KIDS PARTIES AREN'T JUST FOR THE KIDS ANYMORE!



 I don't usually take this many pictures of other people's parties but it was F.U.N.  Check out this awesome 18 foot water slide! 



All the kiddos lining up...and Brett.  I think he, Tim, and Jamie slid more than anyone.




Of course, I did a time or seven.



This is Mac playing with Wightning on the glass.  Mac walked right in the house, looked for W's, (the Hocutt girls met him at the door with three fingers up) stayed in there with Laura's grandparents, and played with his new "Wightning McQueen" car...for hours.




There was also a smaller pool when the little ones wanted a break.




The three youngest Smalley's arrived after just being in a wedding.  Not sure if those are the pants Jake wore in the wedding or not.  ;)



Taking a peek to see if he wants to meander out or not.  It was a no.





Little curly top.



Sweet Magpie.  The bottom of that slide was kinda deep.  And if you hit wrong, you probably have a sore bootay today.  Just guessing, of course.




SK was trying to coax him out.





I went in and told him there was cake.  "Oh, yes!  I need some cake!"



He sweet talked Lisa into feeding him so he wouldn't get any on his fingers.  I just noticed he has a shoe on his hand though.  Haha.  And I love that when feeding someone, you must open your own mouth to do so. 




And now...back to his car.





Brett Paul and Mag





Eating some soggy Doritos off the floor.  Love that fat belly.




Cute cheesy face and Kara's toes.  Nice pedicure, btw.



Leila is helping a sista out.





Present time!





These girls spotted the big present before the b'day girl.




And, if you go to a party at the Hocutt's, you can go through their trash on the street and come home with three new riding toys for your kids!







Not so much riding but sitting and playing with McQueen.









Now, it's going on 31 hours without letting Wightning go.  McQueen even got to take a trip to church this morning.

FAB FRIDAYS

Brett has to go to Calera two days a month and they are always on Fridays.  On those days, he has to leave the house by 7:30.  I'm off on Fridays so those days, it's just me and the kiddos.  I love when they all sleep late enough that I get to go outside, water the plants, and do some weeding.  Weeding is so relaxing to me and always makes me think of the relation of weeds & sin.  So many metaphors.  We had a wonderful day together.  Did a little coloring on the patio, wrote some notes to some folks, and even got to take a little nap.  And Fridays, Mag gets to pick what's for lunch and apparently, Fridays are for Chong Wah.  Pretty convenient too since I need to swing by the bank anyway.  I love fun days with my youngins.



Of course, Mary was the first to awake and started the morning off by cleaning out my purse.





I felt so domestic.  Mag and I made spaghetti to have for supper and Mac some tea, upon request.  We had so much help too.  At one point, MB climbed up and turned on the microwave. 




Barefoot Maggie (haha, get it?) wanted to make banana pops like they made on "Sid the Science Kid."



They were really pretty good.  However, if one of your kids leaves one on the carpet and it melts...it looks like a giant booger.  "I wiped it on Chandler's coat and got the heck out of there!" - Joey



MB was afraid someone would snatch hers so she hauled tail to the smallest hiding place she could find.







I taught Mag, "Ball in the Hall." Such a right of passage. And, this is the same exact ball that has always been used for this game. I bought it for Harrison when he was two from Big B. Hello... Big B!! That's got to be some sort of record for the longest lifespan of a plastic ball. "Ball in the Hall" is a riveting game which Mag adapted to well. It wasn't quite the same as playing with Harrison and then later teaching Hayden but good in a different way. Think Robby and Veronica got to play a time or two as well. Mary was a good substitute for Oscar. Oscar was our beloved family dachshund of 13 years. He had a love/hate relationship with the game and made it that much more challenging. And Mary may or may not have almost gotten whiplash when pegged directly in the forehead.


Now, it's Saturday! Family time and headed out to another party. BTW, at 10 am, it's already too hot to cut grass. I almost puked. But, it's done, Brett weedeated and edged and the yard is looking tight again. For a few days at least.

   

PLEASE TAKE TIME TO CHECK OUT THIS POST. THANKS IN ADVANCE!



Meet the Blankenships.  Daddy, Ethan.  Mommy, Kara.  Precious kiddos, Korinna, Elaina, Josiah, and Leila.  That's quite a crew they have.  But, guess what??  They want to provide a Christ-centered, loving home for a child that doesn't have a family.  They are in the process of adopting from China.  As you well know, adopting a child is not free nor cheap.  They will be doing several fundraisers along the way and I want to give my friends that don't know them an opportunity to help as well.  I'm telling you, you don't get better than this family.  They are amazing and I love them dearly.

Below are the items that are available right now.




 No, you can't purchase pj pants from them but those are available at Target.





And of course, they have men's sizes as well.




Cute ladies t-shirt that Kara is sportin'.





These necklaces are remarkable.  The woman in Uganda hand make them from rolling up recycled paper.  That's how they provide for their family.  Can you even imagine?



They are really long so you can loop them once, twice, three times, and I even got that bad boy around for a fourth.

I leave you with this.  My precious Leila.  She and Mary Brooke are two months apart so you'd think I'd get enough time loving on squishy babies at home.  However, this baby girl has me wrapped.  Kara's caption on this picture was, "Don't break this girl's heart.  Help make her a big sister!"

