I Forgot!!!

 I apologize for my gross negligence in failing to state five things you make not know about Marley.  I was not yelled at for not doing this nor reminded a hundred times to do it.  Here we go...

1. Marley is a mini-me even though she's almost as tall as me.  We tend to have the same thoughts and opinions on matters and try to take care of everyone.  She's a mini-mother.

2. She has an obsession with small things.  There's some toy thing out that has everything in miniature.  For example they have a miniature Cheez-It box and other grocery items, but they're all tiny.  She has a habit of collecting these smallish things which leads me to #3.

3. She is an organized hoarder.  I didn't think it was possible either, but she has so much stuff, and she can still find and pull out anything you ask for.

4. Marley is FEARLESS.  Earlier this year she went to a dance at school by herself without knowing if any of her friends would be there.  No sibling went with her, and she was perfectly fine and had a great time.  I would have never done that at her age or even now for that matter.  FEARLESS

5. She's pretty self-sufficient.  She can take care of herself and even doesn't fret when trying to figure out how to do something new.  For instance, when she's mailing a package, she just brings it to me all done, tape, and addressed.  Normally I would have to do all those things for other kids at her age.  Maybe she learned it by being the youngest and being completely observant of her siblings, but it still shocks me sometimes.  

BONUS 6. Marley is not your average teen.  She loves her braces, looks forward to her retainer, loves approaching strangers to ask whatever question so her introverted family members don't have to, treats her hamster like a king, and a whole bunch of other things that don't scream teen to me.  She's an absolute delight, and I have no idea what I would do without her.  

Happy Birthday, Marley!  Thank you for being amazing!  I love you, Momma.  

Happy Birthday, hot TaMarley!!!!!!

 Miss Thing had her birthday a bit ago, and I'm just now blogging.  Honestly, it's hard because I started this blog because Papa was alway bugging me for info and pics.  It's weird to think he won't be commenting anymore.  

Miss Mar's birthday went well.  She had Panera for breakfast because she was being glutenized for her special day.  We were supposed to head to Grandma and Gecko's for lunch, but there was a health issue, so we stayed home and K'lyn came out.  We had Glory Days because they have a whole gluten free menu for those of us not being glutenized.  We had a lazy afternoon, and the birthday girl wanted MacDonald's for dinner.  Bleh!  

She opened a thousand gifts (a little exaggeration) and had a great day.  I love that as they grow older they grow out of the need for extravagant celebrations; although there was plenty of balloons, presents, sweets, and food for one.  We're still waiting for her birthday lunch at Grandma and Gecko's which will hopefully happen soon.  Until then, rolling pics that I have.

This is her FAVORITE present.  Does everyone recognize Mr. James Buchanan Barnes (A.k.a. Bucky)?  This is a blanket Rory got her, and she wears it like this around the house.  

Kevin and I didn't think through this whole three teenagers at once thing.  Here are some other things happening around the house.

The official back to school pics.  One without Rory and one with celebrating Rory.  This pic makes me laugh every time I see it.  It's hilarious.

This was Marley's entry to a contest at her Orthodontics office.  It had to be a summer photo wearing the shirt.  She got her hamster involved, and I love the pic (even if it doesn't win).  

Meanwhile in Roryland.  Her and Hiccup.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARSBARS!  I LOVE YOU SO MUCH, AND I'M SO PROUD OF THE YOUNG LADY YOU ARE BECOMING.  

After a While, Crocodile

 We lost a good one last week.  Papa passed away.  

When I first met Papa, he welcomed me right away.  We had only met once by the time Kevin and I were engaged, but that's because we were engaged only a month after we met.  One thing I could tell right away about Papa, he loved his family.  He did anything and everything he could for every one of them if it was within his power.  Once I got to know him better, I figured out we were a lot alike in one aspect, we both had no patience.  

There are stories of Papa being angry at the store clerk, or the pizza boy, or anything in general that took too long and didn't turn out the way he wanted.  I shared this trait with him.  Papa and I would be angry at the pizza being so late and then being wrong, while everyone else just enjoyed the pizza once it came.  Nana would share a story of how he embarrassed her at the store because he threw a fit, and I would tell him I would've done the same thing.  He also didn't have time to say bye on the phone.  I remember trying to get out the last bit of what I was saying, so I could hang up on him first.  I barely ever won.  :)

We traveled this last week to be with Nana, Brian, and Paula after his passing.  It was hard sharing stories about Papa around the table because he loved just sitting there listening to everyone carry on.  He also had a computer screen saver that would show past pictures randomly which I think was painful for us all to watch while we were there.  I'm sure the grieving will be a long time coming.  There's so much more to say, but this is all I can do right now.

Nana, Kevin, the kids and I went to the crematory to pray for Papa at his time.  When we were leaving, I paused by the window and said, "Bye, Papa."  I could almost hear a phone click.  

Papa didn't say bye, but he would say, "See you later, alligator!"  

After a while, Papa.  We love you and miss you terribly.  

Happy birthday, Logyyyyyy!!!!!

