My Baby's 5th Birthday Party!!!

How is it that my BABY is having his fifth birthday party today? There is not any baby left in him anymore. Cry.

As you can see his birthday theme is Monster Jam Trucks! Gone are the days of Elmo birthday parties. We are actually having a combined party with another boy from church, Keegan. His birthday was Feb 20 and with Jack's as March 5th, today is smack in the middle of the two.

Since I didn't do any party last year except for small family one, I decided that this year I would do it up big. And big as in LOTS of kids. I invited all 12 kids in his class, all the friends from church and a couple of other friends, along with Keegan's cousins. In all total, there very well could be about 30 kids all under the age of 9 there today. What have I done to myself?

The plans include a big pirate show put on by a friend who does kid's birthday parties for a living. He is absolutely amazing with the kids. He hasn't clued me in on much of his plans, but he told me to plan on a 45-min show, with him dressed as a pirate with sword fighting and what not. It should be fun and I plan to video and will put a little snippet on here for ya.

Jack is way beyond excited at the moment. We have been counting down the days to the big party and I have to say that it was an advantage last night when I put him to bed. I told him that he had to go to sleep in order to wake up on his birthday party day. Kinda like Christmas. And truth be told, I am pretty excited about the whole thing myself. I can't wait to watch him today.

As far as his actual birthday on Thursday, well that will be a bit anti-climatic. I will take cupcakes into his school and then probably go out to dinner that night or something.

So I just may need your prayers today.

Happy Fat Tuesday!

Mardi Gras. Before I moved to the Gulf Coast, I really had no clue what Mardi Gras was or entailed. But ya'll, it is a HUGE Holiday here. I mean business and schools close down and the entire area goes nuts. And the parades. Oh my goodness. The parades! For a month leading up to the big day of Fat Tuesday, there are countless parades all over the coast. We went to one a couple of weeks ago and came home with more Mardi Gras beads than we need. But it is so much fun. As the floats go by, they throw things to the thousands of people ranging from beads, t-shirts, toys, stuffed animals, and candy. And you would be surprised how people are downright mean by shoving people out of the way just so they can get those cheap beads! It is crazy.

I had planned to take the kids to the big Biloxi parade this afternoon, but my stupid non-existent immunity has caught the crud that has been going around the area and the thought of standing out on the side of the street with thousands of other parade-goers just didn't seem as much fun as it did yesterday when I felt better.

However, Jim gets to go to the big one tonight in an official capacity. He gets to try to police all the crazy and drunk people. Hahaha. He should have some stories to tell when he gets home.

Happy Fat Tuesday ya'll! What are you giving up for lent tomorrow? I am giving up diet coke. I thought about giving up sugar, then I laughed. Yeah right with Jack's birthday party this weekend, that ain't gonna happen. So diet coke it is.

Ummm.... (crickets)

So I was driving today and thought of a really good, funny, and cute post that I just had to post on here. And now a few hours later when I get a chance to post it? Ummm... yeah no idea what it was. So stay tuned ... maybe. That's all I have right now.

Brandi

It has been two weeks since Brandi moved into our home. I have to be honest that I was scared to death. Leading up to the big day, I was having anxiety attacks about what this decision would do to our family. I tried to pinpoint what exactly I was afraid of and I really could not pinpoint one particular thing, other than it was an unknown change to everything. But God would not let me back out of this and kept niggling my brain that this girl needed us. And he was right.

When I think of Brandi's mother, I can't help but get angry. She threw away three girls (from different fathers) all because of drugs and men. Brandi floundered and wasted away in the system for the past 6 years being shuffled from one home to another facility. So that when we met her last summer, I don't think I have ever met an angrier girl in my life. She was living in the girl's group home with 8 other girls whose parents threw them away as well. I remember when I first met Brandi, I did not have nice thoughts for her. But Jim could see something of himself in her and started to show her some love. By the end of the week at the youth church camp, she was actually smiling and joining in the activities. She was opening up to us and telling us a little bit about her life. She just needed love like all of us does. She never had the opportunity to feel that unconditional love that Jack and Laura take for granted. That every child needs and deserves.

Last night she told me that she has never been happier in her life living with us. She has fit right in and is a pleasure to have in the house. She goes to church with us and is enjoying being part of the youth group. She has raised her grades to As & Bs. How she managed to get to 15 without being a drug-addict, school-dropout, or worse, is beyond me. She is a good kid. And I really can't wait to see what the future holds for her.

Remind Me Again Why We Have a Dog

I came close to using Jim's gun this morning to shoot our dog Molly. It was 3:18 am in the morning and she started barking in her full grown-up voice at me. Telling me that I HAD to get up NOW not later. It didn't matter that I smacked her doggie face a few times. So I got up, let her outside to do her business and then waddled myself back to bed. But noooo she wouldn't let me do that. At 4:08 am, I gave up the fight and let her win. sigh.

I normally could take a nap after taking the kids to school, but that is out of the question since Jack has no school today, tomorrow, or Monday. Cry.

Turning 5!

I can not even believe that Jack will be turning five in less than a month. How is that even possible? Kindergarten this fall???? Five is big kid status. Yikes.

I just started to plan the birthday party. I had originally thought about doing the Chuck E Cheese thing, even though I so dislike that place. But a friend at church brought up sharing a party at the church with her son turning 7. A friend does kid's birthday parties and actually puts on a good show with kid's songs. Of course it will be crazy with all his friends from church and school, but should be fun. Oh and the theme the boy wants this year? Yeaahhhh that is monster trucks. He is over-the-top crazy about monster trucks now. We created a monster by taking him to monster truck jam last weekend.

For those who have emailed me and asked about how things are going with Brandi, our new foster daughter, things are going well. I plan to dedicate a post about her and how she is adjusting to our family in a day or two. It is an adjustment on both sides, but for the most part, it is going really well.

Yep We Are Rednecks

We went to Monster Truck Jam in New Orleans on Saturday night. We were right there with all the other rednecks and I have to say that it actually was fun to watch those big trucks smash the cars and everything else in the way. And Jack? Yeah he was in heaven. I think I had more fun watching him watching the monster trucks. And just in case anybody out there is thinking about attending a Monster Truck Jam, I have two words for you. Ear. Plugs. They will be your best friend. Below you can see we forked out $20 for Jack to get a pair of tire ear muffs.

Grave Digger flying through the air. Oh yeah and we had to buy a Hot Wheel Grave Digger for the boy. Yep we are raising a redneck for sure.

The outing was also our first family trip with our new addition to our family. Brandi came to live with us last Thursday. The adjustment is going well. She is going to school and is opening up more and more to us. She has been craving a family for so long that it is fun to see her relaxing and loving to be part of our family. Jack is also loving having another big sister around. He was talking her ear off in her room the other night as she was settling in. I am just very happy that we are able to help her and hopefully be a positive influence in her life.