Happy Birthday, Deacan!! My 5 yr old big boy!! :)

   
I can't believe my baby just turned 5 years old!!  Where does the time go?  Yikes!  Deacan had a super fun birthday party.. We were blessed to have lots of friends and family there with us to celebrate.  The kids (and a few grown-ups, including me) had lots of fun jumping and sliding on the inflatable equipment at Pump It Up..

Go, Go, Go!!

Pile Up on Aisle 7  !! :)

Uncle Murf had to join in the fun!

     We were so happy with Deacan's birthday cake -- absolutely perfect!!  We are big fans of Baskin Robbins icecream cakes but they didn't have any Scooby Doo layouts.  Fortunately they informed us that you can take any photo to Wal-Mart bakery and they will copy it to editable paper for about $6 per photo.  I found a neat pic on the internet, printed it, and took it to Wal-Mart.  Not even 10 minutes later, we had what we needed.  Yay!!  We took it back to Baskin Robbins, told them what we wanted, and they it was ready when we needed it.  We went for a larger size than the employees there suggested.  They recommended a half sheet for 15 kids.  I wanted to feed the parents, as well, and too not worry about the stress of extra guests not being fed.  We went with a full sheet and it was the perfect amount to feed all 22 kids, parents, and family members.  And when I say the PERFECT amount-- I am being literal.. There was one lone piece standing after all was said and done with the serving.. SWEET!! Mommy gets a piece!! And it was deeeee-lish!! :)

     I added the number 5 candle and we were ready for my baby's birthday wish!!

"Hmm, gotta think about this one!"

"May all your wishes come true, always"- Mommy

Then it was time to enjoy the cake, snack on some chips, and drink Capri-Suns!!

What a great photo of all of Deacan's sweet friends!!

 

 

 

 

     Next order of business-- all of the presents!  Deacan got lots of fun gifts.  The opening of these presents was quite a process!!  We are so thankful for all the presents, but it was the presence that mattered more than anything..:)

     Thanks to everyone that made Deacan's birthday extra special!!  Family members (although not pictured)-- Aunt Natilee, Pops, Chlo-Bo, and friends-- we love you!  So glad you all were there..  Now, can time slow down a bit until my baby turns 6, please!  Happy birthday, D-Nanner!!  :)

A fun idea for Chinese fortune cookie Papers

So, I have been saving my Chinese fortune cookie papers for quite some time.  I was originally planning on pasting them on a box- like purse.  Well, I came up with a better idea-- display them on a Chinese food tray we can bust out when we order Chinese food!! Yay!!  This is so easy-- the most time consuming part is accumulating the fortunes.. Unless, of course, you want to cheat and order them through Oriental Trading.. No judgements!! :)   All you need is fortunes, a cheap tray, and Mod Podge.  This costs me about $ 5.00 , aside from all the Chinese takeout and pounds to my body! HA!!

   First-- collect fortunes (or buy them).. I had a baby food jar full, which was the perfect amount:

I had a hard time choosing between two trays.  In the end, I love the clear one because you can read the Chinese to English words/ numbers from the bottom-- so cool!  Here are the two I chose between; they both cost under $ 3.00 :

Next, I sorted through my "fortunes" and grouped them together.  This could be due to my slight case of OCD-- not a necessary step.  I do like how they are somewhat grouped in the final piece, though (be it work-related, travels, matters of the heart, etc).  In the end, it is your tray so whatever makes you happy is perfect..

Lastly, you simply Mod Podge (which is like glue and can be bought at Wal Mart for about  $5.00  per canister).  You will only use about 75 cents worth of the Mod Podge and will have lots left to play with.  See my future Map Art post or google Mod Podge and find many neat uses for this product. :)

Cover the surface of your tray one area at a time as you lay down the "fortunes'.  No need to overwhelm yourself.  Just take it piece by piece and have fun with it.. Once you lay one, it is best to probably keep there, unless you REALLY want it somewhere else... The paper can get "gunky" and tends to want to stay put... That being said, lay out your design before you press papers into the Mod Podge..



 Once you have the papers "glued" (with the Mod Podge)-- you want to take a brush and paint over them with another coat of Mod Podge.. It will look fuzzy-- not unlike a mess:

Some parts may even look bubbly-- don't mess with them!  I got impatient and tampered with mine, thus resulting in a popped bubble-- not pretty!!  I wish I would have let time work that out..   Just make sure to paint a thick coat and you will end up with a super-fly Chinese fortune tray and a great excuse to order in Chinese tomorrow night!! :)

 A look at the underside of the tray (clear):

Have fun and be happy:)

 

Uncle Murf's 33rd Bday Cook Out :)

We recently celebrated Rocky's, 33rd birthday!  Yay!  We have come a long way from him tattle-telling on me and me scaring him half to death when babysitting him.  Ha!  We had lots of fun cooking out burgers and hotdogs.  Also, we got to enjoy his "world famous" bbq baked beans-- yum!  I once cooked his beans for my New Hampshire friends and they were bewildered by the concept of beans with ground beef-- guess it is a Southern thing!  No matter where you live, you love this recipe once you try it.. Anyhow, I am so blessed to have spent another year with my bro and look forward to many more!!  Deacan loves his Uncle Murf, too!! :)  Here are some pics we took:

                                 Grill Master-- Uncle Murf

                                              
                                        Papa bought Snap Pops for the Kiddos

Deacan helped Mommy make the cake the night before:

  It turned out delicious-- yellow cake with chocolate frosting, topped with fresh strawberries,, And a #30 plus 3 single candles, to boot..

 Deacan helped him blow out the candles-- Hope he made an awesome wish!! 

We decided to take a family portrait (or two) while I was busy playing with my camera :

Happy happy Birthday, Murf !!

We love you so very, very much!!  :)

***Swimming Lessons-- Deacan was a Star!! *****

Deacan was a participant in the Pre-K swimming lessons at the  YMCA Cordova this year.  He was way more advanced than most of his classmates but the YMCA goes by age only. His instructors did push him farther and he swam without this lifesaving backpack on the entire lesson.  AWESOME!!

He also learned boat safety, which is a great thing considering how much his mommy and daddy love water sports..

 
At the end of the class-- Deacan can swim about half of an average pools length in 5 feet.  Yay!!  His report card was all top marks and included the comment, " Deacan is the first student I've ever had to swim without his backpack the entire lesson.  He is going to be a great swimmer!"- signed Brennan:)

I am so proud of my baby's swimming, and more importantly, his listening skills and attention during the lessons.  Great job, Deacan!!  Mommy loves:)

Happy 4th of July!!

We had a wonderful 4th of July.. Mommy kept her mouth shut about the state of this country, it's president and his total disregard of the Constitution.  Ha!  Anyhow, here are some pictures I snapped along the way:

Fun at the pool...

Daddy showed up for the festivities...

After the pool, we headed out to Eads, TN to get fireworks.. We passed by an awesome waterslide, which we had lots of fun partaking in... Mommy's camera batteries were out at this point.  My apologies to my 3 blog followers---  an Eads waterslide post will be coming soon, though...

We got lots of fireworks and then we went out and fired them off (and waited for the police to come!)..

Okay, I will admit the last shot was not of any firework we purchased.  Haha!!  That is a Hope Church production.  Gotcha, didn't I?  :)
    Wishing everyone a very happy month of July and let's all pray for our beloved country!!!!