MIsmatched

Rhett came home from school today and I could only see one of his socks. There have been many a day that I look down only to see that he has not worn ANY socks so naturally I figured he just put one on and ran out the door. Nope. Turns out he did, indeed, wear two socks.....One from a pack of socks we bought at Costco accidentally that were meant for someone with really, really huge feet and the other? An infant sock that never made it to the Goodwill. An infant sock. It literally covered his toes and a small portion of the ball of his foot. I just had to document the size difference because it cracked us up. Rhett.....he always makes my life funnier:)

G's Ten Year Party

Grant's party was a little delayed because of a hunting trip and our trip to Haiti but it rolled around a couple weeks late and he didn't mind a bit. Any time he can have all of his besties over for some of Grandma's chocolate cake it's a good day! 

Mom crafted up a specialty baseball cake. The boys were quick to let her know that her players were not positioned correctly and they moved them around to better field positions:) Poor player placement had no effect on the end result....it was to die for! 

After eating the boys disappeared downstairs and came back up dressed in things from my Halloween bin. We laughed at Tanner who must've gotten into Elaina's stash because he had a baby doll, a pink purse and a gun and he called himself "overprotective mom". Ha! 

I tried to get a good pic of all the friends together before bedtime but they're a nutty bunch of kids and it took several takes before I got this decent serious face one.

First there was this:

 and this:

The boys were having so much fun that we totally forgot to open presents. The next morning we decided we should go ahead and do that! Grant was pumped:)

He got a huge kick out of Cavin's singing card that had something to do with eating beans and pooting out your birthday candles. Perfect boy birthday card! 

One last attempt at a group shot before pick up.....well, two attempts then I gave up trying to get everyone to smile all at the same time.

I couldn't ask for a better group of boys for Grant to spend his 10th year with. I pray that these kids spend many more years together making memories! I love you, G! Happy 10th birthday party:)

TEN!

Today my little winter baby turns TEN! Double digits for another kiddo in the Morgan Casa. It's unreal to me! I thought at 10 he'd forget about the birthday crown but the night before (thankfully so I didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to do crafting) he asked if I had made it yet. I love that he asked me that:)

Cade was already gone for the morning to school so he missed out on the birthday boy donut request. Rhett knows better than to miss a donut opportunity so he was in on the action. Lanie? Sleeping. 

His birthday dinner request was J. Alexander's so we headed up for a great meal that evening. We followed it up with Nothing "Bundt" Cakes and some present opening. 

He got the Beats he'd been asking for:) 

I love celebrating birthdays. I'm so thankful that God blessed us with another year of Grant. I pray that it's followed by 100 more! 

Date Night With Keith

Bobby actually lucked out and got some awesome FREE tickets to Keith Urban and as usual, it was a concert date night that did NOT disappoint. What IS disappointing is that I can no longer take my camera in and get some good, real pictures. Oh well, a pre-concert, downtown Nashville selfie and some less than stellar concert shots will have to suffice for memories.

For free, our seats were pretty awesome! Little Big Town opened up for him and they remain at the top of my "Favorite Bands of All Time" list. I just love 'em. Keith was fantastic too, as always. I'm not too keen on his new haircut. He should have consulted me before going short. Long is much better but I'll overlook it as long as he's playing his guitar. 

The concert finale was a huge burst of confetti. Even though we've seen it before it's still as neat as ever! 

 I mean, LOOK at all that confetti!!! Praise the Lord I'm not on the Bridgestone clean up crew. What a drag. 

Farewell until next time, Keith! You've been a fantastic date night! 

What's Up With Those Glasses?

Elaina, Elaina, Elaina......I can't figure this child out most days. Right now she's on a kick with some glasses from Halloween 2 years ago when Cade was a nerd. She wears them all.the.time. and she LOVES it.

 I feel like I really have to choose my battles with her since we are battling over something most every day. This one? I just decided to lose. You want to wear goofy glasses? Do it. Do it and own it. 

So she did. We were heading to the grocery the other day and I look in my rearview mirror and see this. Apparently they were in her sweatshirt pocket. Whatever. 