Please let me know if you would like to purchase any of the items and please keep looking for other oopportunities that will arise in the future.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE 4 DAY WEEKENDS!




We try to make a little something for a few friends and fam for holidays.  Mag is busying away.

 

It helps your concentration when you stick your tongue out.





Tada!  A pretty little Independence day bookmark.





The cute little boxes filled with candy and the bookmarks.  I found those neat black/white vintage flags on a free clipart website.  Magpie signed her, Mac, and Mary's name inside.  She's gotten quite good at that, handwriting and spelling.





Remember when I mentioned these the other day?  Well, Brett found us some and surprised me with them.  Delish!  Celebrations has them.  I warn you though, they crumble badly so you may not want to give them to your kids in the living room.  However, the kids did eat most of the crumbs off the floor.



Cute pic of Harrison & Hayden that I stole borrowed from DeJuana's FB page.




And another.



Saturday, Mag and I went to sweet Korinna's birthday party.  It was a super cute candy buffet.  Can't help but think of Pheobe when I say that word.  I neglected to get any pics of all the girls though.  Poo.




Mary Brooke WILL NOT keep a bow in her hair so for the first time, I stuck a tiny ponytail holder in there.  The way her bangs fall straight down, her wild eyes, and crazy personality, Brett says she looks like a feral cat.  Trying to tame her a bit.  :)





Probably not gonna be successful with that but at least she'll look a tad more kept.

 


Saturday night was Harrison's b'day bash at Fernando's.  It was an intimate gathering of about 60 or so.  In case you missed it, he's SIXTEEN!

 


No, nobody took a big bite.  It's a Pacman cake.  Hayden and Olivia made it in honor of Harrison "Pacman" Turner.  I believe that began when he started playing football for Riverside.  He was small back then.  Ummm, not so much now.  Anyway, Pacman was born because, "He's little but can gobble up his opponents."




They did a fantastic job.



In honor of Sharptooth.  May his spirit live on forever.  No clue what I'm talking about?  Catch up here.



That's one proud Grandpaw there.




And Grandmother.




Oh, alright.  And aunt.





Mac's favorite little yellow car at the moment which is actually a flash drive. 




Harrison and Haley





Open Door Baptist has a really neat "ride."  After church, several hopped on and Mr. Lanny took them for a spin.  That's Sarah Kate, Mag, Sawyer, Leila, Mac, and MB.  In case you don't know, ABC is still meeting at ODBC.  One day, I'll get around to writing about the tornado.




Centered that ponytail a tad too much and made her look like a unicorn.






I guess Brett was feeling creative.  I awoke to find this.  That or he was delirious after the night we had.  The kids all got in bed late.  Of course, Mag hopped in ours and Mac just wanted in the "brown bed."  (Our comforter is brown.)  Well, we were flopping all around trying to get situated.  Brett said he only had one and a half butt cheeks hanging on the mattress so he moved to the other side.  We thought Macman was o.u.t.  Apparently not.  As soon as Brett got settled, Mac scooted backwards, sat straight up on Brett's face, and loudly said, "Look at me, guys!"  Well, obviously Mag had to do it too so the giggles started.  Yeah, it was around 1 am when everyone settled down.  Mary didn't let that be it though.  She screamed like a banshee about 3 or 4 times during the night.  No wonder we never have any energy.  Oh, a couple of MB stories.  1) Brett walked down the hall one morning and heard his car alarm going off.  MB was sitting on the kitchen table, hitting the panic button, and putting his sunglasses on.  2)  Again, Brett walked in to find her on the kitchen table munching on leftover pizza that she dug out of the box from the night before.  Homegirl is a trip!

 


Monday, we delivered the little goody boxes that Mag made.  One stop was to J.B. Davis'.  He was ready for us.  I was tickled pink when he had these items out to give us.  Those were Mrs. Gladys' dolls which she made the dresses for.  He let my girls pick which ones they wanted and the big one was for me.  Of course, Mag chose that one but she'll have to share.  That little ceramic frog was for Mac which is perfect.  He has a frog painting in his room.  The book of poetry was one given to Mrs. Gladys in 1965 and he said that she read it often.  I'll definitely treasure these items. 




We had taken our weekly grocery trip Sunday afternoon after ALL five of us had a 2 1/2 hour nap.  It rarely ever works like that but boy did we need it.  Well, last night, Brett decided to whip up a little something.  Oh. My. Gracious.  I was good.  Grilled chicken (which he butterflied, sounds fancy), loaded mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus.  And I made that corn salad thing again, chopped up the mozzarella in that little white bowl, made pear salad, and sliced some home grown tomatoes that I got from the little fruit stand on 82.  BTW, I walked there from the Malibu.  I was late for my appt, Friday, so Brett dropped me off.  When I was done,  Mary had gone down for her nap so I told Brett I'd walk.  I got to the fruit stand, bought some maters and strawberry jam then called him to come get me.  I wasn't crazy about crossing the highway.  Not as adventurous as I thought.  ;)  Oh, and for desert after this huge meal, apple pie.  No, he didn't make this one but he did use an egg wash on top to make it nice and brown.  After dinner, we took Mag to watch the fireworks.  We parked on our side of the river, curled up in the back of my car and had a perfect view.  They were gorgeous.