Ays's Big Birthday Bash

As most of you know, little man will be turning the big T-W-0 tomorrow!  It's absolutely crazy to think that our teeny tiny little 2lb 15oz baby is almost two.  So, to celebrate his journey into toddler-hood, we threw him a Choo Choo themed bash on Saturday, complete with trains, conductor hats and train whistles :) 

More than 50 family and friends showed up to wish Asyman a HAPPY BIRTHDAY.  He had a blast hanging out with all his little friends.  I am now wishing we would have set them all down for a group picture, but I realize that the chances of getting them all to sit for a pic would have been impossible :)  So, you will just have to take my word for it, there were a bunch of cute kiddos running around all having a blast together.  Here are a few pics from the par-tay!!!

Ayson blew out his candle ALL BY HIMSELF...twice!

After cupcakes, it was time for gifts.  Ayson got so many nice & fun things.  He is a lucky kiddo, no doubt!

Then it was bouncy time!  

All the kiddos had a blast...

and we managed to avoid any major casualties ;)

Frey, Ays & Dom going for a wagon ride.  Don't you just love their little conductor hats?!

Birthday hugs from Dominic :)


Thank you so much to all of you who came.  It was a great celebration because all of you helped make it so special.





 

Old is New again

Ponca has brought out the crafty in me.  I find myself wanting to take on more and more projects lately.  My latest feat was this lovely little dresser.  (Sorry, I forgot to take a true "before" picture...in my excitement, I didn't remember to grab the camera until after it was sanded, and all hardware removed.)  

I have always loved furniture that has a rustic feel to it.  There is just something about it that makes it feel like home.  And thanks to several blogs that I check, (Thanks Abbey), I now think I have the skills to distress furniture myself ;)

So, back to our lovely little dresser.  Cathy & Wiley were wanting to get rid of it, and I decided it would be a great first distressing project for me. I mean, if I totally screwed it up, it wouldn't be the end of the world.  So, Aaron and I grabbed some sanders and got to work.  

And look what a little bit of sanding, black paint, distressing, stain, poly & new hardware can do to a dated piece of furniture!!  I couldn't be more excited about how it turned out.  

It now has a new home in our dining room, where it has quickly become our new favorite piece of furniture.   Not only because it turned out super cute, but also because we worked on it together, (Ayson even "helped" by running over an entire can of poly with his 4-wheeler) which makes it that much more special!  Ahhhh, memories :)

I'm addicted now...anyone have any old furniture they want to get rid of? ;)

"Dream" Vacation

Wow...I have really been slacking on this blog lately.  Can it really be almost a month since my last post?!  Well, I promise it won't be that long again!  We have been enjoying our summer TOGETHER, and I just haven't made time to sit down at the computer :)  We've been busy to say the least.  Here's a little recap...of course, little man has been keeping us busy, I turned 30, we celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary, and we took a vacation!  July was definitely a fun month :)   

Aaron and I just got back from a week long cruise in the western Caribbean.  That's right, we left Ayson with Grammy, Pops & Papa.  They couldn't wait to spend some quality time with him, and we couldn't wait for a little getaway.  That is...until it was time to leave.  

Leaving him was a bit hard for this mama.  We took this picture on our way to drop him off.  Of course, he was looking cuter than ever, making it super hard to leave.  I'll admit, I shed a few tears, but that was nothing the ocean and a big boat couldn't cure :)

We had an amazing time, and took way too many pictures, so here are just a few of our favorites!!!

We sailed on the Carnival Dream with our besties, the Leigh's!  Here's Ang and I as we were getting ready to leave Port Canaveral.

So happy & ready to go to dinner on night one :)

All fancied up for our first formal night!

Sailing off into the sunset ;)

Off the boat and ready to hit the beach in our first port.  We spent our time in Cozumel swimming and soaking up the Mexican summer sun.

Next stop was Roatan, Honduras.  This was by far our favorite port.  The beach was beautiful, with white sand and crystal clear waters.

Ahhh, why can we not have this beautifulness a little bit closer to Oklahoma?!

We also went zip-lining through the jungle in Roatan, and had to take that cheesy picture with all of our gear on;)  It was super hot, but so worth it!  

Nothing like seeing the sights from high above the trees.  That's me way out there!!!

Next stop was Belize, where we went cave tubing.  We had a nice, long, hot, hike through the jungle (with our tubes), then floated through two freshwater limestone caves.

Our pictures from the cave didn't turn out that amazing because it was so dark.  But, Aaron's face says in all...we LOVED it!

Costa Maya was our final port.  Unfortunately, we were getting the remnants of a tropical storm while we were there, so we didn't explore too much.  It was very windy and rainy!  We still managed to get a few pics during a short break in the rain.  Look how rough the water was...still beautiful, nonetheless.       

And finally, our last formal night.  We enjoyed every single moment of our trip!!!  Again a big thanks to Grammy, Pops & Papa, for taking care of little man.  We were able to have such a good time because we knew he was in loving, caring hands...and getting spoiled rotten while we were gone ;)

We are now out of vacation mode and on to 2nd birthday party planning mode...that's right, Ayson's party is this weekend.  How can he be two already?  Geez!  Hope to see you all there.   




   

It's Hot Hot Hot

It's no secret that it's been insanely hot around here lately.  We can't stay couped up in the AC all day, so we have to find some way to enjoy this stinking heat!  So, who needs a pool and fancy water toys when you have a garden hose?!  This has become a nightly tradition at our house lately.  It's too hot during the middle of the day, so after dinner we head outside for some quality family outdoor fun!

Ayson loves to run through the water, drink from the hose and drench himself from head to toe :)
Now that's the face of a happy kiddo!

Everyone keeps saying how much Ayson looks like Aaron, and I've never really been able to see it...until this picture.  Oh my!  A little Aaron Jr.

For as skinny as he is, he sure does have a cute lil' pot belly ;)

Just another good ole hot summer night

Yee-Haw!

Little man is always good for a laugh...see for yourself! He's an "OSU" cowboy in training ;)

I have also added a birthday wishlist page for those of you who have been asking. We can't believe we have an almost two year old!!!! The party is August 6th and invites will be mailed this week:)

Click on the link under the blog header to view.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Orneriest Face Around

This has got to be one of our favorite pictures of little dude lately.  It pretty much sums up his personality right now.  He is ornery, ornery, ornery.  He likes to give us this face A LOT, and its only when he doesn't want to do something.  I think he thinks that if he can make us laugh, it just might work...and sometimes, he is absolutely right.

I just love these little frozen moments in time :)

Happy 4th!

We hope you all had a fabulous holiday!  We spent the weekend celebrating with great friends.  The Leigh's, the William's, & Auntie LouLou all came to stay with us.  Lots of fun for everyone...including the kiddos.  We are very close to Lake Ponca, which shoots off their own display, so we got to shoot off our own fireworks, then sit in the front yard and watch PC's display...and with four kids, it was so nice to not have to pack them up and go somewhere just to see the fireworks.  I think the 4th will quickly become a new favorite holiday around here :) 

Ays and two of his bestest buds...Love love love them!  (Of course, our child is the one who won't sit still for the dang picture!)

We spent a lot of time outside letting the boys run out their energy.  Thank goodness for battery operated riding toys :)

Ayson & Gav having a blast

We need to get this boy a cupholder :)

Then it was fireworks time...This just cracks me up!  Don't worry, it was just a smoke bomb & Aaron got there before Ays did.

He was not a huge fan of the sparklers ;)  Other than that though, Ayson LOVED the fireworks.  Everytime one went off, he would clap and say "WOW!"  It was so fun to see the excitement in his eyes.  Another successful 4th in the books!