grady's party

we had grady's party today...i know, it is two weeks late, but is anyone surprised?...anyway, this years theme was SO grady...we had a messy party. as most of you know, my sweet grady has an incredible skill for getting messy, so we decided to run with it. i have learned that we can only handle a small group of 2 and 3 year olds at a time so we invited our neighborhood wednesday night friends. we asked them to come prepared to get messy. it was a lot of fun!

here is his cake...you can't get any messier than a dump truck. i am really happy with how it turned out.


grady was really excited about blowing his candles out, but got really shy when everyone was singing to him.

the truck had a terrible accident.

it is blocking all lanes on I-285

we couldn't have a messy party without finger paint. it was the only time during the whole party that all of the kids were quiet and sitting down...go figure!

i love this picture...he is really concentrating on his painting...maybe he has some of his mommy in him...not the concentrating part, the art part!

of course, mm loved it too.

we also played a little game of pin the mess on grady!

thank you to grady's friends...he had a really great time.

grady's cake

i am not sure why, but i always have to make simple things difficult. this is very true with grady's cake this year...i probably have been watching a little bit too much Ace of Cakes, so i channeled my inner duff, mary alice, geoff, katherine, and crew...here are the results. i am really happy with the way that it turned out, but i don't think that duff will be calling me anytime soon!

i bought a sheet cake from publix and cut and constructed the truck form...i then attempted to use fondant for the first time...i thought that it couldn't be much different than clay, but i was mistaken. once i finished covering it, i painted some details on with the icing dye. for the final touch i added chocolate pudding and oreos to the bed, and donuts for the wheels. it was really fun to make, but a lot of work!


the license plate was grady's birthday.


mm asked if i would make her a cake. of course, i told her that i would...i am really fortunate that her birthday is 9 months away!

if you are interested....here are some construction pictures on flickr

olympics

i am really sad that tomorrow is the last day for the olympics...i love watching it. it amazes me that for most of these people competing they have been preparing for this for the majority of their lives. think of all those people that train most of their life and don't even make the olympic team...maybe one of my two will make it and i can be the new debbie phelps! how does michael (..you know, michael phelps my new best friend) handle that kind of pressure and still not crack at all!

this could be a new book for me...where michael??

what i want to be when i grow up...

i want to be a children's book writer and illustrator. i found this great website today. It is a site for children's book illustrators. maybe it will motivate me to start thinking about possible stories or characters...here are some of my favorites...

Lauren Child is the creator of charlie and lola


Ian Falconer is the creator of the Olivia Series
do you think that this is just another way to procrastinate...i really should be doing laundry, cleaning the house, and unpacking! man, i am good at procrastinating...i wish there was a career in that!

now taking reservations...

to marry the cutest little boy in america...approximate wait time...25 years. his mommy has to love on him a lot more before i can promise him to someone else!


by the way, this was at mom and dad's a couple of weeks ago. they have a sprinkler system that is fed by the lake (so technically no watering ban) anyway, will and mm ran from zone to zone jumping into the sprinklers. grady wasn't as brave getting into the full stream, but he sure liked running away from him...come to think of it, he is the bravest one by going in his birthday suit, but if my bottom looked as cute as his, i might too...well, probably not! please notice that his shoes never left his feet!

happy birthday bug!

happy 2nd birthday sweet grady. this child is a complete mess, but that is why i love him. he has changed so much in the past year. this time last year he was the quietest most gentle soul...now he has let it all loose, but that is why i love him so much. i love his little words, he funny little laugh, and loving nature. he is all boy and i wouldn't have him any other way. i love you grady, i am looking forward to many more changing years!

weekend gone wild!

what does a weekend with all 6 grandkids at mom and dad's consist of?

lots of golf cart rides...lots of sharing well...lots of not sharing so well...parades of children on ride on toys/strollers through the house...running through the sprinklers...dad chasing geese through a neighbors yard at a high speed on the golf cart...mom thinking that the screaming coming from the speeding golf cart could only mean someone was seriously hurt...some paper airplane flying that led to parachute making...fun on the playground...lots of mosquito bites...approximately 42 "GRAAAA----DDDYYY"'s...super tired kids, parents...and grandparents!...and lots more! we had a great time with all the cousins, but it was WILD!

here are some photos of one of the calmest moments of the weekend.

Mom and Dad's yard, part 2

Guest Blogger Sinead sneaking in with some pics of Mom and Dad's house that Dad wanted to share with the family over in Ireland and England. It's been a while since some of you were here, and he wanted you to see the changes in the yard. :)

and then I thought I'd add a little picture of Dermot and his newest love, Regan.

Happy Saturday!

Céad mile fáilte romhat

dad told me tonight that a lot of my family in ireland has been reading this little blog, so...


isn't it amazing how technology can bridge so many gaps? it has been so long since i have last visited ireland or england. y'all probably don't want us to visit once the see all the crazy stuff we do!!! seriously though, i hope that it will be soon that i can help my kids experience some of that wonderful culture that i was so fortunate to have every summer growing up.

by the way, in case you didn't know, Céad mile fáilte romhat means "100,000 welcomes" in gaelic.

mom & dad's house

this summer they had to drain the lake at mom and dad's to fix a leak in the dam. lots of people on the lake took advantage of the low lake level to build retaining walls to help with erosion. i thought i would share some pictures that i took tonight. (sinead is going to upload some that were taken from the lake too) i think mom and dad like it so much because it reminds them of the walls in ireland...kinda cool huh?

i thought that i would include the last one for those of you that were at our wedding. as you can see, where y'all sat is now full of hydrangeas, crepe myrtles, and holly bushes...isn't it amazing what 6 years and a lot of work can do?

mommy & g

here is a picture that lindsey took with my camera at a neighbors birthday party a while back. i absolutely love it. i need more pictures of me with the kids. thanks lindsey!