9 Years Old

I just can't believe my baby girl turned 9 years old this year! We opted to have her party at our house so it was cheaper and she could invite as many girls as she wanted. Including Lauren we had a total of 12 girls and all of the parents dropped their kiddos off and decided not to stay so that meant Hubby and I were the only adults! But, the girls did great and had a lot of fun.

We decided to make the party theme garden/bugs. I was searching the internet for ideas of how to make that kind of a themed cake, and when I posted on facebook that this was the theme, a friend replied that she had a special cake pan that made 8 individual bug cakes. When Lauren and I saw it we loved it. The day before the party Evan and Lauren helped me frost the cakes. They actually decorated most of the cakes on their own and they did a fantastic job!

Ladybugs and butterflies

Dragonflies and bees

We took a trip to Party City to see what kind of decorations they had for the party and I was so happy to see that they had a bunch of things for our theme. One of the things was cute bug antenna tiaras that you see in the pictures. We also bought goodie bags and cute bottles of bubbles, tattoos, and pencils all in our theme.

The time for the party was 2 1/2 hours. The first 30 minutes the girls spent playing in our playroom downstairs and that allowed time for all of the late guests to arrive. When everyone was present, it was time for cake and presents.

Lauren chose the pink ladybug with purple spots for her cake

The next activity was painting nails. We had the girls sit on the floor lined up against the fireplace with their hands on the floor. Roger started at one end and i started at the other until we met in the middle. We painted the girls' nails red then went back and with nail polish pens put black polka dots on the red so their nails looked like ladybugs. It was really cute, but I didn't get a pic of the finished product. I think Roger should be nominated for Dad of the Year and Husband of the Year for helping me with this activity! Also, I am happy to say that no polish spilled on the carpet. (It's old and ugly and we hope to replace it in the not so distant future, but still...no spills!)

After this we went and played pin the spot on the lady bug--our version of pin the tail on the donkey. We got this idea from Party City who had this game already packaged up and ready for you to buy at $4.99. We knew at home we had a large piece of paper and could make our own and that's just what Lauren did. She drew the ladybug and cut out all of the spots. During the game we wrote the girls' names on their spots so they could see where their spots landed on the bug, or wall. It was a lot of fun.

Lauren blindfolded and getting spun 3 times

Close!

 

 

 

 

The last activity was outdoors. I had found butterfly nets at Target for only $1 a piece so I had bought a bunch along with some lightweight orange balls which acted as bugs and the girls paired up and threw the bugs back and forth to each other and caught them in their nets. They had a lot of fun with this game, too, and the girls got to take a net home with them along with their goodie bags. After this we brought out jump ropes, hula hoops, bubbles and they played outside until their parents came to pick them up.

Over all, Lauren's party was a huge success and I'm so glad we did it at our house and got creative with our cake, games, and activities. Believe it or not...she already knows what she wants as her party theme next year!

Pumpkin Patch

We went with Maize Virtual Preperatory School to our favorite pumpkin patch one very, very cold Friday a week and a half ago. It's almost an hour drive for us, but so worth it. The activities the pumpkin patch offer are so much fun. Roger was able to go with us, and two families from church who are also involved with mvps were there, so that was fun. Plus, mvps paid the admission for our family, and the kids got a free pumpkin! I was not able to get as many pictures as I wanted because my camera batteries were running out, but I got a few.

Scouts Arrow of Light Ceremony

Evan's Scout troop had their blue and gold ceremony this past Sunday. It was Evan's last as a Cub Scout. This coming week he starts Boy Scouts with the homeschool scouts.

Displaying their Arrow of Light cake.

We got to listen and learn from a Wichita bomb squad member. This was so interesting!

We got to look at a car that totally runs on electricity and one that runs on electricity and gas.

There was also a workshop that taught about rockets--I didn't get a pic. Then there was the ceremony for Evan and his fellow Sr. Webelos to present them with their Arrow of Light plaques. This was a very nice ceremony where the parents participated. A script was written out and some parents helped read certain parts to the boys. I loved the things that were read; I thought they were very moving. While things were being read, some candles were being lit to represent the different (arrow) points of light or encouragement/values being instilled to the boys. However, while this was going on, we parents were on stage facing our boys with our backs to the audience so I could not get any pics of the candles being lit. Also, it was very awkward standing with my backside to the audience for at least 10 minutes. We were blocking the boys from being seen by the audience, and I don't understand why we couldn't stand behind the boys. I think the Cub Master thought it would be more personal and emotional if we were facing our boys while the things were being read to them. Oh well. But, then when it was time to present the boys with their plaques we stood behind them so the audience could see them.

Roger has been the den leader for Evan's den the past 4 1/2 years. Three of the boys have been together that whole time and the fourth joined the second year. One has decided not to continue with scouts, another will be joining the local boy scout troop, and one friend will be going with Evan to the homeschool troop. It's hard to believe this chapter of this close knit group is coming to an end.

These have been some very special years for this father and son.

Date Night

Our church hosted a date night tonight. We got to drop the kids off at church where they fed them and played and watched movies while us parents went out to eat and then came back to the church to watch the movie Courageous.

For dinner we headed to Longhorn Steakhouse, a new restaurant in town. We walked in and they had a 60-65 minute wait. Wow! As we were walking out, we ran into another couple from church. I asked them if they had called ahead (which we didn't know you could do) and they said yes they had. They were meeting two more couples from church there, but one couple's children had gotten sick so they had to cancel, so they asked if we wanted to join them in their place! We did and had a very nice time chatting with friends from church. We had eaten at Longhorn in Kansas City and I had fallen in love with their macaroni and cheese, and was so looking forward to eating that again. Well, my meal I ordered got messed up--they gave me the wrong piece of steak. I was going to go ahead and eat it, but it was not well done which is how I like my steak, so they took it back and made me the correct one. In the meantime I ate my mac and cheese. When they returned with my correct steak, they also brought me another bowl of mac and cheese. My stomach filled up before I finished my steak, so I got to take the rest of my steak, plus the second bowl of mac and cheese home with me for another meal. The only problem is, Roger tasted my mac and cheese and agreed with me that it is some of the best he's ever had, so I may have to fight him off when I go to eat the leftovers LOL!

When we got back to the church for the movie they had all kinds of snacks to eat. My favorite movie candy is M&Ms and Twizzlers. This was our second time seeing Courageous and everyone was moved to tears. The guys all chalked the tears up to allergies HAHA!

Such a fun night hanging out with my guy knowing the kids were well taken care of.

Soccer 2011-2012

This is Evan's soccer team this year--the Black Hawks (Evan is the blond second from the left). Again, he has another nice coach, and enthusiastic assistant coach. One of the other players on his team is the son of a couple that used to work with Roger at Cessna, so it's been fun seeing them and chatting with them every week. Of course, soccer is done for the winter season, but come spring the team starts back up again--same team, which is one thing I like about AYSO. Evan went to a birthday party this weekend for someone from church and he was telling me he may not know any other kids that, but it will be okay because he makes friends pretty easily. Guess what? When we arrived at the party the couple from Cessna's son was there and so was the assistant soccer coach's son! They both are in the same class at school as the birthday boy. I knew Evan would have a great time at the party for sure!

Bowling Fun

We got to go bowling a couple of times this summer with friends through the Kids Bowl Free program. This outing was in August. Lauren didn't bowl so much, but Evan loved it. He kept getting better all the time and has figured out how to put a spin on his ball.