Pre-Wedding Festivities

Ok.

Let’s talk about two things.

One. I am a huge dork. And highly allergic to poison oak. So, what did I do the weekend before I go to Alabama to help host and attend three different showers for BFF Jenn Gilley? I decided to rub poison oak all over my body. Actually I just pulled a vine (a DEAD one!) off the side of the house. Apparently it was poison oak. And I’ve spent the last week with swollen eyes and pretending like I didn’t have a huge red rash covered in calamine lotion all over the side of my face and other various places on my body. So, if you saw me this weekend and wondered why I only talked to you with the left side of my face towards you, it was because I was protecting you from the poison oak. And maybe because I was doped up on Benadryl and I was really just half asleep. Yeah. That’s a good excuse.

And two. Just call me Party Girl. I mean, three parties in three days. Look out. And these were adult parties. Not ADULT parties, just parties free of whining children begging for cake and ice cream and presents.

Friday night was our Lingerie Shower and short of a fairly mild game of Mad Libs that got a little out of control, we behaved ourselves. And we made toilet paper lingerie, which turned out to be quite provocative and terribly revealing. Don’t worry. It was done over clothes. I’m fairly certain the future Mother-in-law turned about 14 shades of red during this game.

The hostesses and THE BRIDE-TO-BE!!

Saturday was our Mexican-themed Tool & Garden Party combined with a rousing round of Dodge the Tornado. Other than the fact that the weather was horrible, I pretty much felt like we recreated an authentic Mexican restaurant complete with a taco bar, chips and salsa on the tables and real sombreros that we went to Mexico to get just for this party. (You believe me, right?) And a piñata! Filled with Reece cups!!

Ready for tacos!!

See?  Sombreros!!  On the future Mr. & Mrs. Brown!

Sunday was Jennifer’s tea and while she racked up, us bridesmaids took a break from hosting and tried every single cake available at the tea. Yes, we are aware we are in a wedding in just a few short weeks, but who can honestly pass up homemade cake??

ALL the Bridesmaids:  Jennifer, Dara, Bride Jennifer, Jana, Emily M & Emily B

Kenny and the boys spent the weekend hanging out with Gran and Papa John who came up to Kentucky for Grandparent’s Day at Charlie’s school. I haven’t heard yet how that went, but I do know that Sam apparently lost a tooth while eating dinner last night and swallowed it. Let’s just say the tooth fairy has a very dirty job ahead of her. And no. I’m not helping her.

I’m enjoying the last minutes of my kid-free weekend as I sip a Diet Coke, eat a tiny bag of airline pretzels and wait on my terribly delayed flight. Don’t be jealous. Really, I’m just ready to get home to play with the boys and do some laundry. Although, it’s been nice to sleep through the night without someone informing me that they wet the bed or having to brush someone else's teeth before I brush my own.

Stayed tuned for the wedding in a few weeks...

Future All-Stars of America

In Kenny's efforts to persuade (word used ever so loosly) Charlie to pick baseball over soccer this past weekend, he took him out back to toss the ball around.  It worked.  Even though it was a slightly underhanded persuation, our next sports adventure will be baseball.  It took him 10 minutes to get the glove on.  This should really be interesting...

And Sam.  Well, I'm not saying that we've got a Ken Griffey, Jr. on our hands because everyone has to start somewhere.  The boy can fling the ball.  But is having a little trouble coordinating his legs and feet while also throwing the ball with his arm...

And it took him 30 minutes to get his glove on.  Seriously.  He had to go to the bathroom and I went in to help him so that we didn't have to go through the whole process of putting it on again.  Have you ever tried to pee and blow your nose with a baseball glove on?  It can get messy.

But with a little help from Daddy, maybe we can make everything move in the right direction at the right time.

Go. Enter. Win.

Go check out college-years friend Lauren's post for a chance to win a pair of TOMS!  I know some people who have gone nuts over these shoes and to be perfectly honest, I'm not sure that they don't just look like a glorified pair of house shoes.

But people are crazy about them.  Maybe I'll win them and you silly TOMS fans can prove me wrong.  So, in my efforts to support Lauren's 30-by-30 endeavor, go enter to win your own pair of fancy house shoes. 

Plus, for every pair of TOMS sold, they give a pair of shoes to a child in need.  And since I have kids that once upon a time didn't have a pair of shoes to call their own, I can get on board with that!

Lauren, I hope I didn't offend you by saying they look like house shoes... :)

Date Night

I've been on a date tonight.

With a very handsome fellow. Tall (relatively speaking), dark and handsome. Every ladies dream man. He talked my ear off. He was a little self-centered though, because we only talked about him. And I had to pay for dinner. He said he didn't have enough money. He took me to Chick-fil-a. How romantic. He said the slide there is the best in town...

We talked about Thomas the Train, why his ice cream made his head hurt, who he played with at school today, why we have to say excuse me when we fart, whose turn it was to pick the next Wii game, his wiggly tooth, where Daddy was, where Charlie was and the ever present question of what we were doing next. Phrased as "Aaannnd WHAT?"

Combating brain freeze..........

He was a little messy with his dessert.  Never had to remind a date before to wipe his face.

After dinner, we perused the toy department at Target for longer than I really wanted, but he finally decided on a new Cars puzzle that he bought with some of his birthday money.  I had promised him his choice of movies at Redbox, since that decision usually has to be shared with an older brother, but he choose to have uninterrupted and non-shared Wii time instead.  After assuring that he could play by himself (even making sure that he didn't have to share with me), we headed home. First time I've been dumped by a date for a video game, but he's so cute, I didn't really mind.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And Charlie is enjoying "Guys Night Out" at his first NBA game in Indianapolis.  And in a suite, none the less, thanks to one of Kenny's very generous co-workers.  We'll never get him to sit in the regular people seats now...

