One

Guess who's one?

John Martin celebrated his first year of life yesterday. I spent most of the day reflecting on his first year and what a gift he is to us! I fully recognize that these little creatures are a reward from him, one that we are most grateful for. All I can conclude is that it has been absolutely wonderful and sleepless year and yet it seems like he was born 5 years ago.

I had no problem finding pictures of him. These are the last 12 months of his little life:

I love watching his little doll face {& hair} {& teeth} change through the months. We've come to know this little man so well and all his little antics. His sisters are absolutely smitten with him and have given him several nicknames. I think the only one I've ever shared on here is "Hornet" {which was not given by them but me} and while they call him that too, they usually call him "O.O.". I know, strange isn't it? I believe it originated with Cheerios because they've always called Cheerios "O.O.s" and since he likes them they call him "O.O.". Along the same lines of "O.O." they also call him "Double O" and well, there's "Ya Ya", "Mr. Mouse", and "Mr." too.

So, Mr. Mouse had a big first birthday yesterday, with a birthday gathering and the whole 9 yards. I must admit it totally stressed me out and I didn't even have to do anything besides get my house ready. I think the fact that we're leaving TOMORROW on an 11-12 hour car trip for 2.5 weeks added to my madness. For those of you who think I have my act together, rest assured, I don't.

His cake was a flop, but Mr. Mouse, Sr. assured me Mr. Mouse, Jr. wouldn't give a rip. Justin has also questioned me on more than one occassion as to why I have our grill adorned with geraniums, so in his honor, I'll include this picture {note: his Mexican import}.

The show went on and our family not only accompanied us but my sister-in-law brought all the food. Seriously, does it get any better than that? We get together with Justin's family {they all live in town} regularly and I think we've decided this is the way to do it, whomever's house we bombard is exempt from preparing any food.... genius if you ask me.

We had a great time, I traded my whine for wine and lightened up.

These are my sister-in-law's discussing something very important like bathroom breaks, foot detox or Monsters.

You can tell Jennifer is a very passionate person, every picture I have of her she has her hands in the air and she's waving 'em like she just don't care. Now, if you work with her, go tell her she's on the blog. She doesn't read.

Back to the little man, we sang to him and he loved it.

Then we tried to get a family picture, and he didn't love it. Morgan and Paige look like they were thrilled about the idea too.

All he wanted was cake.

Until he realized it wasn't cake that he wanted.

And then he decided it was milk that he wanted.

And when he polished it off he was quickly whisked away, wiped down, and put to bed.

Not only did my SIL bring a delicious dinner {which she called "Pork wrapped Pork"} she also brought homemade cupcakes for the kids and ice cream pie for the adults.

The plates were licked clean and a good time was had by all.

Everyone was sent home with peach jam.

And Swedish Fish {which was my only creative endeavor for his party}.

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Before I go, let's talk about the peach jam.

I used the recipe included in the box of Ball Liquid Fruit Pectin. I did run my peaches through the mini food processor because I'm not a fan of huge chunks and I also added 1 tsp of cinnamon. But other than that... there's not much to it. I use the "water bath method" which is what you see in this picture. You can find most of your supplies at the grocery store, at least, our Winn Dixie has a great supply. I bought my water bath pot at Walmart. The directions come in the box of pectin, one box of liquid pectin {2 pouches} will yield 7 {maybe 8} 1/2 pint jars, takes 9-12 peaches, and a LOT of sugar {7.5 cups} so if you try it you may want to pick up a bag of sugar too. I've made 3 batches and have only worked 1/2 way through my box of peaches.

And while we're on "kitchen talk" I've been informed that Efurd's IGA in Cowart's {for you locals} has ordered and stocked the Betty Crocker Homestyle Fluffy White Frosting {that keeps popping up around here} and I can assure you, if you try it, you'll love it! Remember, it's in a small box, not can. It's powder and you add boiling water too it, and mix it for 7 minutes. And then you're in heaven licking your fingers and eating it by the spoonful.

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I would certainly covet your prayers for travel mercies tomorrow! Hornet proved to not be fond of his carseat on our short jaunt to the beach on Sunday. He cried 97% of the trip and if that's the case tomorrow I will certainly lose my mind. We're headed to Illinois to visit with family and I absolutely cannot wait... now, I need to go pack. Be back soon, probably from IL where I can't wait to sit on the porch swing with mom and drink my coffee!

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I added a link to Erin's blog on the last post!