The New House

Weakness, Strength, Contentment, & Change

But [God] said to me, 

‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ 

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

We are moving.  There have been more ups and downs this week than I have ever experienced in my life.  There have been more emotions and feelings than I have ever dealt with in such a short period of time.  I am tired and overwhelmed and weak, and in some strange way I feel stronger, at more peace, and more provided for from my Heavenly Father than ever before.  I probably won't share a lot of the details here... but this scripture and this quote that I found this morning say it all.  There is a reason.  For all of it.  There is a reason that finding contentment was my personal goal since the beginning of the new year.  A reason that Corey and I got to go away an fortify our relationship the weekend before everything broke loose.  A reason that we have been surrounded by stories of hardships that make us thankful for ours.  A reason.

“God never place us in any position in which we can not grow. We may fancy that He does. We may fear we are so impeded by fretting, petty cares that we are gaining nothing; but when we are not sending any branches upward, we may be sending roots downward. Perhaps in the time of our humiliation, when everything seems a failure, we are making the best kind of progress.”

Elizabeth Prentiss

50 Toes

1 bed

50 fingers

50 toes

10 ears

5 noses

1 family

Corey and I are up early after a night where every child migrated to our bed.  It is easy to wish that it were not so but easier to appreciate it.

It is turbulent right now.

They needed us.

They found us.

Together.

All of us.

Even in the stormy night.

Made Me Laugh 'Til I Cried...

Tonight.  American Idol.  David Archuleta sang "Imagine".  Beautifully.  Perfectly.  He is only 16 years old.  Beyond talented!

Paula Abdul's review?

“I wanted to squish you, squeeze your head off, and dangle you from my rear view mirror.”  

WHAT?!?!

I mean, I agree.  He was triple-dipple-fabulous!  I mean it!!!  I love that kid... and his voice.

But when Paula said... "dangle you from my rear view mirror"... I almost fell out of my chair because I was laughing so hard.

It was not the first time that I cried today, but it was the best.

A "Happy"

I got an email from a friend tonight saying that I should check my front porch.  When I did, I found a bag FULL of chocolate with a note that said that she didn't want me to be without.

Thank you friend!

It worked.

Our Little Odysseus

Last week was Jack's festival at school.  His class did a play that included the highlights from Greek and Roman history.  Jack played the part of Odysseus from the Trojan Horse story.  It was so cute!!!  (My little boy in a costume... I could eat him up!)  After the play and some snacks, the kids had their own version of the Olympics where the daddies pushed the kids in wheel burrows for "chariot races", they threw swimming pool noodles for the "javelin throw", and they threw hula hoops for the "discus throw".  Of course everyone was awarded a medal.  It was a good day!  

 

It Was Time

Corey gave me this for Valentine's Day.  (Hope you can read the fine print... it's funny!)  Yesterday it was just what the doctor ordered.

For Corey

Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. 

Life is taking some crazy turns around here, and I just wanted to shout it from the bloggy mountain tops that I love my man.  Corey, I am proud of you.  I love you.  You are strong.  You are wise.  You are the absolute best husband and dad for me and the kids.  I am committed to you... Wherever we are.  Always. 

Perfect

My man showed up with roses and a Sonic drink for me for Valentine's Day.  

The cup served as the perfect vase.

Close Call

Yesterday Corey & I were leaving the house when, as we were backing out of our driveway, I remembered that we had forgotten some paperwork.  Corey stopped the car, put it in park, and as he was walking to  the house realized that this is what our car was doing.  TOUCHING my sister's car that was parked in the cul-de-sac!  We had not felt anything and there was no noise.  The cars were literally touching, but there was no damage done.  

The miracle of the day.  Or at least one of them.

My Girl's Ears

Allie has battled an ear infection since before Christmas.  Today we went to a new pediatrician and got yet another prescription for antibiotics.  Knowing that the last prescription was $295, I decided to call around to see what the price difference between stores is...

Wal Mart 282.80

Walgreens 227.99

CVS 205.99

Tom Thumb 199.20

Kroger 162.00

Target 135.49

Crazy!!!

I'm off to Target.

***Update: Target quoted the wrong price to me... twice.  So, although I had spent an hour calling around to all the pharmacies and another hour waiting for the prescription to be filled at Target tonight... I am still without drugs.  Arrgh!

Our Family's Favorite

Psalm 127

 1 Unless the LORD builds the house, 

       its builders labor in vain. 

