Josiah's 9th Birthday

We celebrated Josiah's birthday this past weekend. His birthday was on Saturday so he wanted to do something for his class on Friday at school. I gave him a few suggestions and he decided on bringing fresh honeybuns. I try to change it up every year instead of cupcakes. For kindergarten he brought cake pops, 1st grade he brought a piñata and last year he brought snowcones. 

Friday after school Josiah had 2 friends come over for a sleepover. He wanted to invite more, but I didn't think I could handle more than that. Especially with Titus in the mix. 

We had pizza and cake and ice cream. 

He really liked his cake. Josiah has taken over my love of reading Archie comics now.

The boys had a blast playing basketball and football. They also played the Wii and play station a lot too. I'm glad they had a good time. I had to keep heading off the wrestling though. Why do boys do that?  I mean they go for blood and broken bones. I just can't handle it. 

Saturday was Josiah's actual birthday. I cooked a big breakfast for everyone. 

After breakfast Josiah couldn't wait any longer and asked to open his presents. After pretending he didn't get any for awhile, we finally gave in. 

"Christmas paper, Mom?  Really?!?!?

He finally got his beloved Minecraft game. He has begged for that game for about 6 months now. I downloaded it on his tablet and he got the Minecraft sword. 

So this was a BIRTHDAY FAIL..............

I bought him 2 special editions of Archie comic books. One is where Jughead gets married and the other one Archie gets shot and killed. I didn't expect him to cry when he read the caption, but he did. Lol. Oops. Way to go, Amy!!!  I was sure to tell him that he was the one who ate him the night before on his birthday cake. Ha

He started playing Minecraft almost immediately and his friend had to go on home. 

Maynard, me, and Millie took a cat nap from being up so late the night before. 

We woke up and Josiah was ready to go spend his birthday money. Our church takes up an offering for all the kids on their birthdays plus Tara had given him money. 

I dread going to the store with my kids when they have their own money. It's antagonizing. They don't understand the value of things and can't make up their minds. It's brutal!!!!

Maynard was with us and was able to help him make up his mind more quickly. He ended up buying a nerf gun with extra bullets, sketch pads, pencils, colored pencils, gum, and a face mask. He still has some money leftover, but he didn't see anything else he wanted so he's going to save it. 

As we were leaving Walmart we noticed a display out front offering a simulated boat ride. Well....  Why not?

They all 3 got to take turns driving. It had a big screen in front of them that they had to try to stay on a path in the water. They enjoyed it. 

Now it was time for Josiah's birthday dinner. 

He suggested:

"Mr. Gaitti's!!!"

"No way. We had pizza last night."

"Golden Corral!!!"

"Nope. Too expensive and y'all drive me crazy in there running back and forth while I try to finish my 1st plate."

"Shiloh's?  A salad sounds good to me."

"Well, if that's what you really want." Ha ha (because it's what Momma really wanted)

So we went to shilohs where we all shared salads and then the birthday boy got a free brownie. 

I used to make the kids share with each other, but I quit doing that. It's their special day so they should be able to eat the whole thing if they want. Then on their birthday they get to eat their own desert by themselves. 

Since we had all eaten too much sweets that day I suggested us going to the park to go on a hike through one of the trails. I hadn't ever been on one there before so we thought we would try it out. 

We all loved it. There were trails made in the middle of the woods. We had to walk over tiny bridges over little streams. The weather was cool and perfect. 

 We only walked a mile because the boys were chomping at the bit to go play basketball. I dropped them off down the road at the ball court with Maynard, and I went back to walk some more. It was a little bit more creepy walking by myself. I'm not sure what made me start thinking of Indians and Johnny Appleseed while I was going though the woods alone. Ha ha

We spent some time playing at the playground before heading home. 

Little daredevil. 

"Help me, Mom. I'm scared. For real. Help me get down. I can't move.  Quit laughing and help me down."

Poor Josiah. Lol. Just a few inches off the ground and he was freaking out. 

So another birthday down and another one next month. 

Birthdays are exciting around here. 

Josiah said it was his best birthday ever.  He says that every year and it makes me happy!!!

