Weekend Wrap-Up

What a weekend!

Technically, I think this was Thursday night.  We had ice cream cones before dinner on the deck. I heart summer weather.

I hope all you moms out there were as lucky as I was on Mother's Day.  My family treated me like a queen!  More on that later.

Friday night, Kylee had a birthday party to go to and I had one of those in-home girls night parties to attend.  I thoroughly enjoyed an evening with the neighbor ladies and Kent handled everything on the home front- picking Kylee up from her birthday party, feeding the boys dinner, doing dishes and bathing all three kids.  I love that we're at a point in our lives that I can leave for the night knowing things will be just fine at home while I'm away.

Saturday morning Kent and my dad went out fishing and my mom took the kids and me out for breakfast.  So fun!

Rainbow sprinkled pancakes had Kylee's name alllll over them. 

After breakfast, we all met back up at my parents' house for some mushroom hunting.  We had so much fun and found quite a few!

Saturday at noon Kael had a baseball game, which was going to be tricky because that's about Kase's nap time.  Kent's parents came down and offered to stay with Kase during his nap so I could watch the whole game, which I appreciated so very much.  Kael had a good game and one of the best hits he's had all season so I was glad I was there to see it. 

Saturday afternoon we had plans to get together to celebrate my mom's birthday and Mother's Day with my side of the family.  My mom needed to be at the hospital with my grandma so we weren't sure it was going to work out, but thankfully some decisions have been made regarding my grandma, and my mom was able to make it to her party.  I don't have a lot of pictures- but we really had a great time! 

The boys watching the storm roll in/away. 

A double rainbow!

Sunday morning Kent was up early with Kase and the big kids were up soon.  They had the sweetest, most thoughtful cards to give me that all you moms out there know mean more than anything. I expected absolutely no gifts so when Kent took the kids to the other room and sent them around the corner holding a wrapped jewelry box...I was speechless.  Kent and I have a mutual understanding to not give each other gifts for most holidays which usually means he gets me something and I get him nothing, which leaves me feeling like a bit of a punk.  

Before I even opened it, I was prepared to smile and tell him, "It's too much" and beg him to return it, saying I'd rather save the money and take the kids to Disney or something.  But then I opened it.  And inside, you guys... the sweetest, most thoughtful, most "Laura" gift ever.  Kent got me a beautiful Mother's Ring with the kids birthstones and even as I type this, my eyes are welling up with tears, not only at the ring itself, but the kind words he said with gifting it to me.  I'm the luckiest girl in the world. 

Kent spent the rest of the day doing e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. He changed all diapers, put Kase down for his nap (which is no small feat anymore), mowed the lawn, stayed with the kids so I could go buy some flowers...it was so nice.  After church we enjoyed playing some board games with the big kids while Kase slept and later we hung out with some neighbors and in the evening we went out for dinner which was such a treat.   

I love these guys! 

Even when I have to chase one of them down just to be in a picture with me... :)

It was a lovely weekend.  Hope you all have a great week!

Weekend Wrap-Up

You guys know the drill by now, so let's just get to it.  A few stories and lots of pictures from our fun-filled Easter and birthday weekend!

Friday was so lovely.  I am the luckiest girl- seriously.  Neighbors, friends and family showered me with birthday gifts, texts, calls all day long.  It was a beautiful day out so while the kids were at school, Kaser and I (and baby Reid!) spent some time at the park. Kase couldn't have been happier finding these tiny pinecones and throwing them into the pond.  My dad stopped by during the day and brought me lunch and later that evening our little family of five went out for dinner at a new restaurant in town.  When we got home, it was still so nice out so we spent the remainder of the evening playing at the park. 

Saturday was this cutie's birthday!

Saturday morning we went to Mill Pond (where my grandma lives) to do the Easter Egg Hunt there. She was thrilled to have us visit and the kids came away with an unbelievable amount of candy and snacks.

Saturday afternoon/evening we spent in Collins celebrating all the April birthdays with Kent's side of the family.  We had the nicest time enjoying the beautiful weather on their patio. The kids, of course, were thrilled with all their gifts and I enjoyed catching up with everyone.

Boys in blue. 

The crew!

When you're a gymnast and there's open green space...cartwheels are a must!

Cupcake Kate! She made the best cupcakes (orange- Kael's favorite color, Oreo- to die for, and chocolate- yum!!) 

How pleased was I that we got all seven kids to look at the camera? Clearly, Kael was as excited as I was!!

Sunday morning was so fun.  The kids were excited about the things the Easter Bunny had left for them.

What a difference a year makes! (2014 above and 2013 below)

Back to the present...

So ornery.  Poor kid doesn't realize what's about to hit him- he thinks he's being so sneaky trying to eat a black jelly bean and looks at me like, "I'm going to eat this!" and I give him a nod like, "Go ahead..." You should have seen the look on his face as he tried to spit it out!

