carnival on the creek

For Berkley's 5th birthday party, we had a carnival on the creek. Berkley came up with the idea of having a carnival for her party after looking through an old photo album at Marmie's house. I had a carnival party when I turned 7, and after Berkley saw the pictures she decided that is what she wanted to do as well. This was several months ago, and I figured when her birthday finally rolled around she would have forgotten about it... but not Berkley, my little planner. She never stopped talking about it. I knew she had big plans, and as her birthday got closer, she got more and more excited about her carnival. When it did come time to make plans, Berkley made her own list. She sat down with Marmie and wrote down all of her ideas for the carnival, while also making a list of all the supplies we would need to get. (I told you she was a planner!!!) We really did have fun planning and preparing for her party. Finally, the big day arrived, and Berkley was so excited to get everything set up.

We set up a ticket booth near the gate where Berkley's friends would be entering the "carnival." Berkley was ready to greet her friends! (And give them their tickets of course!) Berkley also made treat bags for all of her friends so they had a special place for all of their carnival treats! As Berkley planned her carnival, she made sure everyone would have a job. My assignment... the pocket lady. What is a pocket lady? A lady who has pockets full of treats!!! Berkley's friend, Carlee, loved the pocket lady! She came back to "pick my pockets" several times.The Go Fish game was definitely a big hit. Berkley assigned Matt to work this booth since he "loves to fish at the lake."This was definitely Beckham's favorite game too. He even practiced before the party... over and over again!!!By the end of the party he had taken over Matt's job. He decided putting the treats on the fishing pole was more fun than actually fishing for them!Amy & Chris were recruited to help as well. Amy was put in charge of the face painting, and she did a fabulous job. We were thankful to have her artistic talent!Those designs look good girls!Chris was a great sport and volunteered at the bowling booth. He definitely had to work the hardest since he had to reset the "bowling pins" after each carnival participant tried out their skills. Not to mention that his booth seemed to be in the direct sunlight! Thanks so much Chris for your help. Did you teach Nic his bowling moves? He has great form!

After all of the carnival games, birthday singing, and ice cream eating it was time to open gifts. Berkley specifically asked for 2 things for her birthday: a game player and a new bible. Mimi & Papa got her the exact bible that she wanted. The look on her face is priceless!
After opening presents, Berkley did a great job of thanking all of her friends. I think they all received a bear hug!

As the party was winding down, JT noticed some of the girls had found the face paint sticks. They were pretty much "tattooing" each other and having a big time. JT decided he would let the girls put a design on him. The minute JT squatted down, the girls attacked him like a swarm of bees. They had no intentions of "face" painting. No... they went straight for JT's head. Once his head was completely covered, then they moved to his face. JT with the swarm of busy little bees!!! Thanks JT for being the hit of the party!

Berkley's birthday carnival ended up being a lot of fun. I think all of her friends had fun as well. Leave it to Marmie & Berkley to throw a good party. Thanks to all of our family that helped out. We definitely couldn't have pulled off the carnival without you!

