Paula's 40th birthday party!

Me with my best friends from college, Jamie and Andrea

Jian and Paula

Diana Easley, Paula and Jennifer Brown

Several friends from church: the Moss', Kelley's, Liu's and Todd Potgeter and his brother

Hadleigh, Jonathan, Jennifer Brown, Molly Zirkle with Maddie Brown

Jon Zirkle and Eric Brown

Jennifer Potgeter, Jill Gray and Krissie Stegall

Anne Hyberger and Amy Waters

Scott Gray, Brian and Beth Tallent, background: Klarissa Jackson

Keri Thompson, Summer W., Jonathan Milewski

Aunt Patti, Aunt Shannon, Phil and Tanner Thompson

Matt and Martha

Our family by the sign that Martha and her boys made!

Yay!  It's time to open some gifts (lots of gifts)!

Here you can get an idea of all of the gifts that my mom, Martha and my family got together (40 gifts for my 40th bday).

Sophie made this little clay container for me!

Abbie made this cute little owl for me.

On March 4th, I had a big birthday-my 40th birthday or my 29th for the 11th time to be exact (just kidding).  I had told Matt that I really wanted them to do something for my birthday since it was a big one.  My 30th birthday was really no big deal.  We had moved to Charleston and didn't know a lot of people.  I think Matt was sick on my birthday that year or something.  Anyway, you know how the mom in most families goes all out to make everyone else's birthday special?  Well, that's how I am.  Trying to prepare the birthday honoree's favorite meal, favorite cake or dessert, shopping for presents, planning a party, and on and on it goes.  So, I thought, well this year, I believe it's my turn to have a little bit of a fuss made over me.  I guess that sounds spoiled but I'm just being honest.

Well, anyway, a couple of weeks before my birthday, Matt told me that there was going to be a game night at church on my birthday.  He told me that we were going to drop the kids off with some of our friends and then, we were going out to dinner or something.  The problem was, he couldn't say it with a straight face so I didn't really believe him.  I knew that they were planning something because my bossy self had sort of asked them to.  =)  Anyway, on the day of birthday, I got lots of nice texts, phone calls, and facebook messages, a couple of cards, etc.  That afternoon though, one of our friends texted me and asked if there would be food at my party.  I was just laughing when I read that message.  I told her that I didn't know.  I knew they were planning something but I didn't know what.  She officially let the cat out of the bag.  Our friend, Krista, is sweet but I guess she didn't remember that the e-mailed invitation said it was a surprise.

Anyway, that evening we headed for the church.  I tried to just along with everything.  The girls brought along a couple of games for the "game night".  I didn't know it until later but Sophie was texting different family members to let them know we were on our way, etc.  We got to our church and there were several cars but when we walked in, first I saw one of my nephews and a little cousin out in the hallway.  Then, we walked on around to the reception room.  It was dark in there and when we walked in, a whole bunch of people jumped out and said, "Surprise".  There were about 70-75 people.  I wasn't really surprised that they threw a party for me but I was surprised about how many people were there.

I was so proud of  Matt and the girls because they did most of the planning.  We had pizza and of course, a big birthday cake. A lot of our friends from church came and several members of our family.  A couple of my college friends were there along with a few other friends.  It was a lot of fun seeing all of these people who mean so much to me there.  My mom had gathered up different pictures of me in different stages of life in the middle of the tables so everyone enjoyed looking at those.

After things had slowed down at the party, my mom told me that she had bought me 40 different gifts for my 40th birthday.  I was pretty impressed that she did that.  We loaded up our van and headed to my parents.  My mom said that the girls were really excited about this idea when she brought it up.  It was a lot of fun!  There were 40 different gifts bags and many of them just had small things like my favorite type of candy or a cute little bar of soap, etc.  What a night!  I love my family and all of our friends and I was so glad that all of the ones who came were able to be there!!

Book Character Day

Sophie and Abbie on book character day

Abbie as ladybug girl.

Abbie as ladybug girl and Charlie, our neighbor, as bumblebee boy

Abbie certainly had a fun day at school on Friday.  All of the kids at their school dressed up for Book Character Day and they had a little parade.  Then, in her class, they could change into their pajamas and bring electronics because their class had earned these things for good behavior. Abbie also brought her robe to school and wore that most of the day.  I should have taken a picture!   Abbie's class also visited the book fair at school Friday.  I came and met her class for that so Abbie got to pick out a couple of new books.  I thought it was so cute that Abbie had decided to dress up as ladybug girl and we found out that our neighbor, Charlie, was dressing up as bumble boy which is from the same series.  =)  

Since Sophie's a little older now it was hard to come up with a book character that wouldn't be totally embarrassing.  She decided to dress as Gerta from a historical fiction book called "A Night Divided".  She thought about dressing up as an Amish girl because she's gotten into reading books about Amish people lately but 5th grade boys are sometimes mean so we decided to go for a more normal costume. I was able to take Sophie to the book fair at their school on Friday too so she enjoyed that. 

Monroe's 2nd birthday

Jumping for joy!

Abbie and Morgan

Monroe's working in the yard while Morgan and Abbie play.

Mickey Mouse treats

Yay!  It's Monroe's birthday!

Paula with Tanner, Keri's youngest

Matt, Monroe, Morgan and Martha

3 of the cousins-where's Abbie?


