On Wednesday night we celebrated my older sister’s 51st birthday. It was her first birthday since she went to heaven. My momma, brother, and all of our families gathered in the front yard and had a “socially distanced” gathering with 🎈,🍕 and 🎂 as we talked about our Melinda. It’s really hard to lose a sibling. We talked about this with our families that night. Your sister/ whom you’ve known and loved your entire life. Your family. Your first best friend. Your biggest fan. Your everything. Your comedic relief. Your demanding sidekick. Your love. It’s hard. We know she’s happy and she’s with so many loved ones. I never met another soul who would tell you they wanted to go to heaven more than Melinda. She had some of her favorite people go before her. I sometimes wonder about the effects of losing my dad 11 months before she died. They were so close. And her grief was deep. It took her a long time to admit that my dad had gone to heaven. But, she finally did and I know she wanted to go and be with him. On Valentine’s Day, after having a stroke, Melinda went to heaven 💗💗 she was literally surrounded by some of the people on earth that she loved most 💗💗 And, she went to be with Jesus. It was Incredibly peaceful. We know know know that she is in a better place. BUT, it sure is hard to be without her here.
Tag: birthday
Why I buy myself flowers
When I was a little girl, my momma’s dear friend’s son bought me yellow roses. They were like family. He passed away when I was three years old in a tragic gun accident. For years, his mom sent me yellow roses on my birthday. Eventually, my parents picked up the tradition. And, every birthday since I can remember, I’ve had a dozen yellow roses. This year was no different. My momma even had them delivered a day early so I could enjoy them a day longer.
These particular flowers remind me of childhood, growing up, beauty, dreams, tradition and I am reminded just how much I am loved.
When I grocery shop and stop to admire a 3 stem bunch of blue hydrangeas and decide to take them home…it’s because I love flowers. I love having fresh flowers nearby. I love a home with fresh flowers. I am reminded of the love in the home, the life in the home, the beauty in the home, tradition in the home and the beauty our creator has given us! Having fresh flowers in my home feels good, so I buy them.
Summer Week 5 Theme Week- performance week
Our youngest turned 3 this summer. One month before his birthday he asked (completely unprompted) for a Willy Wonka birthday party. It was a perfect idea, so we got to work. We asked our family to join us for the fun and even dress as characters from the book…anyone, but Willy Wonka. Leeland, our birthday boy, would be the only Willy Wonka.
Last year the Els had a performance week and did a song from Aladdin at a family Disney night at our church. This year, the kids picked out their characters and we spent the week rehearsing and preparing for them to perform a few songs from the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie.
He already had a blue velvet jacket (hand-me-down originally purchased by his grandmother for his oldest brother) I found this hat on ebay. And ordered him a size small.
Pajamas, velvet jacket and top hat…normal for rehearsals!
Practicing for the big performance. Our stage.
Tickets…I purchased a set of Willy Wonka graphics from Etsy. Everything was customized.
The party table. Cake, candy, chocolate and more candy. We’ve never served so much sugar at a party!
Our handsome birthday boy. We found the vest material online. It is the same fabric print as the Gene Wilder vest. Our little Leeland, Willy Wonka was so very happy!
How to plan an (easy) Kid Birthday Party in the Park
Our oldest son is turning eight tomorrow. He wanted to celebrate with his entire class. I don’t know about you, but birthday parties can get really expensive. And, with at least four parties a year for our children’s birthdays (one each!) that can get pricey really fast. Birthdays are important. My family always made our birthdays special growing up and my husband and I both feel it’s really important for our children to have this special day each year. Does it have to break the bank? No.
Let’s look at options.
- We have tons of kid friendly birthday themed places to choose from in our city- Houston. But, again, price is an issue. Most places charge per child and inviting an entire class full of kids is a lot. We also like to include siblings, mainly because our kids have so many siblings and it’s always nice (but not necessary) when they are included too.
- How about a party at home? They are fun and the kids always really have a great time. I opted “no” on this option this time, because it is a lot of work for me personally and I kind of have a lot already on my plate at the moment.
- So, we thought about the park down the street from our house and our son’s school. We could have a party right after school on a Friday afternoon. We went for this option.
Here are the details:
Invite all of the class via evite.com or other web service
Our class list is posted for our class only on our own website run by our classroom mom
I just retrieved the emails from there and pasted them into the evite
Party time: immediately after school on a Friday for 1.5 hours
Serve Pizza (kid choices and parent options) – I ordered locally and asked that it be delivered to the park 15 minutes after the party start time
Pick up cupcakes (we purchased ours from Sam’s Club 30 total -15 vanilla and 15 chocolate)
What to bring:
- paper towels (in case it is windy, napkins will fly)
- one cooler filled with ice, water bottles & juice bags/boxes
- lighter
- birthday candle
- pizza cutter to make the pieces smaller if necessary
- wipes
- sanitizer
- trash bags (I had these, but they weren’t necessary)
FUN! This was a really fun party for the kids and it was super simple for the parents.
Happy birthday to our very great eight year old boy! We love you!
It’s Fall…here’s our EL Update
It’s (a little) cooler this morning in Houston, Texas. Almost feels like it could be October, but not quite. We’re doing great.
