It's my (birthday) party and I'll cry if I want to....

But only because my sweet husband prayed the sweetest prayer and started crying himself.

Here are pics from my 4oth (yes...I hit the big 4-0 Tuesday) birthday party. Sound Man planned the party almost single-handedly, and did a great job. He did, however, after realizing he had left several people off the invitation list, vowed never to plan a party again without enlisting the help of a capable female. Heh heh heh. But look at the colors he chose for my decorations...he did good! Blue and brown. Even the cake was my favorite color combination. My friends Jeff and Lisa graciously allowed us to partay at their house. Lisa also made my D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S. fresh strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting. Oh. My. Word. It's still scrumptious three days later.
This house was FULL! I think mostly because all the kids were there, too. The boys went outside to play, thankfully...they had too much energy to be stuck in the house!

There were no less than three squishable, kissable babies there...My friend, whom I will call Mr. F, is a detective with our local police department. You do NOT want to mess with him. I'm SOOOOO glad I can call him friend! But to see him with my friend Renee's granddaughter in his lap makes you realize Mr. F. is just a big softie at heart!

My friend, Sherry (Sherrylynn to me), with our worship pastor Brent and his wife Hollie's new baby. He wasn't too happy in this pic!

One of the highlights was when I got to feed one of the plethora of new babies at church. She belongs to Mike and Natasha and is soooooooo precious! She's only six weeks old! She and Brent and Hollie's baby are just a TINY portion of all the new little lives born into our church family over the past two months. I want to snuggle with all of them!
And the furry babies couldn't be left out. This is my friend Kim's daughter (who is the spitting image of her mother) with Skip, Jeff and Lisa's dog, who just happens to be Jonathan's brother. We think they are, along with Golden Retriever, part Border Collie. Skip got the lean body and long hair, and Jonathan got the muscles and big build. But you can still tell they are brothers.
My friend Kim and me. My intention was to get pics with all my girlfriends, but somehow that didn't materialize. I didn't even get a pic with Lisa. And Kat wasn't able to be there, which made me sad, but I know I will celebrate with her later.

We just sat and talked and ate. And talked some more and ate. And held babies. And I loved every minute of it.

I love my church family SO much. I don't know what I would do without them. And I'm realizing more and more, even after fifteen years of marriage, that I don't know what I would do without my precious Sound Man.

I wish I could load the video of my birthday card he got for me that he said he almost peed himself listening to. He and Kiddo and I have listened to it over and over. It's Hoops and Yoyo, so you know it's funny! If you're my facebook friend, I loaded it there today! Go listen to it! But don't have diet coke in your mouth. You have been forewarned.

Kat's Birthday

This weekend the fam loaded up in the green big van (what Kiddo used to call our Astro) and headed down to Kat's to celebrate (albeit a day late) her 40th birthday. And I'm not spilling the beans here, people, she confessed her age on her blog. I heard that collective gasp.

We had the best time. It's been way too long since just our families got together. Sound Man and The Bob spent the first part of the evening grillin' some mean steaks.Actually, I think The Bob did all the grilling and Sound Man just kept him company.
They love each other.

Kat made the salads while I did nothing took pictures. The kids ate croutons while we waited.
I think Fep is choking on hers!

Meanwhile, Dixie the doggie posed for me...She's lickin' her chops for summa that steak!

After we ate (of course I was too busy feedin' my face to take any pics of our wonderful meal!) we brought out the cake!If you wonder who in the world placed those candles...well...I never said I was a cake decorator.
That, along with the fact that they were melting extremely fast, made us laugh. Hard.They were pretty sad.

Fep accompanied us with her violin while we sang "Happy Birthday". This girl is good. She also played a few other selections for our listening pleasure. She tried to show Kiddo how to play. Hmmm...I think we'll stick with piano!

Then it was time for presents. Moose wanted me to see the butterfly he got for his Momma. They pay attention to their Aunt Heather's blog, too!
Then Fep gave her some sweet chocolate, so Kat gave her a sweet kiss. But the highlight of the evening was THE card.We opened that Hoops and Yoyo card (I lurve Hoops and Yoyo!)probably ten times during the evening. It was just so catchy...

