Meet the Flintstones!

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It's that time of the year again...you know, when our family dresses up in some ridiculous costumes and I force my children into taking pictures right in the middle of a super fun Halloween party while all the other kids play and eat candy! This year we were...(drum roll)...THE FLINTSTONES! Ta da! Jeb was a little more stubborn this year about dressing up. He wanted to wear his jeans under his Fred costume! What?!?! "Absolutely not," I said. "You just don't have a choice." "Down to your underwear." Really...he  just didn't have a choice. We were hosting the party and we had to dress up. Plus, I had been stressing for two months over these costumes! I had the kids' handmade from a lady I found on Etsy. And so, he gave me that look and stripped down to his underwear as I smiled really big and handed over the "Fred dress." Then he gave me that look again, you know, the other look, and said, "well I'm going to need something to make me Yabba Dabba Doo. I think he was referring to an adult beverage, but I just ignored that comment and proceeded to spray his lovely blonde hair...black. Oh, how much I love my husband! I think he figures nothing could be as embarrassing as the engagement video we played at the beginning of our slideshow at our wedding where we are holding hands, looking lovingly into each other's eyes, and swinging one another around in a circle.  

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Let's just take a moment and look back at some Halloween's of the past. I would start with the Halloween that Jeb and I started dating during our senior year of high school. We used to go to my Aunt Glenda's house every Halloween to eat dinner and trick-or-treat around the "happening" neighborhood in Wewoka. I told Jeb that everyone would be dressed up and told him that we were going to be dairy cows. He said absolutely not, but because he loved me SO much I handed him the cow costume that had the utters and he reluctantly put it on. Here's the funny part...we were the only ones dressed up that night and my entire family was there! He sat on the front porch the entire night and pouted and I though he was going to be mad at me forever! But...he still married me! Wow...how I wish that I had pictures from that night. Unfortunately (well, fortunately for Jeb), I don't. Although there is a small amount of proof on a video somewhere in the bottom of the closet at my parent's house. I WILL find it one day :)

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Halloween 2005

Madonna & Mr. Potato Head (please ignore the beer can and the beer wall we were standing in front of - we were at some ECU football players' house at a college Halloween party...pre-parent days)

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Halloween 2006

The Incredibles (I'm almost positive this was Jeb's personal favorite!)

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Halloween 2008

Popeye, Olive Oyl, & Swee' Pea

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Halloween 2009

Crazy Clowns

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Although these aren't the perfect family pictures I had hoped for, they are really good considering the circumstances and ages of my children!

Halloween 2010

Fred, Wilma, Bam Bam, & Pebbles

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Reid was not in the mood for pictures...he was on a sugar high and more interested in running around with all the other kids.

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We gave Reid some candy to occupy him for the pictures. We ended up big a big chocolate mess!

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Bam Bam and Spiderman - notice how Bam Bam doesn't have his "club" in any of these pictures. This is for liability reasons...think about it :) It was a baseball taped to the end of a hammer stick that Kassidy had made in high school to work in his new baseball glove.

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I was so busy entertaining that I didn't get many pictures of our guests as I had wanted.

Here is Ashley, 1/3 of the rock star trio - Gonzales Family.

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And then there were...FLYING PIGS! These were great! Wish I had a group photo to show you. (You'll see one if you click on the photography link at the end of this post)

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He loved Aunt Glenda's Pumpkin Punch (it was really orange punch - but I thought Pumpkin Punch sounded better.)

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Out of his costume, but still going strong - notice the gatorade mustache.

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Mica Mouse! Love this girl!

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Mr. Cason was superman! (He had already taken his costume off at this point.)

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Alyssa was a beautiful fairy princess!

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Grayson was a ninja and Cadence was a superhero girl - once again, I took this picture after the costumes were already shucked!

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Aunt Lacee playing with Lil before the party.

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Aunt Johnna -wearing her "I bite" shirt.

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My mother, dressed up as her cute little self.

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A few of Bam Bam

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And Pebbles...

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And together...

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Just for (Fall) Fun!

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My little cowboy

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Just pulling up everywhere!

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So once again, the annual Rollins' Halloween Party was a success! I liked having it at the lake this year and adding the hot dogs, smores, and the hayride (although I heard that the hayride got started a little too late and all the kids got scared). Thank you to everyone who came and to everyone who helped make our party such a fantastic event. A special thanks to Papa Glenn for setting up the hayride, Grandma Lucy for setting up the photo prop/display and for making the cupcakes, little smokies, and ham rolls and to Aunt Glenda for all the decorations, serving pieces, punch, and yummy cookies, my mom and dad for donating their lake house, and to Rachel Cleere for staying the entire time and capturing some great memories on her camera!

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To see more great pictures of the party click HERE to go to Rachel Cleere's photography website.

Click on "View Your Proofs" then "Portraits" then "Rollins Halloween 2010."

10-10-10

My 27th birthday was a few weeks ago and the best part was that this year it was on 10-10-10! I've always said for quite a while now that I was going to have a huge 10-10-10 party to celebrate when this day came...well, that was before I knew I would have two babies and a crazy month of October! It still was a pretty big birthday - I celebrated the entire weekend and don't think I could've had more fun!

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I started off my birthday weekend with a trip to Mistletoe Market in OKC with my mom. It's put on by the Junior League of OKC and is at the state fairgrounds. We go every year together and it's one of my favorite things that I look forward to each year. We used to go with my aunts and a few other friends, but since mom and I stay all day and do some serious shopping, we've learned to just go by ourselves because most people don't want to stay that long. I don't shop for myself that much throughout the year - the mall just stresses me out - so on Mistletoe Market day I shop until I drop...literally! Mom and I go early and stay late! We stayed about 8 hours this time! I told myself I was only going to buy for myself because I always get distracted by all the cute things for the kids (especially Lil) and then forget what I was going to get for myself. Well, this kinda worked. I did buy a lot of clothes and shoes for myself, but of course, I bought the kids some things as well. I bought Reid several books and a few small toys for Christmas and Lil got a Halloween outfit and some cute little hair bows. 

