You guys, I made a cake. Okay, so I helped make a cake.

May is an incredibly busy month for us, but it is SO MUCH fun!  Eric's birthday was the first of four.  Since it was on a Wednesday and he played drums at church that night, we just did a small gift time with the kids before he left for work.  

I got the bright idea that I wanted to make a cake for Levi and Maggie's party this year.  We decided to celebrate their birthdays the weekend of Mother's Day...you know, because it isn't hectic enough already!  Back in the day, my mom used to be quite the bomb diggity cake maker!  She had this cake making kit with all the bells and whistles and used to make all of our cakes growing up.  When I told her I wanted to give it a try, her old instincts kicked in and she put me to work.  

Okay, see that shell border?  Her exact words were, "we can do a simple sheet cake with a simple shell border..."  Ain't nothin' about a shell border simple.  Just sayin'.

I tried all of two little shell bumps and then told her I would just get a diet coke and keep her company while she finished the simple shell border.  

Once she finished the border, I added the purple and green dots.  Yes, I did dots and am taking credit for it!  They were harder than they looked.  Kind of.  Ha!  And, I wrote the kids names on the top.  My swirls needed some help, but HEY, it was made with LOVE!  ;-)  And it tasted like heaven!!

We decided on a Scooby Doo party because my kids are both infatuated with Scooby right now.  They love all the old episodes and can't get enough!  Eric rented this bouncer for them.  Genius, right?  We thought so!  Was supposed to keep all the kids busy outside so that I had less mess inside.  

About an hour before the party started, this happened:

The weather forecast called for 20% scattered showers.  Um, it was more like a MONSOON!!  I'm talking, hail, 300 mph wind, crazy lightning and thunder...the whole shebang!  Luckily, it only lasted a couple hours and the kids were still able to jump their little hearts out.

How hilarious is my husband?!  His OCD kicked in and he labeled the coolers.  Woe to the person who messed them up!  

Elmer (we were on a first name basis with the man who rented us the bouncer. He acted like he was our long lost cousin!) threw in a snow cone machine for free when we rented the bouncer!  It was a major hit!  We had almost all of the cousins there for the party.  LOVE IT!!

My babies are now 8 and 4 years old!  Where has the time gone?  They had such a great day celebrating with our family.  I could not have asked for a better day!  

On Sunday, there was no time for cake hangover -- we had to jump right in and celebrate Mother's Day.  More food and cake...twist my arm!!  After lots of hugs, kisses and cute little gifts, we headed to church and then to my aunt's house for lunch.  I love it because the dads take care of the kids and their needs while the moms sit back, eat and relax!  

I am so blessed to be their mommy.  Some days, I have no idea what I am doing and wonder why God gave me such a big responsibility.  I have to sit back, breathe, and remember that God gives me grace and unconditional love and those are two things I need to pass on to my children.  I adore them so much.

I know that Mother's Day is not always a happy day of celebrating for some people and it isn't full of wonderful memories.  My heart breaks when I think about that.  My prayer is that God will provide His grace, love, peace and comfort to women who are hurting.  For me, my family is my rock, and I remember every day how blessed I am.  Love these women. :-)

John Deere Green

We live for milestones.  Throughout our school years, we look forward to our senior year.  Prom - Graduation - College - Graduating college - Getting married...

Then, if you become a parent, you celebrate a whole new set of milestones through your child.  First crawl - First tooth - Walking - Talking - First day of school... the list goes on and on.  

A new milestone for us was the first time Papa let Levi drive one of the tractors.  Yes, DRIVE the tractor!  

My kids love tractor rides.  A couple weeks ago, my dad was mowing grass and they begged asked for a ride.  Dad told Levi to get in the seat and he gave him instructions.  Oh my stars...if he didn't already think Papa hung the moon, he sure did now!

As he started to take off, I choked back some tears (because I'm crazy sensitive like that!) realizing how big Levi is getting.

I would like to point out he is still KIND OF little because the tractor kept shutting off.  Levi didn't weigh enough to keep the seat down (safety feature!) so my dad had to help apply enough pressure.  Cute!  

