Bugs, Bugs Everywhere!

Little Man is turning seven soon, and this is his year for a "friend" party. We chose a bug theme for his party, and on Saturday five little friends came over for the festivities! For several days beforehand, all the children worked to turn our main floor into "bug world". This was all thought up and executed by the children ~ I had nothing to do with it! We had several of these signs:


Various and sundry creepy crawlies:

And vines hanging from the ceiling and in every doorway.



When the guests began arriving, those who wanted to, made bug antennae to wear....




....and caterpillars out of egg cartons.



We played games such as the classic "bugs in a jar"....


...and the grasshopper leap.


We had dirt cake in individual cups rather than a big cake to cut. It was tricky making sure the lit candles wouldn't melt the sides of the plastic cup!






Our last game was the messiest. We pretended to be moles (moles are blind, hence the blindfold) digging for bugs to eat. Little Man really got into it, he stuck his whole head in the tub of sand!


Everyone got to dig for three bugs. When they felt one, they would hold it up and we would tell them if it was "edible" or not. It was edible if they didn't already have one of that type. :-)



Digging, digging, digging......


Found one!


There was time at the end to make these edible spider snacks to take home.









It was loads of fun, and Little Man felt properly celebrated. Also, I admit to having way too much fun getting to do a "little kid" party ~ they are fun in a whole different way than big kid parties are. I'm so thankful for Little Man!

The Blessing of Friends (and a party!!)

For years our son C has not really had any close friends his own age. He has very close friends who are both older and younger than him, and a neighbor boy his age that he plays with but with whom he is not 'close'. My husband and I have prayed for a long time that God would provide a friend or two his age. What a blessing to see that prayer answered!


This was C's year for a friend birthday party, and since he has just finished his first season ever of playing soccer, he has a slew of new soccer friends! We invited some of them to the party, as well as a new friend from his Sunday school class at church, the neighbor kids, our sweet family friend H who has been to all our parties I think(!), and his own siblings.

It was a beautiful day and we played all kinds of water games. We played tag in the yard sprinklers, had a water balloon toss, played whirlpool in our big pool as it was filling up, and played water balloon "hot potato" (pictured below).


It was such a joy to see how much fun C was having. With his very. own. friends.




Thank you Lord, for the blessing of friendship. For sun, for water, for fun games, for the ability to enjoy it all. You are so good.

Happy 10th Birthday L!!

Another child has turned double digits! How did that happen? How can it seem like yesterday that he was born and yet an entire decade has passed?? We were very excited to celebrate this milestone with L, and it was a delightfully warm Saturday, which means we could be outside and daddy was home. Win-win. :0)

We gave L one of his gifts early in the day,



so that he too could enjoy them right away! (this appears to be the year for roller blades!)


Usually I make our children's birthday dinners, but for turning double digits we let L pick a restaurant of his choice, and we went there to eat along with Grandma and Grandpa and two friends. It was a restaurant with a salad/soup/barbeque bar, and all the children but Little Man returned multiple times to the bar. We definitely got our money's worth!


Then we came home and played several games of "mafia". This is very fun, but you need at least 9-10 people to really play it well. More is better.


If you are not familiar with this game, first assignments are given by the passing out of playing cards. If you receive the king or queen card, you are a member of the mafia (we had 2 of these). If you receive the ace, you are the doctor, and if you receive the jack, you are the sheriff. Everyone else is a townsperson. Then the moderator (my hubby) says "town asleep" and everyone looks down and closes their eyes. When he says, "mafia awake" the two mafia people open their eyes and point to one person to "kill". Then the moderator says, "mafia asleep, doctor awake." Then the person playing the Dr opens his/her eyes and points to someone to "heal". It may or may not be the person who was just killed by the mafia, since the Dr does not know who that person is.

Next the moderator says, "Dr asleep, sheriff awake." Then the person playing the sheriff opens his/her eyes and points to someone to arrest. Again, this may or may not be the actual mafia person. Then the moderator says, "town awake". Everyone opens their eyes and the moderator makes up a hilarious story on the fly about how so and so (naming who got "killed") had a horrible accident, and though the Dr was called, they were not able to be saved (if the Dr pointed to the wrong person). An arrest was made, but there was not enough evidence to go to trial (if the sheriff pointed to the wrong person). Then the "dead" player is out of the game. If the Dr pointed to the right person, the dead person is miraculously healed and remains in the game. If the sheriff pointed to the actual mafia person, they go to jail and are out of the game.

So.

Did all that make sense?!

It's funny because it's supposed to be totally silent. If the person next to you hears your arm moving to point, they may figure out who you are. Or if Little Man announces his identity during the game, that may give it away too! And my husband made up really hilarious stories between each round that kept us in stitches. It was very fun!

Next, L opened his gifts. Here he is with his new webkinz stuffed animal from his siblings.



He has always had a flair for the dramatic, and this picture shows his impassioned "thank you!" to his grandparents for giving him the lego set he wanted.


We love you so much L! God gave us a tremendous blessing when he created you and gave you to our family. We pray you have a great year being ten, and that you will grow closer to the Lord this year and always walk in His truth.

Happy 92nd Birthday!

Yes, my father in law is 92. Unbelievable to me too. He is really quite an amazing man, having lived through the Great Depression as an adult, being a World War II veteran, and witnessing first hand so many changes in the last century. Not to mention the fact that he raised my husband! I think birthdays of older people are so important to celebrate, partly to celebrate that they're still here (I honestly don't know many 92 year olds) and partly to honor them just because God made them and they are a person of value!

My father in law is very easy going and accommodating. When I asked what he wanted to eat for his birthday dinner, he said "oh, anything." But when I pressed him, he said "ribs". So, ribs it was.


I tried to get creative with his cake, thinking I'd make a picture of him with a birthday crown. But it turned out a little too "creative", looking more like a woman than a man (I ran out of white frosting to make his beard!). Oh well! It still tasted good!



Here he is with 5 of his 10 grandchildren, and his one great granddaughter (the girl in purple on his lap).


Married 54 years and still going strong!


The two birthday people. Daughter G was born the day after he turned 79. They have been privileged to share many birthday parties over the years!


I love you Dad! Happy, happy birthday!

Birthday, Birthday, and More Birthday!

This past weekend was the official kick off of birthday month at our house. Our daughter had her 13th birthday party sleepover, we had a party for my father in law who turned 92, and we had a special tea party for our daughter with older women passing along words of wisdom to her. Today is her actual birthday and she is getting her ears pierced! Next week is son G's 11th birthday and two weeks after that is son L's 10th birthday. Whew! Busy times, but so, so special.

This was daughter G's year for a "friend" party, and she chose to go bowling and have a sleepover. It was the first time our boys had been bowling and was very, very fun!





These girls are all from our daughter's small group Bible Study and are very sweet girls.


Looking cool at the bowling alley!


We came home and had cake and ice cream.






I gave the girls a 1:00 A.M. curfew, but they stayed up talking in the dark after that. This is what I found at 9:15 the next morning.


We had pancakes with different toppings for breakfast. Here is Little Man with all 3 toppings!

It was so fun, and it made us happy to see our daughter, her friends, and our boys all having a good time. Happy Birthday G!