Happy Birthday, Fox!

Recently, we had the joy of attending a party to celebrate the 1^st birthday of our sweet little guy, Fox.  He’s Lolee’s little buddy:

Mandy, ever the clever party planner,  knew that this was probably the only year that she could get by with doing a woodland animal theme, and I think that she did the most incredible job!  Her decorations were just as cute as could be:

And, truly, there were woodland animals everywhere:

Even the food made me feel like I was in a wooded wonderland:

Of course, there were presents, and Fox really got into opening them.  He had a great time:

There was birthday cake…

…Which my little buddy certainly enjoyed!

We can’t believe that a whole year has gone by…Fox certainly has grown.  He’s walking now, which means that his mother spends most of her days just trying to keep him from jumping off of the hearth and chairs and such.  He can say a few words, including “book” – he finally likes to have someone read to him.  He’s all boy – climbing curtains, banging things on the furniture, and roaring and screeching and generally being noisy.  He even roars and screeches when he is perfectly happy.  I have an idea that rearing him over the next several years is going to be quite the adventure for Mandy and Jeromy. ..

But with a face like this…

…They can’t help but love every minute of it!

Paisley Turns Three!

It seems like it was just yesterday, but Paisley actually turned three a little while back.  Once again, I have not been timely in my posting, but I want to share highlights from Paisley’s party any way.

Mandy warned me early on that with a brand new baby, she would not have the time, nor the energy, to throw the blow-out birthday bash that she gave for the first two birthdays.  For the life of me, I don’t know what she was talking about…it was darling!  The theme came from Paisley’s favorite things:  Favorite colors – yellow and pink, and favorite drink – lemonade.  Thus, the Paisley Pink-and-Yellow-Lemonade-Party came to be.

There were decorations:

And Refreshments:

And Cake:

The World’s Most Beautiful Girl even had a dress with lemons on it:

Fox was dressed for the occasion, too:

Paisley had fun hob-knobbing with all her guests (shown her with her cousin, Joshua):

And of course, PRESENTS:

And singing and candles:

Grump-Pa and Dee Dee were both sick and were not able to make it.  However, Robert’s mother, “Grandma Lynda”, came for the event and she and Paisley had a great time together:

Grandma Lynda was a big help by manning the kiddy-treat table…Mandy had those little plastic cups with the decorative inserts that allow the kids to decorate their own cup as the party favors.  Grandma Lynda helped everyone with those:

In fact, I must say that Grandma Lynda was quite appreciated all the way around.  She helped me shop for some upholstery fabric for an upcoming project, helping me to figure out what is suitable and helping me understand what I needed to be watching out for.  Also, since Fox was right in the midst of his colic/reflux woes during this time, she offered to spend the night at Mandy’s house to help out.  She stayed for two nights and Mandy told me that Lynda was a real pick-me-up for their spirits and brought a great sense of calm to their home during this time.

I think Paisley’s party was wonderful.  Actually, although Mandy had been worried about whether or not it was “enough”, she later told me that she ended up being more that satisfied with it, and was able to truly enjoy it, because it wasn’t quite so much and was less hectic.  I think that a sense of peace might be the best gift of all!

Happy Birthday, You Old Coot!

Robert, now officially an old coot, turned 50 the day after I returned from Yellowstone.  (I can call him an old coot and get by with it because I’m about a year-and-a-half older than he is...sue me!)  Since it was a milestone birthday, I wanted it to be something a little different, but because I was fresh off the road and had been gone for a week, it took me a day or two to get it together (and I certainly had help).

Mandy, Jeromy, and Paisley decided to surprise Robert at work and invite him to lunch.  This afforded that old Grump-Pa the opportunity to show them his little plot at the community garden (he just loves that thing!).  There has been a lot of progress in making the garden look a little more dressed up and spiffy:

Robert was in for a surprise when he got home…I had invited his mother for this event, especially since Lynda did the hard part in the first place all those years ago.  She had been able to keep the secret all week and that was his first surprise for the evening:

Mandy was kind enough to take care of the cake for me:

While they were all here, I doled out the gifts that Uncle Vinnie had sent from Yellowstone, including a really cute book for Paisley:

Paisley is always intrigued with Nestlé:

We all went out for dinner at our favorite little home-cooking style restaurant, and afterwards, back at home, there were cards (with a little something extra in them)…

…And gifts (Mandy and Jeromy knew that Robert would love this):

But as neat as all of that was, Robert’s mother’s gift was the hit of the evening.  Lynda is an incredible seamstress.  No pattern?  No problem!  She concocted this really nifty conceal/carry vest (enough said about that), and the old geezer was tickled pink!

Robert told me that this was one of the best birthdays he had had in a long time.  As a girl who wasn’t that excited to see 50 herself, I’m glad that he sees it that way…

Here’s the Buzz…Paisley is Two!

The Most Bee-utiful Child in the World turned two, and everyone was buzzing with excitement.  Paisley’s parents put together an absolutely wonderful party at their own little hive:

 There was bee-themed hoopla everywhere:

And, of course, lots of presents:

And some cake:

Robert’s mother, Lynda, came up for the event, and we were so glad that she was able to join us.  Jeromy’s family was there, as well as some of Paisley’s “playmates”.  I didn’t count, but I’m guessing there were about 30 guests or so.  Jeromy, a master griller, cooked out for everyone, and Mandy had already done her part on all of those wonderful decorations, etc. (Mandy is learning to really utilize the Cricut machine, and she even used her sewing machine to make ruffled crepe paper streamers!)

Paisley certainly is one lucky little honey!