       Unless the LORD watches over the city, 

       the watchmen stand guard in vain.

2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, 

toiling for food to eat— 

for he grants sleep to those he loves.

 3 Sons are a heritage from the LORD, 

       children a reward from him.

 4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior 

  are sons born in one's youth.

 5 Blessed is the man 

whose quiver is full of them. 

They will not be put to shame 

when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

Coming At Me From All Directions

Early this morning I had a moment... I was reading this blog that I love. She was reiterating some things from a sermon that she had heard, and this was part of her notes... 

"People who hurt us don't always intend to hurt us -- they were never even thinking of us... they were thinking about themselves, their lives, just them."

"Something we forget to thank God for is this: side by side with the very real wounds from others, God sends those who are encouragers - who hold you up with the Word of God - often times those whom you would least expect... or maybe those who have always been there by your side and you've taken their love for granted! It is easy to verbalize about those who have wounded your heart, but in the meantime minimize those who love you so much!"

"What ever people do to you does a whole lot less damage than the damage of focusing on what they've done. Don't chew on the offense - spit it out! 

It's sick to taste, and worse to chew, and damaging to swallow... Pray and pray and pray for those who despitefully use you. I'm not saying here to move back into those abusive or damaging relationships. Jesus was back in fellowship with the disciples who betrayed him because they saw their sin and were moved in repentance - broken in their hearts over their betrayal -- Judas was never restored to Jesus - there was no brokenness and no repentance...

Move forward, away and past them. But don't let moving on keep you from praying for them. Stay focused on the goodness of God! Move forward and never loose hope in what God can do! Make it a daily part of your life to forgive and move on. It is daily. Never think it is a one time action. Don't chew each day on the remembered offense, spit it out when it is remembered and forgive once again..."

This came after some thoughts that had been sparked in me over the weekend at the conference and a long conversation that Corey and I had yesterday about praying for those that hurt us.  I didn't even know that I needed to hear all of this right now, but it is evident that I did.  It is so neat how God brings a message to me in the most beautifully orchestrated way.  From many directions He chases me down and captivates me.  

So Much To Say

Well, my conference is over, and I have so many things running through my mind that I want to put out there into the cyber world. My knight in shining armor is riding his white horse to my hotel right now though, so I will have to compose my thoughts later. Let me just say, if you are a mommy, there is nothing more important in this whole wide world than doing what you do to raise your children. How amazing is it that I get to experience this awesome calling from God... THREE times?!

I have been to many women's conferences over the years, and there is not anything that I have ever been to that compares to The Wholehearted Mother Conference that I just attended. Sally Clarkson has a gift for loving on and encouraging moms like no one that I have ever seen, heard, or read before. This is was my 2nd conference to attend that she has hosted, and I hope to make it to every other one that she ever has. She has written many books - some of them focus on homeschooling, but some are just good ol' mom stuff - and if you are a mom, I highly recommend them. Mission of Motherhood is probably the one that I would say is the first one that you simply must read.

So, there you have it... the not-very-informative-but-very-excited update. It has been a great weekend with a sweet friend, and now it is on to Valentine's Day fun... and a nap. :)

A Hotel Blogeroo

Awwww! Hear that? It is quiet. I am in a hotel room all alone. I have taken a super hot bath, finished a book, cleaned out my purse, watched the weather, and bought myself 24 hours of Internet service. Life is good.

Don't think it was this peaceful for me all day long. If you are a mom that has ever tried to get away for a weekend break, you know what I am talking about... I almost threw in the towel a few times as my plans got changed and rearranged, but this is worth it. I am about to eat a couple of Taco Bell bean burritos (thanks to my friend and dinner-deliverer Elizabeth) then we are going to go to a conference where we will learn to be better mommies. I went to this conference last year,and it was oh-so-good, so I am really looking forward to it.

Tommorw after the conference is over and Elizabeth goes home, Corey is going to join me here to celebrate Valentine's Day (thanks to a team of people that are kid and dog sitting). I am so looking forward to spending some time with my honey.

And now to my Allie Cat... I know that you are checking my bloggy list while I am gone... I love you, sweetie. Kiss the baby for me and give Jack a big hug from his mama. Goodnight family. I love you.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Love, 

Amy & company

You callin' me WEIRD?

My friend Amy tagged me... now I am supposed to share 7 things that make me weird. The very fact that I would agree to do this probably qualifies, but I will try to think of 7 others too.

