Monday, February 15, 2016

Austin's Star Wars Birthday Party

 Austin turned 6 this year and asked for a Star Wars Party.  Tyler and I got a little carried away one night with planning and ended up with 15 kids and a pinterest success of a party!!!  It was really was so much fun to put together, and the kids did great. I definitely was exhausted by the end of it.  Our good friends provided dinner for us that night and I counted my blessings of all the amazing families we know here in Texas and their amazing kids that made this birthday party epic!
 The food! My only original idea was the Chewbacca Chips! haha. In case you can't read the sign there was Yoda Soda and Vadar Veggies
 Ewok Treats-Teddy Grahams, R2D2 Nuts and Bolts(Trail Mix), Tie Fighters(Oreo Wafers with a mini marshmallow in he middle), and Fruit Sabers.
 Storm Trooper Cupcakes!
We put the kids through a Jedi Training course. I made "no sew" little Jedi robes for all the kids when they came.  I love our R2D2 trash can!!

 First game was "Don't Eat Yoda" - also known as Don't Eat Pete.  We played this while all the kids showed up.
 Here's almost the entire bunch.  We started the obstacle training course on top of the tree house where Tyler gave them instructions. Then we let them down the slide one by one to begin. The kids were so patient since they could watch everything going on below while waiting their turn.
Our lone Princess Leia crossing the tree stumps!
Walking across the balance wall to the Lava Pit
They had to jump in the lava and avoid popping the Lava Bombs
Next challenge was the Lazer Beam Maze. We just taped yarn that they had to make their way through.
We used our cornhole game and turned it into the Death Star.  They had to throw a bean bag through the hole before they moved on.
Next was crawling through the tunnel
Then they had to throw the Flying Discs into the basket
 Then they hopped on their speeders and made their way through the asteroid belt all the way across the driveway and down our brick path where they retrieved their lights saber (Pool Noodle)
Lots of Speeders!
Once they got their Light Saber they had to make their way through this balloon pit. They had to hit all the white and black balloons(Storm Troopers and Vadar) and not hit the green ones (Yoda)
 Once everyone completed the course Tyler taught them some blocking and attacking moves with their light saber.  Here they all are practicing what they learned.
 They also meditated and gained some words of wisdom from the Yoda Master about controlling your emotions. 
 Then we just let them loose in the backyard and let them mess around for a while.  We had some ping pong balls on golf tees stuck into a pool noodle cut in half to practice their Nerf shooting.  There was a lot of Light Saber practicing going on...
 Then we came inside for cupcakes and food which we promptly kicked them back outside to eat.
 The crazy crew!
 That's a big smile on his face covered with chocolate frosting
 After the presents were opened we had a surprise visitor! Darth Vadar!!! The kids grabbed their sabers and they each got to fight Vadar one on one to pass their final Jedi Training Test.

So much fun!!!







Monday, February 8, 2016

One CRAZY Christmas - 2015

 We had my oldest sister Jamie and her family for Christmas this year along with my parents.  My sister has 6 kids! We took them all to the stockyards one day. Here are mine and hers and we all managed to fit into our house for a week!
 Family Picture on a nice hot sunny day!
 Finally got my picture on a Longhorn! Austin was brave enough to do it with me.
 Cattle Drive time!
 Doing whatever it takes to keep the kids busy and happy!
 Trying out the new hot wheels tracks. Everyone put in some great effort!
 Blake and Sadie playing "Go Fish".  These two got along surprisingly well.
 Grandma playing games with some grandkids
 Me and Ella! She always wanted to say goodnight to me or talk to me but then when it came time to actually do it she was too shy. So I finally got a picture with her while she is attached to her mommy's hip.
23 weeks!  My belly grew a lot in this one week while family was here!
 My mom made soap while I finished reading my book!
 She also shampooed my carpets while I went to the gym!
 She really wanted to try out the leaf blower! My mom does not sit still...
 Annual New Year's Eve party at the Plummer's house! Yes that is a blow up slide INSIDE the house!
 My bosom friend Allison came to visit me right after New Years! I was so excited to see her since she has moved away last summer.  We are connected like Anne of Green Gables and Diana!
Another experiment my mom and I tried was homemade chapstick! It was so hard to see them go. So many fun memories over Christmas!

December Fun before Christmas

 Still amazing weather! So we took advantage and did some horseback riding.  Blake did great on Beau!
 Cody surprised me and was super excited to ride the horse and did so great! I held on just in case he let go of the horn. 
 We acquired our first pet fish from a White Elephant party we went to.  The boys named him Neon. I keep him right in front of my kitchen sink and he keeps me company while I do dishes...all day...everyday...not really, but sometimes I feel like I do dishes that much! I really do like having a fish though!
Blake had his preschool program where they performed some cute songs they'd been practicing.  Here is his good friend Judah. These two have become quite the pair!

Fort Worth Nature Refuge

 Right after Thanksgiving we took advantage of the awesome weather we've had this winter and too the boys to the Fort Worth Nature Refuge for a little hiking and exploring. Here we are at the beginning of the trail. 
 Cody was a champ on the piggyback rider. It worked out very well for him to hop on and off
 We got to study lots of footprints
 On the lookout with binoculars
My one picture with Cody. Shadow pics!