Harrison's 15th Birthday Celebration

It's hard to believe that this guy could turn into...

this guy in just 15 short years

Harrison turned 15 on February 4th of this year. He's growing up to be a really great young man. There wasn't a lot of hoopla around his birthday this year, either. Everything was pretty low key. He was taken out to dinner by my parents and they also bought him a new suit. Then, on his actual birthday, we went out to dinner to Red Lobster (one of his favorite places); and we had some ice cream cake when we got home. The Friday after his birthday, Harry took Harrsion and three friends (Sam, Gabe, and Dillon) to a Thrasher's game. Thank heavens for $1 drinks, popcorn, and hot dogs! Those boys can definitely eat. They had a great time together; and apparently got their pictures taken with the Thrashers Ice Girls...ooh la la!

You can definitely tell they are teenage boys. They've come a long way from their Cub Scout Day camp days.

Oh and if anyone is wondering, Harrison won't be getting his Learner's Permit to drive until he submits his paperwork to get his Eagle project approved (Mom's rules).

Hannah's Birthday Celebration

We didn't really have a big to-do for Hannah's birthday this year. She is getting her room redecorated for her present from us; and that is taking a lot of time and money. On her actual birthday, she had me make her an ice cream treat called Frozen S'mores. YUMMY!
Here's the recipe for Frozen S'mores



On Saturday, she had a pizza luncheon after gymnastics practice with her team . The girls are so much fun and so funny to be around. They had a good time.

Then, that evening, Hannah's best friend, Gaby, came over for a sleepover. She was wearing a piece of a "Best Friends" bracelet, and Hannah commented on it. Gaby told her that, "my really good friend has the other piece." When Hannah opened her birthday present from Gaby, she realized that she had the other piece. She was so happy. We are so grateful to have Gaby and her family in our lives. It was a good birthday. When we get Hannah's room done, we'll post pictures.

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

11 years ago today, our Hannah came into our lives. A few years after we had Harrison, we wanted to have another baby. We were told that it would be virtuely impossible. I only had one working ovary; and it only worked half the time. We couldn't afford fertility treatments. So, we put it in the Lord's hands. 4 months later, we were pregnant. My pregnancy wasn't easy. I had really bad morning sickness and ended up losing 25 lbs. I was also borderline for gestational diabetes; and my doctor never gave me a single ultrasound. But, I managed to make it through. We had no idea at all if our baby was going to be a boy or a girl when we went into that delivery room. How absolutely thrilled we were to see her sweet little face and hear, "It's a girl."

Hannah was due February 20th, but came into the world three and half weeks early. She weighed 6 lbs. 3 oz. and was 18 1/2 inches long--smaller than most dolls. She was the sweetest baby. Her little wrinkly forehead and the sweet little noises she made endeared her to absolutely everyone in the family. We were really fortunate to have my grandparents (Hannah's great-grandparents) come and stay with us for a month to help take care of all of us. I believe that experience alone bonded my kids and my grandparents forever together. It was a great time.

As Hannah grew, she developed her own little personality, which is still hers today. She is so funny. Her comic timing is impecable. Living with three "oldest" children automatically puts her at a disadvantage, but she keeps up with all of us just fine. She's zinged her dad and her brother on many occasions from a very young age--which always has impressed me. She is so tender-hearted and concerned about others. She is always wanting to do something nice for someone else. Many times she's been willing to give up something of her own for someone else. She is daring. There is very little in this life that scares Hannah. I so admire that in her.

For all these reasons, and so many more, we love our Hannah. I feel blessed to know her and honored to be entrusted to raise her. Happy Birthday, Doo!

Happy Birthday, Harry!

Today was Harry's birthday. We found a few minutes in our hectic, busy lives to celebrate.
Yesterday, we had cake with my parents. I made a key lime cake (Harry's request). It was so yummy. Harry took the day off from work and went golfing with a vendor from work. Tonight, We went to dinner at Taco Mac with Harry's parents (they're in town until Wednesday) and had yummy food and got to catch up. We, then, came home and Harry opened up his presents--all four seasons of "The Office," and a gift card to The Gap. All in all, a pretty good day.

Harry is such a wonderful person. He is extremely hard-working and takes such good care of us. We couldn't ask for a better dad/husband. Happy Birthday, Harry! We love you.

Harrison's Birthday Party

On Friday, Februray 8th, we had a party at our house for Harrison's 14th birthday. I meant to take more pictures, but I was instructed to "knock it off." So, I only have a few. We invited 11 other kids from Peachtree City and Sharpsburg--10 of the 11 invited came. Also, to keep Hannah out of the older kids' hair, we allowed her to have a friend over to spend the night. She also ended up having another friend come over just to play during the party. So, we had a total of 15 kids in the house all at once. It was definitely interesting. The younger kids were down in my room having a picnic and watching Hannah Montana. The older kids played a getting to know you game and then got their food and went upstairs to watch a movie. The menu for dinner was Footlong hotdogs, tater tots, chips, fruit, cupcakes, and soda. Then, upstairs we had a huge bowl filled with all of their favorite candies--it was pretty much gone by the end of the evening. They watched The Princess Bride, or at least that was the intention. There was a LOT of talking going on. Everyone was having so much fun that they asked me to call all of their parents to see if they could stay a little longer. Unfortunately, most of the parents were already on their way. So, we've decided that we need to have another movie party just for fun. Maybe in a few more months.

