PAW Patrol Party

Little Wryder Roo turned 3 last week – a monumental occasion for him!  He has been SO excited about his birthday (because birthdays are AWESOME) and has been asking for a Paw Patrol party since last year sometime.  We had a busy weekend (that got attacked by every child having the nasty cold/upper respiratory infection we’ve all been passing back and forth) so we didn’t plan him a big party, but we still pulled out all of the Paw Patrol garb I got on sale at Party City.

We set it all up on Thursday evening so that when he came downstairs on Friday, he’d have a good start to his day.  Sweet boy was so excited!

I'm THREE!
I’m THREE!

We made a quick trip to the clinic on Friday and then went to birthday lunch.  Originally, I had told him he could choose anywhere he wanted for lunch and, lo and behold, he chose McDonalds.  Now, I’m not one of those haters that just absolutely can’t stand the place because it’s non-ogranic or they serve GMOs or whatever…I just don’t like it because I don’t think it’s very good.  Except their fries.  Enough salt and grease makes ANYTHING good.

Thankfully, our sweet friend Traci got to talking about Mexican food and he decided he’d rather go there instead – hallelujah!

He made a good choice!

Free dessert!
Free dessert!
It was good.
It was good.

On the way to town, he opened the birthday card he got from GooGoo and inside was a ten dollar bill!  He was so excited and so we went shopping after lunch and he bought the one pup he was missing – Rocky!

Look at that face...
Look at that face…

He was so excited to pay for it and get his bag, all by himself!

Big boy!
Big boy!

He had a few dollars left and he used it to buy a root beer float!  Can you have too much sugar on your birthday?!  Nah.  Not when you’re three.  🙂

Fridays are usually long days so we waited until Saturday to open presents.  He is SO much fun to buy things for 1) because he has certain things he just REALLY, REALLY like and 2) he’s so expressive, it’s just flat fun to see how excited he gets!

A school bus!
A school bus!
The pickup and trailer he's been wanting!
The pickup and trailer he’s been wanting!
He was a happy camper!
He was a happy camper!

He loved the Air Patroller too but he was blurry with excitement so the pictures wouldn’t mean much to anyone but his parents.  🙂

PaPa and RaRa sent him one of his other favorite presents…

a wheelbarrow!
a wheelbarrow!

He used it all day today.  Pretty sure we’re gonna have dirt EVERYWHERE around this place…

Sayble was quite fond of the wrapping paper.

Isn't she cute?!
Isn’t she cute?!

Pretty sure her first birthday is gonna be a ball, too!

We had his “party” Saturday at lunch.  I always let the kids make their menus and he went back and forth between steak and hot dogs (quite the spectrum, I know) but finally settled on hot dogs, which worked well for the dog theme.  😉

PAW Patrol on a roll - get it?!
PAW Patrol on a roll – get it?!

He also wanted french fries, fruit (very specific about what berries), punch and pumpkin bread.  I turned the pumpkin bread into dog chow, so it worked out.

He got his pumpkin bread!
He got his pumpkin bread!
Pupcakes
Pupcakes
The spread
The spread
Official Pawty water
Official Pawty water
Birthday boy!
Birthday boy!
Sweet sister, representing Skye!
Sweet sister, representing Skye!
We even had Paw Patrol tattoos!
We even had Paw Patrol tattoos!
and masks
and masks
He's three!
He’s three!
and decided to eat his pupcake like a dog...of course.
and decided to eat his pupcake like a dog…of course.

I think he had a really good couple of days.  As he was eating one last cupcake on Saturday night, he said, “Mom?  Thank you so much for my party!”  Melt my heart.  Anytime, kiddo.  You are why I do what I do….

Later that afternoon, our sweet neighbor got married.  Despite the icky colds, we couldn’t say no to watching such a Godly couple vow their forevers to each other.  It’s so nice to attend a wedding where the couple really gets it, ya know?

