A Turtley Awesome 4 year-old

Just so you know, The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have made a comeback. What better way to celebrate the cutest 4 year-old I know, than with a "Turtley Awesome" Birthday!

 

Oliver turned 4 on January 15th. I. Cannot. Believe. It. He's not a toddler any more...he's a BIG BOY! I feel blessed beyond measure to have this little ball of energy and happiness in our lives. He's simply precious.

 

Per the birthday boy's request, we went to Moe's for his big night. Fortunately, Sarah Dippity was on hand for Ninja Turtle face painting! Nana and Papa and Muzzy and Boppa joined the fun!

 

His eyes in this picture...crack me up!

Big bros are the best!

Oliver as "Raphael"

Now onto the party!

Turtle POWER!!!

 

 My pathetic attempt at cupcakes. ;-)

Custom Ninja Turtle party favors by Muzzy & Me!
{We made 18 of these little get-ups in red, orange, blue, and purple!!!}
 



 

 

Big Ninja Turtles!

Turtles EVERYWHERE!

 

Just hangin' out.

 

Ninjas in all colors!

 

 

 Then back to the house for a rip-roarin' time with presents!

 

Happy 4th birthday to my adorable blue-eyed green-turtle-machine! You're such a blessing to us!

At A Loss

I don't even know where to start. I didn't think I would return from a 3 month break with this kind of update.

The month has been so VERY hard for us. It's bad enough when you lose one person, not to mention, two. On February 27th we lost my mom's oldest sister Elaine {"Laynie"} and 2 weeks later we lost my precious 98 year-old great-aunt Nita. It's all been quite overwhelming.

It's been exactly one month since I said good-bye to one of my favorite people on this earth. My Aunt Laynie was one of the most beautiful women - inside and out - that I have been blessed to have in my life.

I keep thinking it's all a bad dream. But it's not. And the reality of it is extremely hard to accept. It seems like everywhere I look in my house there is something that triggers a memory of her or a desire to talk to her.

Fortunately, I had the opportunity the day before she passed to sit by her bedside and tell her how much I loved her and thank her for all she had ever done for me and my boys. I prayed with her and held onto her hand so tightly, dreading the moment I'd have to let go. It was painful to leave her room. I prayed for peace and the wisdom to know when I had told her all that was on my heart. I didn't want to leave out one.single.thing.

My cousin Emily, her granddaughter, delivered the most beautiful eulogy. When she was compiling all the necessary details, she asked us to describe her "Mimi". I said in one word, "selfless", which sums her up completely. But as I use this little blog to archive these times in my life, I just have to document and share who she was to me in more than a word. She was "My Laynie" {A little possessive, ya think?}, a true inspiration.

She was born  May 23,1938 and her name at birth was Claudia Elaine. When I was born my parents gave me her first name and I have always been honored to have it. My whole life we've had an extra special bond. At birth she called me "Rosebud", but as I grew up Rosebud turned into "Blossom". I can still hear her voice in my head. "How's my sweet Blossom?", she'd always ask.

Her only daughter Renee - who's more or less a big sister to me -  is about 17 years older than me. So while she was off at college, my Aunt Laynie and Uncle Russ - an equally amazing man who passed away when I was 15 -  borrowed me for their entertainment. I spent many nights at their house and enjoyed being spoiled! My weekends at their house were made up of special dinners out at Steak & Ale, Shoney's for all-you-can-eat shrimp night - where she taught me to peel boiled shrimp, animal pancakes for breakfast, coffee-milk on the porch, crafts, and fishing. I flash back to those days frequently and without fail I get the most warm and fuzzy feeling all over. I am so thankful for those memories. She had me so rotten that sometimes, as a child, when I was upset or feeling bad, I would call out for her, "I want my Laynie!" I'm sure it made my poor momma feel great! ;-)

On top of all that, she never missed a dance recital, graduation, sacrament, or birthday of mine. On my last birthday, even though she wasn't feeling well, my mom made sure she had a card to sign for me. I am so thankful my mom knew how important it was for me to have "just one more card". I cried as I read her simple birthday message, knowing it would be the last. I will cherish it forever.

