Let The Others Eat Cake

     Last week's birthday bash for our first grandson was purposefully low-key. With his parents currently undergoing a house renovation that has seen them moving out of their house and decamping to not one, not two, but three different locations, they opted for a "just family" outdoor party in a neighborhood park. The Daughter kept things really simple, and it was a good call. She served mini cupcakes from The Cupcake Collection, mini ice cream sandwiches and little bottles of ice water. There were picnic tables, a few helium balloons for decoration, a frisbee, some nerf rockets, lots of shade trees, and a good old fashioned playground nearby.
    The weather was amazing. When the daughter sent out her Paperless Paperless Post invites, and I realized the party was going to be outside, I worked up a sweat just thinking about it. Four o'clock in the afternoon in August in Nashville can be absolutely brutal. Last year the heat index for the very same day was 106. Yikes. The boy may have a few "hot" birthday parties in his future, but this first one was not one of them. The temperature was only 84 degrees, the humidity was low, and I never even broke a sweat!
    The Birthday Boy was a champ! He loved the attention, loved his toys, and had a great time. But he did not like his cupcake much. It was pretty funny!

Uh oh. Something's up.

Everybody has gathered around me, and they are singing some silly song.

 Oh wow. Take a look at that thing. Is that candle for me?

 I'm thinking about it...

 Not so sure about that blue stuff...

 I think it's growing on me...

 Good one of the family, except that I forgot to look at the camera!

 Let's skip the cake part...I'm just gonna concentrate on the icing...

 GiGi comes over to help me along....

 Now it's time to open presents. Yippee!

I love Thomas the Train!

 My cousins and sister are only too happy to help me out with the presents

Aunt Kelly and my cousin Mia are a big help!

Sister is trying to explain the instructions to me. I'm not too interested.

Momma decides that I need to try on my new shoes...

What are shoes anyway? I like my bare feet just fine.

Momma, I'm telling you it's not gonna happen!
Take these things off NOW!

 This is my Pappy, my cousin and my sister. We are adding another cousin
in a week or two. There's already room in Pappy's lap for him!

 That's my Uncle Bear and my Aunt Betta

 That's my Momma with my great-granddaddy, Pa Poag

 Here's Uncky, Nannie, and my cousin (Little Two). 

 That's my Uncle Jacob and my Aunt Kelly

 This is my cousin Tatum, my grandmother Gigi, and Ken.

 This is another shot of Uncle Bear and my cousin (Little Two)

Tatum and I are chillin' out with Pa Poag, our great-grandfather

My party sure was a lot of fun. I want to do it again next year.

And can you guess why Nonna told me that this is her very favorite picture from that day???

Numero Uno for Baby O

   I finally got to meet this great-nephew of mine when we traveled to the family wedding celebration. This adorable little hunk of a man is cuter than sliced bread, I am tellin' you. Baby O is laid-back, easy going, and smiles like there's no tomorrow. Happy should be his middle name. Take a look at the rockin' first birthday party that Baby O's momma and daddy put together for him. It looked utterly delightful, and I wish I could have been there. Thanks to the marvel of DropBox, I was able to join in the fun!

Party favors for everyone to take home!

With room for everyone to roam, this public park pavilion is just the place to throw down some fun!

Check out this adorable Baby O on parade

The eats were great and guests were invited to build their own fruit kabobs!

 Wanna juice cooler anyone?

Let's have some fun!

 

 A cake to share

And one to spare
that's just for Baby O!

But first, let's have some fun in the sun!

Then we'll share the love with everyone!

 

Check out the grandmothers who had shirts made especially for this occasion

 More grandparent love!

 I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready for some cake

How about a "V" for victory!

 Baby O came, he saw, he conquered!

Whoa, I am ready for a nap now!

Just kidding! It's rally time!

Thanks Mommy and Daddy for a great birthday party

Hope you had as much fun as I did!
Can we do it again next year?!

Celebration Time

    This was a November to remember. As Vanderbilt graduates and longstanding Commodore football fans, 2012 was a season to savor and remember. The crowning achievement was a decisive and memorable victory over the University of Tennessee. Even though we usually find ourselves a somewhat divided household when it comes to sports allegiances, this day it was all about Vandy. The Husband was in the stands the last time that Vanderbilt defeated UT, and it was 30 years ago. A long long time. I guess that it made it even sweeter. He got some great shots but here are a couple of my favorites from that magical day.

It has become a tradition to have our daughter-in-law Annie's family come up every other year to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. We've become one big extended happy family, and I look forward to getting the "cousins" together. There's nothing like four little girls to completely take over a playhouse!

The weather was mild enough for everyone to play outside.
I think you might spot a princess or two.
It's important to have a princess at Thanksgiving.

Middle son and his baby girl! 

The next day we all celebrated precious Little Two's second birthday! Her momma had designed the party around a "camping" theme. There were tiny Coleman lantern favors, glow stick necklaces, and a firepit for roasting marshmallows...well supervised by the daddies, of course!

She was telling her daddy that this was fire,
 and she was not allowed near it!

 Enjoying the homemade cake pops!

 Men love an excuse to have a fire...but it's perfect for s'mores!

Time for some girl talk in the yard 

 Little Three joined in on the celebration, but he decided to chill inside with Pappy!