Leeland is two and happier than ever.
Maddux started Kindergarten and Bakri is in second grade. I am spending more time at both of their schools. So far, we are having a great school year.
My debut album was released on September 18.
It’s really exciting and stressful just to try to get the music out there. But, when people hear it, they are moved and they tell me about it. I am very blessed.
If you know what to search (ie. my name), you can find me almost anywhere….iTunes, amazon, cdbaby, zune, bandcamp, noisetrade, etc. And, even next to Sandi Patty, at times. 🙂
This was my look of shock and relief the day the album was released….ah
And, now, me and the family are headed to churches and events on my off weeks to spread the music to more churches and communities. Last week, we went to Crosspoint Church in Bellaire and I had the joy of leading along side of my friend and amazing talent, Aaron Senseman and the great worship team at Crosspoint. I am very grateful to be able to share the music in this way. Could I come to your church? Contact rebekahmemusic@gmail.com for booking information.
Trinity turned four and we celebrated with a family party at our church. We made homemade pizzas, danced and enjoyed celebrating Miss Trinity. She is becoming quite the little lady.
Leeland had his first haircut. Momma cut off the longest curls in the back, but I’m not ready to go short yet. He still has some baby curls.
Grandma (Moustapha’s mom) loves to buy the kids halloween costumes. This year the Els had requests: Mario themed costumes! Toad! Princess Peach! Luigi! and Mario! We are waiting until Halloween to put on the mustaches.
Happy October, y’all!
love,
El Momma and the Els
Happy First Birthday to our son, Leeland Thaddeus! We hit a grand slam with you, kid!
Last week our youngest El turned 1. It was a really exciting time for all of us. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we had baseball themed parties for our other boys when they turned one. But, this was the first time we had a birthday during baseball season. We decided that we would celebrate with immediate family-only, that’s 28 people, with 24 that live in town and 4 that live out of town. So, we had a small party for 24 people! WHEW! It was tons of fun. Here are pictures from our afternoon/evening. We served hotdogs, chili dogs (I found a really great chili recipe online for chili dogs, which I normally don’t eat. But, I ate 2 cause they were delicious!) chips, fruit and fresh homemade lemonade. After dinner, we sang to the birthday boy. Notice how he covered his ears when we sang to him! It was hilarious. I think it was just too loud, but he never stopped smiling. Then, we had cake and headed over to the Ballpark to watch the Astros play. After the game, they have a fireworks show on Friday nights. So, we stayed and watched that. It was a Queen inspired show and it was probably the best fireworks show we have seen there. It was really impressive and ended with Bohemian Rhapsody. Awesomeness.
So, everything was great. We had a wonderful time. And, Leeland managed to stay awake and didn’t go to bed until 1130 that evening. Waking at nearly noon the next day. He’s pretty cool.
So, we want to say happy birthday to our little Leeland, lovebug, little boy. You are amazing. We are so proud of you. We love you, we love being your parents and we love watching you grow. You rock, kid!
 |
| Me with my 1 year old son, Leeland. LOVE! |
 |
| Grandmother giving him cereal before the party |
 |
| LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!! |
 |
| Cutie on his new ride |
 |
| New present from Grandmother and Grandfather |
 |
| Birthday boy with El Momma |
 |
| The food was delicious if I do say so myself. |
 |
| Happy boy with his Jiddy |
 |
| with my Jiddy |
 |
| Playing cars with my cousin |
 |
| Look at my two teeth! |
 |
| the crowd gathers for the birthday song |
 |
| almost ready to sing |
 |
| the song begins |
 |
| covering his ears |
 |
| covering his ears for the birthday song |
 |
| the crowd waits |
 |
| ready to blow out the candles |
 |
| Big boy! |
 |
| Cake! |
 |
| Grandma love |
 |
| You’re one! |
 |
| bitter cake? |
 |
| Princess T and the birthday boy ready for the game! |
 |
| daddy’s little boy |
 |
| the party at Minute Maid Park |
 |
| our view |
 |
| can you say “cotton candy?” |
 |
| pretty |
 |
| Fireworks with Momma |
 |
| Ready for Birthday Fireworks! |
 |
| Rockin out with Christian to Queen during the fireworks show! |
Leeland’s Birthday Painting, the Third Painting in the series
When I began painting the first of what would eventually be three paintings, I had no idea that I would be painting variations of the same painting more than once. The first painting was for our first son, Bakri, when he turned one. We planned a baseball themed birthday party. I made him a cake shaped like a baseball and decorated like a baseball and I painted a baseball jersey on canvas for his wall in his room. I used the painting as part of the decoration for the party and I made a cake that matched the jersey. That was all for the first birthday of the first child. Little did I know, God would bless us with 2 more little boys with first birthdays! So, this week, I began the fun job of painting Leeland’s first birthday painting to go with the paintings for Bakri and Maddux. Here’s how it went:
And, here they are all together….Leeland’s is nearly complete. My blue paint was old and didn’t offer much coverage. It was the day of his party when I made this discovery. So, we just went with it. I’ll finish it soon. I promise. As for the significance of these paintings, well they are very important to my babies. I realized that this week when working on Leeland’s. It was so cute to watch the other children light up as his painting became more and more finished. In fact, Bakri (our 6 year old) now wants me to find a way to make real jerseys…hmmm…I’ll have to think about that one for a bit. Maybe when they stick with one size for a while.
