Mom's Surprise Retirement Party

For a couple months, my family as been keeping a big secret from my mom.  We sneakily talked about a "mother's day dinner" that was to take place this past Friday..... but she is retiring this week!  Friday is her last day, and we couldn't let her retire without a party to celebrate!  Even though she hates surprises, we decided we wanted to try to plan it as a surprise.  My dad booked a reservation at Log Inn, my sister got invites sent out , my sister-in-law shopped for party essentials, and I volunteered to handle desserts!  It was a total group effort and it turned out so perfect!  And yes, she was so surprised! 

Here are some pics from the evening :)

Dessert!  There were peanut butter/chocolate cookies, tuxedo brownies, sugar cookies, chocolate cake with chocolate icing, strawberry cake with cream cheese icing, german chocolate cake, and white cake with white icing!

All 3 kids went in on this little "RETIRE" gift - each letter represented a gift card theme - Read, Eat, Travel, Indulge, Relax, Enjoy.  My sis also made beautiful arrangements for the tables!  Good job, sis!

Dad looks way surprised - ha!  Mom still had no idea at this point...

Her trying to put it all together.

Happy Retirement, Mom!

The girls

Mom & Tyler

My dad's brother & sister

Dad spoke a little, then asked some other people to share a little bit about mom, and her career.

She received lots of nice gifts too :)

Meet Grayson

Sunday was our day to get stuff done!  We had a of list places we needed to go, a list of things to get from the store, a list of things to get done at home - and getting a new dog wasn't even on my radar!  Our second stop while we were out was to PetSmart.  CeCe needed food.  We parked and realized they were doing a big adoption event.  The tent was set up in the parking lot, so of course we decided to just walk through.  There were teeny tiny baby kittens - and as adorable as they were, it was easy to say no.  I don't need anymore cats in the house!

But the dogs.... there was so many dogs.  Kevin kept seeming to fall in love with everyone he read about and I kept rolling my eyes.  See, over the last year we've thrown around the idea of getting another dog.  We thought it might help CeCe if she had a friend to play with.  CeCe is great at her chicken keeping job, but not great with her people skills.  But we always got stuck with the "what ifs".  The biggest being, what if it's bad with chickens?

So we looked at a couple in cages - one was sweet and cute but had been abused and wasn't good with men or kids - so that was a no.  Then we say "Jerry".  His coat was really different, he seemed like a great size (CeCe doesn't like dogs her size or bigger), and he was SO CALM!

We got more info about him.  His foster mom was there and answered all our questions.  Kevin kept telling me he wasn't leaving with out him.  I kept rolling my eyes and said lets think about it because if he was bad with the chickens we'd have to give him back.  By this time, the lady in charge of the PAAWS organization was over and told us we had two weeks to see if he was a good fit or not.  If he wasn't, we could return him and it would be no big deal. A little about him, he's 10 months old, he was picked up with a brother that looked like him, and he's a Australian cattle dog mix.  He's also been neutered and he is up to date on shots. 

We filled out the paper work and the whole time I'm saying to myself, "Are we really getting another dog?"  I always feel bad about the lack of time I spend with CeCe.  But it was a done deal, and we changed all our plans and headed home with him.

CeCe was immediately defensive of her water and food bowl.  The new dog seemed scared of the chickens but that didn't last long.  About an hour after we got home I went to my in-laws to get a kennel they don't use, and Kevin called to say the new pup had gotten a hold of Sunny - our little handicapped white chicken whose wing was amputated last summer and her breed can't fly.  Thankfully she had just lost some feathers and was ok.  We locked the chickens up to keep them safe and decided we'd try to introduce them slower.  

So it's been about 48 hours that we've had him.   He's THE SWEETEST DOG - minus the little chicken incident!  I've only heard him bark twice, he and CeCe are getting along very well (they both have their own food and water bowls), he'd done great in his kennel at night, he never jumps up, he just sits and loves to be pet.  He follows who ever is outside where ever they go.  Oh, and the kids insisted on the name Grayson.  So, meet Grayson.  He may be the sweetest dog ever :)  And we feel pretty confident we can get the chicken situation worked out!

Kisses for Allie

Krissy wanted nothing to do with being in the picture

He's so ugly he's cute :-P

He looks adorable with his little red scarf!

Hayden's 9th Birthday Party

Hayden had a GREAT birthday!  In the previous posts, I forgot to mention that Hayden really wanted a big party this year.  Big party= invite everyone he knows to Gattitown/Elite Air/ or Bob Walthers.  Kevin and I talked about it, and with our upcoming beach trip + the bigger gift we planned to get him, we didn't think it was doable.  We broke the news to him that we were sticking with just a family party, and he was fine with it.  We told him that hopefully next year on his 10th birthday we could do a bigger pay. 