1. I love Taco Bell. When I eat there, I always get a bean burrito, and I have a certain way that I eat it: open it up, squirt 1 pack of mild sauce on it, eat the insides with a foon (fork/ spoon), then roll the tortilla back up to eat it. I have always done it that way... and I always will.

2. I always know which direction is north.... but to figure out which direction is east, south, or west, I literally have to point and say, "Never Eat Sour Watermelon"... I learned that little phrase in 5th grade in Mrs. Miller's class. One time Corey and I were on a road trip with some friends. I think that we were on an Interstate in Kansas somewhere, I fell asleep, woke up a few hours later, and without even sitting up in the seat of the car, I knew that we were going east instead of south... like we were supposed to have been. Similarly, I have to pretend to write with my right hand to know which direction is right.

3. My friend Amy (that tagged me) loves hip-hop dance movies. Similarly, I love highschool cheerleading movies. Have you seen Bring It On?!?!  Classic.

4. I order my Sonic drinks a very particular way... "I need a Route 44 Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper with Easy Ice and a Route 44 cup of ice, please." (best when ordered during Happy Hour... daily from 2 -4pm)

5. I don't know how to type properly.

6. I've read almost every issue of People magazine for 7 years. I don't have a subscription. I don't buy them. I don't steal them. ;)

7. I never ever take my rings off. I bathe in them, swim in them, sleep in them.

So... there you go.  Tag, you're it.  All of you.  :)  I'd love to know if you are weirder than me... so let me know if you take this "tag".

Hannah MOMtana

Oh yes I did!  I went to the Hannah Montana/ Miley Cyrus concert today.  Okay, actually I took Allie and her friend to the HM/ MC 3-D Concert at the movie theatre.  It was so fun.  Taking my kids to do things that they love is the best!  And that Miley... she is a cutie!  Here are a few of the silly pics that Allie and I took in our 3-D glasses when we got home...

That's What You Think!

I recently was involved in an e-mail questionnaire between some friends.  It was a "How well do you know me?" kind of meme (whatever that means... Amanda???).  These were some of the answers from my friends and family that I found most humorous... my responses are in red.

1. Where/how did we meet:

I would assume it was in the hospital in Lubbock after I was born.

You kicked me from inside the womb. 

One from my sister, one from my mom.  You guess which is which.

2. Take a stab at my middle name:

Lou

Jill

Marie

Michelle

Nope... but Marie is my Granny's middle name

3. Do I smoke:

Only a little medicinal marijuana for your glaucoma (my other answer would be NO!!!)

The "other answer" is the correct one.  :)  I have never even tried it.

4. Do I have any siblings:

Yes three - one brother, one average sister, and one phenomenal sister that just happens to live 12 minutes from your front door

Hmmm... I wonder who wrote that one.

5. What's one of my favorite things to do:

Lay around in your PJs drinking diet cherry Dr Pepper from Sonic

Blog stalk

Sleep  :)

Blog, go to your kid's sporting events, have family gatherings, go to the movies, go to Starbucks with a friend 

Yes, yes, yes, and yes

6. What's my favorite type of music:

Whatever James Taylor is classified under (old people music according to your daughter)

I'm sure you're listening to a lot of Hannah Montana and Jonas Bros. these days.

Yep!  

7. Am I shy or outgoing:

You come across as somewhat shy, but there is a little fire burning just under the surface waiting to bust out every once in awhile.

You can be reserved but are certainly outgoing with the right people.

Right - o!  

8. Am I a rebel or do I follow the rules:

I think you are a rules player but can be a little rebel if needed for fun! 

So... let's go have some fun.

9. Any special talents:

You are one of the most compassionate people I know.  I guess that's more of a gifting.  You can throw a great party!

Sleeping with your eyes open

Homeschooling two children while caring for a third, being quick to listen and slow to speak (James 1:19)

Writing

Your creativity in photography is some of the best I've ever known.

You could totally be a party planner and make millions.

Awww... Shucks!  Thanks, kids!

10. How many children do I have: 

3 on Earth, 2 in Heaven

I'm not even kidding... when people remember that I have 5 babies, it is the sweetest thing ever.

11. What do I drive:

A gray van with lots of cookie crumbs. :0)

True.  8 years and counting

12. How old am I:

REALLY OLD!!!! 

Yeah, and I am feeling it today.