Off they went.  I swear, I want to keep them little, but I love each new stage that they reach.

Not much better than watching your son learn to love John Deere Green.

When the little people make you proud :-)

Here's something that will make you feel old --

This was my niece, Bailey TEN years ago!  TEN.  That's crazy town!  I was there when she was born (and so traumatized, I might add, that I didn't want children for several more years! Ha) and I remember how tiny and fragile she seemed.

She was gorgeous.  Ten years later, she is just as gorgeous.  And, she decided that she wanted Jesus to live in her heart and save her from her sins.  She chose to be baptized on her birthday.  It was precious!

I could not be more proud of this little big girl!  Love you, Bailey Michelle!

There were lots of little people there to show their love and support, too!  Cousin love is the best kind of love.  These little people melt my heart.  

My favorite field trip by far!

Last week, I went on a field trip with Levi to the Kentucky Derby Museum.  (Who knew they had a museum?!!)  You guys -- let me tell you something... I LOVED THIS FIELD TRIP!  Maybe even more than Levi.  I wasn't thrilled about going along with the whole second grade, mostly because I knew I would have a group of kids to keep up with.  However, they had so many parents sign up to go, I just had to keep track of Levi.  Win, win!  

We arrived at the perfect time!  It was 15 days until the Derby and with all the bad weather we've had, they were behind on getting Churchill Downs all cleaned up and ready.  We were told they are working day and night to have it ready for the over 160,000 people that will roll in!  There was a man who did a short presentation introducing the kids to all things horses. (He did a FABULOUS job keeping the kids engaged for 30+ minutes! I give him props for that!)  Then he told us that the horses would be out exercising on the track until 10:00 am and we would get to see them.  Insert kids squealing with excitement.  And, see them, we did...

  

It was pretty incredible how close we were!  They explained to the children that these horses are only babies.  They are two years old and very skittish, so they had to be quiet and gentle while we were near them.  

A picture of the famous twin spires (you can see underneath them the scaffolding set up for cleaning and painting).  

 Happy boy! :-)

Then, the trainer brought one of the horses over near the kids...

AND HE LET THEM PET THE HORSE!  In my best mom voice, I reminded them to be gentle.  Lord have mercy, we had quite a few anxious boys!! Ha!

A second horse came by and one of the boys (quite loudly) said, "Wow, girls can ride horses, too?! 

After our tour of Churchill Downs, we headed inside to the museum.  I was very impressed with how kid-friendly it was!  

Of course, there was a display of all of the Mint Julep glasses from the past.  (Yum!)

And we were told that the trophy for the Kentucky Derby winner is the only trophy in sports to be made entirely of 14K gold.  Impressive!

I think he's already too tall to be a jockey. ;-)

I love seeing him and his little friends hang out together.  So sweet!

 After all the Derby fun, we headed for lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory.  So yummy!  When we walked in the doors, Levi said, "Wow, this is sooo fancy!"  I guess it is compared to Chick Fil A or McDonald's!

What a great day with Levi.  I love this age.  He still enjoys being with his Momma.  I am grateful that he wanted me to go and that he even wanted me to ride in the back seat of the bus with him.  Gag.  

If he would just stay this age forever, I would be okay with that.  :-)

Friends, Easter and a little Griffin update!

I love Easter!  It is right up there with Christmas or Thanksgiving for me.  I love the food, the activities and I especially love it when the weather was like it was this weekend -- SO GORGEOUS!  

Friday evening, I spent some time with my sister and some of our first friends.  I love that we have stayed in touch during our adult lives.  I adore my sister.  She has THE biggest heart of anyone I know!  She is a beautiful person, inside and out.  We are so different in a lot of ways (for starters, she works at the jail and takes grown men down to the ground daily -- if people treated me the way she is treated, I would cry!  She just laughs and brushes it off).   

Lisa, on the left, has been our friend since we were toddlers.  Jill, on the right, has been our friend since Middle School.  