Her kind deeds were countless! I recall one of the coolest outfits a preteen could have owned was MINE because of one of our shopping trips to Tapp's. It was an ESPRIT eggplant-colored flared skirt with an off-white top donning tiny Aborigines in beautiful jewel tones that I wore with my eggplant-colored suede flats. It. Was. Awesome! I remember her bending over backwards to help my mom on my wedding day. And then there was the time that a very swollen, pregnant girl's washing machine broke while she was supposed to be on bed rest. The laundry was piled to the ceiling. The poor pregnant girl came home to find that the Laundry Elves {mom and Laynie} had visited and left her a new washing machine and folded stacks of clean baby clothes. She was so, so good to me.

Her goodness will never be forgotten by those who knew her. In her life and in her suffering, her inspiration never ceased.

Before her diagnosis, Aunt Laynie shared her life-verse with me. I'm not sure why, but I'm forever grateful that she did. She lived every aspect of her life through this verse and it now has an extra special meaning to those of us touched as a result of her service to her family and to the Lord.

May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. -Psalm 19:14

After 2 years of battling lung cancer, God saw that her body was growing tired. Even though I selfishly want her here with me - healthy, laughing, and baking her famous Cocoon cookies - HE no longer wanted her to suffer and wanted her to be reunited with my Uncle Russ for eternity. It's that cardinal reminder that we belong to HIM and as much as I hated to let "MY Laynie" go, the good Lord called for "HIS Laynie" to come home.

Aunt Laynie and Uncle Russ - The love of her life.

My heart aches everyday for my mom and her siblings, my cousin Renee and her girls, and all those she touched. We are going to miss her so very, very much!

October 2005 - My mom's siblings with Aunt Nita: Uncle Robert, Aunt Laynie, Aunt Judy, Momma, Great Aunt Nita, Uncle Phil

May 2008 - Laynie's 70th Birthday: Aunt Laynie, Emily (one of her 2 granddaughters), Renee
 

October 2011

 

 

November 2011

I love you, Laynie...and miss you so incredibly much!

{You} have fought the good fight, {you} have finished the race, {you} have kept the faith.
-2 Timothy 4:7

Phone Dump Update

The CTBaker family just about got wiped out from the flu a couple of weeks ago. Whoooo! That was a doozie. Even though Shan and I had negative flu tests, Fulton and Oliver were positive. So I'm 99% sure we had it too. Sam was the only one to escape it {so far} this season.

We were down for a good 7 or 8 days total as it ran through our house. It's brutal, folks! Wash. Your. Hands!!!!

Oh! and YES, everyone but moi got the flu shot.

Fortunately, we are on the mend and were able to resume normal Baker activity in the last week.

Y'all know I like to update via pics from my phone from time to time. So here it is!

In my last post I was lamenting the fact that the boys Christmas break was a bust because of all the illness in our house. So I spent the last day before their break was over {before I knew Oliver was the next man down with the flu} trying to cram in some fun.

What did we do, you ask?

We went ICE SKATING in our "Famously Hot" city!

The boys loved it! And surprisingly, so did we. It has been yeeeears since I last ice skated. My parents belonged to a country club that had an ice rink in the winter months when I was growing up. It was the best activity for bored children in the winter. Too bad this one is just a temporary exhibit. I'd love for it to stick around through February and it wouldn't hurt if they lowered the fee to skate. OUCH! For a family of 5...it'll set you back a bit.

Don't you just love stocking stuffers? I think they're one of the best parts of Christmas morning. This year the boys got new book lights and have been so excited about using them at night. Hey! Whatever gets them to read...right?

Oliver has become the bed-crasher. He may or may not end up in your bed on any given night. Recently, Sam has been his victim.

Any who...book lights are fairly inexpensive and come in all kinds of fancy-shmancy designs. They're great as a gift for kids and for those of us who still like the feel of a good ol' fashioned book. Go getcha one!

The weekend after the boys returned to school I went on my annual girls weekend. I just love this group of girls! We have all served on Holiday Market together and have become great friends. We look forward to each January when we can get away for a weekend of PJs, cocktails, cream cheese appetizers, and great conversation. Our itinerary looks something like this...

