Birthday Party

Devin was so excited about his birthday! He woke up this morning at 4:30 yelling that he was now "Devin 4!"  He was so excited that he let him open a few presents before his party.

Thanks Emily for the Mickey book!

He also opened a scooter!  Too bad it was to cold and rainy/snowy to go outside to ride it.

This is what happens when you wake up at 4:30 in the morning.

For both of the boys' party we took them to Nickel City. 

For their birthday they got to spin the birthday wheel!  They each earned an extra 500 tickets for prizes.

We stopped the fun to eat Pizza.  It was surprisingly good.

Here is Devin's Birthday cake.  It was not our first choice for the cake I had bought a Mickey Cake Topper but it had turned green.  So we improvised and bought a Costco cake and put on the the cute Mickey Mouse Club House Figurines.   We think it turned out super cute.

Then both boys got to open more presents.  They were pretty excited with what they got.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Doolittle for the Toy Story connect set.

He loved the Mickey Blanket

Well mostly, Devin wasn't sure about this Lego Set.

Garrett, Landon, Eli, Victor, Hector, Devin, Kasi, Olivia and Jasmine. Here are all the party people except Taylor.  I think 10 kids was plenty of kids.

 

The 7 older kids also played laser tag.   We earned enough tickets between all of them for each of them to have about 200 tickets.  Plus Garrett and Devin had an extra 500 tickets and they got some "great" prizes.


Happy Birthday Devin! It is hard to believe that my baby is 4.

Cold Feet

What do you do if you were outside in the cold and your feet get cold?

Put them in warm water in the sink, of course

Exercising

Jeremy and I have started getting up at 5:30 in the morning and exercising.  We ride the bikes, lift weights and I do stretches that help my leg.  Devin has started joining us. 

9 Million Views

Hit the 9 million mark today.

It's Great to Be 8

Garrett turned the Big 8.   We are having his party this Saturday with Devin but we let him open a few presents today.  He opened all his presents that are Mario related.

He was super excited to get more Mario Track and Mario Race Cars

Thanks Emily and Grandma and Grandpa Doolittle for the Mario Tracks.

It took a while to set up and get it to fit into a loop.  Garrett loves it.

So do the other kids.

Since his birthday was on a Sunday and he was all dressed up.  I wanted a picture with him.

Of course, he had a Mario Cake to eat after his favorite dinner: Calizones!

The classic picture of blowing out the candles

Happy Birthday, Garrett!!!! We love you.

First Basketball Game

Garrett started basketball again at the beginning of January. This is his first game. I was so proud of him, he played defense, he would go after the ball and he shot it 5 times (He didn't make them)but he is trying hard and participating. Plus he loves it and is having so much fun.

Landon, Garrett's best friend is number 34.  Garrett was so happy that he was on his team.  He said, "I glad that I don't  have to verse him and we can play together."

Slime

While Garrett was home with me this weekend we made SLIME!! Green, Gooey, Slippery Slime that is both a liquid and a solid.

Where did we get the idea from?  We got it from the library!  Garrett checked out this book from the library and couldn't wait to make it.  Then afterward he decided that that would be the activity for Family Home Evening since he was in charge of the activity at the next FHE.  His brother and sister loved it too!

How to make:
1/2 C water
1 C Cornstarch
Food Coloring

Put water and food coloring in the bowl and mix it.  Then slowly add the cornstarch until it thickens and you can make it into a ball.   Then play with it and enjoy! 

Garrett brought home another "How to make book" this week from the library.   We have another project for this weekend!

Green Jello Juice

The boys decided they wanted to make juice.  They went into the pantry and got a lime Jello box instead of a drink mix and  they made this lovely drink.  They were so proud of themselves. It got dumped down the sink after they only had one drink. It was pretty gross. There won't be a green Jello juice stand this summer.

Eruptions and Chocolate

Devin got a volcano kit for Christmas. He was so excited to make it.

He painted it.

Did one eruption!

Then immediately wanted to do another eruption!  To make it cooler we added red food coloring.

What better way to celebrate a volcano eruption then with Chocolate Fondue!

We are loving these Science kits that the kids got for Christmas.

This is the way I like it!

Yep, No Snow in January and being able to send the kids outside to play and ride their bikes. I could definitely get used to these type of winters.

So Hard

Christmas break was so relaxing.  We didn't have a lot of plans.  We stayed up late and watched movies and slept in.  The kids played with toys and the wii.  We went swimming,  the kids played outside.  We did our science kits from Christmas. There wasn't too much fighting. It was just nice to be able to be together. 

Well, Yesterday school started again.  Don't get me wrong my kids love school! Jeremy and I like our jobs.  But school means more structure, getting up early, getting kids ready for school, getting them there on time, picking them up on time, reading(before and after school), and spelling.  Then the minute I get home from work there is more homework, more reading, getting dinner ready.  It sometimes just feels overwhelming.   Plus Jere and I both have school work we have to do too.  We spend less time together as a family and it seems like more time arguing.    I know we will get back into the routine again but these first few days have been hard.