birthday girl and full of business

Happy Birthday Berkley!!! Today Berkley turned 5 years old AND had her very first day of preschool. She woke up at 6:30 this morning SO excited. She absolutely loves school, and she also wanted to know that she was finally 5. After we got her dressed for school, we had birthday blueberry muffins for breakfast... with a candle of course. Matt was out of town, but Beckham helped me sing Happy Birthday to Berkley. Beckham also tried to help Berkley blow out her candle. (In fact, he was a little too much help, so Berkley got to blow her candle out twice!) Berkley chose the special pink candle that "sang" Happy Birthday too!After breakfast it was time to head off to school. Berkley has to be there by 8:00 for chapel. She wanted to make sure we were NOT late, because if you are late you have to wait in the office until chapel is over. She was very serious about this! She is going to the same preschool this year, but since it is a private school and the older kids all wear uniforms... the faculty decided that the preschool children needed to wear uniforms as well. Since Berkley loves to pick out her clothes so much, at first she was not very excited about wearing a uniform. However, after shopping for her uniforms and adding a few accessories, she felt better about it. She looked so very grown up!!!Not only did she look grown up, she acted all grown up too. The minute we arrived at chapel, Berkley spotted her class and headed down the aisle to find her spot on the pew. She turned around in her seat and gave me a big wave and a smile. No hug, no tears, no sad faces to leave mommy... nope! She was all business on her first day of school. Oh how she has matured! I did manage to get a picture of her with her teacher, Mrs. Diller. Berkley was blessed to have Mrs. Diller as a teacher in the Mother's Day Out program she attended this Summer, and we are so excited to have her as a teacher this year. She is wonderful and Berkley adores her... obviously.Watching Berkley this morning and realizing how much she has indeed grown up over the years made me want to take a short journey down memory lane... especially it being her birthday.


Berkley Grace Paul
August 26, 2003Age 1 and all smiles!
When Berkley turned 2, we had a baby "pool party" in my parent's yard. Here she is enjoying her watermelon at the festivities. (And yes... she did have a swimsuit on, but she decided to wear her birthday suit instead!)Here is Berkley at her 3rd birthday party riding her bike and feeling so big!!! (Yes, her tricycle has the number 2 on it because that was a gift she got on her 2nd birthday.)Last year, when Berkley turned 4, she had a dress-up party in her playhouse. Daddy was one of the few boys there!!!
It is so fun to see how Berkley has grown, yet a little sad at the same time. She is far from being my baby girl, or even my precious toddler. She has turned into a beautiful little girl who brings so much joy to us all. Happy Birthday Berkley. I love you so very much and am so blessed to be your mommy.

reunion

Oh how I have missed the land of blogger. We've been at the lake a lot this month spending time with family. In fact, recently my dad's side of the family got together at Lake Brownwood for our annual Thacker Family Reunion. We have been doing this for about 6 years now, and each year our family has grown a little... either by adding husbands or babies. We are beginning to get quite a Thacker crowd.

Here is the entire Thacker crew. (minus Brenner who was sleeping)
The weekend was full of lots of laughs and memories. Everyone stayed busy and seemed to have fun despite lots of clouds and rain. The kids were determined to swim whenever they could. (And since their swims were sometimes cut short by the rain, they swam very intently when given the chance!)Beckham tried out croquet, which entertained him for quite a while... even in the rain.Meanwhile, the girls put their artistic talents to work out in the garage. My cousin, Emmalea, brought canvas tote bags and aprons for the younger kids to paint. (This was a great activity for a rainy day!) Berkley really enjoyed designing her "purse." In fact, she has been carrying it with her everywhere!!!It seems there were a few other things going on under the umbrellas! Kissing cousins caught on camera. Beckham is putting a smooch on Charlee. There is always LOTS of food involved at our reunion as well. Brenner entertained himself quite nicely while all of the groceries were being unloaded.
Take a look at these melons!!!

This year we also started a new tradition at our reunion. Inspired by the movie, Dan in Real Life, we decided to have a Thacker Talent Show. Although I was unsure of this suggestion at first, it ended up being pretty fun and highly entertaining. We had everything from knock-knock jokes to Sumo wrestling (thanks JT) but there were a few that were my favorites of course!

Berkley and Marmie were "2 Crazy Blondes" who impressed us with not only walking in high heels while chewing gum at the same time, but also hula-hooping and jumping the "skip-it!" Very impressive and so very cute!

Beckham got in on the entertainment as well. Although this skit wasn't planned, Charlee and Beckham picked up the microphones on their own and began singing the ABC's for us all. They ended their show with Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. How cute are they?

