March Madness and Birthday Badness

I'm that kind of girl. What kind you ask? The kind of girl who throws herself a birthday party. They kept asking, "What do you want for your birthday?" and I can only think of one thing...to be surrounded by those I love.

So we incorporated Robbie and my favorite things...birthdays and basketball. Most of my pics didn't turn out from the night (Sorry KMAC and Iggs!!!), but here are a few of the highlights.

I am simply blessed by beautiful people. What a way to celebrate another year of life!!! Looking forward to my birthday week!!!

Piedmont Park

Spring has finally arrived and we decided to enjoy every bit of it.

During our trip to ATL, we decided to take advantage of the amazing weather. Before we could soak in the sun, the kids decided they each needed a pair of shades to match mommy and daddy...

Now, I know they are my kids and I might be impartial, but are they not the cutest???? Gosh, I just love 'em.


We then met Michelle and Anabelle in downtown ATL for an afternoon at Piedmont Park.


And speaking of cute, look at that adorable litle Anabelle. She is just the sweetest little thing.

Tate and Lily are absolutely in love with Anabelle and followed her everywhere...

After the park, Robbie and the kids headed north so that I could have a full day of shopping on Saturday. Oh spring break...I'm so sad to see you go!

Getting WILD in ATL

We had to get out of town and quick. A week at home during spring break might sound ideal, but toss in some cabin fever from recent illness, an overloaded few work weeks, and a houseful of contractors complete with hammering and drilling through all hours of the day, and the "ideal" family week was thrown for a loop.
So, we loaded up and headed south on I-75 to Hotlanta. No real agenda or plans just a simple desire to be together and experience what the city had to offer.
We quickly made some new friends...

These big fellas entertained the kids by feeding themselves some branches with their trunks. Lily kept her eyes on them afraid they would shoot water at them from their trunk.


These tall creatures were clumsy and awkward and Lily's favorite. She said they were "gentle". Now that I think of it, I think these folks would be fine companions for her.

The picture of our lion friend had a bad reflection, but it was a great one. He was sitting close enough to the window to see each breath he took. So, we decided to re-create it in one of the wooden photo spots.

And here's a shot of daddy's favorite. Daddy was captivated at the gorilla display. He was fascinated by their wrestling and running through their terrain. Tate decided to climb aboard the gorilla statue and try that wrestling thing out for himself.

And the most beautiful bird...the pink flamingos. They both tried to stand on one leg and stand real still. Of course, Lily loved them because they were pink.

Now that the kids are older, it is such a pure joy to watch them learn and grow together. It is a real thrill for Robbie and I to answer their questions and watch their reaction to the wonder of God's creation.

The Man with the Yellow Hat and the Golden Arches

I have a reputation to uphold.

Many years ago (too many to count), I was put in charge of Halloween costumes for my brothers. Now they were typical boys requesting He-Man and GI Joe. After much negotiations, I convinced them that I had the most amazing costumes for them. They just needed to TRUST me.

24 hours later, my masterpieces were complete. For Tony, it was easy...a white pillowcase with eyes cutout. A scary ghost...how classic of a costume can you get?

For Baby Rusty, I had to get a bit more creative since he was a little more persistent for his costume. I stapled two red poster boards together and cut out long, yellow rectangles to poke out from the top. A rounded "M" cutout and pasted to the front and that baby brother of mine was my favorite fast food treat...yep you guessed it...McDonald's french fries.

Needless to say, this story and the accompanied pictures have provided hours of family entertainment. (Oh what I would do for a copy of that pic...mom? Can you help a sister out?)

Fast forward to last week. Tate had been sick with strep throat and I fell a little behind on his kindergarten classroom activities. The night before the big "Dr. Seuss' Birthday Party", I found myself scrambling to find a costume to display my son's favorite book character. The rules?

