANY things left undone on all her cases that need immediate attention. I got one of those cases. Ha. No worries. I have an ultra supportive team of coworkers. I am truly and completely blessed with this team of people. I am getting plenty of hours and grateful for the job, too. That said, it was a crazy busy week....and it is not finished!

Tomorrow is Mackenzie's birthday party! Her birthday was Wednesday. She and Lauren, from church, are having a double party tomorrow. They have planned this party for about a year now, lol! I hope they have the party of their dreams tomorrow. It will be a pool party at a local gym. There will be lots of kids there, and the girls are very excited! I just can't believe how quickly her actual birthday came and kept on going...

We celebrated on Wednesday by taking sugar cookies with icing in between them and sprinkles, too, (like sandwich sugar cookies) to her classmates at school. After school, we celebrated with presents, ate at a Japanese restaurant so she could have mushroom soup (her request), and came home for cake and ice cream. It was a blessed day, and we are blessed to have her in our family.

On a side note...Josiah, as I tucked him into bed tonight, said, "Mom, the judge came into our class today and read Chester Raccoon to us." "The judge?" I asked. "Yeah, the judge. She came in and read to us and talked about not bullying." "Oh! You mean the principal?" I said. "Yeah." Josiah answered. That cracked me up! The judge. How cute is that?!

He also climbed onto the toilet, found the liquid Mucinex, took it to the sink, and attempted to draw his dose into the oral syringe. Sadly, he took an unknown amount. He showed me exactly where the dose came to in the syringe and told me he did that twice. Here's hoping that he is a good historian and is telling me accurately....if so, he got a "6 to 12 year old" dose. Should be fine. Sigh.

Did I mention that I witnessed a guy on a bike get hit by a car today? And the driver of the car zoomed off as fast as possible. The bike rider was fine. I rolled my window down and checked on him. Crazy world we live in, isn't it?!

Guess I was in the mood to type tonight. I mainly wanted to record a little about Mackenzie's birthday week. Kinda ended up rambling...He, he.

I will try to post about Mackenzie's actual party soon. She has enjoyed a wonderful birthday, and is eager to celebrate with her friends tomorrow. We love her and are very proud of her.

Josiah's 5th Birthday!

What a week! It has been a great one, full of milestones at our house. You'll see from the previous posts that Mackenzie lost her first tooth this week. Well, Josiah has completed "preschool" and turned five years old, all in one week! I no longer have preschoolers at my house. I have elementary aged children! Crazy. Life is good and I am thankful. This post will recap some of our week.Josiah and "Kwali," his new Webkinz, on his last day of preschool.
Josiah receiving his certificate of completion from Mrs. Wendi, his teacher. He had his last day of preschool (MDO program Tues/Thurs) on Tuesday, May 17th. When his name was called to go up to Mrs. Wendi to get his certificate, he gave her such an enthusiastic hug that he literally knocked her over! Very funny. I love how freely she returns his hugs. She has been a wonderful teacher and such a huge blessing! We love her!!


Here is the whole class on the last day of preschool! From left to right: Sydney, Brooke, Ava, Josiah, Lexi, Callie, and Logan.

For his birthday party, Saturday, May 21st, Josiah wanted a "play date with friends and a pizza party." So, going off of his request, we invited "boys only," also per his request, for a play date and pizza party at our house. Shortly after mailing out the invitations to the boys from the 4 year old classes at school, Josiah decided he would like to invite Lexi, too, even though she is a girl. :) I talked to Austin and Lexi's mom. I am thankful she was able to come.

Here's Josiah and Logan eating Sam's Club Pizza with the Star Wars Cupcakes nearby.

David did a GREAT job of ordering the Star Wars cupcakes from Sam's Club for the party. When given the option of me making the cupcakes or just buying them, Josiah choose store bought ones. Sure was easy for me!

Uncle Zac was here to celebrate with us, too. We are SO thankful for all his help!!!! He just jumps right in and helps out in so many ways. We really appreciate his visit.

He lit the candles on Josiah's cupcake. Notice the Birthday Jedi Knight ribbon on Josiah? He spotted that at Target when we were buying the plates and napkins. He picked it out himself and was eager to wear it! I thought that was pretty cute. Surprised me!

Birthday Boy blowing out his candles!

Enjoying his cupcake.

Josiah, Lexi, Logan, and Mackenzie gathered around while Josiah opened presents. Uncle Zac is on the couch in the background.

Josiah has really enjoyed all his gifts this year!

Krista, Logan's mom, offered to take a picture of the four of us together. So, here we are. ;)
And, YES, I can still hold my babies. I love those cuddles from them both.

Josiah and Mackenzie with Uncle Zac. We have all enjoyed having him here!

Yesterday, Josiah got lots of packages in the mail! Above is a Star Wars Lego set from Poppie and Lili.