What?!?! Maynard had a 3 day weekend!

Hallelujar anyhow!!

Says the happy wife who's husband got off work not only on a Saturday, but Sunday and Monday too!  Whoo hoo!!

How horrible was the grammar in the above paragraph?  No, don't tell me. I'm too lazy to go back and fix it. 

So maynard got off for Labor Day weekend and we decided to go visit my family. I'm sure he couldn't possibly think of anything else better to do on his much needed days off. Ha ha

We hadn't been home to visit in almost 6 months. That's probably a record breaker for us. I was really missing my family. Once we got there and seen everyone, my heart just felt really happy. Sometimes I get lonely here and just want to be around my Mom and sisters. I can totally be myself around them and don't have to try to impress anyone. I mean I can burp at the dinner table and they will rate it instead of telling me that was rude. Ha ha. Which I may feel a tad insecure around my sister Christy. No one. I mean NO ONE can burp louder than her. 

What I'm saying is it was just time for me to be home and be around the people I love and they love me back. Not that no one loves me here, it's just different I guess. Or maybe not. Who knows?!?!

Maynard got off work Friday evening and we packed like mad and loaded the van. Being that he had already driven 10 hours that day, he called shotgun and it wasn't in the driver's seat. 

We took our time on the trip and even made some Goodwill stops. It was just like the old days!

Our kids drove us BATTY!

"What town are we in now?"

"We are still in London."

"Are we in Corbin yet?"

"No, that's in the other direction"

"Now what town are we in?"

"Mt. Vernon. Will y'all please go to sleep?"

"Are we almost there yet?"

"The next person who opens their mouth is gonna get knocked out in Jesus name!" Ha ha

We finally made it and apparently the choice of restaraunt that night was to be White Castles. Bless their hearts. We had pizza at 4 o'clock so I was still full. It was now 10 and you know my kids were starved to death. I asked Maynard if he was hungry and I thought he said, "No, I'm not hungry, are you?  So I went up front to order and got the kids a small snack and got me and Maynard a milkshake. They swiped my card and it declined. Made me nervous because here we are out of town and we had no money. I told them that last time we ate at White Castles they also declined my card. The manager came up and told me that for some reason their machine doesn't accept MasterCard debit cards. I didn't have any cash on me so she gave me our food. I passed out the food to the kids and gave Maynard his Shake. I told him about getting it all free. Then he asked where his food was. 

"You told me you wasn't hungry."

"I told you I was hungry."

Oops. Remember the part about not having any money and my debit card wouldn't work there. I mean I couldn't go back and order more food and get it free again, right?  Ha ha

Luckily, Maynard had a few dollars on him, but he couldn't help remind me that his food would have been free if only I had listened to him. 

To add more to the embarrassment already, my family's church folks came in and Josiah ran to them to announce that his Mom's card wouldn't work so we got all our food free. ☺️ Gotta love those kiddos. 

It was good to see my Dad walking around and talking. Last time I seen him he was laying in a hospital bed in ICU. He  had a stroke about 4 weeks ago. He is doing so much better now, but still needs  a complete healing. It's almost like he has aged so much more really fast. It has taken a toll on his body, but I believe he will get stronger. 

My sister Angela and her family invited us to stay with them at their house. We normally stay with my Mom and Dad, but they had a few things they were dealing with so we decided to take my sister up on her offer. 

My neice Abigail gave up her basement suite just for us. I'm telling you her bed was like sleeping on a cloud. 

Amelia slept with Ruth and Titus slept with Jack. We kept Josiah downstairs with us. Well, the first night anyway. I think they both ended up with Jack before it was all over. 

We woke up early Saturday morning. No, not by choice. My kids were still on school schedule and were excited to be at their cousin's house. 

Angela fed them cereal and then turned them loose outside to play while she fixed us biscuits and gravy. Yum yum. 

My nephew was having a birthday party at 1 so soon it was time to leave. 

Peyton was the big 7 and was so happy when we got there. I mean not just because we got there, but somehow he knew it was his special day. Apparently Elmo had retired and now Thomas the train is his newest passion. He was excited to show me his remote control Thomas train. It absolutely thrilled him as the train bumped into a wall or even better if it ran over your foot. I just love that kid!!

