Happy Anniversary, Tool Man!

Yep.  Today makes 9 years!  Hard to believe, I know.  I was only a teenager back then - Yikes!

I've put together a mini wedding photo album just for ya'll.

This was at a crawfish boil a couple of days before the wedding.

Nothing like sucking a few heads to get you ready for marriage.

Grant and Tim teeing off at the first and only "Tim's Gettin' Hitched" golf tournament

The man I married and the man who married us. It's a wonder we lasted 9 days.....

A few pics of the wedding party.........

And from our honeymoon cruise......

Love you, Tool Man!

Birthdays and Big Trucks

I've got to make four birthday cakes in the coming month.  The first one is for two-year-old Josh, who is all about big trucks.  So I created this dump truck cake just for him.  It's a traditional white cake, and it is decorated with fondant.  Love that stuff!  I also used a marker with edible ink to add the details.  It was just like drawing with a regular pen...super easy.  I first read about these over at Bakerella.  She uses them to decorate her cupcake  pops.  They work great on sugar cookies too.

My monkey's Mario Bros. cake will be next.......

Pomp and Circumstance

Ty graduated from Kindergarten this weekend.  Our local homeschool association had 21 children graduating.  A few of the kids recited verses or sang songs.  Ty said the 100th Psalm.  He did great.  We had some secret signs for me to do just in case he needed some help, but he breezed through it.  Being his teacher, I got to give him his diploma.

After the ceremony Ty was showered with gifts.  He got a balloon, a backpack, candy, a nerf gun, and a real bow and arrows.  Then we took him to lunch at Olive Garden.  That boy loves spaghetti and breadsticks.

We're so proud of him.  He has learned so much.  I remember early on this year when I was worried that he would never learn the number 12.  He couldn't remember the name of it.  He couldn't remember what it looked like.  He couldn't remember that it followed 11....  Now he can count to 200!

 

I asked Ty if he was nervous when he said his verse.  He said he wasn't nervous then, but he was when they were walking into the sanctuary.  He said the fancy music made him nervous.

Speechless Saturday - Vol. I

Party Preparations

It's hard to believe, but my oldest monkey will be 6 years old in a couple of weeks.  Seems to me he should only be 6 weeks old.  He'll be graduating Kindergarten this Saturday.  Can you believe it?  We finished our first year of homeschooling without killing each other  Woo Hoo!!!  I think we did all right, especially considering neither of us had any idea what the heck we were doing!

Ty's birthday party theme is Super Mario Bros.  He's been looking forward to this for a few months now.  I'm usually pumped up about the big day, working on party paraphanalia for months in advance, but this year not so much.  Maybe the kidney stone sucked all the energy out of me, or maybe it's the demands of a 9 month old monkey, but the party must go on!

So yesterday we set out on our first party shopping spree.  I snagged some festive plates and napkins and a few favors for the kiddos, but there is so much more to be done.

Here are a few of my ideas for the party:

1. Food - What do all self-respecting Italian plumbers love to eat?  Pizza, of course.  Too bad Fox's won't be open in time.  Oooo...I just thought of this...some mozzarella sticks would be good too!
2. Games - "Pin the mustache on Mario", "Yoshi Egg Hunt" (Does anyone know where I can get plastic eggs this time of year?  Oy, I wish I had thought of this game before Easter!),  "Mario Obstacle Course" complete with your favorite Mario enemies
3. Decorations - replicas of your basic Mario Bad Dudes (I'm not really familiar with their official names) like the man-eating flowers, the barking ball-and-chain, and ghosts; also coins, stars, and mushrooms
4. The Cake - Ty has only one request for the cake.  On the top he wants Mario standing on Toad's shoulders???  Why?  This is not going to be easy for ole Mom!
5. And the Pièce de résistance - stick-on mustaches for EVERYONE! And I do mean everyone.  Wouldn't this make the cutest group picture?

Well, that's all I've come up with so far.  If you have any more ideas, please share them with me. 

You Might Be a Redneck......

......if you have one of these in your back yard.

When I drove up to my parent's house this weekend, this is what greeted me!  A horny tree!

What's worse is I think this was all my Mama's idea. Oh, deer!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms, aunties, and "grannies" out there.  My recent illness has made me realize just how much I enjoy being with my monkeys.  I'm so lucky BLESSED to be able to stay home with them everyday.  I think that I need them just as much as they need me.

"Making the decision to have children is momentous.  It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."

I love this quote, but I must say that these children were not the result of some "decision" we made.  They are a precious gift from God, planned from the beginning of time.

I just hope I don't screw them up! ; )