The rain was relentless that afternoon and Sawyer didn’t want to mess up her cute hair so we did this:

A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do...
A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do…

And yes, I need to do laundry.  😉  I’m working on it, ok!?!

Wrexy had a pretty cute wedding date!

So sweet!
So sweet!

We came home and called it an early night.

I keep saying that I think three is his year!  Just today, he’s put on socks and pants by himself AND pooped somewhere other than his pants!  (It was outside on the sidewalk but it WASN’T in his pants!)  Seriously, I think it’s gonna be a good one…

Worth 1,000 Words: Texas Trip

Our trip to Texas was, plain and simple, a lot of fun!  Prepare yourself for picture overload……

The kids LOVE this place in Perryton.  Travis and Kasey took us last time we were in town and the kids have been dying to go back!  Pizza and bounce castles – how do ya beat that??

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The big kid liked it, too!
The big kid liked it, too!

Sayble got (conveniently) hungry in the town of Wichita Falls, Texas so while I fed her, daddy took the kids to explore the falls.

Beautiful!
Beautiful!
Cuties on the bridge
Cuties on the bridge
Gorgeous!
Gorgeous!
Love this one
Love this one

 

Flush faced and sweaty
Flush faced and sweaty

Traveling with a baby calls for a few *ahem* more stops than normal, so the kids got to get a lot of good park play in…which was good for them, too!

Not sure if this is a beaver or chipmunk or prairie dog but that girl is sure cute!
Not sure if this is a beaver or chipmunk or prairie dog but that girl is sure cute!
Driving the John Deere, of course
Driving the John Deere, of course
Love that face!
Love that face!
Slide time!
Slide time!
SO cute!
SO cute!
She liked the purple one, of course!
She liked the purple one, of course!
WEEEEEEEEE
WEEEEEEEEE
Big stuff
Big stuff
Go faster!
Go faster!

We got to see quite a bit of family while we were gone – always a plus!

The kids and their great great aunt Sandy...
The kids and their great great aunt Sandy…
Sneaking some snuggles
Sneaking some snuggles
With their great grandma Cherry
With their great grandma Cherry
Sweet moment
Sweet moment
Cousin Camryn and baby Sayble
Cousin Camryn and baby Sayble
Sweet Iraydi getting in on the action!
Sweet Iraydi getting in on the action!
A few of the cousins together...
A few of the cousins together…
Playing with Aunt Malaina
Playing with Aunt Malaina
Sweet Tyler
Sweet Tyler
The boys hugging goodbye
The boys hugging goodbye
Look at these cuties!
Look at these cuties!
Nehemiah and Wryder taming dinosaurs
Nehemiah and Wryder taming dinosaurs
Too much cute
Too much cute
The kids with Uncle Nate
The kids with Uncle Nate
Amber getting some snuggles in
Amber getting some snuggles in
With Gramps
With Gramps

And then, of course, there was wedding fun!

With the bride and groom...
With the bride and groom…
Dancing with Uncle Dustin
Dancing with Uncle Dustin
Swoon
Swoon
Late night dancing with the bride and friends
Late night dancing with the bride and friends

Wryder’s already ready to again!  Our conversation at breakfast the other morning went like this:

WD: Sissy at sale barn with daddy.
Me: She is! She’s gonna have fun today…what should we do fun?
WD: Go (to) Texas!

Can ya blame him!?

Uncle Travis Got Married!

Wrexy’s boss and longtime friend, Travis, got married this past weekend in Cleburne, Texas.  Wrex was the best man (awwww!) so obviously he had to be there.

The kids were desperate to go (who doesn’t love a good wedding?!  Plus, they LOVE Travis and his new bride, Kasey) but I wasn’t so sure how I felt about taking care of three kids – one of which was barely a month old – by myself in triple digit heat 14 hours from home.  Do ya blame me?!

We sucked it up, spent 3 days packing, 2 days driving and did the dang thing!  So glad we did!