On Saturday, February 20 (Monroe's bday), we drove to Kentucky early in the morning for his birthday party.  It turned out to be a really nice, almost spring-like day so everyone enjoyed being outside.  The kids had a great time playing together.  Keri's family came, along with Nana and Paw-paw, Uncle Phil, Matt R.'s Aunt Sara, and his Mom and Dad.  Another family that they are friends with also came later.

They had a Mickey Mouse party.  Abbie was sweet about pushing Morgan and Carter around on the tractor.  The kids played some on their new swingset too.  They had hot dogs and sandwiches for lunch.  Martha had made some really cute cookies and cupcakes for Monroe's party.  Monroe is very independent these days!!  Our family had a super-packed day so we stayed for a couple of hours and then drove back home for Sophie's Girl Scout cookie booth at Wal-mart and a violin recital.  We were exhausted that night from a full day!!  Happy Birthday to Monroe!  We love you!!

Daddy/Daughter Dance and a Surprise Party

Abbie and Sophie

Abbie and Sophie with their Daddy.

Abbie with her Valentine box

What's a game night without Twister?

Summer, Skyler, and Sierra

While Mimi was here for a visit, Matt and the girls went to the Daddy/daughter dance at their school.  It was supposed to have been the week before but they had to reschedule because of the snow.  It was Matt's last time to take both girls to the dance because Sophie will go to middle school next year.  They all had a lot of fun at the dance.  It was an Alice in Wonderland theme this year.  Abbie's hair was very wavy because Mimi had braided it for school.

Sophie is playing basketball this year and Mimi was able to go to one of her games.  At the beginning of February, we went to a surprise 30th birthday party for Paula's cousin, Keri.  It was at Aunt Patti and Uncle John's house and it was very nice!  There was a lot of family there and a few of her friends.  Matt Thompson did a great job planning it for her and they had BBQ that Matt's dad had made that was very tasty.  We always enjoy spending time with family!

Abbie had a great time decorating her Valentine's box for school.  We all had a nice Valentine's Day.  Matt gave me an assorted bouquet of flowers.  The girls exchanged Valentines with their friends at school and received candy and treats from several family members so it was a special day!!

Snow Day Fun/Sophie's School Program

Here's Abbie with a charm bracelet that we gave her for the birthday.

Abbie was so happy to receive a beanbag chair from us!

Abbie and her Daddy.

Fun times in the snow!

Girls ganging up against Dad!

Great shot!

Sophie and Abby Clark after their 5th grade program.

our family after the program

Abby Benjamin and Sophie

Abbie, Paula, Sophie, Matt and Mimi

Our crew with Nana and Paw-paw


I wanted to share a few more pictures from Abbie's birthday.  That week, the girls only had to attend school for two days, one of those being Abbie's birthday because we kept getting snow.  They were also already out of school on the Monday before Abbie's birthday for MLK day so that's when we celebrated her birthday with friends.  Right after Abbie's birthday, we got several inches of snow where a lot of activities were cancelled for the weekend, including their school Daddy/Daughter Dance.  The girls had some fun playing in the snow.  They loved having me make snow cream.  I was able to make about 3 different batches because we had several inches of snow and then, we got some more snow.  We probably got about 6-7 inches of snow maybe but in Nashville, it snowed about a foot.  In Richmond, VA, it snowed about 2 feet.  Teresa came to visit us a few days after their big snow.  She wasn't sure if she would be able to get out of her cul-de-sac because the snow hadn't been cleared but some friends helped her clear a path where she could get out.  She was able to fly to Nashville on Tuesday, January 26th and she stayed about a week.

Mimi, Nana, and Paw-paw were able to come to Sophie's music program, "American Voices", along with  Paula, Matt and Abbie. Sophie had a small speaking part and she did a great job!   

Abbie's 8th birthday

Here's Abbie opening a gift or two from our family.

Abbie can wear her new Crazy 8 shirt for her birthday party!

two sweet sisters

Sophie, Molly, Kaelyn, Katherine (in front), Abby C. (back) and Abbie at the Brentwood Skate Center

Time for frozen yogurt at Sweet Cece's after the girls skated!

Kaelyn and Molly

Katherine, Kaelyn, Abbie and Molly

Abbie got so excited when she was opening her gifts.  =)

A birthday celebration with Nana and Paw-paw.

Abbie had some trouble blowing out her candles!!

Abbie's birthday is on January 21st.  Since it was falling so close to Martin Luther King day, we planned a small celebration for Abbie and her friends on that day.  The kids were out of school.  I told Abbie that she could invite five friends and we went to the Brentwood Skate Center.  The only thing was it was very, very crowded there because I guess a lot of people had the same idea.  Also, two of Abbie's friends ended up being sick so they couldn't come.  Her friends, Clara and Sophie C., were supposed to come.  Our Sophie invited her friend Abby Clark to come.  The girls had a good time overall even though the skating rink was ridiculously crowded.  After the girls had skated for a while, we took them over to Sweet Cece's in Brentwood for some frozen yogurt.  Thankfully, we were almost the only ones there.  Nana was able to come with us as well for Abbie's little party.  Abbie was so excited about opening all of her gifts.  For Abbie's actual birthday, I made a funfetti cake.

We had Abbie's friends party on Monday, January 18.  It ended up that we got a lot of snow later in the week so the girls only went to school for two days that week.  We got about 6 inches or so of snow and it stayed around for a couple of days.  The girls enjoyed eating lots of snow cream, baking cookies, playing in the snow, and watching  kids bake on Food Network.  =)  Abbie went to school on her birthday but she had some of the other days off.