Fun Weekend

We  had a very busy and fun weekend!

It started Friday right after school got out. 

It was the 10th anniversary of the boys' elementary school, John Evans Elementary. 

Since the first year, they have held a Founders Day Party on the anniversary.

Once the kids got home we went out for Pizza at a new Pizzeria near the school.

Then we walked to the school for the party. Elektra wanted her face painted.

Caleb was in line with her and I and he saw a Spider and wanted that on his face. The lady said he was the first boy they had. But when other boys came over and saw what Caleb was getting, they got in line. By the end of the day we saw a ton of boys with Spiders on their faces.

There was Jump houses, and obstacle courses and a ride.

There was free popcorn and cotton candy.

And snow cones.  MMMM! Wow what a seriously pink tongue!

They had so much fun playing on the equipment.

Zachary is in mid air here.

It  was a fun event and we were there till dark.

The school mascot is the SunRays.

On Saturday morning we got up early. I made a breakfast of blueberry pancakes, homemade berry syrup, sausage and fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

So yummy!

Then we headed out to the Boy Scout Family Camp Out.  If we hadn't of had the Founder's Day the night before, we would of brought our tent and camped  Friday - Sunday. But to pack all that stuff for a family of 5 for just one night, is a bit much. So we just spent the day and early evening there.

It was a beautiful camp ground with very nice spots. We will keep it in mind for another time.

It was right on a beauiful lake with a boardwalk that connected an entire corner of the lake.

The kids had fun 'racing' down it.

Then it was break time.

The only thing we had a big concern with was the poison ivy. It  was all over the trails.  We took a long nature walk, and you didn't dare step off the trail because you would be stepping directly in it.

Our kids behaved so well.  This boy scout troup is interesting. The leaders do not do much of anything.

Their kids run the show when there are meetings. The kids ran the show out there. The adults just sat in their chairs and talked.  It was a small turn out and the leaders all know each other.  They didn't follow the schedule, or play games or organize any activities.

Mike finally got the kids playing a game of catch.

Then he got a game of kick ball going.  Zachary is sliding in to base here. Ouch!

Dinner was hotdogs, carrots and celery. They grilled Brats for the adults.

The weather was perfect.

It was a fun weekend.

This coming weekend is Mike's and my 10th wedding anniversary. 

 Thursday and Friday we are staying at a hotel on the beach in St. Augustine,

and renting a boat for the day on Friday.

Thursday will be Sushi night and Friday steak or seafood. Then we are going to a comedy club.

We will be back home Saturday morning/afternoon.

Christina doesn't have school on Friday so she will be babysitting. Plus Katelyn is staying with us again, so she will be here also.  Next week is Spring Break and Mike and I are taking the kids to Delray Beach for the week.  There is always something fun going on!

St Patricks Day

Elektra had her 3 year well check up appointment the other day.  It took awhile because the DR's office required that her Tri Care insurance contact them to let them know that they could care for her. What a PITA it turned out to be.  But between Leonard, Michelle and I going round and round, we finally got it all figured out, and she was able to be seen.  

We waited over an HOUR for her to be seen.  I was listening to other parents while in the waiting room, and it seemed as most of them were unhappy with the continually LONG wait times.
  Also, the waiting room had nothing for children. NOTHING!  I don't know if its just Florida dr's or what, but the several we have been to, do not provide toys or books for children to keep them occupied.
 Its very frustrating. 

Our Dr in AZ had the entire waiting room child friendly and the back rooms.
Pretty paintings on the wall, lots of toys and books.
That way if you did have to wait, the children weren't so bored!
And rarely did we have to wait long.
http://www.gdpeds.com/home/
 Once they took us back we waited another 20 minutes.  In a childs world, that might as well be an eternity.  So, I got out my pens and we colored on the paper that covers the table. Elektra blows me away with her abilities! I would draw a heart, then she would draw a heart. I drew a flower, she drew a flower. Her small motor skills are so developed! Basically, if you show her how to do something, she will try and do it, and most of the time, she does it wonderfully!

Anyway, other than the long wait, her appt went well, and the DR feels that she is on target with everything. She is in the 51% for her height, and 5% for her weight.  Which is just fine. She is a petite little girl, but very healthy. (all my kids were always in the low percentile for weight and height.)

We had a wonderful St Patricks Day.  I put a 3lb Corned Beef in the crockpot with lots of veggies.

Although next year I need to double the size of the beef.  It was devoured!

Then we had a GREEN themed night. Pretty much the rest of dinner was GREEN.

Mike made him and I a GREEN beer. The kids had GREEN sprite.

I made a salad with only GREEN things like GREEN grapes, cucumber, GREEN onions, GREEN tomatoes and GREEN apples. We made the applesauce GREEN.

  For dessert we made GREEN vanilla milkshakes and chocolate chip cookies with GREEN frosting.

We had so much GREEN food dyes that I'm sure our insides are permanetly GREEN.

I knew the kids liked Corned Beef, but I had no idea how much. Zachary had 3 helpings!

We had leftovers of the veggies, but none of the Corned Beef.

On Friday Frank and Dave came over for the long awaited birthday dinner. 

Every time they were to come over, something else came up. Or down. Like the big rain storm last week. 

We had a wonderful evening! We had a nice dinner of lasagna and then they all played Wii.

Bro got Caleb some Jet plane lights.  Caleb as you know LOVES jets!

Christina got a box with a moon and a star.  We just gave bro some cash.

Caleb loved his lights so much he couldn't wait to hang them up.

So Mike strung them across their room.

Very cool present! Caleb wants them on every night. They are now his night light.

Happy 18th Birthday to Christina!

Happy 18th Birthday Christina!!!!!!!!!!

Wow! I can't believe its been 18 years already!  Time goes by fast when your having fun!

Christina's friend Katelyn surprised her at school with all these balloons and a bunch of mini cupcakes.

We all decorated the backyard for her party. She had a Mardi Gras style party. So we hung lights and lots of Mardi Gras decorations. Thank goodness the rain stopped, but the only problem was that it was super windy.  The decorations kept blowing away so we had to use lots and lots of tape.

The kids helped decorate as well. They were almost as excited for the party as Christina!

She had about 25 people show up, and they had a bonfire and roasted marshmallows and made smores.

Zachary was too shy to go out there, but not Caleb or Elektra.

They kept going out and roasting marshmallows and bringing them back in.

Heres a bunch of pics of her and her friends.

Since she had so much going on Saturday we waited to celebrate her birthday as a family the next day. 

 I made her a white layer cake with tons of Sprinkles. (Thats what she wanted!)

Make a wish!

Then she opened up all her presents. Her friend Shannon and of course Ben was over.

She got a lot of cool things!

She had a great party and a great day!  I am so proud of her! 

Cecilia and John had this posted in their New Mexico paper.

Happy Happy 18th Birthday Sweetie!!

Its been so windy here the last few days.  The kids took advantage of it and flew kites.

We detailed the Durango over the weekend. Caleb loves to help, so he asked if he could vacuum.

He did a great job and got in all the corners.

The other day I made Taquitos.  The kids LOVED them so much! So I put the recipe on my other blog:

http://www.myfamilysfavoriterecipes.blogspot.com/

Then Elektra used the salsa, sour cream and guacamole to 'paint'.

Food is fun to paint with!

Christina and her friends went to a Taylor Swift concert. They were in the second row!

Whooo! What a busy and fun week!