HOly CoW I HaVE a 5 yEAr oLD!!!

Mario and his little sidekick Yoshi!
Let the fun Begin!

Yoshi gift bags that took me waaaay toooo long to make! I am missing the crafty gene!

Close up of the Mario Bingo

Sporting the Mario Mustache party goers!

Mario Time!

Making a wish on a Toad Cupcake!

A little pin the mustache on Mario! Brady has been"perfecting" this game since the party!

Finding the hidden gold coins!!

The kids did great trying to avoid getting attacked by some bad characters!

Daddy gets in on the present action!

What's a Super Mario party without playing a little Super Mario at the end!

I still have moments where I can look at my children with complete wonder. I have so blessed to have these little spirits in my life. With Braden's 5th Birthday I seem to be having these kind of thoughts more frequently! His current obsession is Super Mario and the Cougars--and boy I think we really delivered it on Saturday. Of course you know I am NOT crafty so planning this party was a quite the stretch but his reaction to it along with the decorations totally made it worth it. And thanks to HUGE win by Jimmer and the Cougs his birthday party was complete. So happy, happy, happy birthday to this truly special boy!

A Valentine Just for Mimi and Papa

Jimmertime

Father and son off to get some quality "Jimmer Time"! GO COUGS!!!

Some of my favorite peeps!

...and some of Marinny's favorite's too!

I'm a preschool kid!

...Finally!! It took me awhile to get Brady into this pretty terrific preschool in our neighborhood...but he is in now! And he has taken to it very well...probably better than his mom! This is the best shot I got of him leaving on his first day! I love hearing of all the adventures he has-at random times mind you-. Could it be true that Kindergarten is just around the corner?

How we spent the Christmas Holiday

Sorry...these are all hopelessly out of order...kinda like my brain these days! As you can see we were busy with family and projects, presents, laughter, melt downs, video gaming and just

be together! Kim having the whole week off was probably the most magically part of Christmas! Thank you to all who help make our first Christmas in this house so memorable. Love to all of you.

Rebuilding

I must confess, I still haven't come down off my Christmas high-just ask my still-up Christmas tree. We had such a great holiday with family from both sides. Now, with most of you my thoughts are on renewal and rebuilding my self and my home. Watching Marinn with these blocks was comical...so proud of herself in one second.....and then so frustrated with herself in the next. Sadly, I saw the parallels--how often to I embark on a new adventure excited and then immediately frustrated when I don't get the results that I want! I need to take my own motherly advice to Marinny and "don't give up...try it again..." . I mean sometimes you just have to say"Uh-oh" and take a step back and laugh at yourself. Thanks for the lesson, Marinn. I needed that.