 Love these three with all my heart. 

Sunday after church we went to my mom and dad's house.  My grandparents and one of my sisters and her family were all able to be there which was just so fun.  The food was amazing, the Easter egg hunt was epic and the weather was beautiful. A perfect day all around.

Check out Kael's flashy new shoes! Thanks, Kevin!

So, the story behind this GIANT bunny is that Kylee and my mom were shopping together a few weeks ago and she begged and begged and begged my mom to buy it for her.  She didn't.  But my mom and I went back and forth, "Should we get it for her? Is a 3 foot tall chocolate bunny just too much? Should the Easter bunny bring it? Should Grandma give it to her?" Ultimately, Kylee was beyond thrilled when she opened it at Grandma's house.  I have yet to decide how we're going to tackle this thing- Kylee is more than willing to share with her brothers but I'm still not sure how much of it I'm actually going to allow them to eat.  Are you dying?! Have you ever seen a chocolate bunny like this?!

This picture kills me for a couple reasons.  First of all, this is Kase's first year to participate in our Annual Egg-Cracking Contest.  Kent was trying to show him how to tap the eggs together but all Kase could understand was that he was supposed to actually hit the egg.  Like, with his hand.  So he kept smacking Kent's egg and we were all dying.  The second reason I love this pictures is because of my nephew in the background.  We spent the better part of the day trying to keep the kids out of the birdbath water.  

Supermom! Mandy defeats Kylee with a toddler in her arms!

The championship- although this is the first year we've ever had some uncertainty about who the real winner was.  My dad's egg had one of those shrink-wrap things around it, thus fortifying it a little bit from cracking.  His egg beat Mandy's egg, but in the end, when Mandy picked a new (also shrink-wrapped) egg, that egg defeated my dad's egg.  They're both winners, in my book!

Sunday afternoon it was warm enough to get out Kael's new slip and slide. Kent's parents also stopped by so we enjoyed some park time with them.  I'm looking forward to another busy week as we prepare for the last of the April birthdays.  I can't believe Kase will be two!

Have a good week, guys!

Birthday, Birthday, Birthday!!!!

Friday morning, I was teetering on the edge of Too Much Birthday.  You've read the Berenstein Bear book about that, right? Where Sister Bear ends up crying at her own party because it's just.too.much.  But by Friday night, I was singing a different tune.

Let's start at the beginning, shall we? Weeks ago, Kent tried to plan a surprise get together for me, but our April calendar is completely out of control so he added "Laura's Birthday Surprise" to the calendar for Friday, April 19 at 3:00 so that I wouldn't schedule anything else at that time.  Of course, I had to get it out of him what he had planned which made us come thisclose to canceling the whole thing because I wanted to tweak the plans a little bit. He wanted it all to be a surprise, I wanted to change a few of the things he had planned  to include more people which ultimately changed the whole thing.  In the end, we decided to reserve the room at Chips restaurant and 14 of us went out for dinner to celebrate, then back home to keep the party going.

It was perfect.  The whole entire night was so absolutely perfect that I could cry.  The plans that Kent made, the generosity of neighbors who were not only willing to get babysitters for their children on a Friday  night to celebrate with me, but also brought thoughtful gifts, and the creativity of my mom were awesome.  Wanna see?

My mom skillfully left out pictures from my chubbier years.  Moms are the best.  

My mom (who was watching the kids with my dad that night) snuck over here with Kylee while we were at Chip's and she decorated the house.  It was amazing.  My friends raved! In addition to all the things above, she had also left some fun trivia printouts of things from 1983.  Like who was famous, what was trendy, how much things cost...we had a BLAST reading and guessing! Everyone had so much fun looking at pictures of me when I was younger (and apparently the neighborhood consensus is that Kael looks exactly like I did when I was younger, who knew?).  How my mom even found gifts that went with the pink/black theme is beyond me.  I know how precious her time is and I know how much time it takes to put together things like this! So, I thought I'd share her ideas in case you have a special party coming up you need some fun ideas for.

Here's what was included in the "Turning 30..." basket

is "extra" special.  Pink Extra gum.

is your time to shine. Candle.

is no "laughing" matter. Laughing cow cheese.

blows. Bubbles.

is a ball. Pink baseball

is fun. Funfetti frosting

is sweet. Starbursts candy.

sucks. Giant sucker

rocks. Pop rocks candy

is rough. Sparkly pink nail file

is nuts. Roasted cashews

is a piece of cake. Funfetti cake mix.

is crazy. Pink princess crazy straws.

We ended the evening with a hilarious game of guys vs. girls in Catch Phrase, then everyone headed home around 2:00.  I know!!!! We were party animals!

A huge, HUGE thank you to everyone who helped to make my birthday so memorable.  I love you guys!!