Cheers to the Weekend, Hello October Edition

Hiya friends! And Happy first weekend of October! We have been having these lovely temperatured mornings and than these hotter than Hades afternoons; so, I am eagerly asking that Autumn make her all-day debut, thankyouverymuch. Anywho. Here, a list of the things I'm saying CHEERS to as we kick off the weekend: 

Birthday fun. This will be the last mention of Banks' 9th birthday, pinky swear! But, I want to document what we did on his actual birthday as I usually do. Because his actual birthday was on a Saturday, he had his traditional breakfast date with Dad, and school lunch date with Momma, that Friday. 

He was surprised when we got off the bus that day to find his Nana and Pop there to greet him! They whisked him off to the toy story to buy his birthday gift and then we were all spoiled by having them spend the night with us and stay for much of his birthday the next day! 

Banks awoke to our tradition of door decorations and gifts awaiting him downstairs. He then scarfed down sprinkled donuts for breakfast and we got ready for our three sporting events of the morning (Raleigh's cheerleading game; Harrison's soccer match; Banks' flag football game). Surprise again! Bammy and Digby arrived to cheer him on at his game and then come back home with us to celebrate!

After blowing out the (accidentally trick!) candles on the Momma-made birthday cake he requested (chocolate cake with cookie dough icing), he spent the rest of the day playing with his birthday gifts, cheering on the Clemson Tigers as we (barely!) took down Syracuse, playing frontyard football with two buddies and their dads, and then having another one of his best buds spend the night.

He had his request for dinner (tomato soup with grilled cheese) and then, my favorite part of the day: he asked me to join him and his friend for a movie in the playroom. He then asked me to lie with him for the entire movie. He may not always want his momma to crash his slumber party, but on his 9th birthday, he did; so, I did. And I loved it. And THAT was a wrap on one epic birthday for our biggest boy, our Bankster. <3

Tailgate day. Harrison had some fun last weekend, too, kicking things off with a preschool Tailgate party at school on Friday and then his first soccer game of the season on Saturday. And y'all. This child. He ran up and down that soccer field, hustling, smiling, and having a good ol' time. He would run alongside his teammates and cheer for them as they scored. He never scored a goal himself, but after each time his teammate did, he would run down the field both hands over his head, as if he had just won the Super Bowl. It was the sweetest display of sportsmanship, and I can't wait 'til his next game tomorrow!!

Field trip fun. Banks had an all-day field trip to kick off this week, as he and the rest of the 3rd graders visited Camp Thunderbird and had a BIG time!

And the field trip fun is continuing as we speak, as Bella and I are accompanying Harrison on his field trip to a pumpkin patch. It's Fall, y'all!

Half Marathon Registration. Gulp. Friends, I did it. I am now officially registered for my first ever half-marathon. It'll be going down on October 20th (yes, two weeks from tomorrow!!) in Charlotte at Rocktoberfest. I have two weeks of training to go, including 9- and 10-mile runs; so, it's going to be a challenging couple of weeks, but I got tired of thinking, 'Maybe one day...' It's time to conquer this thing. That being said, all of your prayers for a smooth, injury-free, fun run are appreciated. As are any and ALLLLLLLLL tips from any of you runners are out there. I am about as low on the rookie totem pole as you can get when it comes to this running stuff; so, help!!! :) 

15 months with Bella. Earlier this week, it was officially 15 months since we had met our Bella in China. Oh, how this beautiful baby has grown and changed since that day. She went from being only able to crawl on flat surfaces to now running circles around our house, jumping on a trampoline, and climbing up and down off of all sorts of things. She went from saying "mama" and "dada" indiscriminately (and NOTHING else at age 26 months) to now increasingly putting two words together; recognizing and saying her numbers; identifying and naming her body parts; and so.much.more. She went from doing nothing more than banging toys together to quickly and easily solving all kinds of shape sorters and puzzles; demonstrating pretend play; drawing and coloring and stamping and assisted cutting. She went from being bottle-fed to now drinking out of a regular cup. I could go on and on. We are so, so proud of the progress Bella has made over the last 15 months and know that God has big plans for our daughter. It is a privilege to watch His story unfold. 

And now, the weekend has arrived! We have a good mix of fun with friends and rest time with family on the docket, and I can't wait for it all! Have a lovely October weekend, all! Be back soon!

Turning Nine Rocks!: Banks' Gem Mining Birthday Party

It was a complete and total coincidence that the party theme Banks chose a couple months ago for his 9th birthday celebration was "gem-mining" and that his third grade year would start with a science unit on rocks and minerals. Jackpot! :) 

Every Fall, we go to our sweet town's "Fall Frolic" to help kick off our autumn season - there's a pumpkin patch, games and activities for the kids, food trucks, and...gem-mining. I remember meeting "Dirt Dauber Deb" and seeing her mobile gem mine at the Frolic last year and tucking the idea away for a potential birthday theme for Banks. When he chose it from a list of 7 or 8 options, I was thrilled. This was going to be fun!

Indeed, we had a ROCKin' good time (see what I did there? Get ready for a pun overload - ha!) over the weekend with 10 of Banks' sweet friends helping him celebrate turning the big 0-9. Now, a look at Banks' Gem-Mining Birthday party, for those who are interested in that sort of thing. :) 

The birthday boy. I went to etsy when purchasing Banks' "Nine Rocks" birthday shirt. For those who asked, it is from Vazzie Tees, and they were fantastic to work with! They were very responsive to questions, have tons of great feedback on their etsy shop, and the shirt they created is super soft! I very highly recommend this momma-run business, and I will definitely be ordering from them again! 

The invitation. I know that evites are pretty much what everyone uses these days for invitations, but I still just love a fun paper invitation, especially when I can order them cheaply from etsy (i.e., while, again, supporting  a momma-run business!) and then print them cheaply at our local Fed Ex/Kinkos. The seller I ordered these from was Opal and Mae, and they had the printable file to me within hours. I definitely recommend this etsy seller, too! 

The Action. Ten 3rd-grade boys = lots.of.energy. Therefore, we kept the party moving from start to finish. "Dirt Dauber Deb" showed up before party time and was all set up and ready to rock ;) as soon as the boys arrived! We kicked off the party by having Ms. Deb teach the boys how to mine for gems. Each boy received a bucket filled with hidden gems for them to find using the panning technique she taught them. This meant each boy left the party with a baggie filled with gems they had mined themselves!

After mining, they cracked geodes from a couple of "Break Your Own Geode" kits I had purchased from amazon (this is a great Christmas gift idea, mommas!). 

Then, we moved the party to our back porch, where Ms. Deb taught them how to make their own arrowhead necklaces. The boys loved this, too! I could not recommend Dirt Dauber Deb any higher, local friends. She was so kind and so good with the kids!

Finally, we headed to the garage for treats and gift opening. 

The Food. Because the party was from 2:00-3:30 pm, we served cupcakes topped with chocolate rocks and some themed candy (i.e., Pop Rocks and Rock Candy) as well as "Mineral Water." ;) 

The Favors. In addition to their bags of gems and their geodes, each guest was also given some Doc Momma Bakes fossil cookies I had packaged up for them. (Note: Any Lu Crew party is also super-sugar-filled. Sorry mommas!! ;) ). 

And that was that! I've been told the boys had a rockin' good time, and I know my birthday boy sure did! Thanks to all who helped him celebrate! You rock!! :)