Make Up, Masks, & More

This morning we woke up and Autumn insisted on putting on her dress the second she was awake.  I’m so glad she likes wearing the dress Jennifer made her, b/c it’s absolutely adorable.  Anyways, we watched some cartoons w/ Andrew and then had some cereal for breakfast.  Autumn volunteered to say the prayer and she did it ALL BY HERSELF, which is the first time she’s done that.  Usually she asks me for help to tell her what to say and then she repeats what I say.  But this time she did it all on her own and I was very proud of her.  She made sure to ask for the food to be blessed and that we were thankful for it and that we could have a good day and be safe.  It was simple but sweet and sincere.

I started reading another book on Mom’s kindle and got lost in the story when Autumn emerged from the back room wearing some pretty make-up that her favorite Aunt Lexie had put on her.  I’m glad that Lexie is into make up and let’s Autumn wear it b/c that’s something special they get to share together.

She thought she was hot stuff w/ her pretty purple eyeliner and eyes shadow.  I’m going to have a hard time enforcing the “no make up until you’re 14 years old” rule that I had to follow when I was growing up.  She’s a complete and utter diva and girly girl.  But I do have to admit she’s a gorgeous little girl.

The kids were in the back room playing w/ Legos while I sat and read my book and Lexie worked on her laptop.  Nick came downstairs carrying this mask and weapon and I asked him what on Earth he was doing.  He said he was going to go scare the kids.  So, he snuck back there and jumped out from behind a corner and scared the crap out of Andrew.  Autumn just sat there and looked at him and then we all started laughing.  Poor Andrew!  Mean Uncle Nick!

The kids didn’t want to be in that back room by themselves anymore after Nick tried to scare them, so they came into the living room and found some books and sat in the loveseat together and read.  When I got out my camera to take a picture Andrew said, “Oh, no!  Not a picture!”  Then he tried to hide behind his book.  Funny kids!

Dad came home from work and brought Lexie & I some sweatshirts they were giving away at work.  Mom had gone to the store to get groceries for the party this afternoon and we helped her put them away when she got home.  Then Mary came over and brought Avery (Ashley’s 2 week old baby) for us to babysit for a little bit b/c Ashley had gone to get her hair done and Jordan was at work and Mary had to go to Jessie’s volleyball game.  I thought I had died and gone to heaven b/c I was in a warm and snuggly sweatshirt w/ a brand new baby asleep on my chest while I read the kindle and had football on in the background.  I don’t think life can get much better than that!  Lexie & I took turns holding Avery and trying to quench our baby cravings.  Avery was so good and slept the whole entire time.  He is too sweet!

The kids got tired of reading their books and wanted Papa to play w/ them.  So, he would grab them by the arm and then pretend to spank their bummies and throw them up into the air.  Autumn & Andrew loved it so much and kept asking him to do it over and over.  He finally had to tell them only 2 more each.

After Dad finished “spanking” them, they decided to play hopscotch w/ Autumn’s princess puzzle pieces and then they played ring around the rosy.  They are so good at keeping themselves entertained and I’m glad they are so close in age so they can enjoy playing together.

At 3:00, we started the birthday party for Dad & Nick.  As you can see, we had a shrimp boil.  It’s so fun to just throw the food down the middle of the table and not use utensils.

Britt came over to eat w/ us and celebrate Dad’s birthday.  Yes, that’s a crawfish sticking out of Dad’s mouth…eww!

Traditionally, you put crawfish in the pot but we don’t like crawfish and that’s why we call it a shrimp boil.  But, since it was Dad’s birthday he requested to have crawfish this time.  He was the only one that ate them and then was teasing the grandkids by putting the heads on his fingers and doing puppet shows w/ them!  Here he’s doing the “hook ‘em horns” sign!  What a funny guy.

Maggie got this scrumptious chocolate and butter cream cake from Costco for their birthdays.  Nick is 25 and Dad is 55, but I couldn’t find another “5” candle, so I just put a “0” on the end.  That frosting was so luscious and good.

The kids had a blast playing w/ the expanding snake Mom got for them at the Dollar Store the other day.  We had left it in the hot tub overnight and it had grown quite a bit.  They played in the hot tub the whole time we sat outside and talked (which was about 3 hours).

When they finally got out, they were cold and I had wrapped Autumn up in a towel but then Andrew came over and was shivering and wanted a towel too.  Before we could go get him one, Autumn said, “Here Drew.  I will share.”  It was unsolicited and so cute to see them both wrapped up in the same towel.

I put on a movie for them in Mom & Dad’s room and they were both asleep in a few minutes.  I spent the rest of the evening just watching TV and reading my book.  I finally packed Autumn up at 10:30 and took her home so we could get a good night’s rest in our own beds and get up in the morning for church.  It was such a fun celebration for Dad & Nick.