october birthdays.

Birthday girls. 12 and 5. 

(I'm realizing this week that I don't like saying she's 5. That sounds too old. I liked 4 better. 4 still sounds little.) 

My October birthday crew. 3 birthdays in 9 days. We party hard. =)

Love these faces. They're my favorite.

family party.

We were all so happy to have Aunt Heather and Uncle Brian finally be able to join us for a family birthday party!

We really like them, but it also may have had something to do with the fact that they brought this little sweetie with them...

 And I'm realizing I'm a horrible aunt, because I've never even mentioned Miss Abigail or posted pictures from when she was born! (A month ago!) Trust me... it was love at first sight for all of us! 

 These two always make me smile when they're together. 

Uncle Corey claimed she was awake and that's why he got her out of her carseat. We didn't really believe him, though. 

Even my mom and dad enjoyed some newborn baby snuggles.

We always combine the girls' birthday parties. The family one, anyway. They took turns opening gifts. 

Red, shiny shoes were on her birthday list. The sparkles were just an extra bonus. =) 

 She was a tiny bit thrilled with this surprise. 

 She ran across the room to give Daddy a hug! (Seriously... Daddy gets the hug for a gift he knew practically nothing about?! Not fair.) 

 Guess who's going to have kittens?! (And is still trying very hard to become an indoor cat...)

So thankful that we have family close enough to celebrate these special days with! =)

five.

One more special birthday at our house this week... 

 Five. 

That sounds so big. 

 You really do have big eyes. They're always just so squinty when you smile in pictures. =) 

Daddy cleaned up one of Sophie's old bikes and put new tires on it. It's been at Grandma Jones' for years. I'm not sure you had ever seen it. 

You were pretty excited... 

"Thank you, Daddy!" was the first thing out of your mouth. You really are such a sweet little thing.

You are loving preschool and have finally started talking at daycare. The floodgates have opened. =) Katie now knows why we laughed when she would describe you as such a quiet little thing.

You have the sweetest smile and the happiest laugh. You give the best hugs and love to do our little cheerleader moves and flips.

You've always loved to be outside. You are loving being out there riding your bike now. 

You are ready for kindergarten now, you told me the other day. I'm not sure if I'm ready for you to be in kindergarten, though. Five. How is that possible?

Happy Birthday, Gretchen Jane! 

We couldn't possibly love you more! 

twelve.

We had another special birthday at our house last week. (That's how my whole life seems to be right now... about a week behind.)

This girl is officially almost a teenager.  (Although it may have felt that way for a few years now.)

You finally got the cowboy boots you have been wanting since 1st grade. (You finally decided that pink wasn't the most practical color. These are brown. With a pink flower on the side. =) You love them.)

You are loving middle school this year! Your alarm goes off at 6:00 am and you get up on your own without any fuss. (Pretty sure you are the only earlybird in this family.) You ride the bus from home and get dropped off near my school each afternoon. The bus wasn't your favorite thing for awhile, but you've adjusted. It makes me happy that you love school so much! 

And we finally got the one thing we've been waiting on for 2 years... a sweet school friend. (You've had school friends since we moved here, but not like this.) A friend (and her family!) with the same values, beliefs, morals... we've been missing that. 

You and Taylor are a perfect fit. And that makes me so happy.

But this makes me happy, too...

I love that you and Abi have stayed so close... despite the distance between you. (And since you still require your moms to drive you places, I don't mind meeting up at an Olive Garden halfway!)

Happy 12 years to YOU, Miss Sophie!
We love you with all that we are! =)

41 things.

Someone in our house turned 41 yesterday.
And I kind of like that someone.
So... in no particular order... 41 things I love about this guy right here...

1. You make me laugh.
2. You make me smile.
3. Even when I don't want to. =)
4. You cook.
5. You clean.
6. You do laundry.
7. You vacuum.
8. You spend hours cleaning my van. Inside and out.
9. You only make me feel a little bad about how dirty it gets. (Scratch that. You just came inside and talked grouchy to me.) Your deep, Johnny Cash voice. (That's my new #9)
10. You snuggle with Sophie.
11. You wrestle with Lawson.
12. You give Gretchen baths.
13. You buy groceries.
14. You mow the grass. (Back when we used to have grass...) =)
15. You let me sleep with my leg draped over you at night.
16. You make coffee in the mornings.
17. You clean out the dogs ears.
18. You give flea medicine to the dog and cats.
19. You love on Simone and try to pet the other cats.
20. You drove like crazy to try to get Spouncer to the vets when he got ran over.
21. You work hard.
22. Crazy hard.
23. Harder than any guy I know. (Except my dad. You're tied with him.)
24. You surprise me with Sonic drinks sometimes.
25. You drove into town to buy me ice cream when my throat was sore.
26. You do helpful things all the time.
27. You only grumble about it sometimes.
28. You like my family.
29. You spend time with my family.
30. You only grumble about it sometimes. =)
31. You look sexy driving a tractor.
32. You take the kids on tractor rides.
33. You do all kinds of things with the kids.
34. You give the best hugs.
35. You make me feel safe.
36. You make me feel loved.
37. You make me feel cared about. (Yes... those are different things.)
38. You tell me I'm beautiful... even when I don't believe you.
39. You said yes to the Christmas dance 20 years ago. (20 years?!)
40. You said yes to forever...  in a church... 16 years ago... in front of our family and friends.
41. You meant it.

So many more things I could say about this guy of mine.
Yes, I could make a list of things that irritate me. Or annoy me. Or make me roll my eyes.
But that's not a good list to make.

I'm blessed. I'm grateful. I'm spoiled.
I'm so very happy that he's mine.
He may not be perfect, but he's perfect for me.
And I hope I get to spend another 41 years with him. (At least!)