13. If you and I were stranded on a desert island, what is

one thing that I would bring:

Scrapbooks of your family 

A comfy blanket

The question says if you and I were stranded.  You said I'd bring my Bible, so I hope you'd bring the Starbucks.  You'd bring that new laptop you're using, along with a satellite wi-fi router so we could blog-stalk together until we died from exposure and dehydration.

A Sonic Drive-in

A laptop

A Sonic Dive-In!!!!  Hi-freakin'-larious!!!  That is not that impractical, come to think of it!  I do love my comfy blankets, and they could provide a little shade too.  As to you "computer-bringin'-people"... it is a desert island, people!!!  There's no power (or Internet service) there... I don't care what you say. 

Pray For Them

As I mentioned in an earlier post today, I have been reading a blog today that has captivated me.  It is called Confessions of a CF Husband.  It is a story of a family written by the husband, Nate, that is madly in love with his wife, Tricia, and their preemie daughter, Gwyneth.  Tricia has Cystic Fibrosis and is in desperate need of a lung transplant.  My sister sent me a link to Nate's blog yesterday and before I had a chance to read it, I had come across it in a couple of other places as well... in a matter of 24 hours.  This Internet is an awesome deal!  One of the pluses of being laid up on the couch all day with a cold and a laptop is that I had the opportunity to go back several weeks in to the archives and catch up on this sweet family's story.  It is amazing!  There is not another word for it.  If you get a chance, you should read it too... as sad as you might think that it is, it is an awesome story of faith and miracles and love.  If nothing else, you should say a prayer for this family as they have a hard road ahead of them.

By the way, Nate says a few times on his blog that he reads all of the thousands of comments that he receives.  I commented today, and he commented back to me on my blog.  Cool!    

My Name

I just accidentally found that my name is on Wikipedia. That is odd, huh? A name in an encyclopedia? Here's what it said...

"Amy is a given name, a variant of "Aimee", which means beloved in French, from Old French amede, from Latin amāta, feminine singular past participle of amāre "to love". The name may also originate from French Ami, which means friend."

That's nice.

My Turn

Last week my boys were both sick, but miraculously the rest of us dodged the puny bullet. We made it through a super-busy weekend and besides the exhaustion, we all felt great. Since then, almost every friend that I have talked to has someone in their family that is sick. Well, a couple of days ago I started feeling a tickle in my throat, and by last night I was coughing, having pressure in my chest, had a sore throat, was going through the Kleenexes like crazy, had a headache, had ear aches, and my joints all hurt to high heaven. Darn! I am not, afterall, invinsible. Thankfully, Corey took the kids to school this morning, and Coop & I have spent the morning on the couch with PBS. Thank God for PBS! Before he left for work, my man brought me this laptop, so I have been catching up on yall's blogs, and I started reading another one. It is amazing!!! The love story of the year, a teeny tiny miracle baby, and some of the best insight on God that I have ever read. It will definately give you something to add to your prayer list, but if you are up for it... it is worth the read. The husband, Nate, googles their story, so if you come across this post Nate - I am praying for your family. You are all amazing!!! cfhusband.blogspot.com

Beauty

I am not a big plant person.  In this stage of my life, I have people to keep alive.  No time for plants.  But right now I actually have two beautiful, living things in my home - a treat from my mom and a beautiful rose from my man.  They are so pretty and bring me joy.

Rocking

Today I gave my littlest one... and myself... the luxury of rocking him at naptime. He is the 1 out of 3 that we successfully trained to put himself to sleep in his bed. For months and months his habit of self-soothing did not allow for me to rock him. Instead of becoming more peaceful in my arms, he was intrigued that I was with him... and he was ready to play! So... if I needed him to nap - and not play - I was unable to rock him like I had the other babies. As far as I am concerned, there were pluses and minuses to getting my babies to sleep in every way that I have, and overall I am happy with the variety of ways that I have experienced with all of my little ones. Anyway... today was an unusual treat as I sat down in the rocking chair with him at naptime to read him books. Instead, he became still, and I could sense that he needed to be rocked as much as I needed to rock him.

We rocked.
He stared into my eyes, and I stared into his.
No words.
Just unimaginable love.
Finally, I told him to close his eyes and go to sleep.
He did.
I rubbed his hair.
He grew limp.
His eyelashes fluttered in that, "I am not asleep, but I want you to think I am." sort of way.
His brow furrowed with concentration.
I rubbed his forehead, and he became even more calm.
I prayed for him.
For all of them.
It dawned on me that it has been a year almost to the day since I last nursed him.
Tears rolled down my make-upless cheeks.
I wondered, "Is it over?" That stage of my life.
Forever?
My heart is broken at the thought.
He peeked at me.
One eye.
I remembered that for several days after he was born, he would peek like that.
We called him Popeye.
Then and now... it is as if he is making sure that I am still here. Beside him.
I am, sweet one.
Always.