After the hoopla settled down, we adjourned to the dining room to play games. First up, Farkle. My husband needs to work on his photography skills.

The girls won both games (I won Farkle and Kat and I as a team won the next game, Pictionary) so I guess my husband decided he didn't want to take a picture of us drawing our hearts out. Oh well.

It was so good to spend the evening with them. Our families love each other and have since the mid 90's, before any of our children were born. Kat and I have a friendship like I've never had. I cherish it!Happy (late) Birthday, Kat! I love you!

What do you do when you don't have birthday candles?

My sweet secret guest blogger, Sound Man, baked me a delicious cake for my birthday, which seems like it was a month ago, not just a week. He asked me what flavor I wanted, and I decided in a strange fit of weirdness that I wanted carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. NOT normal for me. When Momma made me cake, I usually asked for yellow cake with homemade fudge frosting. Momma would make a sheet cake, poke holes in it, and pour the warm fudge frosting over it, soaking it into the cake's holes and covering the rest of the cake. Why I didn't ask him for the same thing, I don't know. But I'm glad for the departure.

Mmmmm...I can still smell the cream cheese frosting. But...something's missing. Can you tell what it is? Well, not that I wanted any, but we didn't have birthday candles. So, what do you do when you don't have birthday candles?

Well, you do what any self-respecting husband would do! You use a Yankee Candle! I giggled hard when I came to the table and saw this at my place...

Then my family sang "Happy Birthday" to me, and I blew out my candle.

Wanna know what scent the candle was?

Buttercream. Not kidding. We were fresh out of Cream Cheese.

People I love: My Kiddo

We celebrated Kiddo's birthday this past week. I can't believe how big he is now. His being old enough to hunt with a real gun was hard enough to swallow, but knowing he is just a few years shy of being a teenager just makes me wish I had cherished those baby and toddler moments more. I look at him today and see a mature, bright, little-boy-almost-young-man who is growing up before my eyes. I pray that I can look past the temper tantrums that still occur, the rebellious streak he has during math, and the a-little-too-often smart remarks and see that he is truly becoming a young man who loves Jesus and wants to please Him. I hope Sound Man and I can teach him to trust Him more and more as he gets older.

The older I get, the more I'm convinced that my pregnancy and his birth was a miracle. I hope in the coming years I will continue to see his life as the miracle God wanted for my husband and me.

Since I'm in a nostalgic mood, here are some pictures from when he was a baby, when he turned 4, and this past November when he got that buck.

Is this not the sweetest picture ever? Look at that little round head! Aaaaahhh! He had a teeny tiny scratch on his little head from where his mother didn't clip his fingernails enough. I'm such a bad Momma. Remind me to tell you about the bassinet incident. Or maybe not. Anyway, these were his first pictures taken, if you don't count the hospital ones. Look at his little moccasins! Those were his first shoes and I still have them. Okay, enough of all this "look at" stuff. I'm gonna start crying.

This picture just cracks me up. He's 8 flippin' weeks old, people! He's not supposed to be able to hold a bottle, much less a book! How she got him to pose like this is still beyond me. His legs are crossed, he's holding that book like he's been reading all his life, he's concentrated on the page. I think it's SO appropriate, though, that I show this because now, at 9 years old, the kid can almost out read me. I mean, right now he's reading Another Season by former Alabama Coach Gene Stallings. For the second time. His favorite book is The Tale of Despereaux, which, if you've watched t.v. any for the past couple of weeks, you know is coming out in theaters Friday. Which, on Saturday, we will all three be going to see. After which, we will be going to Kiddo's favorite restaurant in all the world, Outback Steakhouse. Where he will order the most splendid Mac-a-Roo and Cheese. Have you tasted it? No wonder it's his favorite!

Okay, got off subject there for a minute. Here he is with his best friend in the whole world, C.D. He told me just the other day that instead of his real name, he was going to start calling him C.D, which are his first and middle initials. Okay by me. C.D. looks like he's whispering conspiratorially (I think I just made that word up) in Kiddo's ear. I love this picture, even though J.W. (yes, that's really what he goes by) has his head all up in it. The kids just look like they're having so much fun. I guess they were since they were celebrating their 4th birthdays together. See, C.D. was born just 9 1/2 hours after Kiddo was, only the next morning. So Kiddo's birthday is one day, C.D.'s is the next. They have been in nursery together since they were born. So up until the past couple of years, we did their birthdays together. Then it just got to be so much that we kind of slacked up. But the boys are okay with that. It's not like they don't get to see each other. We all go to church together and their family is in our small group. So, yeah, they get plenty of Kiddo/C.D. time.

