Happy Birthday to our Cousins!

As you can probably tell, today is catch-up-on-blogs day! We are supposed to be in Abilene celebrating Christmas, but only half of us went. Abby Kate is very sick (again) with double ear infections, sinus infection, and a high fever. She is scheduled for ear tubes and an adenoidectomy on Monday, so we thought we better keep her indoors and recovering for now. She got a shot in her bottom this morning and was started on oral antibiotics too. Whew! That girl has been sick for months it seems!

Anyway, while she is sleeping the day away, I should be cleaning up the Christmas tornado that is our house...but I am determined to catch up on our busy December!

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We celebrated two big cousin birthdays this month---Braden turned THREE and Caleb turned ONE! Both of these cuties had adorable parties planned by their talented mommies. And, of course, our girls had a blast at each.

First, Braden had a "campout" party at his house. It happened to be the night of FREEZING cold temperatures, so the tent-in-the-yard party quickly turned into a camping party in the living room. And, Cortni did a great job of turning this outdoor party into the CUTEST indoor party!

There was a campfire with sleeping bags, pine trees, and camping chairs, lanterns and picnic cloths...

We had hot dogs from the grill, cheese dip and chili, and, for dessert, check out this cute S'mores "cake" for Braden! We all enjoyed our s'mores on the fire pit outside! (Mine was hand delivered indoors by Carlie because it was too darn cold to make it myself!)

Here's the birthday boy with his "faybrit" (favorite) presents:

And, here's my sister, Cortni, reading her campfire stories to the gang.

Next, was an outdoor 'bug hunt' with flashlights, neon bugs, and buckets to hold them in. The kids loved this part, even though it was cold, and Carlie especially was excited that she got to bring the squishy bugs home with her! Even AK found a few creepy-crawlies outside!

It was fun to celebrate with big boy Braden. So hard to believe he's already three.

Next came Caleb Ryne's big one year celebration! Another adorable party "under the big top"! It was a circus party and it turned out so cute. Cassie made her dining room into an actual circus tent, and the treats were all the favorite circus fare, from hot dogs to cracker jacks to cotton candy. My girls were in hog heaven!

And, Kendyll got to be the one to deliver these yummy treats to the guests. Wasn't she cute?

Here's the birthday boy, and two very excited cousins. He had just woken up and they could hardly wait to greet him.

Abby Kate, along with the rest of us, enjoyed some yummy Sprinkles cupcakes for dessert. She enjoyed banana, while my very rich chocolate peppermint cupcake left my tummy beyond full!

And, of course, we ended the party with yet another attempt at a cousin picture. Why do we continue to do this to ourselves (or to our kids)? Eventually, it WILL work. :)

So, happy late birthday to Braden and Caleb! It is so fun to have cousins like you...and we look forward to many, many fun birthdays together!!