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Mistletoe Market usually is on my birthday weekend each year so we usually go out and eat that night.

Last year, my friends had planned a big birthday dinner at Paul's Place steakhouse in Shawnee after we shopped at Mistletoe. As we were getting in the car I get a phone call from Jeb, "Reid knocked over a table and cut his hand on some glass. We're in the ER." So...the birthday dinner was delayed and we headed to the ER. To make it even more crazy, my mom ran out of gas on I-40 on the way back to Shawnee! Luckily, my Aunt Johnna was following us so I took her car on to Shawnee to check on Reid. They were still in the waiting room when I got to the ER so I looked at the hand and knew that I could dermabond it very easily at the clinic. We all loaded up and headed to Seminole to the clinic and here I am, 4 months pregnant and gluing my 18-month-old's hand back together on my birthday with no other medical assistance (since it was 6 at night and no one was left at the clinic). These kinds of things are quite traumatic with toddlers, but luckily I had Jeb and my best friend, Kari, there for assistance. We headed back to Paul's that night and had a great (late) birthday dinner!

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Thankfully, this year wasn't quite as dramatic. I had an afternoon wedding to attend on Saturday so Jeb and the kids went to a fall festival here in town until I returned. When I walked into the house when I got back that afternoon, these gorgeous roses were sitting on the table for me! If you know Jeb then you know this is kind of a big deal because he's not that good with planning or with surprises...but he is the best and sweetest husband in the world! He knew that the flower shop wouldn't be open on my real birthday on Sunday so he had them delivered a day early.

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He actually wrote something on the card, too! This has also been kind of an ongoing joke with us because ever since we first started dating Jeb would always sign my birthday cards, Valentine's cards, etc...with "Love, Jeb." I always would tell him that I wanted him to write me sweet things on cards and so now he's gotten way better at it. This little card just made my day!

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The beautiful birthday flowers that my nurses had delivered for me at work on Friday.

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Saturday night was the real 10-10-10 party. My friend, Angie Franklin, and I have the same birthday and we've planned on having a 10-10-10 party together for several years. Angie and I met about three years ago through Junior Service League and I've really enjoyed getting to know her and her family. She is one of my favorite people and I think of her kind of like a big sister. She has the sweetest personality and is so much fun to hang out with! We decided to have a laid-back get-together at her house outside by their pool with close friends to celebrate our birthday. Craig Campbell, a country singer, came to sing for us and even serenaded Angie and I with "Happy Birthday" as we blew out our candles! Craig had played in Nashville at the Grand Ole Opry the night before and has a song on the radio called "Family Man." I loved all of his music and one of my favorites is "My Little Cowboy." His beautiful wife, Mindy came with him and she was a great singer as well! 

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Angie and I

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The girls that came to our birthday party

Suzanne, Rachel, Kim, Carol, Melissa, Julie, Angie, and I

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Angie loves ribbon cake from Raspberries & Cream so Jeb went and picked up an extra large one for our birthday!! It was soooooo good and the fresh flowers on the top were just gorgeous!

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Blowing out our candles at midnight...10-10-10!!!

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The next day on my actual birthday, mom invited some of my best friends over to her house and cooked my favorite meal, chicken & dumplings! She had gotten out some old photo albums of me in high school and we had so much fun looking through all of them. I can definitely say that I am much cuter and much skinnier than I was 10 years ago!

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I even someone play me "Happy Birthday" on the drums!

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Red velvet cupcakes! Reid has his eyes glued on them!

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Logan Danielle Dearing Curtis, enjoying her dumplings - one of my best friends for the past 18 years! I'm not the only one who loves Karen's dumplings...my friends are crazy about them as well!

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Mommy's little boy

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Mommy's little girl

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Reid wanted a candle to blow out too!

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Josh, Lacee, & Josslynn came to celebrate!

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Stacey, Kari, Mica, Logan, and I holding up 10-10-10, 27!

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Kari Hope Bryan - very best friend for over 18 years! She's just like a sister. I love this girl!

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Mom hung this picture from my sophomore year of high school next to my cupcakes. My friends said that this picture captures my personality perfectly! I'm in a bubble bath posing for a pic! I think Kari took this picture!

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One of the best birthday presents...seeing my little brother Kassidy!

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My #1 Man!

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I love this picture! It captures our relationship so well!

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Lacee and Joss, enjoying their cupcake!

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Love you, Lo!

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It was an amazing weekend, to say the least, and I'm so glad that I got to share it with some of my very favorite people! I feel so blessed to have so many people in my life that love me and care about me so much that they always spend time with me on my special day. I can't believe that I'm just 3 years away from 30!!! I think about the line in the song "Strawberry Wine" that says, "I still remember, when 30 was old," and this is how I feel. I do remember when I thought 30 was so old and now I'm approaching this age very quickly! Eeeeek! Before I end this post, I do want to jot down a few "bucket list" items that I've been thinking about lately that I've never written down anywhere. And what better place to put this list than in a birthday blog...so here goes...

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Kelli Ann's To Do List

-Ride a horse as it runs through an open field, preferably bareback (yes, I know, I'm 

 allergic to horses!)

-Go to a Yankees baseball game in Yankee stadium

-Visit the Grand Canyon 

-Ride in a hot air balloon

-Go to Paris, France

-Take a romantic picture in a vineyard at Sunset

-Shop on Rodeo Drive

Stay tuned for more...these are the big ones. Happy Birthday to me :)