Leeland’s painting with a cake ordered from H.E.B. They do a good job with the jersey, don’t they?!
The famous baseball cake by El Momma. I really do enjoy making this cake!
The Happy Birthday side of Leeland’s baseball cake.
Pictures from Leeland’s first birthday party and day to come soon! We had a great time celebrating our little Leeland!
Happiest of Birthdays to our six year old, Bakri!
Six years ago today, I could never have known how you would change my life.
Before you, I thought knew what it meant to be busy, what it meant to be tired, what it meant to be out of my mind with worry. Before you, I thought I knew what it meant to have a mother’s love, to love more than words could express, to be completely unselfish. Before you, I thought I knew how to cry, how to laugh, how to smile from my heart. But, it turns out that I didn’t know much of anything and I’m still learning every single day. I’m learning how to mother you in the way that you need to be mothered. I’m learning how to love you in the way that you need to be loved the most. I’m learning what an amazing boy you truly are. Your love of music, your love of bugs, your love of the astros, your love of fireworks! I love all of these things too, because I love you! You are more than I could have ever hoped for in a son. I wish the world for you, my sweet sweet Bakri. Happy sixth birthday, love!
 |
| Bakri! |
 |
| With Leeland and Momma and Daddy at Leeland’s Baptism |
 |
| Bakri, loving his baby brother, Leeland |
In the full swing of Advent and the Christmas Season with the ELs
v
Happy Holidays, everyone! Hope you are all enjoying the holiday season as much as we are. We’ve been so busy. It’s been crazy. And, believe me, it has been chaotic at times. But, it is crazy fun!
Leeland is 5 months old and happier than ever. He’s had some breathing issues this month, but we’re hoping his breathing treatments with a nebulizer will help that. I’ve noticed an improvement over the last day, so hopefully we are on the right track. Two of the other Els also had breathing issues when they were little and they’ve outgrown them. Hopefully, he’ll do the same. For now, he’s smiley and happy.
Bakri has been growing and changing so much over the last few months. He’s in kindergarten and is really enjoying his school. It’s been amazing seeing him mature. He’s a wonderful little boy.
We visited with Santa at our friends’ Christmas party. So fun!
We celebrated Maddux’s fourth birthday this month with a “thankful for Maddux” party. Maddux really enjoyed meeting Santa. None of the kids have even asked for anything for Christmas. They are just happy celebrating the season. Maddux loves talking to us and is constantly thinking about the next plan. He even has plans for when he’s “a man.” He’s going to have a “woman” and let her sleep in his bed. I’m hoping this “woman” is his wife. 🙂
c
Moustapha, Leeland and I were Joseph, baby Jesus and Mary in our church’s children’s musical.
Trinity is such a joy most of the time. She’s two, so she occasionally lives up to the “terrible twos!” She knows how to assert herself, is so smart and she loves to talk. She really enjoys dressing up and going to holiday parties.
Our First Baby Turns FIVE
Happy Fifth Birthday to our First Baby Boy, Bakri!
Our Bakri turned five last month. He loves Mickey Mouse, so he had a Mickey Mouse party at our house with a MM jumpy house, MM cake, lots of friends and family AND an appearance by Mickey Mouse himself. It was a great day and a great way to celebrate our Bakri.
He is a very special and loving boy. When teachers describe Bakri (from his school now and church activities) the first thing they say is how sweet and loving Bakri is. And, it’s true. He has so much love to give and flourishes in environments where that love is returned.
Before Bakri’s fourth birthday, we withdrew him from the school he was attending at the time. It was absolutely the best decision for Bakri and our family. We spent the entire Summer together. Bakri also did a couple of camps- including a Warrior Prince Camp and Vacation Bible School. We spent a lot of days at the pool and enjoyed the Summer. In the Fall he started at the preschool where he is now. It has been a world of difference from our experience at the previous school. Bakri is doing so well. He loves his teachers and they love him. He does well in circle time, art class, music class and chapel and loves playing outside with his classmates. He seemed to really mature over Christmas time and has had a wonderful Spring semester.
Bakri is fun. He loves Mickey Mouse, Goofy, telling stories, Buzz lightyear, playing pretend, being with his siblings- especially his brother, tussling with his brother, reading books, counting, reciting facts, puzzles, watching home videos, spending the night with both sets of grandparents, his cousins, talking about camping, sharing a room with his brother, riding his bicycle to the park and back, running the bases, hitting the baseball, being a part of his tee-ball team, and his family. I’m sure there are numerous other things that Bakri loves, but if I wait to post this until I think of them all, I never will.
We love our Bakri and our so proud of the five year old boy that he is. I never want to forget this age. I hope I won’t, because like all of the other times in our children’s lives, they will only be this age once.
HAPPY FIFTH BIRTHDAY, BAKRI BOY! WE LOVE YOU!!!!