His Popeye face - in the hospital when he was born. 

I was as in awe of him.

Not much on earth compares to snuggling my babes - still.

A Bedtime Blog

Tonight Corey fixed up an old laptop for me, so I am blogging from the comfort of my bed. Ahhh... I think I have reached a new level of bloghood. I don't really have anything great to blog about right now, but I want to have this experience of Bed Bloggin', so here are my random thoughts...

- Today Cooper heard a loud sound outside and said, "Dunther!" "Is it going to rain?"
- I LOVE baby words!
- My kids had their last basketball practices tonight, and I am sad that the season is drawing to an end. Their teams are full of friends... so practices and games are fun social outings for me in addition to getting to see my kids play my favorite sport.
- I TRIPLE LOVE the TV show The Office. The theme song, Michael Scott trying to be funny but not being funny is hilarious, reruns are just as great as the first time, Pam & Jim's love story. All of it. I love it all.
- I saw my niece Claire today. She is adoreable!
- She calls Cooper "Pooper".
- 2 squirels ran in front of my car on my way to take the kids to school this morning.
- One got lucky. One did not. Allie & I screamed bloody murder... literally.
- Cooper pretended to be a squirel for the rest of the morning... his cereal was "squirel food"... that was disturbing to the big kids and me.
- Corey brought me a single red rose last night. I LOVED it!
- I made a huge decision last week and actually feel peaceful about it.
- Tuesday is Family Night at Chic-Fil-A.
- We love free food, and we love Chic-Fil-A.
- One time an old lady customer-service person at the mall called that restaraunt Chic-A-Fil to me.
- I still call it that sometimes. It makes me laugh.
- I wish that people that read my blog would comment, so I would know who is reading my blog.
- I am terrified to know who is reading my blog.
- It is a bit too dark to blog in my bed tonight... my lamp needs a new bulb.
- The space bar on this computer sticks. That makes me frustrated!
- I am giddy that I am going to get a new niece or nephew.
- I wish that I was pregnant too.
- My sister acknowledged that, and that makes me love her even more.
- The Super Bowl was awesome! I LOVED watching it.
- My house is still a mess from our Super Bowl party. 
- I despise cold sores.
- I get cold sores a lot.
- It was warm this morning. My kids didn't even wear jackets to school.
- Tonight it was FREEZING cold.
- I was still wearing my flip-flops and my new t-shirt that my sister gave me, and I was really cold.
- I love my king size bed!
- I want new bedding.
- Corey & I slept in a double bed for the first 8 years we were married.
- Sometimes we had 2 kids in that double bed with us.
- Did I mention that I love my king size bed?
- I even love it when there are 3 kids in it with me.
- It is after 1am, and I am really tired.
- I think that I am ready to go to sleep.
- Goonight!

Okay, Okay... I Can't Hide It!

There, in fact, is another Selke cousin on the way!!!  This morning when I was updating my blog, I wanted to write about it so badly, but I didn't want to steal my sister's thunder... so I called her and gently nudged her to... SHARE THE NEWS, ALREADY!!!  Now, she has posted on her blog so sharing the news of grandbaby #8 is fair game.

My sister Sara and her husband Beau are expecting their second baby!  Little Asher is only 14 months old, so the babies will be 22 months apart.  I am so happy for them.  They are super-great parents to Asher, and I know that they will handle 2 babies like pros.  

They told us their news in the cutest way.... When they were visiting our home this past weekend, the kids were all playing in the living room and Beau was videoing Asher shoot a basketball into the toy goal and doing his other cute little tricks and saying his cute new words.  Sara said, "Asher can you say 'baby'?"  He said, "Bu Bu". (or something like that)  Then, she said, "Where is the baby?", and he pointed to her tummy!  So cute!  It took me a second to register that he was telling me that she was pregnant... but I finally got it. Yea!!!  

Big Brother, Asher

Congratulations Sara & Beau!!!

