I hope your weekend was as wonderful as mine. I started out my birthday morning getting to snuggle with my favorite guy. We have both struggled to adapt to daylight savings time so we ended up on the sofa together before the sun arose. Love him.  

There was silliness to be had and even a little shopping. {Humanite Boutique--in Bryson City, our favorite haunt!}

And if that wasn't enough, I got more smooches at dinner. {aaannnnd CHRISTMAS MUSIC was playing!!}

My mom drove in to celebrate with us and fixed us a delicious dinner. 

{Somehow I got no pics of mom or Robert}

My very favorite of all things chocolate, my Great-Grandmother's cake recipe, was our dessert. I can't even begin to explain my relationship with this particular cake....

And a shot of some of the goods. Do these folks know me or what?? Look at these great books and baubles!

The whole day spent with family--it just doesn't get any better. I love you guys.

See the adorable pajama pants on the birthday girl--Wendy's mom made each guest a pair!!

For the one or two of you who aren’t familiar with Wendy’s blog, Wendy is Bella’s superstar

mom who is not only a popular photographer, but, a crazy-talented party planner.

Wendy made each girl their own tent and personalized them with an initial pillow from YelliKelli  

You might remember Bella’s 7th birthday party that I posted about here. It was a pretty unbelievable

Up Party. When Wendy said she was preparing for #8 on FB last week, I didn’t think it was possible

 for her to deliver an equally fabulous celebration for this years shindig. Um, guess I was wrong.

I have 363 days to try to get my name on Bella’s guest list for 2012.

To see more pictures and get all the info on vendors, check out Wendy’s blog.

Thanks so much for all the sweet comments, emails, and facebook comments regarding Maris' birthday.
She was so tickled with all the love!
 
It's always been so tough to plan her parties in the summer because her friends are always out of town. 
But, it was her 16th !! So I was going to try. Sure enough, a huge group were on a mission trip.
But, I was able to find a handful who were in town and so the surprise was planned for Sunday night at
her favorite place.     



Claymates. A great paint-your-own-pottery studio in Dillsboro.



They had the boards all ready for her!








 
Not only can you paint pottery, but they also offer glass fusing, candlemaking and t-shirt printing.















Maris has lots of nicknames. I had enough space on 1 of her cakes to include 3 of them:
marinater {thanks to her friend Ally}, mare-bare {family}, and spark plug {the radio announcers
at the bb games call her this-because she brings such a spark to her team}



She was gifted many sweet, thoughtful presents and was super excited to get a huge
make-up kit  {nobody tell her daddy!}



And of course, Taylor had to share the Justin Bieber love.



{I caught Sarah checking him out}



She has always wanted a phone in her room. So, she thought Robert's 'vintage' gift was hilarious.



Pretty appropriate, right?! 



With the kazillion things she is involved in, it made sense that we give her a new {old} car.
She was over the moon with her Acura.



Everyone posed with "White Beauty".



In honor of all her family in the mid-west...
The front of White Beauty got a little pink action and some bling thanks to pearly pink nail
 polish and 'diamond' screws.
 



It was such a fun party and I loved celebrating it with her great friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The night of Maris' birthday was the final game of our District 5, 13 yr old All-Star Championship. 
Guess who was victorious.
  


This was the banner taking a victory lap with some very happy ball players.



My dad was there {he was a college pitcher} and he was able to set the umpire
straight on more than a few {bad} calls. You go, dad!



Jack's team is now headed to the State Championship next week!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Are you super tired of posts about my kiddos? Sorry..there will be design posts soon,
I promise. 

This is my little nugget 13 years ago.



My curly-headed dimple faced boy sported every super hero costume on the market.
As a matter of fact, they were the only 'clothes' he wore for many years.



I ran behind the fence Saturday night because this would be the last
 time I could capture Jack pitching as a 'child'.
{dramatic much, shannon??}



But it's kinda a big deal... I am now the mom to 2 teenagers. My baby has left his childhood.



 This little boy whose favorite place to be was snuggled in my lap, who, when he got too big for
 my lap would sit next to me on the couch and hold my hand as he watched his favorite TV shows,
whose face would light up and run and jump into my arms each and every day when I would
 walk up to pick him up after school...     

I have never been hit with a birthday so hard. I have been through my own 'milestone'
birthdays and the same milestones with my oldest. But, this one has left me shedding 
more than a few tears. This precious boy has been 'my guy' since he was born. He doesn't
know how this May 29th has affected me. It's probably for the best. He is enjoying today
at a Chicago Cubs baseball game with his dad. I am sure he is having the time of his life. 

  I am so proud of this gentle, loving, compassionate boy. Protecting him and preparing him
has been such an honor and such a huge part of who I am. I can't wait for the plans God 
has for him and so thankful that I was chosen for his mama.    

Happy 13th Birthday, Jack!