The Reveal

I went to sleep before my kids did last night.
This is what I woke up to this morning.

(what the heck is that on

my cabinets?)

Baby Girl

 Sweet Lulu is 12!!

After having so many BOY gatherings,

Maddie's GIRL party was THE BEST!

I sat in fascination as I watched these girls - 

On. Their. Own.

make a cute circle and play two truths and a lie.

If it were the boys - 

wrestling would have ensued.

PHOTO BELOW

We played a bunch of

Minute To Win It games.

Can I just say - BLAST!

In this one they had to pick up four penne pastas

with a spaghetti stick using only their mouths.

The last game we played:

The girls had to move an oreo from their forehead 

to their mouth using only their face muscles...

NO HANDS.   

Hysterical! I think they all did it at least once :)

Daphne LOVED this game.  She cleaned the floor for us.

 Nothing like Oreo crumbs in your eyeball.

 Almost there girlfriend!

 Go Taneal!!

This gal was the champ!

Concentrating ever so hard!

 12 candles! Oh, my baby girl!

 I took Maddie shopping the Saturday before her b-day and she picked out the shorts she is wearing.  

She didn't know that I had also already purchased and wrapped the exact same shorts!

I adore this little woman.   She has always been so happy and peace loving.  She really balances out the craziness in this house!  I'm thrilled that she finally gets some 'girly' time with the Young Women at church.  She is even more  thrilled than I am, I'm sure!:)                                                    I LOVE YOU, MADDIE-GIRL!! 

 

 

 

 

~~TeEnAgEr~~

 Kyle is 13!!!

 He wanted chocolate and vanilla frosting.

Yes, he's a pyro.

 I'm not sure how Kyle is going to feel that I've captured his 13th b-day and his hair wasn't spiked up in the photos.  There may be a revolt.  I'll letcha know.

 

 Thirteen years ago I was thrilled to be bringing home my biggest boy - 8lbs. 7 oz.

This kid has been a party from day one!

Some fun facts about Kyle:

 He never sleeps in a bed.  He usually dibs the upstairs couch. If someone beats him to it -

he's on the floor.

 Kyle is a GREAT hugger.  Not wuzzie at all! 

 Kyle's new found happiness is a foot rub with lotion.  

I confess - that one came from me.

Kyle could and does survive on sugar and cheesy fries from Vito's.

 Kyle is an amazing leader. Kids naturally flock to him.

I love my son and am so grateful that Heavenly Father trusted me enough to nurture and guide him through this tough old world.  

As time flies on by, however; I'm starting to realize that it actually may even be the other way around.

Heavenly Father sent me to my kids to lift and guide ME on through this tough old world. 

~Da Derby~

 It all seems like a dream now.

We were really HERE!

Where Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby!

I feel a little bit famous.

Look at those horses go!

We were invited to attend the Kentucky Oaks 

(see wrist band)

and the Kentucky Derby races by Spencer's landlord 

Rodney, and his wife, Sherryl.

I feel I must prove it to you, so here is a pic of my arm with the

exclusive 'clubhouse' label. 

Please, don't be jealous of my $29 Avon wedding ring.

 The boys.

Spencer, Paul, Rodney, Sidney, & Shane.

Rodney bought all these boys 

matching straw derby hats.

The beautiful Churchill Downs scoreboard.

The weather was PERFECT!

I didn't sweat ONCE - and that's saying something for me!

There were red roses EVERYWHERE!

These beautiful enormous rose arrangements

were in every lobby.

(me in lobby of The Mariott)

There were even all over in the airport.

Spencer and I posing at our seats.

They were AMAZING!!

Right near the finish line, covered, awesome!

There was no way we could miss anything. 

See the screens in the upper right?

Also, there was a TV in our box and huge screens on the green.

Okay. Prepare to be green with envy. 

Yes, this is Joey Fatone formally of the well known 

boy band:

N'Sync.

I was near his presence.  He was about 8 rows above us.

SCREAM!!!!!

Each horse was chaperoned out before the races 

(12 races the first day, 13 races the second)

They were so beautiful!

And the jockey's rocked!

Okay - this one's for Shea.

Nick Lachey...in the flesh.

This is the paddock where they get the horses ready to walk out onto the track.  

They seat the jockeys at this time as well.  

Always very crowded.  SO many people.

Isn't the Downs huge and beautiful??

The boys gearing up for the big derby on Friday.  

Standing outside the parking lot at 

Churchill Downs.

Our sweet box.

How great are these seats?

They estimated there was over 160,000 in attendance.

We had such a smokin' view!

 Our gracious hosts.

Angela, Shane, Rodney, & Sherry

Love the hats!

We made our wagers right in our 

own box on this touch screen. 

It was awesome!  The Derby was very kind to us! :)

Well, as kind as it can be at $2 a bet.

 Rodney hired a driver for the weekend - JoDee. 

She was so wonderful.

Unfortunately,  when all 8 of us rode together to dinner - 

it was a bit crowded and two folks ended up in the back!

There aren't words to thank these wonderful people.

They covered airfare (first class!! - can I ever fly coach again?), 

hotel, chauffeur, Derby box, food, EVERYTHING!!! 

I kept waiting for someone to wake me up 

from this beautiful dream!

I mean, c'mon, how often do you check into a hotel and have the attendant say, "Here are your keys, Mr. & Mrs. Halliday.  Your room has been paid for.  Enjoy your stay."

Truly awesome.

sweet sweet lulu

I always knew Maddie was sweet, but

apparently, my sweet Lulu is also

 T-A-S-T-Y!!

We counted over 40 bites below the elbow

 just on her left arm! 

She had a fun, fun overnight with her cousin

and they slept on the trampoline.

Lulu sleeps on her right side....NOT A SINGLE BITE.

But she got squito smooched on the left side for sure.

We stocked up on hydro-cortisone, Benadryl, 

and Aveeno bath packets.

What a trooper that Lulu is! 

I think we'll be stockin' up on bug spray

this summer, too!