We met for dinner because our friend, Karrie was in town.  She's all the way on the right.  Karrie and I have been friends since birth.  Ha!

When we get together, it's as if time has stood still. 

In reality, 30 plus years have passed.  We've all married.  We all have kids.  We've gone in different directions, but we've kept in touch and still have a beautiful bond.  I love these girls!

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Saturday morning, we went to an Easter Egg Hunt at my parent's church.  They throw a big shindig and the kids look forward to it every year!  This year, G and the kids met up with us.  I'm so glad they did!  It sucks when your bestie lives two hours away and you don't see her that often.  So, short visits are good, too.

The kids had a great time!  

A quick little update about Griffin:

Lots of people continue to ask me how Griffin is doing.  Thank you so much for continuing to remember him.  He is doing really well!  He was back to school ONE WEEK after his open heart surgery.  He still has some restrictions such as how much weight he can lift, can't run, no baseball for a while...but other than that, he is doing wonderful!  He is back to the happy, silly boy that we know and love.  His sister, Emmy, had a great report at the cardiologist yesterday.  They had her checked out, just to be safe, and while she has a murmur, it is normal.  Praising God for the miracle he did in our family.

  

^^ Mags is just thankful to be able to hug Griffin again. :-)

On Easter, I had to be at church really early, so Eric was to take care of getting the kids ready.  He did bring Maggie to the choir room so I could do her hair! Ha!  I asked him to get a really cute pic of the kids in their Easter clothes and this is what he sent me:

 I ABOUT DIED.

He did make up for it after church and got this for me.  Love my kiddos!

So thankful for a weekend to celebrate our risen Savior!  He is risen indeed!

Spring Break (only two weeks late!) and some BIG NEWS (no, no baby)!

Yes, Spring Break was about two weeks ago.  And, I'm just getting around to posting about more fun that we had!  Sue me.  ;-)

One day, we met our neighbors/friends at Big Splash water park for a day o' fun!  The kids L.O.V.E.D. it!  

Last year, Maggie wasn't quite so adventurous in the water.  At all.  But, this year, she took off like a bat out of hades and was all over the place!  And really cute, I might add. :-)  I was glad that our friends were there to share the day with us!

After our day at the park, we headed to Chicago's Pizza - seriously the best pizza place around!  I know the adults were WAY more excited about eating than the kids...it may have something to do with their fabulous cinnamon pizza dessert.  Just sayin'.

The same group of us decided to take the kids bowling one night.  My kids really like to bowl.  It's quite hilarious to watch Maggie's ball!  She drops it on the lane and then about 5.4 minutes later, it MAY hit one pin.  Occasionally, it turns around and comes back the other direction before hitting any pins.  (EXHAUSTING, I TELL YOU!)

Nonetheless, they had a great time!  I just adore my little fam!

These kids were sporting their UofL red and black on game day!  Kinda sad how the game turned out, but we were proud Cardinal fans.  (I can only say that because my Hoosiers weren't in the tourney!!)

Our Spring Break ended, but I still had one more surprise for the kids - a trip to Bowling Green!  Our breaks were on different weeks, so I decided to pull Levi out of school one day for a visit.  Poor guy, he's been missing Pierce BAD.  Levi wanted to go and stay 3 nights, and while I'm sure Paul would have looooved that, we opted for a day trip.  Jami and the boys decided to go and I'm so glad they did!

Seeing the kids together again...well, it gives me a lump in my throat because we miss them SO MUCH.  Hope and Maggie...there are really just no words for how adorable they are.

And the boys?  They just do their thang.

After some play time, we headed over to Brittany's for lunch and come chill time.

And, of course, a little Frozen...

Love it!

I also love these girls.  So much.

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So, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and call myself a once-a-week blog updater!  Say it ain't so!!  I'm trying to get around to more updates...it just isn't happening all too often.  And this may be part of the reason why...

EEK!  We've listed our house and I've been CRAZY busy trying to get done what needs to be done.  It's very bitter sweet, but we are excited about the next chapter!  I will blog more about our decision to move later.  Don't worry...we are staying local! :-)