Another thing... since Hayden was born, I've been getting weekly emails about milestones and what to expect at that particular age.  When you turn 9, the emails stop.  I was so sad because I love reading them!  Maybe 9 was a bigger birthday than I thought?

We normally open gifts in the morning, but since Kevin had to be at work extra early (4am), we waited until his party to open any gifts.  I made his favorite breakfast (sock-it-to-me cake).  When he woke up, the only thing on his mind was playing with our new dog, Grayson, so he didn't even seem to mind that we weren't doing things the way we always had.  He requested a cookie cake for his class.  I ordered one last week, and picked it up yesterday afternoon.  I took it to his class, cut it in sections for the kids, and they seemed thrilled with it.  We also took in rock candy on a stick.  I needed some for his birthday cake, so I just went ahead and ordered 36, and had plenty to share with the class and the cousins :)

I made a baked potato bar for his birthday dinner, since that's one of his favorite meals.  He had such a fun party.  He loved all his gifts - seriously - every gift he was thrilled with.  We lit the candles, sang happy birthday, and ate cake and ice cream.  He finished the night by playing with his new legos.  He had a great day! 

Thank you to everyone that sent him birthday wishes!  I read them to him throughout the day, and he just smiled ear to ear!  He loved hearing from so many people.

I love their friendship!

And theirs :)

And theirs :)

Allie took on the job of showing Hayden's gifts to everyone

He got his first pocket knife - and he's already used it several times and thinks it's so great!

He got his very own geode

Kevin went to get his guitar out.  This was his face when he saw the case coming!

Can you tell he was surprised?  It's a red electric guitar.  He quickly closed the case because he didn't want anyone playing with it!

Kid picture

I knew for months I wanted to make him a geode cake.  I'm happy with how it turned out!

We couldn't find a working lighter so we improvised :)

Happy Birthday to Hayden!

I got sparkler candles and didn't realize they didn't "sparkle" very much - and they kept relighting!  He thought they were trick candles.  Good news it we have 8 more, so Allie can have some on her cake in a few months too!

Kevin's parents with Hayden

My parents with Hayden

Papaw giving Hayden birthday spanks.

Austin wanted in on the picture taking too!

And I just realized I forgot to do my own picture with the birthday boy!  And our families picture!  Bummer!

Hayden's 9th Birthday Interview

Saturday, I sat down with Hayden and asked him these questions.   I love these little birthday interviews!

I will be this old:  9

The best show on tv is:  uh Disney Channel

My favorite things about school is:  having friends

The thing I'm best at is:  uh running

If I could change my name it would be:  Kade

My favorite color is:  red

My favorite toy is:  legos

When I grow up I want to be:  a paleontologist and a scientist

I like to take these things to bed with me at night: old meow and my brown blankie

My favorite book is:  uh is the one that's your favorite, that one.  (It's Time to Sleep, My Love)

My favorite movie is:  Jurassic World

My favorite season of the year is:  mmm May

A food I really like is:  cake

My favorite animal is:  dragon and dinosaurs

My favorite sport is:  baseball and basketball

My best friend is:  Kade

My favorite hobby is:  play legos

My favorite thing I did this year:  make new friends
  

And here's a few more pictures just because :)

Hayden is 9 Photoshoot

How can Hayden be 9 years old?!  

Saturday afternoon I took him out so I could snap a few pictures of him.  

I love this age because he's getting so responsible (he made lunch for everyone on Sunday!), he wants to talk to me about any and all problems, he's so good at taking care of kids or pets when I need an extra hand, but he's still little enough he wants tucked in at night, he still likes me to hold him now and then, and he asks for hugs. 

He's really one of a kind!  He makes me so proud to be his momma!

This past year he's really loved anything science.  He has also started reading for enjoyment, which thrills me!  (I didn't start doing that until I was in my late twenties!)  He tried wrestling during the winter, and he liked it, but I don't know that he will want to do it again.  He plays basketball with our neighbor boy, but doesn't want to play in a league.  He passed on spring baseball, which surprised me, but he's getting a birthday surprise this evening (a red electric guitar) and we will be starting him in lessons soon!  He's not ever been a big sports player, so maybe music will be his thing.  Or maybe not.  He's always been a sensitive kid and I think it's one of his best qualities.  He's so thoughtful, so sweet, and such a good care taker.  He also loves helping his dad with any projects he's working on.  This past weekend they installed a new toilet and he was running in and out to get tools as they were needed.  I'm glad he's learning how to be a Mr. Fix It!

Hayden,

Thanks for making me a mom.  Thanks for all your patience as we learn to do this parenting thing with you!  You're a great kid and I can't imagine a better big brother to your three siblings.  Everyone adores you.  And I adore those freckles.  

You're the best!

Love, Mom