We drove to Booker, Texas the first day where the weather greeted us with a balmy 100 degrees. *ahem*

Later, we experienced a flash flood (not sure my shoes are dry yet) and the loudest thunder I’ve heard in my life – no joke!

Wrex visited at the plant a bit, showed off miss Sayble and the next morning we scurried farther east and made it (by the skin of our teeth) to the rehearsal dinner.  Despite the high humidity (oh my poor hair) there was a breeze and some shade at the wedding venue.  Jesus loves me…

The next morning, while Wrex and the groomsmen hung out with the groom, we ate a yummy breakfast, picked up some some snacks and glowsticks for the wedding and then hit the splash pad!

IMG_3739IMG_3740IMG_3741IMG_3742IMG_3744IMG_3745IMG_3746IMG_3747The splash pad was a genius idea, if I do say so myself.  It cooled us off, was highly entertaining for $0 AND served as an easy pre-wedding bath for 2 of the 3 kiddos.  Oh yes, they were clean…

Everyone napped good, except for mom who was busy ironing clothes and packing diaper bags and feeding babies and attempting to make my hair do something other than frizz…and then off to the wedding we went!

Daddy almost sweated to death in his tux but he made it!  The kids had a ball dancing to the Hogg Maulies and running around and making new friends and we had a good time catching up with old friends while witnessing Travis and Kasey make their covenant with one other.

The happy couple
The happy couple
First dance
First dance
Getting ready for the bouquet toss
Getting ready for the bouquet toss
Sawyer's new friend, Katie, caught the bouquet and shared some flowers with her
Sawyer’s new friend, Katie, caught the bouquet and shared some flowers with her
A few of Wrex's Clarendon College judging team members...
A few of Wrex’s Clarendon College judging team members…

By 10:00, we were all hot, sweaty, TI-URD and oh so happy we made the trek.

As Wrexy said in his toast, here’s to a lifetime of marriage…and a pastel of little sheep showmen…to the bride and groom!

11391571_1098933056787565_1576658629093847969_nLove you guys!

 

 

****And for those of you at the wedding that asked for a copy of said toast, I’ve pasted it here…

Good evening.  My name is Wrex Phipps and it’s my honor and privilege to be able toast the happy couple tonight.   I promise not to take up too much of your time as I don’t want to embarrass Travis too much…I’d like to return to Colorado as a fully employed man this next week.

First of all, lets make sure we all know who Travis is as he seems to have quite a few different nick names: In his early years you might have know him as Floyd, then later on maybe Woodrow or Toothpick.  Now, he answers to Babe or Rathead – but you’ll have to ask Kasey about that.  Now, I mainly refer to him as Travis my boss and also one of my best friends.

Travis and I met in junior college 14 years ago.  We were on the livestock and meats judging teams so we spent A LOT of time together.  Now we work for the same company and we spend a lot of time on the phone together.

As you may know Travis is not an over communicator! Sometimes, he can even be a rather private person.  Or maybe that’s just with me and I get that.  Our relationship can be kind of hard to define at times.  When we talk, sometimes it’s friend to friend.  Sometimes it’s boss to employer and sometimes I have a tendency to over-share other people’s news.  They don’t call me “Radio” back home for nothing.

So when he first started dating Kasey, I didn’t know anything about it.  I had kinda suspected he might have a lady friend when he was a little more chipper and optimistic than usual on the phone.

Normally, it’s a “Hell-oh” or “Roger” or “Odie”…anybody that’s hung out with him or called him in the last 5 years knows what I’m talking about…but things had been a little different lately.

He seemed to laugh more and I didn’t seem to be getting in near as much trouble when my cows were high.   Not that that happened very often……

And then one day, I got a text…and I knew for sure.  I had sent him a message from the sale barn that morning saying:  “About 250 head here.  You thinking the same bid?”  He wrote back and said yes, I wrote back and said ok….and he wrote back and said, “Love you, too” – with 2 exclamation points!