We're in the Kroger....

she's pushing her little cart and wearing her geek glasses like she's the boss. 

Well, glad she got THAT out of her system. Uh, no. Next day? Heading to the gym? Yep. The glasses. 

Hey, it makes her happy and when she's happy I'm happy. Some things you've just gotta roll with and I'm rollin' with the geek glasses. Word on the street is that it's the new trend with the tweeners and young girl crowd. 

See, turns out she's just fashion forward! 

Shoot 'Em Up!

I spent the first day of the new year hanging with this shady crowd shooting guns on some property we have in Columbia. It's never too soon to prepare for a zombie apocalypse so we wanted to make sure our marksmanship was on spot. 

Bobby shot trash and whatnot that was floating in the river. 

G was hangin' tough..

Bobby bought Rhett a little 410 rifle and he was SO excited to take it out and shoot it. 

I tried out Bobby's pistol and discovered that my aim was quite low. The boys were cracking up that whomever I was shooting was getting their tenders blown to smithereens. Boys...

Our littlest shooter got his ear protectors on and was ready to pop a cap in something.

With some help from his dad he was good to go! 

G, ready to roll.

Cade and Grant both are pretty good shots. They destroyed the water bottle targets we brought. 

Brian also found an old door on the side of the road and he brought it along for target practice. 

Burton got distracted and found it more interesting to pick up the bullet shells to use as finder adornment:)

We tried some skeet shooting too. I didn't.  I figured that if my shooting of a still object was less than optimal then shooting a moving target the size of my hand was going to be a no go. 

Burton wasn't the only one that got distracted. Grant used the skeet to make designs in the grass. 

Smiling, happy faces is what we had at the end of our shoot-a-thon. It's always fun to go out and do "boy things" and it's even more fun when you can do it with good friends! Bring on the zombies!

Another Year's End

2013 has rolled in and out like a flash of lightning! This year Bobby and I had a New Year's Eve schedule that included being home by 8 and in bed by 10. I was forced to be awake at midnight only because our neighbors across the field were shooting off massive amounts of fireworks. It was like the Fourth and Disney World all combined! 

I made the kiddos pose for end of the year pictures just because. Elaina wanted to pose with G because most of the time she insists that he's her "best brother"......until he strays from doing exactly what she wants. Then he's no longer the best brother and it's one of the others. 

Grant moved to a new room this year only to decide by year's end that he actually just really likes sleeping with Cade. And, Cade, who begged him not to go in the first place is a more than welcoming host. I also heard through the grapevine that G is the "ladies man" at school. And the best part? He has no idea. He's just rollin' with that spiked hair and is none the wiser. Let's keep it that way. Humble and cute are always a good combo:)

2013 brought a stellar start to middle school for Cade. It also brought the label  of "instigator" since we've noticed that things are generally calm and running smoothly until he walks in the room. Then there's fighting and crying amongst all....except for him. He's a sneaky fella but we're on to him now. As of the end of 2013 I can still take this boy down with a foot sweep and tackle him to the floor. 2014 may be a different story if he decides to grow. Instigator or not, I love this kid.

Rhett. Future lawyer or any other profession that requires arguing. He's spent a lot of time practicing that in 2013. Despite arguing, he's the King Snuggler in our house. I hope I get to spend twice as much time snuggling with this kid in 2014 because it makes my heart happy. 

And last but not least, Elaina.....oh, Lordy someone help me. Cute as the cutest button you ever did see but 2013 brought age 3 and age 3 always wears.me.out. Nice kids usually return around age 4 and I'm looking forward to that in 2014! Right now she is Ms. I wantwhatiwantwheniwantit. And she wan't it now or yesterday, whichever is sooner. 2013 also brought swimming and gymnastics to her world and watching her do those things is so precious. 

I'm so glad the Lord saw fit to give us another entire year together. My prayer is that he grants us at least 80 more. As 2013 slides out my goals for 2014 are pretty simple: Pray more and meal plan. I think those are attainable! Goodbye, 2013. You've been good to us and we hate to see you go! It's time to welcome baby new year and all that she has to offer!