Happy Belated Birthdays

Happy Belated Birthday to John Reagan & Evie!

Unfortunately I am so far behind that I am just now wishing John Reagan a Happy 5th Birthday on the blog. He would be ecstatic that I am this far behind if he thought it meant getting to celebrate his birthday all over again. He already has his 6th birthday planned out, and we still have 9 months to go.

We had his birthday party at one of the local fire stations. He had a great time and got some special treatment.

John Reagan and his only 2 boy cousins.

I don't know if this is nationwide, but in the state of Louisiana you can have birthday parties at the fire stations for FREE! Awesome! You get to tour the fire station and everything. I would highly recommend it.

And now for Evie's Happy Belated Birthday! She turned 3 this year and wanted a Toy Story birthday party. I should say she wanted a Jessie party.

She had lots of fun celebrating! The little box in the left corner of this picture: Aunt Paula was nice enough to buy a LIVE turtle for Evie. Joy Joy for Mommy and Daddy!

As for Averi, she had a blast celebrating both parties:

Party #1

Party #2

This last picture does not do the chocolate justice!

Cakes:

I included these 2 pictures because I had to make the cakes for both parties. If you know me well you know I would rather pay for a cake than spend the time making them. Yet there I was on both birthdays having to make cakes so the kiddos could have what they wanted. Evie wanted a "Jessie and Slinky" cake and would have it no other way. I tried to convince Greg to let me get a family friend to make Evie's. He really didn't want to do that. He has since discovered how long it takes and has no problem with me getting our family friend to make his and Averi's. Yay for me!

Growing Up: Part 2

This is what is going on at our house!

Oh boy! The REAL fun is about to begin. When we turn on the bath water, Averi appears out of nowhere in a matter of seconds. She has been trying to climb in with brother and sister. I asked John Reagan last night what he and Evie were going to do when Averi started chasing them around. He said, "Run!"
The volume level is rising by the day.

Growing Up!

My little buddy is growing up!

Sniff, sniff.

John Reagan had his first official day of Kindergarten on Friday.

We were rushed in our picture taking thinking we were running behind, but it turned out we were just fine. And if you are wondering, yes they have to wear "uniforms" down here.

John Reagan did great! He was very excited about his first day, and he seemed to like his teacher very much. He even gave her a hug when we picked him up.

Evie on the other hand was a different story. I did fine until we left him. On the way home I wanted to fall apart but couldn't because Evie girl was on the verge of falling apart. She was so upset that her brother was at school and not at home with her. She had crocodile tears that she was fighting to keep in. Needless to say they played very well together when brother got home. As soon as we got in the car when picking John Reagan up, Evie quickly told him she missed him. I love their relationship, even though we are at the "brother irritates the mess out of sister" stage.
I am thankful for healthy children who are growing like they are supposed to, but it is sad to me that we have hit the school years. I feel like we are already sending him off into the world. The past five years have flown by.

More, You Say!

Oh yes, we are still playing catch-up! The sad part about this is that I still have at least 3 more posts of catching up. I really don't know where I have been or how I got this far behind. What can I say?

I guess I will say Happy Mother's Day 3 months late! We celebrated in true Louisiana fashion.

Yes, yes! That is delicious crawfish. I know they aren't so delicious looking just yet, but they do get there. My tummy could testify to that.

Evie wasn't so sure about a live crawfish, but John Reagan loved it.

Averi could have cared less as long as she was being held. Since the crawfish boil included my sister, parents, cousins, aunt, and Grandma, there were plenty of women around to accommodate her.

And what is a May crawfish boil without a little swimming afterwards.
As you can see Evie is well taken care of.

Between my two cousins, there are three girls from 8-14. They love to take care of Evie, and I love for them to. I always get a break when they are around. As a matter of fact, we hardly see Evie when they are around.
We are thankful the crawfish boil took place in early May. We have had around 35 days straight of 100+ degree heat. This includes the heat index getting as high as 120. As everyone is saying down here, it is just about too hot to even go swimming. Hope all of you are staying cool!