Brooks is 11!

 A few weeks ago, Brooks turned 11! We celebrated with a paintball party! The kids all had a blast...and so did Paw Paw. He showed NO mercy and was the first one to blast Brooks in the leg. I thought he was done but he rallied and ended up having the best time! Of course us girls wanted no part of that so we watched from afar! 

A Quarantined Birthday!

We celebrated Brooks' birthday quarantine style this year! His birthday was April 22 and I'm just now getting around to post about it. These last few months have been CRAZY to say the least. 

Y'all know how much we make a big deal out of birthdays in our house...we weren't going to let covid damper our parade! We celebrated B from the time he woke up until he went to bed! I had the yard party people leave signs in our yard. When he first woke up we sang "Happy Birthday" and had a donut cake! Then Josh took him fishing, which is exactly what B wanted to do! We had pizza, cake and ice cream and ended the day with a party parade! Our family waited down the road from our house and all drove by together with balloons and signs! It was fun! They drove by a second time and dropped off gifts and we handed out cake! It was really fun to be able to see our people!

We did the best we could and it ended up being super fun! 

Oh, and the very next day he had to have surgery for an abscessed tooth. :( I'm telling y'all, it's been crazy.

Happy Birthday Brooks!!

Last Monday Brooks turned SIX! Our baby boy has turned into a big kid right before our eyes! He is ALL boy...and if you have a son, you know what I mean! I love it! He has the sweetest, tender heart. He is always picking flowers and bringing them to me, telling me he loves me loves me a million times a day and he likes to hold my hand. He also likes to run around wild like a banshee monkey and tackle his sisters! See, he keeps himself balanced. :)

We celebrated his birthday earlier this month at the Fun Factory! He had lots of fun!

On his actual birthday he chose to go to Chuck E. Cheese! The kids all had fun playing games and eating pizza!

Happy Birthday Peyton!

On January 21st, Peyton turned 15!! Just like that, we have TWO teenage drivers in our house. YIKES! haha! He was out of school on his birthday and the DMV was closed for MLK Day. We had dinner at a Japanese restaurant(my kids and their love for Japanese food! haha!). The next day Josh took him to take the test to get his driving permit. He passed and now wants to drive every.where.

The following weekend we took Peyton and a few friends to AutoBahn. This is what he wanted to do instead of a party! It's an indoor go-kart track. BUT, unlike any other. Those jokers go FAST. You have to get a license, wear a helmet and whatnot. They all had the best time, including the hubs!

Happy Birthday Peyton!!

Happy Birthday Reece!

Today our Christmas baby is 11! We hosted several of her friends last weekend for a sleepover instead of having a big party this year! It was the birthday girl's choice! We ate, giggled, crafted, giggled, played hide and seek, giggled, sang Happy Birthday, giggled, stayed up WAYYY too late and yes, giggled some more! haha!

There were nine kids in our house at once. To most it would seem too much. For us, it felt right. What does that even mean?!?!

The kids had so much fun! When everyone was gone Reece said she had lots of fun but she was ready for some alone time! hahaha!

I believe she said we are eating Mexican tonight! yay!

Happy Birthday to you, my forever baby girl and best friend!

Catch up!

Time for another catch up post! haha! All I have time for!

I mentioned in the last post that we have moved! Hubs was feeling cramped in the old house. Everyone had their own room except for Mia and Reece who shared a room. But we just needed more space! We found a house not too far from where the other one was and it has TONS of space. Everyone has their own room, the littles have a playroom and the teenagers have their own den AND THEIR OWN WASHER AND DRYER! AMEN. We are pretty much moved except for the animals, y'all know they are coming with me anywhere I go! The chicken coop and goat pen are under construction and hopefully they can join us soon!

I WILL DIE IN THAT HOUSE. NEVER moving again!!! Josh agrees.

While packing for the move Brooks decided to slice his thumb wide open with a pocket knife. He snuck and got it from Josh's things. We were about to leave to head to one of Peyton's football games, Josh wasn't even at home. It was so bad I could see bone. I threw him in the car, sat Griffin beside him to hold pressure and got us to the doctor as fast as I could. I forgot my shoes in the process. oops. Josh met us there. It took 4 people to hold him down. He got himself 6 stitches. This is the second time he has had to have stitches. But, who is counting.

We recently celebrated Big Mama's 90th birthday!! We had a party for her and there ended up being 100+ people there! We only invited immediate family and church family! She is so loved! She loves so many people!!

Happy 16th Birthday Griffin!

On October 14th, we celebrated Griffin's 16th Birthday! Holy cow, we have a teen driver. Everyone always says that time flies but it really does! I can't believe he is old enough to drive.

We moved the day before his birthday(whole other post for THAT lol) so we didn't party until this past weekend. We did our usual family dinner on his actual birthday, Japanese was his choice! This weekend he invited friends and family over to hang out, eat pizza, watch football and eat cookie cake! My kinda easy peasy party!

I'm not sure if I posted or not about his car. Probably not. We bought him a car back in June so that he could get some get practice on it before hitting the road alone. It turned out to be the best thing. He can drive it much easier than mine or Josh's vehicles so it worked out well. He was completely surprised when we gave it to him which made me SUPER happy. Surprises are my fav!

Since his birthday was on a Sunday we had to wait until the next day to take him for his driving test. I took him first thing that morning and he passed with a 93! YAY!

Happy Birthday Mia!!

Yesterday Mia turned FOUR! I mean, we don't even have a baby anymore. :( We spent the day celebrating our girl! She wanted a Frozen party at our local trampoline park so that's just what she got! Then she wanted cheese dip for dinner so Mexican it was! Even though when we got to the restaurant she changed her mind and wanted to eat somewhere else. UGH! Too bad, so sad! haha! She was just SUPER tired from the party! :) It was a fun day!

Saturday night I was SUPER sad. I couldn't get Mia's birth mom off my mind. Josh reminded me it was already her birthday in China so that was why. I was thinking of how four years ago she may have already been in labor. She loved Mia first...she knows what time she was born, how much she weighed, how she liked to be held, nursed her I'm sure. She loved her for nine whole months before she made the ultimate sacrifice to give her up so that she could get the medical care she needed/needs.  That hurts my momma heart so much. And at the same time I KNOW she was meant to be ours. It's weird if you haven't been in the situation.

Anyway, time for some party pics!

 The candles caught the cake on fire! Whoops.

As you can tell, she was PUMPED to be turning four!! Happy birthday sweet girl!!