Hannah's 10th birthday and Harrison's 14th birthday

I realized that I hadn't posted any pictures of Hannah's actual birthday on the blog. That's what I get for turning the kids' birthdays into 3 day extravaganzas. Anyway, Hannh officially turned 10 last Wednesday. She chose baked hot dogs (recipe to follow), curly fries, and a trip to Cold Stone Creamery for her birthday dinner. She got an American Girl surf set complete with surfboard, snorkle, masks, flippers, sunglasses, and beach towel. She also got a jump rope from her brother and a $25 gift certificate to the American Girl store.













Harrison officially turned 14 today. He chose to go to Johnny's Pizza for his dinner. He also requested a cake in the shape of a Thrashers hockey puck. So, that's what he got. We took the cake with us to Johnny's. The staff was so nice, we left them 1/4 of the cake. He got some Abercrombine cologne from Hannah, The Dangerous Book for Boys (the best book I've seen in a long time), and a Golf & Spring Training Vacation with Harry (they leave March 12). He said he was really surprised. He thought he was just getting golf lessons.

They both had great birthdays. Now, we just have Harrison's birthday party with friends to do before the birthday "brouhaha" is over.

I got this recipe for baked hotdogs when I was about 10 years old. It was the first meal I ever made and my kids LOVE them. It's a good thing to do when you realize you forgot to buy hotdog buns at the store :c).

Recipe for Baked Hotdogs: makes 4
4 hotdogs
4 slices of bread (you can cut the crust off if you would like)
4 slices American cheese
butter
toothpicks

Preheat oven to 350º. Spread butter on all four slices of bread. Place buttered side down on a baking sheet on a diagnol (in a diamond shape). Place slice of cheese on bread also on diagnol. Place hotdog on bread. Fold up two side corners over hotdog and fasten with toothpicks. Bake in oven for about 10-15 minutes. Remove toothpicks before serving to small children.

American Girl Bistro Day

On February 2nd, a group of us (Hannah, Jen, Jacque and Tori Hanks, Monica, Thera, and Emma Mullet, Grandma Mullet, and Great-Grandma Theaker) went to the American Girl Bistro at the North Point Mall to celebrate Hannah's birthday. We had a GREAT time. The food was very good, the atmosphere was just adorable, and it was cheaper than Disney :c). The highlight of Hannah's Bistro experience was when the hostess came over with the Julie Albright doll and told Hannah that she had a special friend that wanted to come and have brunch with her. Well, you can see Hannah's reaction--all orchestrated by Harry, Jacque Hanks, and myself. She was completely surprised and had no idea...are we good, or what? We got her Julie for two reasons...she looks just like Hannah and she is from the 70's--the era that I grew up in.

Hannah received several cash gifts and a $25 gift certificate for the store. So, she shopped and chose the curlicue vanity and two books (Mia and Nicki). For those that aren't familiar with American Girl, it is a fabulous line of dolls, books, and accessories just for girls. Hannah has learned so much about history and growing up in different eras from these books. I highly recommend them to anyone with a daughter or granddaughter.

Hannah's Birthday Party With Friends

Hannah had her birthday party on Friday night. We decided to buy a birthday kit from American Girl. Hannah chose the Totally Tropical Luau kit. It came with everything we needed (invitations, decorations, party favors, games, and thank you cards). It was a once stop shop--it was GREAT! Hannah invited six of her friends from church and her cousin, Thera. Only one of the girls couldn't come. So, there were seven girls in all. Hannah and I decorated and set the table that afternoon. There was a girls table and a dolls table. There were plates, napkins, forks, etc... for the girls and then there were doll-sized items, too. They were so cute. After they arrived, the girls played a game while dinner was cooking. Dinner consisted of Rainbow Fruit Skewers (Strawberry, Orange, Pineapple, Kiwi, & Blueberries), Chicken Fingers, Curly Fries, Chex Mix, and Volcano Floats (fruit punch, ginger ale, & orange sherbert). After dinner, the girls went on a treasure hunt through the house to find the clam shell treasure. In the clam shell, the girls found a dolphin necklace for each of them. They then made crepe paper hula skirts and leis (one for the girls and one for their dolls, of course). Then, we opened presents and had cake and sherbert. Since it was a Luau, we had Hawaiian music playing in the background and I made a flipflop beach cake. The girls had a great time and with the kit it was smooth sailing for me.