He told me the other day they didn't have cotton candy in Ethiopia.  Right after he told me he ate lamb all the time. 
Hmmm.... wonder what part of the lamb you would get cotton candy from??

And check HERE for the latest silly Charlie story.  We really take for granted things that we do all the time, forgetting to explain them to kids who wouldn't have a clue why they have to sit on the floor with their butt in the air and arms covering their heads just because it's raining outside...

The Party

We celebrated the boy’s birthday this weekend with family and friends.

I’m not gonna lie. It kinda looked like Toys 'R Us exploded in our house on Saturday night. At least the Transformer and Thomas the Train sections. But the boys are happy and if I hear either of them utter anything about being bored in the next month, I’ll send them to their room!!

Enjoy the party, via pictures...

Jesus is my caffeine.

I don’t drink a lot of caffeine. Mostly water. With the occasional glass of tea or sip of Kenny’s Diet Coke. A touch of caffeine and I’m awake for hours. Literally. HOURS.

But every so often a dose of caffeine is needed to get through the day. So, I stopped by Starbucks to treat myself to caramel frappuccino this morning. Since the past two mornings have involved a broken lamp due to a unnecessarily thrown stuffed monkey, a little boy who felt the need to pee in his pants during breakfast (yes, Monday and Tuesday mornings), lots of untimely and dreary rain and the inability to overcome Mother Nature’s need to short us all an hours sleep, I thought what I needed to get me through today was some yummy, creamy caffeine.

And on my way to hang out with my 2-year-old BFF's, it dawned on me that while I thought I needed caffeine, what I really needed was a little Jesus. Because I had felt rushed, frazzled and frustrated while trying to get ready the past two days, I had opted to skip my much needed time in reading and prayer.

I was inpatient, exhausted, annoyed and probably a little bit rude to those who crossed my path, including my own family. All because I chose to try to sleep a little longer instead of simply asking God for the strength to get through the day.

So, thank you, Starbucks. For helping me realize that I didn’t need caffeine.

I really needed Jesus.

A Double Dose of Happy

While I was making 437 cupcakes last night to be shared at school today and wondering if it was actually a smart idea to keep the boy's birthdays on the same day*, I couldn't help but think about their birth mother.

Around here we call her Ethiopia Mommy and while Charlie has shared bits and pieces of his past, I still know very little about Ethiopia Mommy. I do know this, though. She is still a mommy and while there is only a small chance that today is the boy's actual birth days, I'm almost certain that she spends part of every day thinking about the two precious gifts that she so generously gave to us. I don't know the circumstances or the reasons why she was no longer able to care for the boys, but I do know that her heart has to hurt at knowing they are no longer with her. I tear up just thinking about her today.

So, to Nuredin and Edaso's Ethiopia Mommy...words aren't enough, but thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me the greatest gift. Today we celebrate their birth. And we celebrate you.

Happy Birthday to these two crazy boys!

 

It's a little unbelievable to me that I have a 4 and 8-year-old...

*NOTE: The boy's English names are after my grandfather and great-grandfather. And Pop's (aka Charles) birthday is also today, March 11th. So, how could we possibly change their date of birth to be different from their namesake. It was just another sign of God's hand on the exact two little boys He had planned for the Cook family!  Happy Birthday, Pop!!

Loud House

I used to live in a house that was quiet.

The loudest things ever got was when Kenny got a little excited over Alabama football. Or when I got to loud laughing. (Official definition of loud laughing: High-pitched, spontaneous and possibly annoying laughter that causes young children to cover their ears and others to run away and hide. I'm not apologizing.)

But now...

Now I live in the monkey house at the zoo. At least that's what it sounds like.

Sam The Cook

Recently Sam's been in helper mode. He wants to help do anything I'm doing. Which sometimes is absolutely no help at all, but in the spirit of building his little servant heart, I usually indulge his over zealousness. I guess it's not really hurting anything to just dust behind him as he flings his dust rag around the room. We'll work on technique later.

He hasn't really gotten the whole idea of sorting laundry yet. But he's really good at throwing clothes into the washer. And if the vacuum wasn't the same size as him, he'd wipe those floors out in no time. And if I wasn't positively certain he'd have his Thomas the Train bath toys floating in the toilet, I'd unleash him on the bathroom. But the goal here is to clean, not make a bigger mess.

But he really likes to help cook. He's always wanting to smell and see anything that's in the oven or on the stove top. And he likes to sit on his stool while you are cooking and watch. And sometimes touch when Mommy's attention is diverted.

When I have some extra time, I let him help me stir and pour ingredients. He is dying to crack an egg, but I haven't yet let him indulge himself. I'm fairly certain we'd end up with egg on the wall. Or at the very least, shells in our brownies.

The other day we made some cookies for an after dinner treat. But I have to keep a close eye when he is stirring. On more than one occasion, I've turned around to do something else only to hear a giant "Mmmmmmmm, that's good!" come from Sam who has decided to taste test whatever he is helping with.

And this morning he informed me he needed 5 pancakes for breakfast. Five. He was very specific. I only let him have 3, because sometimes his eyes are bigger than his little tummy.

Thanks for being Mommy's little helper. Even though we need to work on your actual working skills...