Just Swell, Darling!

Rebecca had a very creative birthday party with the theme "Beehives and Bowties."  That gave me the chance to do one of my favorite things...

Wear a wig!



And my hive was buzzing!



And my honey came buzzing around, but he was a tad "sauced," as they would have politely said in 1960!



We were the cat's pajamas darling!  wink*

Boys will be boys! Sigh...

I've come to terms.  I'm outnumbered.  I'm one against three. 
With boys ruling the house, here's what we've been up to...



Only a father would think a great way to "take care of the kids" is to let them sit in a mud patch for 2 hours and have at it... (gotta love it!)



Dean took full advantage of "Dada Day" by giving himself a nice mud bath...




Presenting the guilty evidence...



Dean had the time of his life.  A little mud wasn't going to stop him from enjoying some slide time!







My only request was that "Dada Day" include a little bath time... or maybe just a great squirt with the hose!




Since Firoze is always up for a great parenting challenge, he opted to take the boys to the bouncy place by himself. 





Dean was climbing like a 5 year old. He wasn't going to be stopped by some climbing rungs. Not our little SpiderMan!



P.S.  Style advice from a father... you can never have too many stripes!



To keep the party going, the boys decided to be astronauts the other night while I was cooking dinner. 





What better way to see stars, than to put a bowl on your head... run as fast as you can... hit your head on the door frame about ten times, then dance around?





So, there are no pictures of tea parties.   
No doll houses or pretend make-up.
No princesses or baby dolls here...

Instead I have Firoze, Devon and Dean.  My boys.  Who will drive me crazy and make me love them... all at the same time!

Here's a little video of their greatest hits:

And yes, my children literally climb the walls.  Don't judge.

P.S. Firoze also thought it would be a great idea to let them watch a boxing match with him and then learn to box.  I told him "Don't be surprised when Deanie knocks your lights out when he turns 2!"

Birthdays, Anniversaries and Dinosaurs... oh my!

September is always the month of celebrations and this year was no exception.  Even though life can get hectic, it always feels so good when we stop and smell the roses.  It's easy to get wrapped up in work and endless to-do lists, but it's so much more important to put the ones we love at the top of our list.
At the top of our list this month, was our darling Devon's 5th birthday...

Which started with a little "Mama & Devon" day at Fernbank (the dinosaur museum).
 
And of course Devon was telling me every dinosaur name before we even got inside. :)


This is one of my favorite pictures because I can still see that he's my little boy, even though he's 5.





He loved every minute of being around these huge dinosaurs!





Then a few days later, he got to open presents...



This look cracks me up...

And finally, the much anticipated dinosaur bones!



And then a few days later, Devon got to help me make his birthday cake.  Of course he had to have a stegosaurus cake!




And he was soooo proud of his cake!





And he made a wish and blew out his candles...




And we hope all his wishes will come true!


After all that, just a few days later it was time to celebrate our wedding anniversary and my birthday.  All I wanted was a day of peace and pampering and all my dreams came true...

At the Ritz-Carlton Lake Oconee!


It was indulgent, but oh so worth it!  Firoze knows how to spoil and pamper someone like a celebrity (after all, he does it for his job), but this day was PERFECT.  We had massages and plenty of spa time, fabulous food and best of all, time with each other to enjoy a gorgeous fall day in peace.



Happy Anniversary Love!  You are everything to me and my best days are with you.  XOXO



And what could be more relaxing that staring out over the lake on a beautifully sunny day, holding a perfectly chilled bloody mary?  Yummmmmm....



And no day could truly be perfect without an incredible meal...


And the Ritz delivered...  parmesan truffle fries, calamari, and chicken pesto sandwiches.... perfection!





On all the days when life is stressful, somewhere in my mind I am wanting to be here...


In a heated pool all to myself, overlooking the peaceful lake.



And on that day... life was good!









So we truly celebrated all the good things that day, but 3 other good things that made me happy recently...

1.  Stopping at a country gas station on the way home from the Ritz and buying ONE scratch-off lottery ticket and finding out we won $100!!!

2.  Hearing the boys talking while I was cooking breakfast in the kitchen.  I heard Devon saying "come here Deanie... come get warm under the blanket."  Then coming in the living room to find them watching Curious George together like this...



3.  Watching an episode of "Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives" that showed this and then going and buying everything to make it myself!  It was a work of art.  Seriously.  Look at this...


Shrimp po-boy with homemade jumbo lump crab mayo, avocado, tomato and arugula!