I can't believe my baby is going to be in double digits this time next year. He's NINE people! Wheeeeeere did the time goooooo???? I rack my brain trying to remember it all, but I just can't. I guess that's why God allowed someone to invent the camcorder. I'm very thankful for that thing!

Okay, thanks for allowing me to wax nostalgic today. I could have put SO many more pictures on here, but I thought I'd spare you. For now.

Addendum to "My Birthday in Tasmania"

It wasn't until Darlene asked me if kept in touch with anyone from Australia that I realized I totally forgot to add to the ending of my story that my friend Ruth , who was the youth director of the church at Sheffield, called me last night to wish me a Happy Birthday. The connection wasn't the best we've had (I kept hearing strange beeping noises after I would say something), but hearing that sweet Aussie accent immediately made my birthday that much happier.

We chatted about the boys and the husbands and homeschooling (she homeschools her two boys there in Tasmania). I told her about my bloggy friend, Rachel , who lives in South Australia. If I'm not mistaken, I believe she said her mom has relatives in Adelaide. I wonder if Rachel knows them? Yeah, that's like Kimba saying she has relatives in Memphis, and wonders if I know them.

Every time I talk to Ruth I miss her more. I so wish we could pack up and head over there for a couple of weeks. And then have them pack up and come here for a couple of weeks. I know our boys would have a ball together. That is, if they can understand each other. Last time my Kiddo talked to her oldest son he spent more time saying, "What? I didn't understand you!" than he did actually talking. Which just made me laugh. Getting used to the Aussie accent over the phone takes a little practice.

Thank you, Ruth, for your call. It was such a very special gift to me!

My Birthday in Tasmania

What a weekend. I'm spoiled rotten, I tell you. I'll tell about my birthday weekend later this week. With the busyness of the weekend behind me (and more of me that's behind me with all the eating that's been going on, hee hee), let me start the week talking about the most memorable birthday I've ever had.

Everyone knows when people turn 21 they are said to have "come of age." It's when you're legal to drink alcohol and smoke. Not that I've ever done either of those. Seriously. Okay, not that I've ever knowingly done either of those. That's another post aaaallll by itself. Anyway, turning 21 is a big, big deal. Being in Australia when I turned 21 was a big, big, BIG deal.

It had already been such an upside down, topsy turvey summer for me, being away from home for longer than I had ever been, throwing snowballs the last week of July, dancing at a Baptist youth function. It was surreal, this summer of no summer. But I knew the weirdest part was yet to come. My birthday was less than a week before we were to return home to the States and resume our normal lives.

We were at a retreat center the weekend of my birthday, and I was in one of the cabins cleaning up when I realized I was by myself. I was wondering where everyone else had gotten to, when one of the girls came and told me I was needed in the gym. We walked in and everyone there shouted "Surprise!" and ushered me to a table laden with streamers and birthday cake and all sorts of other Australian goodies. See the cake? It was covered with kiwi fruit and orange slices. Not what we Americans consider birthday cake, is it? Much healthier than buttercream frosting, to be sure. But it was yummy, nonetheless. And see the jar with the yellow top just to the right of the cake? That would be Vegemite. It defies description. It's definitely an acquired taste. I never acquired it.

Back to the par-tay. They showered me with gifts that night. A handcrafted wooden bowl made from native Tasmanian wood, earrings made from another Tasmanian wood, a mug with different Australian animals on it (you can see it in front of the Vegemite jar). I was definitely feelin' the Tassie love that night.