Friday
6:00pm- Arrive at Wild Dunes
6:30pm- Put on PJs, fix a cocktail, eat, talk, sleep
Saturday
10:00am- Wake, eat, talk, lounge, until...
7:00pm- take shower and change out of PJs
8:30pm- Dinner...This year we decided to head into Charleston to try out Stars, a fairly new restaurant. Then we headed to The Cocktail Club, which was very interesting...drinks, people, watching, etc. We stayed until the lights were up.
Sunday
12:00pm- Head out for a little shopping before hitting the road home

After the flu sweep, it was just what the doctor ordered.

This week I took the Ver-man to get a haircut and God bless his heart...he fell asleep in the chair while Ms. Robin was snipping.

 

Hmmmm. Maybe it was because he decided to wake up at 5:30AM!!! Lawd help!!!

 

 

I'm posting this pic simply because I love it!

 



 

This is S, F, & O with two buddies from school. I can't tell you how many times they BEGGED me to let them go "creek divin'". Even though we're having a warm snap with 80 degree temps, the mean mama still said no.

 

 

Sunday at church Oliver and his buddy Claytor were asked to pull the wagon to the altar to present the gifts. There is no other word but "precious" to describe these two. Rumor has it, they may Father Fletcher chuckle. I'm not sure what happened because we were way in the back, but I'd love to find out.

 

 

I am a bit bewildered by the fact that my little Ver is getting so big. He's now getting to do big boy things. He turns 4 on Tuesday and my heart is a little broken. More on that later! I get too weepy when I talk about it and gots thangs to do!!!

 

That's my little update!

 

Plans

I'm one of those people who gets bogged down in all my plans. I have lots of little ideas running around in my head. Usually, I can make it all happen. Some way, some how. I think I get that from my momma. She's the mastermind at pulling stuff off in her sleep, with her hands tied behind her back.

 I had PLANS to do lots over this Christmas break. Most of which involved making memories and being festive.

• I had plans to take my boys ice skating at our local ice skating rink. It's a temporary attraction and quite a novelty considering our city tag line is "Famously Hot".
• I had plans to go to several of the holiday lights hot spots. We only made it to two.
• I had plans to take the boys to the Edventure New Years Eve at Noon celebration.
• I had plans to make homemade pasta with my mom.
• I had plans to make my Aunt Laynie some soup and yummy treats.
• I had plans to make my little brother Puppy Chow because he was a little disappointed on Christmas day when he saw I hadn't made any.
• I had plans to go on a date night with my hubby to dinner and to see This Is 40.
• I had plans to take my Goddaughter to lunch.
• I had plans to visit with my cousin who is in town from Texas.
• I had plans to spend New Years Eve with my bunco friends.
• I had plans to blog about our wonderful Christmas and the year in review.

It seems that my body had different plans.

Shan and I are on day 4 & 5 of the worst virus I think I've ever had. Shan's symptoms started Wednesday and mine started Thursday. Both of our flu tests were negative, but we've had the worst flu-like symptoms with no option to take Tami-flu. In addition, we've both had sinusitis and bronchitis to go along with it.

My dad took Shan to the hospital Saturday morning to make sure he didn't have pneumonia. He did not. Thank goodness. Shan's mom came to take the boys to the lake so we could sleep. I could not be more grateful. There is NO way we could have taken care of them with the 2 of us down.

 

John Lennon sang it best... Whatever gets you thru the night!

We are hopefully turning a corner, as we have both actually showered now and ventured to the store to get more Advil.

So the last 5 days have been a bust. And the few days before Christmas were spent tying up loose ends and visiting family. So my window of opportunity is extremely small now for all those plans!

One of my favorite sayings talks about a road to a certain place being paved with good intentions. I make lots of plans and get so disappointed when they don't work out. What I really want is a do-over. But that's not going to happen.

I happened to read this just as I was about to compose this post and it was a good thing.

So for now, I'm letting it go. I'm giving myself grace. I'm going to get done in the next few days what I can. I think the boys will understand. I hope.

Merry Merry!

MERRY MERRY!