For some reason I didn't take many pictures while I was there at his party. I think I took 3 and they were all of this stinker:

My neice Emma likes very few people. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them, but she finally realized that whether she likes me or not I am going to play with her. 

I love how my tongue is blue in this picture. There happened to be a snow cone machine at the party and well, snowcones!!!!! Need I say more?  The kids were making them faster than a person could consume them. 

Back to Emma...  I think she would want it this way. Ha ha. Anyway, she allowed me to swing her and I amazingly watched her walk up the slide. She didn't stumble or lose her balance. She walked right up it. It was so funny. 

I think I may have made a little a lead way with her when I gave her ketchup on her plate. She had a sad plate and ketchup made it a happy plate. 

I wasn't sure what to get Peyton for his birthday. I didn't know about his new found love for Thomas or that would have helped. I knew that he absolutely loved Reese Cups so I bought him a big pack of those. He also loves noises. He hears noises that you and I take for granted, but he gets pure joy out of it. I picked him up a whoopie cushion. I knew he would love it. Two simple gifts, but perfect for the Birthday Boy!!

Seriously love him!!!!

After the party we went back to Angela's and started baths for all these sweaty dirty kids. 

Sunday morning we went to church with my family and then Mamaw and Papaw treated us to lunch at no where else than Mexican!!!  Good news. Amelia is finally starting to get tired of eating Mexican food. I never thought I'd see the day. My kids were really wanting to eat at Texas Roadhouse, but everyone had eaten their just a few days prior for Dad's birthday. 

This was the only time I got to see my sister Melissa. She works 2 jobs and then she has to sleep sometime so I was sad that I didn't get to see her as much. 

We left there and Maynard had to go study because he was going to preach Sunday night. 

The bible says to enter into your closets........ In Maynard's case, a borrowed one. 

It doesn't do any good to shut the door around us. A closed door just begs to be opened to my family. Mainly, me. Ha ha

Hannah was Amelia's hair dresser all weekend. Amelia was thrilled with her hair do's!!

Curls for days!!

I spy twinsies!!  Amelia looked so much older with her hair all fixed up. That part, I didn't like. That part, she absolutely loved. 

Amelia loved staying with 3 girls. 

Barbies in bottom of closets?  Oh wow!!

We had a good church service Sunday night and they had a fellowship dinner afterwards. My kids love fellowship halls. They get so excited when they find out we are going to stay and eat at different churches. 

I brought sliced apples and Carmel dip to add to the dinner. It wasn't like I could bake anything being away from home and stuff. I just want to clarify that my apples were a big hit. (Even if they were consumed by one person and that's all I'm saying about that.) ha ha. 

We went back to Angela's and conked out. I had missed my Sunday nap and was winding down. 

Finally it was Labor Day. I have no idea why that is a major Holiday, but nonetheless, I'm not complaining. 

Real quick like, we decided to go see a Labor Day parade. It had been awhile since we had been to a parade so my kids were thrilled. 

As soon as we got out to watch the parade it started sprinkling. The rain would get heavier and then stop. Just enough to get us damp. 

 This parade wasn't stingy with the candy. 

This was only halfway through the parade. All of it was wet from the rain so everything was sticky. 

This is how Titus prepared for getting candy. Amelia was not amused. He dove for everything that was thrown except for tootsie rolls. Apparently those wasn't worth fighting over. 

We left the parade and I had to change Amelia's skirt because she had gotten knocked down by her brother in a candy dive. She was soaked. 

We met up with more family to go eat lunch before we left. 

Good news was Texas Roadhouse was open early, because of the holiday, and kid's meals were only 99 cents. 

Titus' mouth is crammed full of a roll. He loves bread!!!

We said our goodbyes and headed for home. 

As soon as we got home I unpacked and started laundry. Then it was time for baths, iron uniforms, and pack lunches. 

Back to the real world!!!

We really enjoyed time with my family and we were very thankful to have Maynard off a few days with us. 

Hope everyone had a great long weekend as well!!!