But that wasn't the only celebration they gave me. The next night after church we all had a big party that was sort of a "farewell to Keith and Heather/birthday party." I had yet another cake to cut and one more gift to receive from the people of Sheffield. It was a koala made with kangaroo fur, handmade by Dianne's sister. I had admired it the night we went to the Baptist youth dance. (That still cracks me up when I think about it - saying "Baptist" and "dance" in the same sentence...I'll post about that later.) Anyway, we had stopped at Dianne's sister's house to freshen up before the dance (at least I think it was her sister...it was some relation, anyway) and she had one of those koala's. I couldn't stop petting it. Evidently, Dianne noticed how much I loved it and commissioned her sister to make one for my birthday. I was thrilled. This is me (bad grammar!) holding my koala with my friends Janelle and Alicia. Janelle gave me the cutest little wombat that I named after her. You can't tell in this picture, but I'd been crying. I do that a lot, you know. When I'm happy, when I'm sad, etc, etc. I was both happy and sad that evening. I was happy that they loved me so much, but was so sad knowing I'd be leaving soon.

There was one more gift I received, but it wasn't from any of my Australia buddies, it was from Keith. I think I'll save that for another post, because I need to explain my relationship with him in more detail, I think. Nothing inappropriate, mind you. Just very different personalities.

So that was how I spent my 21st birthday. It was amazing. Most people don't forget their 21st birthdays, I'd imagine, but few people get to say that they spent theirs in a foreign country doing amazing things and surrounded by new friends. I'm so grateful to the One who made that the best gift of all.

My Trip to Kat's (among other things)

A few weeks ago Kiddo and I ventured south to my best bud, Kat's, house. Why am I just now posting about it? I'll get to that later. I want to talk about our time down there first.

Kat and her family have a really great above ground pool, so one of the highlights of the trip was the all-day swim by Kiddo and Moose, Kat's sweet little boy. Of course, Fep, Kat's beautiful daughter, swam as well, but she got out more than the boys did. They were in it for the long haul.

We had to do some things before the swimming commenced, though. First, I had brought the promised gifts of the birds to Kat and Fep. That was a big to-do. We had to figure out just where to place Kat's bird, and I'm sure it's been moved since we settled on a resting spot.

Then we had to go stalk a little old lady's house. Not really. Kat's hairdresser told her about a lady she knew who was selling her property for a song, so I wanted to go see where it was. We even pulled in her driveway. I hope she didn't see us.

Then, since we were out anyway, I begged asked Kat if we could go into town to the Dollar Tree to find some birds. I bought one just so I could show Kat what color they are originally. I ended up giving it to her. The two birds hit it off really well once we got home. Look, here they are having quite the chat...

Reminds me of us when we're together. Chat, chat, chat. Anyway, we ate burgers that Kat grilled and had ice cream in the shade of the carport...

Then we noticed the dogs. Dixie, her Corgi pup, and Rupert, her Beagle mix, love each other. Love to torment each other, more like it. We watched as it went from this...To this...
To this...

If you look close enough, Dixie's tongue is hanging out like she's drawing her last breath. Don't let her fool you...She can hold her own.

Kiddo and I were just about to wrap up our fun day and head home when Kat told me to have a seat. I wondered what she had up her sleeve. She came back in with something behind her back and told me she couldn't wait for my birthday to give me what she was about to give me...
A Nester Tassel! I couldn't believe it. It's so pretty, and it goes really well on my china cabinet. I gave her a big hug for such a sweet gift. Kat always gives really great gifts. This may sound funny, but one of her best ones was my Iced Tea Pot. That thing is worth its weight in gold.

I have loved both Nester's and Susie Harris's tassels for a while now, admiring from afar, wondering where I'd put one if I had one, and now I'm the owner of TWO tassels, one from each of them! In case you didn't hear, I WON a Susie Harris tassel yesterday! I AM IN TASSEL HEAVEN! I can't wait till my rooster gets here!

Now, why should this be so significant? Why do I bring up gifts and winnings and all that jazz? Why is it fair that I get TWO tassels within a few short weeks of each other? Well, because today is my birthday. There. I said it. Debbie, aren't you proud?

Yes, August 3rd is my birthday. I'll post this week about different birthday memories, one of which was spent in Tasmania.

So there you go. It's the best birthday I've ever had as a blogger. The fact that it's the only birthday I've ever had as a blogger is beside the point. Had I not started blogging I wouldn't have "met" all of my new friends.

That in itself is the best bloggy present I could possibly imagine.