1. No masks.

2. No modern day costumes (i.e. Mario Brothers, Ninja Turtles, etc...)

3. Must be able to be worn all day with little disruption to regular activity.

4. Must have the book to carry in the Character Parade.

Believe it or not, #4 was the hardest part. My kids have a hundred books, but none of them seem to fit in the criteria listed above. After much deliberation, a smile finally came over his face and I knew that I had it!

Who is this character, you ask? Why "The Man with the Yellow Hat" and his trusty pal, Curious George. Needless to say, Tate was thrilled and I might have been a little excited as well.

Postscript: Please note the following details...

• Yellow felt glued over brown hat and yellow shirt with character name compliments of Hobby Lobby (and a little handy work from mom).


• The part of Curious George is being played by Seymour the Monkey (compliments of Uncle Red-Christmas 2009).


• Curious George book loaned from Lily's library and inscribed by Lea Myers as a baby shower gift.

The Bad Luck Charm...

There he is...our boy, Bobo. We won't talk about the bright yellow shirt or the resemblance to his favorite Saved By the Bell character, Screech. Last weekend, we headed west to support TN Tech in the OVC Tournament and the Lady Raiders in the substate.

Here are some pics of us cheering on the Golden Eagles...

Of course, we had to give Bobo some love after the loss. Although it was brief, it was great to see them.

We then headed to Murfreesboro to support the Lady Raiders in their substate game. On the way, we stopped at Party City to get some "decorations" for the kids...

Unfortunately, the O'Bryans didn't bring any luck and we suffered two losses. We sure had a great time cheering then on.

Monster Truck Show

About the only show that Tate will watch on ESPN is the Monster Truck Rally so Robbie's motto???? "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." He bought Tate tickets for his birthday, so Papaw, Robbie and Tate headed to UTC to watch the rally. I'm pretty proud of RobBob...he actually managed to get some decent pics...

Tigger Lost His Bounce

We headed to Arcade Bounce to celebrate Tate's 6th birthday...

Look at this pitiful thing. This was the start of Illness #2: strep throat. Poor thing wakes up with laryngitis and by the end of his party was looking like this...


We made the best of it and at least the guests had a great time...

Even Mamaw and Papaw got in on the fun and challenged each other to a rigorous game of air hockey (I think Mamaw won!!!)...

We plugged through it and were able to get through the party...

Right after, he hit the bed and was home from school for a week. Well at least he was surrounded by friends and family...

Pink Cake

Having a son born on Valentines Day is tricky. When I asked Tate what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, he said strawberry. Well...strawberry cake is pink. Six year old boy taking pink cupcakes to school??? Not really great on the cool factor...enter Valentines Day. Apparently noone notices they are pink cupcakes because its Valentines Day and there is PINK everywhere.

We enjoyed a family night for Tate's actual birthday where Lily insisted that we

must make a cake. So, bake we did.

We munched on nachos (Tate's pick) and just enjoyed spending time as a family.

Lily decided that she was going to be the event photographer. As you can see, she's getting quite good.

This picture sums it up for me...

Happy Birthday to my sweet, inspired, glowing, special 6 year old boy!! Wow, how time flies!!!

The Dog Ate My Memory Stick

There is no excuse...I completely understand that, but if I were to be asked why I haven't blogged in over a month, these would be my "canned, superficial" excuses:

1. Illness: Plain and simple...the men in my life have been repeatedly sick...Strep, pneumonia, flu...you name it...my boys have had it. And to top it all off, our beanut has been diagnosed with asthma.

2. Extracurriculars: Tate started swim and baseball, Lily started ballet, Robbie went in to March Madness mode a few weeks earlier, and I've been cheering (unsuccessfully) my Raiders to the state championship.

3. Remodel: Laundry rooms done, new bath and kids bath needs tile, paint and fixtures and then the fun begins...DEMOLITION...the kitchen and master bedroom...I CAN'T WAIT!!!

So please forgive me and stay tuned to see what happens when I have a few days off.