Now, for a minute there, I was a little taken aback.  I thought, whoa……he just took our friendship to a whole new level.  And then I realized – aha!  There IS a girl!

Then “ol Radio” kicked in. I immediately took a screen shot and sent that message to my wife and about 7 of our closest college friends…and Travis’ boss…  This was good stuff!  On a lot of levels!

You see, my wife has known Travis as long as I have and he’s taken as good a care of her as he has of me.  She’s always been a big fan of Trav’s and she repeatedly said that one day Travis would have the best, sweetest and cutest wife out of our little group of friends. So we had been praying that he would find just that. While I’m incredibly fond of my wife, I can equally say – “Well done, Rathead.”

Here’s to a lifetime of marriage…and a pastel of little sheep showmen… To the bride and groom!

Tiny Dancer

While I get all giddy at all the lovey-doveyness of weddings, Sawyer enjoys them for a different set of reasons.

1.) Pop, Coke, soda – whatever you want to call it.  She had her first Shirley Temple this weekend.

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Sugary pop + sugary syrup = win win!

It was a hit!  And provided much needed fuel for…

2.) dancing.

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Check out that form

This girl loves, I mean LOVES to dance!  She danced with her uncles…

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Cutting a rug with Uncle Warner

and her cousins…

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Twirling with cousin Angelina

and random guests that I’ve never met until the wedding day.

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Two of her favorite dance partners

By 9:00, she was whooped and ASKED to go home and go to bed – ha!  But not before another one of these…

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Need. More. Fuel.

In the car, she informed us she wasn’t tired anymore.  We drove up one more exit and then saw this…

sleep
Out

Oh, be still my heart….

Long Line of Love

Oh, weddings, how I heart thee!  I’m a BIG fan of marriage…and not just because mine rocks.  (As fabulous as he is and as fault-free as I am (ahem) we still work at it every day.)  I love the covenant concept – let’s talk about this more in depth one day, k?  I love how two, individual people really can become one, unified soul.  I love the tradition and the symbolism and the blending of families and lives.  Plus, who doesn’t love a good family reunion/detail-rich party/opportunity to get dolled up and cut a rug?

This weekend, we traveled to south central Nebraska for our cousin’s wedding. Isn’t this cake gorgeous?

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Ombre

The lovely couple was incredibly hospitable and had put so much care into every last detail.  It was a beautiful celebration!

The bride and groom
Mr. and Mrs.

The groom comes from a long line of love.  There are many, many years of sound, successful marriage in his family tree – something that’s a rarity in today’s society, sadly.  Grandad and Grandma Phipps were celebrated as the couple with the longest marriage in attendance – 59 years!  THAT is something to celebrate, with a spotlight dance, no less!

PicMonkey Collage
59 years, people!

I know my little family has been blessed by their love for each other.  I’m sure that they would  admit that everyday hasn’t always been rainbows and roses, but I bet a lot of them have, simply because they’ve never given up on each other.  They’re a team.  Their marriage means something to them.  It’s something that they have put value on; it has worth.  It hasn’t been something that they’ve tossed aside because of a difference of opinions or hurt feelings, and I pray those same things for the newlyweds.

We bless your marriage, in the name of Jesus.  We pray that you would put Him FIRST and your marriage second and that nothing would disrupt that order.  We pray that you would live your lives as one and that you’d be each other’s biggest cheerleaders and number one fans.  We pray that your marriage would be a testament of the love of God to those around you.  We pray that you would have fun together and that you’d always enjoy each other’s company.  We pray that you outlast the elder Phipps’ and continue leaving this legacy of love and the sanctity of marriage for the generations after you.

We, too, come from that same long line of love and can’t wait for our kids to say that one day, too.  Wrexy introduced this song to me when we were dating and it’s still so sweet to my ears.  A little more love for a Tuesday morning…

Long Line of Love