 If you're reading this, I'm probably dead by now for calling Logan by his pet name.  Moving on.  Logan's birthday is normally spent at the beach with family, but last year and this year had to be different due to unprecedented times.  (insert eye roll)  K'lyn was able to come out the day before his birthday and celebrate birthday dinner with us.  I received a text during dinner asking if anyone was up for tubing.  It was a lady from our homeschool group.  We said yes right away because even though we've lived here for a year now, we haven't really explored much of what's around us.  

Logan is an extreme introvert just like his mama, so the thought of tubing with essentially a bunch of strangers didn't sound pleasant.  As his mama, I have to push him out of his comfort zone and make him do things I wouldn't.  ;)  Logan didn't even have a bathing suit, so we had to run to the store and get one.  The morning of this birthday, we found out the tubing was a go.  Because I expect my kids to do these things that I wouldn't, I decided to go.  I shocked even myself.  Normally I just send Kevin along on these escapades, and even though I didn't have a bathing suit either, I sucked it up.  I think Logan appreciated it.

We had THE BEST TIME.  Well, I'm not much of a water person, so all the bugs and such weren't great.  When we got into the river, we thought everyone was breaking up into groups because everyone was spread out.  A lot of kids from our homeschool group ended up coming.  We headed out and stayed together as a family.  Logan and Marz were swimming out ahead, so we had to paddle to keep up.  The river was pretty shallow in some places, so there was lots of standing.  We brought a bag to hold everyone's flops and t-shirts, so I pretty much stayed in the tube with it on my belly to keep it dry.  We didn't bring our cell phones, so I have no pictures to prove it even happened.  Anyway, when we looked back at everyone else, they were all together!  Then we felt like we just anti-socialed ourselves, but there was no swimming back.  We ended up back together for the bus ride back to the cars. 

Afterward we were famished, so we grabbed some pizza on the way home.  I think he had a good birthday.  I hope he did.  We told K'lyn all about tubing, so she's planning on coming out for us all to go again.  Hopefully this time I'll have a bathing suit.  Wet clothes are no fun.  Marz reminded me that I need to do the "Five things you don't know about..."  for Logan because I forgot it for Rory.

FIVE THINGS YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT LOGAN

1.  He wears a uniform everyday.  It's a Koala hoodie in one of several different colors.

2.  He gets along better with girls (maybe from having all sisters), so almost all his friends are girls.  We joke and call them his harem.

3.  He wants to be a Marine Biologist/Chef so he can cook up any new sea creatures he finds to see if they're tasty.

4.  He loves seafood.  At Olive Garden he'll order the seafood alfredo and not eat any of the noodles.  It drives us crazy!

5.  He could have a career as an audio book reader.  He reads aloud to us whenever we go on long trips as a family.  He read the whole Percy Jackson series and now he's reading Unwanteds.  He's really good at it and does all the different voices for characters.  He has a mic and such to record his reading, but he needs the computer for it, and sometimes that clashes with when he's allowed to have the computer in his room.  He normally puts up a sign so everyone knows he's recording and we need to be quiet, but that's pretty much impossible for this family.  

Happy birthday, Logan!!!!  I love you so much!

Streamer tradition

K'lyns card which Marz was going to get, but she changed her mind probably because she doesn't like bacon.

He got a Virtual Reality headset for his birthday.  I think he likes it!

Logan doesn't like cake, so I made him a chocolate pie to celebrate at my parents.  We didn't put a candle in it because it was still soft set, but we made him act like there was one.  I think everyone had pie which is crazy and makes me think we should make it for everyone's birthdays from now on.  

Sorry, Logy!  I had to do it!

July in Pics

 I was doing pretty well there for a bit.  Sorry about the absence.  We have been BUSY.  Rolling pics because I know that's what you want to see rather than read my ramblings.

Kevin's worst nightmare

Some father's days pics.  Kevin, Rory, and Logan were on a retreat, so just Marz and I made the trip.

Headed to Dallas!

The Big Bass Pro Shop there

They had an arcade shooting range inside.  Everyone played.

Rory joked that she was like a guy that had just gone fishing.  We told her that guys don't stand like that.  

Logan trying on sunglasses.  We got a pic of his smoulder.  :)

Marz bought a bun maker, and Rory put her hair up in it.  She looked so grown up!

The BBQ joint

I was coming back from the bathroom by myself and ran into a member of the cast, Little James!

He was gracious enough to take a family pic.  This was before he was mobbed.

We also met the creator of the TV series The Chosen.  He and his wife signed Marley's book that they wrote together.  It was an awesome time!

We got to spend more time with Little James again, so we asked for a silly photo. 

They had a couple of sets up that they use for filming.

I found this at Bass Pro Shops and came home with it for Kevin.  You can never have too many mugs.  ;)

We celebrated Rory's graduation with my parents.  

My mom got her a beach bag with all sorts of fun things in it for her trip.  

This girl can literally pull off any look!

Marley's prized pumpkin patch that is taking over the backyard.  

I think these will eventually turn orange.

Watching fireworks

Boone Bucy the newest member of the family.

Now that we're all caught up again, stay tuned for a birthday blog later this week!