6 Selke Cousins... More On The Way

How lucky are these kids that they get to see each other every few weeks because their parents that live hours away from each other are just that crazy?!?  They all love each other so much.  The little ones even include their cousins' names in the first words that they learn to say.  We are blessed to have a family that loves each other, and though my big kids are quite a bit older than the others, I think that all of the cousins will have a special relationship forever.  I wonder how many there will be once things are all said and done.

**Update... Not pictured: Chloe Grace (due in May) and Baby Waters (due in October)**

My Buddy

He goes by many names... Jackson, Jack, Jackie, Jack P. #26, Bud, Bubba, JP... But to me, usually, he is Buddy.  When he dribbles the basketball down the court or hits the baseball, it is my voice that can be heard over the crowd yelling, "Run Buddy! Run!"  It was not planned... it is just what stuck out of all of the gazillions of goo-goo-gaa-gaa names that this mama blabbered at her little baby.  Just thinking about him brings tears to my eyes.  I love him so much!  Like all parents do, I think, I could not imagine how my heart could expand to love a second child as much as I already loved the first... but it did.  The little sucker gave me a run for my money when he was 2 years old, and I thought, "Oh no!  How am I going to handle him for 18 years!?!"  But miraculously he grew and matured into the sweetest most caring little guy that I know.  Just yesterday... on his birthday... the day that was "all his"... he ran into an acquaintance at Peter Piper Pizza and shared all of his tokens and prizes with him, he bought things with his tickets for his sister and his neighbor friend, he made his sister's water bottle in preparation for school today, and he told me about how he has been giving his friend at school "football lessons" because he didn't know how to play and was nervous about coming to his football party.  I don't deserve him.  I am humbled by the fact that he is mine.  He is more than a blessing to me, and I am beyond thankful for my Buddy!  

Family Birthday Fun

For Jack's big day he got to call the shots... our day included lots of playing with new birthday toys, lunch at Peter Piper Pizza, a trip to Marble Slab for ice cream, and some serious Wii playing time.  Before we ever had kids, Corey tried to take the day off of work for our birthdays each year.  Now, he has a few more days a year to take off, but it is a highlight for the birthday boy/ girl each time that he does.  (Thanks Honey!)  I am glad that birthdays are such a big deal in our family, and I think that Jack had a great day yesterday.  I had a great day being with him!

Opening gifts from the family... Legos, can you believe it?!? 

Jack worked on building Legos every spare moment that he had yesterday.  I am almost certain that he has some sort of engineering in his future.  :)

Jack's restaurant of choice for his birthday lunch... Peter Piper Pizza

Me with my birthday boy.  Oh, how I love him!
Corey was pretty excited to see that PPP has a Galaga game!

I love it when all 3 of my kids find things to play together.  Air hockey was a hit!
The reason that he wanted to go to Peter Piper Pizza.... the trinket toys. 

Jack's SUPER Football Party

It's official.  Today my little guy turned eight.  Eight!  I wasn't sure how we would pull this birthday off after the week that we has last week, but we did... and it was a success! (thanks to a family that includes a couple of personal shoppers and right-hand-man party preparer)  Our family is a little crazy about our kids, and their birthdays, and family, and getting together, and football... and since all of that happened on one weekend, it was super-full... which will require several blog entries, I am sure. First things first...

The Party

With Jack's birthday being the day after Super Bowl Sunday this year coupled with his love of football, it seemed perfect to have a football birthday party. It was a bit risky to plan an outdoor birthday party on Super Bowl Sunday... in February (It has snowed before on Jack's birthday.), but the weather could not have been better and we had great attendance. We met at a middle school's football field near our house, and the boys played an hour of flag-football. ((Party Tip: Running around for an hour... the key to success for an 8-year-old boy's birthday party.)) Corey and my brother each coached a team and my dad refereed the game. Jack was so elated to have a "real" ref! (Thanks Dad!) All of my side of the family plus a few guests were there to cheer the boys on. (Thanks yall for being so involved in my kids' lives and loving them to pieces!)

The birthday boy warming up

Corey's team in the huddle

Jack concentrating on a good run

Poppie - the best ref out there

Coach Uncle Coby - excited after his team made a touchdown

Sassy - one of the many cheerleaders

Cooper was worn out after the game. Thankfully he has a great big sis' to snuggle up to.

Jack with his football cake

The "piranas" picking up candy after the pinata broke

The grand finale - opening gifts. Jack is so blessed to have friends to celebrate his birthday with.

More birthday fun to come... stay tuned. Got to go love on the birthday boy right now.