Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Happy Birthday, Olivia!

Happy Birthday, Olivia!!!!
Olivia woke up this morning
to a nice little snow fall
and got to play in the snow!
Then she got to help her
Momma make her favorite
kind of cake.
A pineapple upside down cake.
Then she enjoyed some
fun at Chuck E Cheese!
And now she is probably 
celebrating with her family.
She had more presents
to open up tonight!
She is such a sweet, sweet girl!
I hope she has a very 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Monday, February 16, 2015

Asher & Brilyn at Chuck E Cheese

Asher is finally big enough
to really enjoy Chuck E. Cheese!
 He seems to be drawn to all of 
the "boyish" games..... you know, the 
ones with balls or cars, or dog bones!
 Brilyn likes ALL the games!
Especially the messy ones!
I think she has more fun playing 
in the water than she does
shooting her targets!
 But - on this particular day,
we were the only customers in 
the store. I love Chuck E Cheese
early in the day during the
middle of the week when we
can have the whole place
to ourselves.
 The kids seem to like it when
it's quiet, too. They got to
run around and win lots
and lots of tickets!
 And each of them got to choose
a prize. Brilyn got a cute little
Teddy Bear in a Chuck E Cheese hoodie!
And Asher got a cool new playground
ball with Chuck E Cheese 
on it. Both kids left happy and
just almost worn out enough 
for an afternoon nap!

Thursday, February 12, 2015

February Birthday Celebration

This past Sunday 
we had our family
February Birthday Celebration! 
During the month of February
we celebrate birthday's for
Billy and Olivia!
 We had a few surprises for
Valentine's Day, too!
 We had a treasure hunt!
There was a treasure map puzzle in
a bottle like that pretty milk  bottle
on the table in the first picture.
The kids found their bottles 
in the deep blue sea,
(whirlpool bath with bluish green sea water)
Then assembled their puzzles to
see where the treasure was hidden
and ran to find it!
 It was a lot of fun.
Olivia found the treasure,
but I had more treasure
for all of the children, so
no one was left out!
And Olivia opened presents!
She got a nice selection of 
wonderful things.
And Billy stopped by and picked
up his gifts and Weston's
party favors and prizes earlier.
Weston has been sick so they
opted to stay home to keep 
him from sharing his sickness
with his cousins. 
 Hopefully, they will stay well, also!

Friday, February 6, 2015

Lincoln Logs

Grace just loves building
things with Lincoln Logs.
 
 When I was visiting we build 
a Train Station Museum.
 Those little logs she is lining up
on her Lincoln Log bleachers
are pretend children.
 They are listening to the sherrif
tell the all about the days of 
the old west.... and about trains.
 You can see the whole picture here.
 And that little building with the 
blue roof. That is the museum's
souvenir shop and snack station.
The pretend children can go there
and buy their lunch and have
a picnic on the train of by the bleachers.
Lincoln Logs have changed a bit
since I was a kid - but they are
still a great toy!
I think Grace is really enjoying them.
And Olivia enjoys them, too.
I think her favorite thing about them
is watching Grace create something
so she can knock it down. 
She just loves to aggravate her
big sister. And she's very good at it, too!

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Happy Birthday, Billy!!!!!

  
Today is Billy's birthday!
Billy is our energetic, adventurous son.
He played inline hockey, ice hockey, 
rode a unicycle, raced dirt bikes,
rode bulls, broke horses......
he climbs, rappels, hunts, fishes, 
goes noodling (look it up),
catches snakes of all kinds and
is ALWAYS ready for an 
adventure!
Hopefully, he'll have something
exciting happen on his
birthday! He loves
EXCITEMENT!
And - if there is no excitement,
he is quite skilled at 
making something happen.
Happy Birthday, Billy!
It's been so much fun
having you for a son!

Monday, February 2, 2015

The Boxcar Children


Do you remember reading
The Boxcar Children
as a kid?
 Heather and Dustin had some large
boxes in their garage when I 
went to visit them - so we read 
The Boxcar Children
and made a pretend boxcar.
It was the perfect size for two
little girls.

After making the boxcar we decided
to enjoy a Boxcar Children's lunch
before painting the boxcar.
 
 The girls put on their paint shirts
and we had a little picnic in that box!
 And then the painting began!
 As simple as this activity was,
it was SO MUCH FUN!
 I did not pack any "old clothes" so
the girls had to paint their own
boxcar all by their-selves.
 They did a great job..... and we started
The Boxcar Children Book #2
but I had to head home before we
finished it. Hopefully, someone
else will finish it so Grace can tell me
what happened next.
And if not..... maybe they will bring the 
book when they come to visit 
this weekend.
I really want to know how the story ends. 
And I sure hope those girls
have fun playing in that box!