And yes, my sister and I got in on the entertainment as well. We were the "Sweeney Sisters" from SNL. We performed a nice medley of songs with our rockin' microphones that lit up.
Berkley even fit in a "costume change" and played the keyboard for the Sweeney's. She had so much fun and is a natural performer!
Overall we had a wonderful reunion once again, even with the crazy weather. And you better believe we're already working on a talent for next year. The competition is on!!!

off the cliff

If your daddy jumped off of a cliff would you? YES!!! At least this is how Berkley & Beckham answered this past weekend. Of course, the jump was into the lake... so anything involving water and adventure usually gets my little b's interested.

We spent the weekend at Possum Kingdom with Matt's cousin, Corri, and her husband and two boys. It was a fun-filled weekend for sure. (More pictures to come soon!) However, one of Matt's favorite adventures was jumping off a cliff into the lake with the kids. (Okay, not Brenner!) Corri's husband, Wess, had found this beautiful area of the lake with several flat rocks in the water where you could sit and cool off. It was a great area for the kids to play around in. There was also a perfect spot to climb up one of the nearby cliffs with a nice landing to jump from. As soon as we pulled up to it, Matt began asking Berkley and Beckham if they wanted to jump with him. They immediately screamed "YES!!" at the same time. So... out of the boat they hopped, to the rocks they swam, and up the path they climbed to the top of the cliff.

Here is the cliff...

Here they are making their journey to the top.
Now at the top, contemplating their plunge.

Once they made it to the top, the kid's excitement seemed to dwindle a little. You could see them questioning their decision instantly. They both continued to stand and listen to Matt's instructions, but with a little concern on their face.

Matt jumped first and absolutely loved it!

Beckham followed immediately after Matt. In fact, he was so fast I didn't even get his picture. I just got him once he came up out of the water.

Berkley hesitated for a second, but she decided to take the plunge as well.

Matt was ready to go again, but when he asked the kids who was going with him he got no response. One time was enough for them. Or so they thought...

The next day we got out on the boat again with our whole crew. After a few rounds of wakeboarding the kids were getting hot and bored. We decided to find our spot by the rocks again. Matt was ready to make another jump and Corri's son, McKay, who is Berkley's age wanted to try as well. He had missed the event the day before, because he had stayed at the lakehouse with Corri. I thought for sure Berkley and Beckham would take a pass on their turn, but once we got there and they saw Matt jump into the water from the boat, they decided they wanted a piece of the action too. Once again, they climbed the cliff and prepared for their plunge. Berkley wanted to go first this time, but she quickly lost her confidence. In fact, she backed out and let Matt and Beckham go instead. McKay went next and that seemed to make Berkley want to give it a try again since they are such good buddies. I think she wanted to do whatever he did. (I know... peer pressure!) Beckham had decided once again that one jump was good enough for him. Berkley headed back up the cliff with Matt for another go at it, and this time there was no pause. She jumped with excitement, landed in the water, came up smiling and asking to go again. She jumped over and over... six times to be exact. After 3 jumps in a row, I decided I needed to get in on all of the excitement. I kept thinking it must not seem very high, especially since Berkley was loving it. Honestly, I got to the top of the cliff and knew it was going to take all I had to make myself jump. (Not that I am the most daring mommy anyway... but it was definitely a stretch for me!) Berkley stood up there with me laughing as I debated my jump. I took a deep breath, counted to 3, and took the plunge. It was fun, but I took in lots of water up my nose and almost lost my swimsuit bottoms. One jump was definitely enough for me... but at least I could say I did it. (Especially since my 4 year old and 2 year old had made the plunge!)

I was more prepared on the boat this time, and I got video footage of everyone's jumps. It offers a little adventure and entertainment for sure.

Here is Beckham taking the plunge for the second time.

Next up... Mommy! Berkley is close by cheering me on.

Here comes Berkley... showing Mommy how the pros jump!

Who knew our girly-girl, Miss Berkley, had such adventure in her? I'm not going to be able to keep up with this girl! Good thing her daddy can!