Camp Caden

This year, being that we just moved to a new town, we opted to have Caden a camp out in our back yard for his birthday party. It seemed like the perfect plan, to invite just a few friends that he had made in our short time here. He agreed and I began my planning to make it the most memorable camp out! Fishing in our neighborhood pond, roasting smores and hotdogs, jumping on the trampoline, and of course camping outside in the tent all night long after ghost stories were all a part of  the original plan for this camp out. A few weeks ago, Shane went fishing in the pond only to come back with the news of there being no fish in this pond! Scratch that! Everything else though, kept the boys busy and entertained, although we did skip the ghost stories as well!

We spent the week before, crafting and working out the details for his celebration. I couldnt help but instagram a few of the first things that I made for it.

I could tell he was so excited about having his best friends over for his camp out! He was hyyyyyped up!!

The inside table-

hot dogs, smore cupcakes, 3 candy buckets, take home treats, and little lanterns

Smore cupcakes

Snakes- gummy worms

Catch of the Day- swedish fish

Bears- gummy bears

outside table-

smore fixings & gifts

glow bracelets

They spent most of their time on the trampoline!

Yes, we had to bring a fan outside, because it was so hot!

Those tiki torches did a sad job of keeping the misquitoes away!

We had about 1400 of them in our house for the rest of the night and the next day!

I loved how his best little bud addressed his card!

Campfire time!

Look at how sweaty his back is! They were non stop!

He told his best friend about how he wanted a ninja costume and thats exactly what he got!

He had such a great time and told me it was his best bday party ever!

Dad and Mama got in on the smore action too!

Even with these long pj's on, my neck was eated up by misquitoes in our house!!

He got a new jacket from us!

And due to the bugs and rowdiness, this is where the boys ended up! I knew it would be wild, but I was scared for them to get eaten up too badly and keeping neighbors up all night!

We had cinnimon rolls for bfast and pumpkin spice muffins thanks to another boy's mom! We even made it to the late service at church that morning! But after cleaning up a little, I spent the rest of the day being super lazy!!

Thank you to all of his friends and family that could make this a great celebration for him! I am still getting over the fact that he is NINE years old!!

Caden's First Dance

When Caden came home with this little memo in his binder, I died a little.

 

 

What is it about a dance that makes him seem so big? I actually think it was a great thing and knew it would be such a fun time for them all! Cant explain the little bit inside me that screamed, "this is the beginning of so much more to come", and "only big kids go to a dance"! I know I shouldnt be one of "those" moms, but my whole heart is in that boy. Of course I chaperoned! Ha! Who in their right mind would think I wouldnt?! Obviously, this was a casual dance and no dates were involved at this young age, so IIIII was his first dance date! ;)

 

 Caden has been obsessed with gold lately. He wants to know all about it... how much its worth, can you buy things with it, is this real gold or is that real gold? The conversations are endless. So he gets gold from quarter machines and keeps it in a treasure chest in his room. He wanted to wear this gold chain to the dance and again, I died. Um, no. Until I realized that you could barely see it against his skin and gave in. Shallow mom here. I really thought about it after that, why wouldnt I let him wear that anyways? He is a kid using his imagination, and all I cared about was that he might have looked like a rapper or something. And he didnt, how could a rapper have this sweet face?!

Caden's best friend Liam

I hear about Liam everyday and it makes me happy that Caden found a buddy so fast!

 

Check out my boy breaking it down!!

His two fabulous teachers-

Mrs. Perkins and and Mrs. Burke

A view of how many kids were there! They had so much fun and I had zero anxiety!



Julie's Bachelorette Party and Bridal Tea

For Julie's Bachelorette party/ Lingerie shower, a few girls spent the night at her future in laws' lake house.

 

David's mom was there, and she gave this to Julie!

Joking of course, but how hilarious is this from the future MIL!?

It also had a gift card.

We all changed into our pj's early in the night, and enjoyed time on the pier with wine and cupcakes!

 

The rest of the night, we learned how to do the wobble (for the ones like me that have been completely out of touch with the latest dance crazes) and driving a full golf cart with 9 of us total, to a local graveyard. I am not into that, I chilled with a couple of others on the golf cart! The ride back sure felt a lot longer than the ride there, probably because the cart refused to take all 9 back. They took turns walking, but I stayed on the cart since my body was mad at me for the mud run earlier in the day.

We had breakfast on the patio the next morning, and it was so peaceful!

I would love to wake up here every morning!

Julie sent us all home with these fun goodies!

Thanks Babe!

 

A week later, we hosted a Bridal Tea for her.

Julie and her bridesmaids

Some of the yummy food!

 

Everybody looooves this pasta salad that Emmie's mom makes! So Emmie had to learn how to make it,  because she has been asked to make it almost every other weekend this summer with all of our wedding festivities. Everytime were getting our menu together, its always, "Emmie can be in charge of pasta salad"! Were gonna miss it now that we are all finished with our parties! Thanks Ems!