Another package....this one is from Granna and Z-pa...and notice the plastic snake from an earlier package! Ha, ha. Thanks a lot, Dad!

Opening new DS games from Granna and Z-Pa. He played them right away. Gotta love those EYES! Isn't he a cutie?!

Lego Pirates of the Caribbean DS game.

Cool packaging that pops from Mzee.

Boy squinkies from Mzee. Josiah was proud of those boy squinkies. Just like his sister's set, except these are made for a boy!

Earlier in the month/week, Josiah received cards and/or packages from everyone. I, however, neglected to grab my camera for each of the incoming packages. My sincerest apologies to those of you reading this blog who sent packages and aren't getting to see the pictures of his total enjoyment of the said package. Thank you all. He really has loved EVERYTHING! I just happened to have the camera handy and at the ready yesterday.

On another note, Mackenzie's last day of 1st grade was today! Her class party was also a surprise 40th Birthday party for her teacher, Mrs. Hatmaker. Josiah opted to stay home with Uncle Zac while I attended Mackenzie's class party. Fun times. Neat memories. Mackenzie received an award for the highest Grade Point Average in Phonics, Reading, and Handwriting! She received the top award in 3 out of 5 subjects. The Math award went to Raley and the Bible award went to a couple of kids that tied. I was so proud of her! And, thanks, Zac, for helping out with Josiah today.

Above picture, from left to right: Mackenzie, Savannah, Reagan, Kendall, and Alyssa.

As soon as David got home from work today, Josiah got to open his birthday presents from us.
Thanks for the wrapping paper, Zac!

Zac with Mackenzie and Josiah. He is one loved Uncle.

After Zac headed home this afternoon, we got a call from Geri and Trifon, our Bulgarian neighbors. They invited us over to their house so that Josiah could open a present from them. What fun! We were out the door in no time. Josiah got a Guess Who Star Wars game from them. We've already played it! I'd say he's had a HUGE birthday. He certainly has a lot of people to love him.

I just can't believe he is FIVE already! I am so proud of both of my kiddos. Josiah is so loving and hands out kisses and hugs freely. His manners have been those of a true gentleman as of late. He has a tender heart and is in tune with the emotions of those around him. He shares readily with others. He loves his legos, Star Wars, and pirates. He enjoys computer games, DS games, Wii games. He loves to cuddle and he loves being very active, too! He is 42 lbs and 44.125 inches. He is boy, through and through. He loves to catch worms and caterpillars. He is reading and surprises us with the signs he reads as we drive along the road. Mrs. Wendi reports that he was always ready with the answers in school. She says he at the top of his class with his reading skills. He has learned a lot of his addition and some subtraction, too. I am amazed at the questions he asks and how much he is learning at such an early age! We love to hear the funny things he has to say. He does keep us all laughing! He is a joy. We are truly thankful that God blessed our family with his arrival five years ago! What a delightful little boy! We love you, Josiah.We are so proud of you.

What a day!

For David's birthday last year, I intended to take him for a helicopter ride over the Smokey Mountains. The weather did not cooperate, however, so we postponed the flight. A year later, I decided it was high time for his present! ;)

On another note, for those of you who know the Robertson Family, our thoughts and prayers are with you. Kenny Robertson, a dear family friend, passed on from this world on August 31, 2010. He was 35 years old, just 3 months younger than David. They were friends since 4th grade. We visited his family in September 2003, while he was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, as a marine for our military. We never expected to get the phone call a week and a half ago from our families saying that his helicopter crashed, killing all 3 on board. He flew for a medical evacuation company in Arkansas. He was flying, and as best as people can tell at this point, the helicopter came apart in the air. Rotor blades were found a great distance from the actual crash site. Medical gases were on board, and likely caused the explosion that also took place. The two other crew members, a flight nurse and a paramedic, also died that Tuesday morning in route to rescue another person. Kenny is leaving behind his precious wife, Angie, a dear friend of mine, as well as their 3 children, Kale, age 9, Abby, age 7, and Archie, age 4 or 5. I mention this in lieu of the helicopter ride we took today. I would like to ask for everyone who reads this blog to please pray for our dear friends, the Robertsons. We are thankful that Kenny's life was lived for the Lord. I pray that his family receives the strength, peace, and comfort they need.

Here we are after the ride was finished!
Zoomed out so you can see the whole helicopter.

Mackenzie with her headset on enjoying the ride.

Josiah with his headset on enjoying the ride.

David took this picture of the kids and me. We were all in the backseat. I insisted that the birthday boy ride in the front with the pilot! :)

Above is a picture of Mount LeConte. Gorgeous views. Perfect weather. Visibility something like 70 miles. Amazing.

My man, enjoying the ride.

More scenic views of God's amazing creation.

My little man, all buckled in and enjoying his headset.

Two very excited kids!

This is my favorite picture of David. Isn't he handsome?! :)

Two precious kids during the flight.

My beautiful girl.

