Tumble, Flip and Play--It's Cami's Third Birthday!

We hosted a few of Cami's closest friends (and their big sisters) for a run around, jump up and down, heckuva good time at Golden Grip Gym this past weekend.

I had an Elsa and Anna cookie cake specifically commissioned for the big occasion.
Thank you, Nestle Tollhouse!

Gigi (my rock!) met us there early to help with set-up.
She got one snuggle before the birthday girl ran off.

There are so many trampolines to be jumped on!

Sister got in on the fun...

and so did Cami's little friends, Bella, Ezra and Nash.  They all looked like popcorn in a bowl!

The big girls waited their turn very nicely, 

while Bubbie swung from the high bar.

Mama Lila made sure that Dylan was well taken care of in the pit, 

and Cameron got a little help from two other mamacitas--Teagan and Maddie.

Soon she was swinging on the bars all by herself.

We somehow rounded up most of the gang for a group pic.  The birthday girl was the VERY last one to sit down and only agreed to do that as long as she could sit in Maddie's lap.
On. her. own. time.  Such a stinker!

Some kids ran the obstacle course, but not the birthday girl!

She did come back when it was parachute time, though.

Sitting inside a big parachute always brings BIG smiles.

We made the stuffed animals fly to the ceiling.

Then Bella, Cami and Matthew were first to ride in the middle...

followed by Jackson, Teagan and Lila.

Colby, Samantha and Finley were the last to go--Colby just giggled the whole time.  So cute!

This girly was having SUCH a great time, and the fun wasn't over yet.

Tine for nuggets, goldfish and fruit.

And then it was finally cookie cake time!

"Happy Birthday dear Cami, Happy Birthday to YOU!"

She loved her cake!

"Oh my gosh, I'm three, mom!"

It won't be too long before the littlest sister will be running with the big girls.
She already thinks she's almost as big as them.

She said goodbye to her "Best Friend Sami,"

thanked Boom and Gigi for celebrating with her...

handed out the party favors and we headed home.
Another party is in the books!  The celebrations weren't over yet, though!

Happy Birthday, Gigi!

Happy Birthday to one of the best!

These girls LOVE their Gigi and couldn't wait to celebrate with her.

We had a big Italian Cream cake...

sang "Happy Birthday dear Gigi!"

and then gave her cards (homemade from Lila), 

and gifts.  I'm sure she appreciated Cami unwrapping her new Kendra Scott jewelry!

We love you, Connie/Mom/Gigi.  You are a very special lady to so many people.
Cheers to YOU!

Snow Day!

It snowed! It snowed! It actually snowed!  It was freezing on Friday, as in 18 degrees, when the kids went to school.  There was a small chance of some snow flurries in the forecast.  Cameron was convinced it was going to snow, though, and what do ya know?  

She was right!  Around 1:00 it began to come down, slowly at first, and then big, heavy snowflakes.

Time to put on our polar bear outfit!

"Mama, let's go catch some snowflakes!"

I couldn't say no to that, so we did:)

It was so cold, though!  We warmed up by the fire and waited for the big kids to get home.

A few hours later, snow was covering our backyard!

Three very happy kids.

J was the only one in ski pants, so he zipped down both slides.

This little girl loved swinging in the snow...

but soon insisted on putting on ski pants just like Bubba.
Nevermind the fact that the smallest size we have is a 6, a mere three sizes too big for her!

There was a short snowball fight that ended with snow in the face at close range (any guesses who may have done that?)...

but all was forgiven after they got some hot chocolate to warm up their tummies.
Everyone loves a good snow day once in a while!  We're hoping we get a few more this winter.

Happy New Year!

 New Years Eve--we've gone big, we've gone small.  Going small is where it's at!  No set menus.  No outrageous prices.  No fighting the crowds to get a drink at the bar.  Blah.  It may have taken us a while, but we're finally learning.  This year, we hosted three other families who all live in our neighborhood and it was just perfect.  

Everyone brought yummy appetizers and desserts and Jared made his famous chili.  So easy--and good!  Lila was so ready to spend the evening with her friends.  Her party hat went on early:)

Since the college football playoffs were on, we decided to make it a little more interesting.
Each square was $4, making each quarter worth $25.  

We watched Clemson beat Ohio State on the TV outside.
Lila was the only winner from our family--way to go, girl!

  Miss Madison arrived just in time to go swimming.

Tucker and Jackson were the first two in...

but very soon we had a hot tub full of happy kids.

Everyone was all smiles all night long, whether we were outside...

making s'mores...

doing sparklers...

or shooting off Roman Candles in our cul-de-sac!  

Our laid-back night was so nice.  Well, I guess it's all relative.  Not sure any event that has 12 kids all under the age of 10 can be called "laid-back," but it was still a great time.

Since we had a few sleepy heads in the group, we decided to celebrate at 11:00 and watch the ball drop in New York.  5, 4, 3, 2, 1!

Happy New Year!  These kids loved their sparkling cider.  Loved it.

After our first celebration, I suppose Cami didn't feel quite fancy enough.  She insisted on changing into her Rapunzel dress, Ariel shoes and a crown.  The girl knows what she wants!

An hour later, all 12 kids were still awake, so we watched another countdown and had more toasts.  Happy 2017!

We are all looking forward to a new year full of new adventures.
Cheers!

This and That

End-of-Year Recap

We managed to decorate the gingerbread house before Christmas.  Go us!  Four kids, one house.  Next year, we will at least have two houses.

One of my favorite sweaters got washed and dried.  Bummer for me, but a win for Lila!

We figured out how to get the drone working and J became an expert drone-flyer in no time at all.

Liftoff!  This thing takes videos and can cover a lot of distance very quickly.  So cool.

Lila's loving her new bike, too, and is able to zip around our neighborhood with so much ease now. 

We've all been enjoying Jackson's new ping pong table.  He has challenged his dad, but not beaten him yet. He did beat Boom Pa, though.  It was such a heated game!

We enjoyed a fun night out in Fort Worth a few days after Christmas.
We had dinner in Sundance Square at Del Friscos Grille.

with Andrew, Maria, Lyndsie and Scott.  

Then we walked a couple blocks to the Bass Hall to see Robert Earl Keen in concert.

It was a fantastic show!  Such a great night--thanks, Memaw and Poppi!

I brought the Emersons dinner last week and got to snuggle with this little cutie for a while.
Baby Vivian Wren is so precious!  I just love me some good baby time.

By mid-week, Elsa was in her element.  The temperature had begun to drop, so it was the perfect time to wear her new blue Frozen coat and ride to the bus stop.  Little did we know, a few days later we would actually get SNOW!