 

 

I was originally in charge of cupcakes, but couldnt help but get excited when I got the email that an aunt would be bringing Gigi's cupcakes!! Not because I didnt want to make them, but because I was soo looking foward to Gigi's!! They brought quite an assortment!

 

 

Wedding cake is always my choice, but it hit me after I got it that I have truly had my fair share of wedding cake this year being in 4 weddings! I should have branched out a little!

I am in love with this gift from Julie's aunt! The frame makes it extra beautiful!

Julie's friend Heather, made her adorable coasters with their engagement pics!

Gift from Shane and I-

"K" monogrammed salad plates and a Cmas "K" towel

Emmie and I in our game day wear!

War Eagle!

Our hostess gift this time was an autumn candle and I was sooo excited! I have been needing one, but always forget to get one when I am out!

 

 We have her Bridesmaides Luncheon this Sat, then it will be time for the rehearsal and wedding!! Can not believe it is already here!!

 



Almighty Mud Run

When my friends asked if Shane and I wanted to do a mud run, I thought, "how fun would that be?" I pictured us mud covered, laughing hysterically while trying to complete the next obstacle. Well the closer time came, I began analyzing exactly what I had gotten not only myself, but Shane into. (FYI, I have gotten really out of shape since the wedding, as I have heard most brides do. Still not an excuse!) Everyone that knows me, knows that I dont too much like to get dirty, well ever really! But I knew that if I went to get dirty, then I would be ok with it! So the mud didnt scare me, the barbed wire did!! How low would it actually be? I CAN NOT have scrapes on my legs!! I finally did the research, you know, the research that most do before they sign up! I discovered this list of obstacles...(if youre a frequent mud runner, you cant laugh at my anxiety from this list!)

 

Obstacles:

1. Bottomless Ravine: Designed to thin the crowd, you’ll take three trips in and out of this seventy-five foot deep ravine before crawling back to level ground!

2. Mud Climb: You’ll get dirty early when you have to bury yourself in the mud in order to get under our low lying logs then climb your way to the top of a super slippery thirty-foot mud slope – all the while being hosed by the Volunteer Fire Department!

3. Hay Jumper: You won’t hurdle these triple stacked hay bales in a single bound – you’ll need a sidekick to throw you over!

4. Pond Crossing: Sink or swim but one way or the other, you have to make it across our pristine pond using one of three greased ropes (an alternate trail is available for non-swimmers).

5. The Gauntlet: One hundred yards of mud tunnel crawling, log jumping, tire running and wall scaling – good luck!

6. Barn Dance: Our signature obstacle and best kept secret – you’ll have to run the course to see what awaits you on the second floor of this 6,500 square foot barn we like to call the humiliator!

7. Ludicrous Low Crawl: Low crawling isn’t hard enough so we added barbed wire and a 45 degree hill to weed out the jelly bellies!

8. Giant Slip-n-Slide: Make it this far and you’ve earned a little fun. Lie down, relax and let gravity do all the rest!

9. Polar Dip: It’s going to take a second wind to finish the race but you won’t catch it here. Jump into this tank full of below freezing water and make your way to the other side before going stiff!

10. Up and Over: Don’t come alone or you’ll be waiting – it takes teamwork to get over this twelve foot wall.

11. Flame Jumper: No, you don’t have to run across hot coals barefoot, but you do have to jump over them – three times!

12. Mud Pool: It wouldn’t be a photo op if you crossed the finish line clean so we give you one last mud bath before giving you your Almighty Finisher bracelet – Congratulations, you just completed the South’s Toughest 5K! You may now collapse.

 

Reading this I kept repeating, "It's for the orphans. It's for the orphans" and asking Shane what I was thinking?!! I know I sound whiney, but I was nervous!! Oh, and let me tell you about my superman husband...He went to work at 6pm Friday night, got home about 8 AM Sat morning and we went straight to the race, he did this with no sleep, then rested a little in his recliner (because you know he HAD to watch the Bama game), then he went back to work that evening.

Before-

The kids were not allowed to race, but they got to play in a mud pit after the race.

Our group is in the red

 

We had a babysitter there to watch our kids while we ran, and they were in the middle of the race near a few obstacles (a few of the easier ones to be exact!), so that is how we got a few pictures in action!

Polar Dip

Pretty muddy

I was very needy during this!

We read that it was good to wear cleats, so thats what Shane wore.

We had to tape our shoes on so that they wouldnt come off in the mud.

 

So the barbed wire could have been worse, we ended up rolling on our sides under it rather than crawling.

our team After!

Shane and I had already rinsed off!

Muddy boy!

The kids covered in mud!

We donated Cadens, but kept our own.

But not because we will ever do another one!! Ha! ONCE in a lifetime experience!!

All in all, it was a great experince with Shane, Caden, and a couple of racing buddies! I am trying to get back into my running though. Our church has a 5k/half marathon in March, and I am hoping to be trained up for the half by then. We shall see!