Happy 4th Birthday, Rooster!

Reid turned 4 today, and although his party isn't until Saturday, the day didn't go uncelebrated. He took cupcakes to share with his preschool class, and his teacher reported they sang Happy Birthday to him twice - once in chapel, once before they ate the cupcakes. Back at home, he apparently couldn't help himself once he saw the presents.... I was on the phone with Aunt Dailey when I heard, "Hey, Mom, look what you and Dad got me - NASCAR!" (We cannot explain the new Nascar craze sweeping his part of the house, but he digs it.) Trey even came home early from work so they could play baseball in the backyard. We went to Kanki for dinner, but he was so anxious to get home to his Nascar cake that he really wasn't interested in real food. (Clearly I had no idea we'd be dining as a family of 4 when I bought that cake.) We had planned to have the Clines over for dinner, but my weekend bout with the flu changed plans a bit.

Waiting semi-patiently for his dinner at Kanki...

The cake was a work of art - the steering wheel even had buttons that talked.

Getting ready to blow out the big "4"...

Once Reid looted the cake for any keepsakes, he was happy to let his sister in on the fun.

Nothing like a big bubble bath to get them in the same tub!

Even thought the Clines opted (very wisely, I might add) to stay away for dinner, Aunt Lauren appeared this afternoon bearing gifts - a Spiderman backpack he's barely put down and a "new shooter." (Much to Lil's dismay, he's barely put that down either.) As soon as he got out of the bath and got his PJs on, he filled that bag with his Nascar treasures, grabbed his gun, and he was off.

Happy 6th Birthday, Lil!

Lil turned six (!) today, and she had her party at Build-A-Bear. It was an exciting day, and sister is jumping rope with a new princess rope as I type. To be that excited about a birthday again! She has told me countless times today that birthdays make her feel good inside and that her party was the best one she's ever had. Let's hope Reid is also a satisfied customer when his birthday comes on Tuesday. :)

Lil and May passed the birthday cupcake while everyone took turns stuffing their bears.

Lil with her friends Jett, May, and Grace

Lil and Mae after stuffing their bears

Would any party be complete (for Reid, anyway) without Howard?

Top row: Olivia, Jett, Kate, May, Grace, Sydney, Annie, Leslie, Sally
Bottom row: Sarah Ann, Addie, Mae, Lil, Howard, Reid, Tucker, Amelia


At the end of the party, they all circled around Lil and sang - make that screamed - the happy birthday song.

True to form, Lil had a Lightning McQueen cake.

Boyfriends

Tonight as Lil and I were reading The Giving Tree, she got to the page where the boy is a teenager. You can't see the boy, but you do see 2 pairs of legs from behind the tree. Lil started giggling and said, "I think the boy has a GIRLFRIEND!" I laughed and told her I thought she was right. Then she looked at me and said, "May (one of her best friends) thinks all the girls should have a boyfriend, but I think I'm a little too young for that." Then she went on to say, "Everyone says Sam (a cute little boy in her class at school as well as her Sunday school class) has a girlfriend, and that it's ME." So it has begun. Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be much interest on her end!

Baseball Fever

Ever since Grammy and Papa Harry gave Reid a pitching machine and a glove for Christmas, he and Lil have had baseball fever. The arrival of the bases they sent later only added to it. Trey pitches to them, and they've actually gotten pretty good! They especially love to run the bases after they hit it.

Snow (or not), friends, one engineer, and a big digger

Several weeks ago, our weather forecast promised up to four inches of snow. I made the mistake of telling Lil and Reid about that, and they waited and waited for those flakes to start coming down. Oh, those local weather people all needed to be lined up for a good spanking because they were so, so wrong. We got NO SNOW - just a little ice covering on the back deck. Lil made the most of it, though - she was out there trying to make snow angels.


Reid also had his friend Woody over for a while before they went to a birthday party. Clearly one mischief-maker finding happiness with another.

Lil was "engineer of the week" at school last week. Each of the 22 kids in her class gets a turn during the year - a full week of numerous special privileges. She'd been eagerly anticipating her turn since September and was SO excited when her turn finally came! She even asked me to come take pictures of her with her chart that they make during the week.

Our house sold after four days (!) so we signed on to build a new one about a mile away. The house that was on the lot was torn down this afternoon, and our builder called to let me know the "big digger" (as Reid calls it) was out. We drove over to watch for a while, and much to Reid's delight (and my surprise), the big digger driver, Cecil, invited Reid to climb up and help finish the demo work. It's safe to say Reid's new goal in life is to have his own big digger.

It's official!

With #3 coming this summer, our house is officially on the market. The sign appeared in the yard this afternoon!

Happy Birthday, Miss Ruby!

Today was Ruby's 9th birthday.... After dinner, she and Frank had dog ice cream; Albert had ice cream for cats; and Lil and Reid had just plain old human cookies and cream. I think after all these years she figures pictures in the birthday hat are a necessary evil and a sure sign that something delicious is coming!

Rose Parade

Our sweet next-door neighbor was in the Rose Parade in Pasadena this morning, and after watching her group several times (thank heavens for the DVR), Lil decided she was going to have her OWN Rose Parade in the yard. Cowboy Reid was originally given the task of pulling the float along, but he didn't do it just right - plus he complained too much - so Lil took over and gave him the drum instead. He much preferred riding his big wheel up and down the driveway while she worked on perfecting the float.

Happy New Year!

We rang in 2008 a few hours early at the Clines' house tonight - the second of what I hope will be many New Year's Eves together! Lil picked out the accessories at the party store earlier; she was very serious about coordinating hats, necklaces, and horns.

Happy 2008!

Christmas

I have been terribly negligent about posting because we've been so busy! Grammy and Papa Harry were here for a nice, long Christmas visit, and Susu and Ga also came to Raleigh for Christmas Eve.

According to Lil, all of her Christmas wishes came true - she got all sorts of toys from the Cars movie. Reid was also pretty excited about his new train set and big wheel, but there was definitely a little toy envy going on once he saw Lil's cars.

We had a wonderful holiday - definitely a great end to 2007!

Lil was high on the holiday all of December - especially the last day of school, when they had doughhuts and hot chocolate and watched the Polar Express - in their pajamas. Santa even dropped some frozen bells down from his sleigh for the class!


Lil and Mae on Christmas Eve


Grammy and Papa Harry


Susu and Mae


Luke and Mae


Oren tells Ga and Lauren what he wants from Santa


Lil sang with the cherub choir at the Christmas Eve service and spent the rest of the night belting out five or six lines from her favorite. "Hurry, shepherds, to the manger bed!"


Lil and Reid pose with Zach, our elf on the shelf, before he returns to the North Pole for the year.


Cowboy Rooster tries out the new cowboy accessories from Aunt Stacey and family


Lil checks out her new Cars toys on Christmas morning


Reid on his new big wheel on Christmas morning


Grammy coached Lil on the new pitching machine she and Papa Harry gave Reid for Christmas...


while Papa Harry and Reid kept the machine loaded.


Lil and Reid after raiding Trey's closet