Grant is FIVE!

We have not fallen off the earth - we've just been ultra busy. The last few weeks have consisted of:

1. Getting a new fence (to replace the one Hurricane Ike destroyed).

2. Preparing to have wood floors installed everywhere but the bedrooms and wet areas (bathrooms/kitchen/laundry room). I have found the wood I want as well as the man to install it. I feel like half the battle is won already.

3. Attending inservices before school started back up from Christmas break.

4. Two friends had babies (Mackenzie Dick: baby girl of Andrea and Chad Dick of Sugar Land, and Drew Pernell: baby boy of Marijon and Rance Pernell of Doughtery (near Lubbock). VERY exciting times!!!

5. Learning not only how to live with Grant's new pets: two gerbils, Roly and Poly (sp??), but also focusing on keeping them alive since Rhett loves to torture them. More on that later.

6. Experiencing Grant's first splinter - it was a BIG 'UN!!!

7. Having a party at our house for our church group.

And last but NOT least....

8. Grant turning FIVE!

This birthDAY somehow turned into a birthWEEK. It started off with a birthday cake and a small family celebration on his actual birthday (Jan. 12).

Rhett desperately wanted a bite of cake...

Then we HAD to do the cupcake thing at his preschool, and of course a few days later he had his actual party with his friend which involved yet another... you got it... cake. I can't believe I, Amanda Brooke Kilgore, am saying this, but I am "caked out". Please, no more desserts for a while.

Grant wanted the theme to be "firetrucks", big surprise, I know, so we did firetrucks, firetrucks and more firetrucks. I made a monogramed placemat for each guest that had a pic of a firetruck and the words "Chief ______." Of course the boys' trucks were red, but the girls' were HOT PINK. And, the girls' firetruck's wheels were pink Swaravski crystals. How fun is that??? Exactly. Of course each child got a helmet. In order to try to make it up to the girls for it actually being a fireman's hat, I hot glued daisies on theirs. And, to top things off, each guest got a fireman badge, and as expected, the girls' badges were a tad bit special as I hot glued a pink bow on them.

Boys' Table

(There are some guests missing from this picture including Ethan. Where were you when I took this picture, Little Dude?)

Girls' Table

The beloved firetruck cake from Maureen's Bakery BEFORE Rhett found it...

The beloved firetruck cake AFTER Rhett found it...

No shocker that Grant was shy during the "Happy Birthday" song. At least he didn't cry this year... again... Maybe by the time he is 53 he'll be able to handle the "Birthday Song" like a normal person.

Grant loved this cake, folks. I mean, surely this cake was the coolest thing ever to Grant, so he was very upset when discovered the damage Rhett had done to it. You see, Kerry noticed Rhett was M.I.A. during part of the party, so he went hunting for him. He found Rhett in the "party room" (where the food was). Rhett had climbed up on a chair and was helping himself to handfulls of icing from the cake. That's typical Rhett for ya: he can find food sitting out on a table faster than our dog, and that is pretty amazing since our dog surely breaks the world record to sniffing out a yummy meal a HUMAN plans on enjoying. Thank goodness I got a picture of the cake before Rhett got a hold of it.

I made Grant a firetruck birthday shirt that coordinated with the placemats.

Grant enjoyed opening his gifts and a fun filled evening with his special friends.


Thanks for sharing my special day with me
Stephen,
Kaitlyn,
Gabby,
Jordan and Ethan,

Mackenzie,

Hanna,

and Baby Grace
(who was so sweet to wear her newest "Amanda Kilgore" creation to the party).
We missed you Seth, Evan, Alex and Emily!!! Maybe next year...

And now I leave you with a Grant quote from bed time tonight:

"I love you so much, Momma, I could pop a tire."

Gotta love little boys!