His First Gun

My Dad has taken Luke to shoot guns a few times, but the last time they went Luke was real good at it.  He had finally gotten the hang of it all.  He was so good in fact, he came home and said, "I am so good at shooting, I should pretty much be doing it everyday."

And apparently, my Dad agreed because he decided it was time to buy Luke his first gun.

 

And so if there is daylight, he wants to be out back shooting at stuff.

I'm not sure if Hank is hiding down there, or what.  But, we did have a talk about being careful not to shoot the dog.  Luke said no problem, but he could not promise he would not shoot a cat.  

Josh smiled. 

I wonder how long all this ammo will last.  My guess is not long.

He has good aim and is pretty consistent.  Look at that concentration!

Eighth Birthday Party

It blows my mind that our Luke is now eight years old.  Time does fly when you are having fun!

This was, by far, the BEST birthday party Luke has ever had.  It was his idea to have his birthday party at his karate school, and it was a wonderful idea!

The kids did a lot of karate things, but one of my favorite parts of the party was when each kid was given the chance to beat the birthday boy.

It is not everyday that your allowed to whip up on your friends and cousins.

And while it was great fun to see each child come up and beat Luke and see Luke battle back.

It was REAL good fun to see them all gang up on my Luke.

Getting ready.......

GO!

They were after him!!  That one in stripes on the end is out for the kill!

But, do not feel sorry for him.  

My father-in-law got the money shot that shows how much Luke loved this beat down.

Just look at that smile!!  That is the best picture ever!

After the beat down, each boy was able to break a board.

Hey Luke, OPEN YOUR EYES!!

After each boy had broken a board, Mr. Mike had two of Luke's cousins come and lay down.  

I had no idea this was coming.

Holy Cow!!!  

I was so happy Luke broke that board....and his cousins were okay!

And then it was time for presents!

Aunt Melanie was in town from California and was able to come to the party.  Luke was so excited!

And Grandpa Stewart, Grandma Stewart, and Aunt Charity came into town!!  Grandma has kissed him bunches since they arrived...and it did not stop for the party.

I'm not sure who is more excited about that gun, Luke or his Grandpa Petty.

The party then got more wild and crazy as we all sang Happy Birthday to Luke while he whipped the nunchucks over his head.  

All the kids had so much fun and the adults had a blast watching and laughing.

Thank you to all who came out for Luke's party!!  I'm so sorry I did not get pictures of everyone who was there.  I was having such a fun time watching the kids that I forgot to take more pictures!

We all love you Luke!!

To Die for Cupcakes!

I am, for the most part, not a food snob.  If it tastes good, I’m on board.  I do not care if it was made from a box, bought at the store, or from scratch.  But, there is one area that I have found I am all about homemade and all against store bought and that is with cupcakes and cakes.  Now, if you are purchasing the cakes from a lovely bakery, then that is different, but the grocery store cakes are bland and almost tasteless to me.

As Luke’s birthday was approaching, I started searching the internet for some new cupcakes to make for him.  For the past three years or so, I’ve made him PW’s cupcakes, which he loves to pieces, but I wanted to do something different this year.

For the most part, I used this recipe from Sweetapolita.  The only difference was that I added sprinkles into the mix and used vanilla sugar (find it here), an idea from another of her cupcake recipes.

I cannot even tell you how good these cupcakes are.  They are perfection.  The icing...oh, fluffy goodness!  And the sprinkles, oh the sprinkles!!!  Luke and I are sprinkle crazy and we do not know when to say when.  Luke absolutely loved these at his birthday party.  And the adults loved them too!

Try them and you will not be disappointed!

Birthday Cake Cinnamon Rolls

To start Luke's birthday off on the right foot, we all had these for breakfast!!!

Oh so very, very good.

You can get the recipe from the How Sweet It Is blog here.  

I cannot believe our boy is EIGHT years old today.  Time flies.  I know all parents say it, and it is true.

I am so blessed to call him my son.

Happy Birthday, Luke!  Momma loves you so much!

Beyond Blessed

From time to time Luke will ask me to sleep with him.  And so, from time to time, I will do so on Friday nights.  I know the day is coming soon when he will be too old for this and so, for now, I enjoy snuggling up to him while I can.

And when I do, I almost always lay there looking at him for a while before I go to sleep.  This past weekend was no different.  He was asleep when I went to bed and as I laid there, I began thinking as I so often do about how blown away I am that God entrusted us to raise this boy.  I always figured motherhood would be great and all, but I had no clue how much I would learn from him, how much I could love him, how much I could be in awe of him.

I love his smarts.  He is a thinker like none other.  He loves to create and invent things.  He loves science, he loves reading.  I love his brain...and I love watching it at work.

Those blue eyes....awwwww!  And the freckles...they are growing in number and every time I look into his face they remind me of how he is growing up oh so very fast!

He is indeed crazy.  I mean get down and have fun crazy.  He does not care who is looking and what anyone thinks.  He loves to have fun and laugh.  He KNOWS how to have a good time.  His laugh is contagious.  But, his craziness....well, he might just get it honestly......

 

But, at least he is thankful for his crazy family.  So far, that is one of my favorite leaves on our thankful tree!

He likes to redecorate our house.

I have no clue why he put that car there.  All I know is when I saw it, I laughed.  And then I decided I would leave it there.  This is not the only decorating he has done.  He decorated his room....in Texas Rangers stuff.  Baseball posters all over.  He loves to change up the bathroom....dirty clothes on the floor rather than in the hamper....toothpaste in the sink.  Boy stuff.  I love the reminder of boys and their ways....

He takes me on dates.

He is on a fixed income of $1 a week (for putting away his laundry) so I end up paying.  But, it is the thought that counts.  I love that he will ask me out, and even pick our dinner location.

And, a boy after my own heart......he takes me out to dessert too!

Yes, Mom, I'm cool and asked you out for yogurt, and because I am cute I got you to pay for it.  (don't even ask me about those arm bands, I don't get them.)

Picking him up from school is one of the highlights of my day.  I have been instructed by him to always look and see if he is out on the playground when picking him up.  Because if he is, I am to stop and wave like crazy to him as he walks to the building.  I of course have no problems with doing it.

He is currently into STAR WARS origami.  If you mess up and think the storm trooper looks like a panda bear, he will get a little out of sorts.  And laughing about your mistake does not make things better.  I know this from my own error and then watching Joshua make the same mistake.  

Luckily for me, I knew this one was Yoda.

Three days a week he goes to karate and it is pure entertainment for me.  I love watching him spar.

He loves to spar his teacher.....

I am so beyond blessed by this boy.  I am so thankful God chose me to be your Momma.  I love you Luke!