Family Party

Yesterday was our annual family birthday party for Caitlyn and EJ.  Caitlyn had a hard time making it through church because she was so excited.  After church we shoveled down our dinner and headed to my parents for presents and dessert.

Caitlyn and Jonah love going to Grandma's so they can spend time with their cousins.  Caitlyn was thrilled that she got to see Amarie three days in a row this weekend.  These two miss each other now that they are both in school all day.

Caitlyn was excited with the new bed set we got her.  She has needed one for a while so I was glad she asked for one for her birthday (okay, I might have planted the idea in her head.)

She was thrilled with her doll from Grandma and Grandpa.

She was excited they gave her some clothes for the doll. 

Wyatt was having fun sitting next to Grandpa.  Wyatt stayed in nursery for over an hour by himself yesterday.  He cried a little off and on, but did well for the most part. He attached himself to one of the leaders and gave her a hug before we left.  I'm so glad to see him do better with us leaving.  My parents watched him on Friday while Keith and I went to the movies and he waved and said goodbye to us with no problem.  Keith's company took us to the "Hunger Games."  I loved the movie and it was nice to have a night out without kids. 

Caitlyn was worried last night when we got home because she got more presents than EJ and she didn't want him to feel bad.  I told her when you get older sometimes all you want is money instead of lots of presents.  Although I don't think she understood not wanting toys, she was glad to know that I didn't think EJ felt bad.  I can't believe EJ is twelve and Caitlyn is seven.  Where does the time go?

I knew Caitlyn would want to come home and sleep in her new bed set, so I had the sheets and comforter all washed and ready to go for her.  She loved her canopy that we got her.  She was in heaven sleeping in her bed last night.  She fell asleep so quickly.  I think with all the excitement behind her she could finally relax and fall right to sleep.  I'm sure she was exhausted from our fun weekend.  We love this girl.  I'm so glad she joined our family seven years ago.  We did everything a week early because we are going out of town for her actual birthday this weekend.  I might still have a few tricks up my sleeve for her actual birthday!

The Friend Party

Caitlyn looks forward to her birthday party with her friends every year.  I love birthdays and I love making a big deal out of them.  I figure everyone deserves their own spotlight once a year.  This year Caitlyn wanted to have a "late over" pajama party with all of her friends.  She was so excited to have her party at night (6:30- 8:30 PM), which to her is late, but she had a hard time waiting for it all day.  A couple of the girls from school didn't make it so we ended up with 10 girls and Jonah and Wyatt. 

We started with decorating crowns.  The girls all liked this.  I stole the idea from a good friend and I'm glad I did because it was a hit. 

Wyatt and Jonah had a great time joining in the fun and showing off for the girls.  Wyatt has become so social lately.  He loves to interact with people and make them laugh.  The girls gave him plenty of attention so he put on quite a show. 

Jonah seemed a little too happy to be with all of these cute girls!  They were all so good.  I love young kids because they are just so excited to be at a party that they don't care what they do.  They acted like it was the funnest night of their life. 

All of Caitlyn's friends seemed just as excited about her opening presents as she was.  They all brought fun presents that Caitlyn was thrilled with.  She was very concerned because she thought the presents looked "so expensive."  She is always so grateful for everything she gets and is worried that people spend too much money on her. 

After presents we sent the girls on the deck for cupcakes and ice cream.  I hate trying to clean cake crumbs off the floor so I was thrilled that it was warm enough outside.

Caitlyn wanted to watch "Angelina Ballerina" and eat popcorn.  I thought it would be fun to just have the popcorn pop onto the sheet so the girls could just eat it. Not my best idea.  There were too many girls and we ended up with a huge mess.  I bagged that idea and got everyone their own cups of popcorn.  My mom was great and helped us get it all cleaned up.  The girls didn't even notice us picking it up around them, all of their eyes were glued to the t.v.

We ended with a game of freeze dance.  The girls loved it.  They were all laughing the whole time. 

Wyatt watched the girls for a minute and then joined right in.  He had a great time. 

My favorite thing was how he would pose with his arms up when it was time to freeze.  He noticed the girls doing this so he started doing it.  I laughed every time.

Jonah and Wyatt were pretty good at freezing!  Caitlyn had a great time and gave me a big hug and said thank you after all her friends left.  She had a hard time going to bed instead of staying up to play with all of her presents.  That was probably the easiest party we have done for the kids.  It is nice when the kids are older and more independent. 

