Labor Day Vacation

We had a lot of fun this past Labor Day. We did have work to do with the Cabin, but we also played a lot too! Our friends, the Wright's, came to spend a few days with us and we had fun with them to, as always. It is great to have friends that everyone in the family gets along.

Danny's 12th Birthday Party

We had Danny's birthday party back on June 13th. We had to quickly squeeze it in since our month seemed to be getting crazier every day. With Scout Camp a couple days later and Cub Scout Day camp right after that and then our vacation to follow we knew that we needed to have the party sooner than later.

All I have to say is that having ten boys between 12-13 year olds is CRAZY!! I think most of them had a good time, but Matt and I were glad when it was over. We had told Danny that he would need to plan all the games since our life was pretty busy. He set up some yard games to play and had the boys come ready to get wet for some water games. He decided on pizza, soda and ice cream sandwiches for food.

Okay, the boys he invited over are great boys, but when you put them all together, they spell O-V-E-R-A-C-T-I-V-E!! HELP!

I love the surprise water picture at the end. Matt decided to pull one over on the boys and as you can tell some of them loved it! They all laughed about it anyway.

Caleb's Birthday Party

Today we celebrated Caleb's birthday with 6 of his friends. Caleb had his heart set on having a music themed party. He had remembered when I was planning the girls party in February that the cake shop I rent my cake pans from had a guitar shaped cake pan. He wanted to play musical chairs, make a musical instrument and have a musical type pinata. I was able to succeed in 3 of the 4 wishes. I found a star pinata instead. The kids had so much fun making tamborines, breaking open the pinata and playing musical chairs. The think their favorite thing was the pinata and of course ice cream and cake. Caleb had a lot of fun with all his friends!

Rock Band at the Egbert's

We had a great time over at our friends house, the Egbert's. Our family, especially the older boys, have been wanting to play Rock Band 2 with the Egbert's for awhile. Tiffany and I decided since they were moving soon that it would be fun to do it for a family night one Monday. We had a BLAST! Tiff and her kids rocked at everything on Rock Band (Jake, Im sure you do too, you were hard at work in CT while we were having fun!) Danny was pretty good at the drums and guitar while Matt and Jake kept improving every song they played. I think Matt liked the guitar the best while our Jake loved singing and playing the drums & I loved playing the drums. As you can see in the pictures, even Abby enjoyed a moment in the spotlight. Aaron, Caleb & Clarissa were too busy playing with Jenna, Brock & Bethany to play with us. We really enjoyed ourselves. Thanks a lot Tiff for letting us come over.

Ladies Day Out

For the past few years, once a month on a Saturday, I have been privileged to have a day to myself--meaning NO KIDS!! I love it! Matt is so good to let me have this time with my dear friends. Today we went shopping at one of our favorite scrapbooking stores, Archivers in Novi, and then went to lunch afterward at Boston Market. We have so much fun just simply enjoying time with each other. When we returned from shopping, some of us continued working together on different projects that we brought. I was able to finish some odd and end projects that I have had around for three years. Talk about rejuvenating! It is so nice to get those unfinished projects off the to-do list. Thank you Rhonda, Julie, Tiffany and Jolene for spending the day with me. I really enjoyed your company and appreciate your friendship. It's friends like you that keep the creative juices flowing! =)

P.S. Michele I miss you too!

Weekend Fun

Last weekend we had the opportunity to have Caleb and Clarissa's friends, Brock and Bethany stay with for a few days. Both my kids were excited about the extended sleepover! This is a prelude of what is about to come . . . their best friends moving away.

Caleb asked how can he still be friends with Brock after he moves and I kindly explained to him that he could write letters, color pictures and send him pictures in the mail as well as keeping in contact through the computer or by simply calling him. We do know this, Caleb will miss Brock TONS!!

I am not sure how this is going to effect Clarissa. She is constantly talking about having Befany (as she says) come over to play dress up. Almost daily she tells Matt or I that she is going to play with Beth today and when is she coming over or when do I get to go over to Beth's. We will miss them dearly.

Continuing on with the weekend adventure, we had a Primary activity Saturday morning and from there we went to Barnes and Noble for a storytime with Curious George. For the most part the kids were very timid around him. Clarissa was a little scared, but what bothered her the most is that he did not have any pants on. For several days after she kept asking me why Curious George didn't have pants on. After about Thursday, I simply replied that monkeys don't have to wear pants. That must have satisfied her because she hasn't mentioned it again.

Sunday we went to church and I am so grateful for Matt who got the little kids up and ready while I was working on the big kids. I didn't realize until later that he did a mass bathtime. I think this was kind of funny. Good thing they are young enough to not know the difference.

After church, Caleb asked to have a picture with his best friend. What five year old would think of things like that? A five year old with a scrapbooking mom of course! I loved that he thought of it so I took advantage of the idea and took some pictures of both sets of kids.

On Monday, after getting Danny to school, Jake & Keslie to band at 7:20, Aaron and Brock off to school at 8:15, Caleb, Clarissa, Bethany and Abby had the opportunity to make cookies. They really enjoyed it. I think their favorite part was eating some of the dough while I was trying to get the pan full of cookies to bake. They seemed to grab them off as soon I put them on. It was kind of comical.

When it was time for Caleb to go to school, he was very concerned that Brock would not be able to play when he got home. I told him that I would pick Brock up after school from the bus and would be home shortly after he got home and they would have plenty of time to play. I have never seen Caleb put his stuff on so quickly to get to the bus stop. It sure is nice to have great friends for my kids to play with!

Caleb's Safety Town

The week of August 4th, Caleb got the chance to attend Safety Town. He went Monday thru Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. On Friday they even had a little graduation for the kids. Caleb had so much fun that week. He was excited to be with his friends Brock & Benjamin. They learned how to be safe with fire, power lines, safety belts, stranger danger and water safety. He even got the chance to ride on a school bus. They figure this is a good way to get the kids comfortable with riding on one before school starts. Caleb said his favorite part of the week was when the firefighters came and let the kids spray the hose at a wood house and sit up in the truck.