Party, Party, Party, PARTY!!!

Yep, we partied all weekend long!

We started off with a belated birthday celebration for my niece, Lori! It was also a kinda last-minute, impromptu "Cheetah Girls" movie party. A few pictures from that . . .

(these were my sad attempt at Cheetah cupcakes! They just made me laugh, because they really just looked like cupcake blobs! But they tasted good!) (Lori blowing out her candles!)

Then, on Saturday we had a birthday party down at Mom and Dad's for my birthday (which is actually not until this next Thursday) and my mom (whose bday was actually back on the 12th). In my family, we love to celebrate birthdays BIG--and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Why shouldn't you celebrate big?

Why shouldn't you have three different family parties?

Why shouldn't you be pampered by your husband and kids?

Why shouldn't you act like you're still a kid and blow out your candles and make a big ole, impossible wish?

Why shouldn't you rip open your presents with abandon and just get super-excited about what you got?

Why shouldn't you wait all day long (or all week long) for a taste of the party cake?

Life can just get too serious sometimes--so you should have as much FUN as possible!

(My mom is one who truly loves opening presents. Watching her open presents is really more fun than getting any yourself. I mean, who else could get so excited about getting some potpourri? But that's her--it can be a pair of socks or a BIG present and she has the same joy for it!)

(This was the funniest thing! My mom always tells the grandsons, "Never, Never, Never Give Up!" She also says it in the funniest Winston Churchill voice--he said it during World War 2! Danielle found this frame with the quote on it, so it was the perfect gift for her! And, of course, all afternoon we did Churchill impersonations! LOL) (Sydney had to interrupt the festivities at regular intervals to make funny faces!) BTW--from here on out, these great pictures (except for the last two) were taken by McKenna. She really captured the FUN going on, and did a great job on them!

I also got some AWESOME birthday gifts! Let's just say that my family knows what I like and they always get me very special things. This year was no different. I got some very personal, "Cheryl" gifts--bubble bath (I LOVE bubble baths and take them almost everyday!), an Alabama jersey (to get ready for this football season!), a framed picture of the President's Mansion on the Alabama campus (which will go perfectly with the one I have on my wall of the Gorgas House, the house on campus where Gary and I got married), the CUTEST purse (McKenna was coveting it, but she's NOT getting it! LOL), a book called "The Missing Ring" that sounds great (I can always count on a book from Christopher and Danielle, which I LOVE!), a copy of "To Kill a Mockingbird" on DVD (which is one of our family's absolute favorite movies!) and some money (which I already spent at Cato yesterday on a pair of capris, two shirts, and some really cute jewelry! Yay!).

(Like Mother, like Daughter, huh? I get excited about presents too!)

(Delaney and I shouting, "Woo Hoo!" when I got the "To Kill a Mockingbird" DVD. We love that movie and had lost our copy!!)

(We interrupt the festivities for another Sydney silly pose!)

(Mom is such a sweetie! It was great fun celebrating my birthday with her. She always makes everyone around her feel very special!)

After we finished eating our cake, Gary wandered around my parents' gardens with his camera and took some great pictures. Go to his blog this morning and he has an awesome slide show that you can view of all the pictures he took. Here's one that I love, though; it really captures the wildness that is in their garden right now. It looks like an English wildflower garden to me, and I just love it!

(My parents have an unbelievable green thumb! They can grow ANYTHING. Just throw some seeds out and, voila, there's a garden!)

This upcoming week is just one I'm excited about! Don't you love weeks like that? When you can look to the next few days with anticipation, and not dread? With excitement, and not boredom? That is definitely how I feel this Monday morning, looking to the week in front of me!

I will have a first high school football game of the season, and the first Alabama football game to go to. I will have more birthday celebrations ahead of me--most notably our annual Wray Bowling Birthday Outing with just Gary and the girls. Fun, fun, fun. . .

As you start your week today, let me just tell you--in case no one ever told you so--that life is meant to be celebrated! And if you knew that and have just forgotten, let me remind you--life is meant to be celebrated!

Find something today--the joy of a cappucino, a talk on the phone with a friend, an Eskimo kiss with your child, a less rushed rush hour drive, a good slice of pizza--and just celebrate it! Celebrate it because you CAN and you WILL!!