Crazy kids

I love spending time at home with the family.  I like to get out as well, but I'm pretty much a home body.  I love to just sit back and watch the kids play and entertain themselves.  The kids are always using their imaginations.  They are coming up with different games and activities to keep themselves occupied.  Right now I can hear them in Jonah's room "building the coolest roller coaster ever."  Don't worry I checked it out and it is safe! They all love coloring.  Caitlyn and Jonah are constantly drawing us pictures and then they go right in and hang them on our bedroom wall.  Caitlyn also likes to write us notes.  She wrote me a thank you note for a new outfit that we gave her for her birthday.  It said, "you have given me a lot of things, lots of it love.  It has been a breeze being your child."  That was one of the sweetest compliments I have ever had.  She is very thoughtful like that.  Receiving gifts is definitely one of her love languages.  It doesn't have to be anything big.  I could pick her a flower in the yard and it would mean the world to her because I thought of her.  She is very easily pleased and I love that about her.

Caitlyn and Jonah love to have "sleepover parties" on the weekends.  They love to sleep in the same room.  We put our extra crib in Jonah's room in hopes of moving Wyatt down there soon.  Unfortunately Wyatt is waking up every night crying lately so I haven't dared move him downstairs yet.  I just let him cry for a few minutes and he goes back to sleep, but then of course I'm up for hours! I hope this is some weird phase that will pass soon!  Caitlyn and Jonah were begging for Wyatt to sleep with them.  I told them I would try it and see what happened.  Wyatt was all smiles until I turned off the light, he screamed and wanted out of there after that.  Caitlyn and Jonah were really disappointed when I took him upstairs.

On Saturday Keith's parents came over to celebrate Caitlyn's birthday with us.  The kids were excited to show off for them!  Caitlyn has been so excited for her birthday this year she can hardly sleep.  Wyatt has been so determined and strong willed lately.  Keith's parents brought candy bars and he kept giving it to me to open and I said no.  He disappeared for a minute and I went to check on him and he had a candy bar and some scissors and was trying to cut it open.  Yikes, time to move the scissors to a higher drawer! He sure keeps me on my toes lately.

Jungle Jims

Yesterday some great friends took us to Jungle Jims.  The kids were so excited to go.  I didn't think Wyatt would want to ride on the rides, but he wanted to go on everything.  Caitlyn and Jonah were great to let him ride with them.

Caitlyn had fun riding the rides and playing with her friend.

Wyatt never smiled on the rides, he looked very serious, but I know he loved it because when I took him off he would scream and throw a fit.  That was fun after every ride!

Jonah loved running back and forth between all of the rides.  Of course they were hungry and thirsty and wanted to dig through the diaper bag.  Luckily that didn't last too long and then they just had fun.

These girls have always had fun together.   I'm glad we still live close enough to get together. Caitlyn loves to play with Grace.

 I finally got a smile out of Wyatt.  He loved these jeeps. 

Jonah was bored with the jeeps and moved on, but Wyatt went on them at least ten times in a row.  He would pull on his seat belt so I would get him out and then point to the jeep he wanted and let me know if I had picked the wrong one.  The kid operating the ride was great and just let him go on it by himself over and over.  Finally he came off without throwing a fit. It was a fun afternoon and the kids slept great that night!

Snowball Fight

Last week we had a few snow storms that required some shoveling.  Jonah always loves to help Keith shovel and Wyatt always wants to be outside. 

Wyatt had to stop and look at the airplanes as they flew by.  He says, "da" (in a long drawn out way) for every thing.  He is saying a lot more words, but he usually uses "da" for most things.  He has also started tapping people to get their attention.  I think it is so cute that I will ignore him sometimes just so he will tap me. 

After we got the work out of the way Jonah and Keith were ready for a snowball fight.     

Wyatt wanted us to make him snowballs.  He is obsessed with balls right now and that is one of the words that he will say.

Keith was hitting Jonah over and over with snowballs and then he got a little shock when Jonah hit him with one right in the eye.  I'm glad Jonah has a fun Dad to play rough with because it makes me nervous!

Caitlyn was excited to get out and play in the snow when she came home from school.  I have been feeling so overwhelmed with her homework.  I love her teacher because she really pushes Caitlyn and she is great at working with every one's different levels.  Caitlyn is very advanced in reading, but math doesn't come easy for her.  Her teacher sends home very challenging reading homework to challenge her, but I can't find time to help her with math by the time we finish all of her homework.  I finally talked to her teacher and found out that Caitlyn is the one who is pushing the reading homework because she wants to beat all of the other kids.  Stinker!  Apparently she is the only one finishing these reading packets in one night.  All the while telling me it is against the law not to finish her homework.  Her teacher told me that is fine to slow down and focus more on math.  Our afternoons have been so much better!

I had to put this cute picture of Wyatt and his cousin.  Wyatt is really into hugging right now.  Every night he goes back and forth and gives everyone about five hugs.  The other day Rockwell and Wyatt hugged each other and it was so sweet.  I was able to get them to do it again the next day.  They are so cute.  It is fun to see them start to interact more with each other. I love how their arms are wrapped around each other.