The view of Lake Douglas on our return trip. Did I mention it was a gorgeous day?

This is my favorite of the kids. Mackenzie and Josiah both figured out how the headset worked about half way through the flight. They were hilarious having a conversation between the two of them that all of us could hear as we flew. They LOVED flying. What a fun experience and neat memory for us all. Happy Birthday to my precious husband. I love you, and I always will. I am thankful that God directed our paths together. I am so thankful for you. May God bless you each and every day.

Happy Birthday Mackenzie!

I stayed up late the night before her birthday baking and icing sugar cookies for her class at school. What I did not realize is that she wanted half a cookie iced in one color and the other half of the cookie iced in another color. I used the four colors she choose, but did not ice them "the right way." After staying up late to finish these, Mackenzie took one look at them on the morning of her birthday and burst into tears. Nice. All that work and no thanks. Not just no thanks, but tears of disappointment just before school! She went on to say, "Mom, all my grandparents always listen to me, but you and Dad never listen to me!" Great. What an attitude. What a start to the day. Ha. Good news. Being a school day, I just took her right on to school and placed her into Mrs. Hatmaker's care for the day! :) Somehow, that seemed like an idea that was in everyone's best interest. In her defense, she had been up past bedtime THREE nights in a row. She was exhausted. That certainly does not excuse her attitude issue, but it does help explain it. Never-the-less, I took my little birthday girl to school. She smiled and waved happily as she headed in for the day. After our morning episode, I had already informed her that I told Mrs. Hatmaker I would bring cookies for her class, so I would. I also informed her, however, that she did not have to eat any of them! I would be happy to give them to her friends. I am pleased to announce that by the time I arrived with the cookies that afternoon, she came running to the door to hug me and could not wait to hand the cookies out to her friends!!! Total attitude change. I was delighted to see that, as it could have been a long afternoon otherwise. I was happy to have my precious, sweet, baby girl back!
Here's my attempt at a teddy bear cake. Yeah, you can go ahead and laugh. It's pretty funny, I know. I did make it to her specifications, though. Light brown bear with blue eyes and pink in the middle of the ears. Okay. It was interesting. I had planned to buy a cupcake cake for her, but her face dropped a mile when I told her that. She really wanted me to make it for her, so I did. The cupcakes were easy to serve as you just pull them apart!

Here's Mackenzie in front of her class as they are singing Happy Birthday to her. I wish I had gotten a picture of her whole class. Good group of kids. Sweet girl enjoyed all the extra attention that being in school on your birthday gets you! They sang to her in Spanish class, she got birthday cards, and she even got a treasure box item. What a day! She told me everyone called her "Hey Birthday Girl," through the day at school. She obviously loved it.

We went straight from school to Build-A-Bear Workshop for her party. What a party it was! She had invited 18 kids (that includes her and Josiah), some from our Heart-to-Heart Bible study group and some from school. Here you see, from left to right: Madison A., Mackenzie, Lauren, Madison D., Savannah, Audrianna, Avery.

Here's the party group all circled up singing and dancing.

Here's Mackenzie using the pedal to control the stuffing for her pink bear!

Funny that Josiah ended up getting to go next! That was decided on by a game they were playing. Some of the kids had to wait a long time to stuff their animal, but they were all so very patient! Good group of kids.

Here's Josiah controlling the pedal to stuff his bear.

The whole group all circled up playing the game to see who would get to go next.

After all the animals were stuffed, each child got to make a birth certificate for his or her new animal. Thanks to all the parents who helped with this!

Here's the whole group! Generally speaking, from left to right: Back Row: Taylor, Dylan, Will, Mackenzie, Lauren, Madison D., Avery, Savannah, Audrianna. Front Row: Sam, Caleb, Madison A., Clara, Coy, Allison, Josiah, Holly

And Ava joined the group for this picture! She's in the front holding the gray cat. That makes all 18 kids.

Then we headed to the food court for cupcakes and juice.

Mackenzie with her cake. Thanks to Amy T. for grabbing my camera and snapping these for me!

Mackenzie blowing the candles out. (Madison D. and Dylan)

Opening presents. Thanks, everyone! She really got some neat things.
(Dylan)

Madison D., Dylan, and Mackenzie

Here's a pic of my sweet 6 year old birthday girl and me at the end of the day.

On our way home from the mall, she said, "Momma, the best gift you and daddy could give me for my birthday is my party." She truly loved and APPRECIATED her big birthday party. I am thankful her attitude improved so much by the end of the day. She is a sweetie, but she is not a morning person...neither am I!

Mackenzie, I love you. I am so thankful that God sent you to join our family six years ago. You are my favorite little girl in the whole wide world. I am proud of you, and I enjoy each day with you. May God bless you each day of your life as you strive to serve Him with the gifts and abilities that He has given you. I love you, Mackenzie!!! Happy Birthday, Precious Girl.