Birthdays and Failures

Im going to be lazy and combine two birthdays in one. I know its wrong not to give each girl their own post, but they will get over it. Well, at least one of them will.

First up, we have Madi. It will be 1 month tomorrow that she turned teenager. I know what your thinking...have the teenage hormones hit? And the answer is yes. Yes they have. What kind of excuse would she be for a teenager if she didnt have the occasional mood swing, know it all, disagreeable moments? Dont get me wrong, she is still a good girl, but man! Anyway, onto the big day.

I was a little conflicted about the whole even birthday party only thing, since turning teen is apparently kinda a big deal, but decided to stick to my guns, mainly because I am kinda getting partied out and if I gave her a 13 party, I would end up having to do it for everyone else to be fair. Yes, its completely selfish, but Im okay with that. So we just kept it within the family. She chose to go to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner, then we came home and opened a couple presents.

A cover for her I-Pod

 Cards, gift cards and money from grandparents and Aunt Mindy.

Zack and Bylee worked hard on some cards for her as well.

 The kids got her nail polish and accessories. Brylee had to help since it had her name on it.

 And the thing shes been wanting most, an I-Home. She earned the money herself to buy an I-Pod a few months ago, and ever since then she has wanted one of these to charge it with.

 Madi's cakes always include Oreos, and this year was no exception. But this time, she added ice cream to the middle.

 Nom, Num!

  Dad made her go through a spanking machine. Never too old for that, right?

 Maybe too short though for Brylee.

 And just like that, she turned 13.

One month later, it was Alissa's turn. This time it was an even birthday, so party we must. With the business of soccer we neglected to do a lot of pre-planning for this one. She couldnt decide what she wanted to do, but eventually we narrowed it down to a spa party. She was disappointed that she couldnt do a slumber party, but seriously, there was no time for it. Unfortunately, I feel like this party was the most epic fail of any party I have done. On top of squeezing it in last minute, and in between soccer games and on top of general conference, I felt sickly all weekend. Chills, cough, nausea, back pain, headache, I wanna curl up and die sick. I knew since this was Alissa, I had to pull it together, or she would never let me live it down so like mothers do sometimes, I tried to shelve my physical well being and put on a happy face just to make it through this party. Alissa and Katelin had soccer at 9am, and Zack at 2, so we had to do it in between which meant on top of conference. That also meant, Ryan was gone with soccer all morning up until 30 minutes before the party, so I was pretty much solo on getting everything prepped. Madi did step up and help some so I was grateful for that. She pretty much did the whole cake, made mini-pizzas, and helped blow up balloons to make flowers out of for the decorations. I was so busy and sick, that I didnt take the time to even take many pictures of anything, but the decorations and food were the best part. You'll understand why after reading further.
The first thing we did was a face mask. The girls all thought this was completely disgusting and Alissa almost literally threw up when she smelled it. It was only cucumber, oatmeal and plain yogurt, so not that bad, but how bad would that have been if the birthday girl threw up first thing!? But, all the girls except one were good sports and put it on and tried to relax the best they could. The cucumbers on the eyes were too big, so they kept falling off. Needless to say, this portion of the party didnt last long.

Fail #1.

 Then we let them ease their minds with food. We had chocolate marshmallow fondue with strawberries, apples, marshmallows and pretzels, cheese and crackers, mini pizzas and punch.

 After lunch, we grossed them out again with a foot bath made with milk, lemon juice and olive oil in warm water. Most of the girls kept complaining it was too hot, so we kept having to throw ice cubes in for them. Fail #2.

Ah yes, and fresh rose petals to make it pretty or whatever.  

 As they finished up soaking their toes, I fixed their hair and Madi and Katelin were on nail duty. I was disappointed that none of the girls really picked what I thought were the fancier hair styles, plus I was feeling rushed to get through all 6 of them in time to do presents and cake. I wasnt happy with how their hair turned out, so I will call this Fail #3.

 We rushed through presents since we were getting low on time. Not many pictures here, since I was still fixing the last hair style during the openings and one girl kept standing in front of Alissa so we couldnt get good shots (you know the type). She mostly got a bunch of jewelry and purses, but she loved them all.

 Not good pictures and cramming hair fixing into present opening time equals fail #4.

We had originally decided to just go with mini cupcakes, but couldnt find mini cupcake liners, so I just went for the normal sized ones. Thought I bought this cute little 8 candle that would fit on a cupcake perfectly, but then realized I didnt buy it, so Ryan ended up buying a much bigger 8 before the party. Too big to fit on a cupcake so I decided to make her her own little cake to put it on. Alissa wanted pudding in the middle, but when I flipped the cake out of the pan, all the pudding surfaced on top making it impossible to frost. We just squeezed what we had left of frosting from the cupcakes on top to match the cupcakes and covered the lack of frosting on the side by putting the cupcakes all around it. Guess it kinda turned out like a flower or something.

 Like I said, Madi ended up making the cake and frosting most of it, so I hate to call it a fail for her sake, but, after all that...really? You get the idea.

 This fail got past Alissa all right, but one of her friends stated she didnt like the pudding, and I would have to agree. I wont get into what happened there, but its just another fail.

Lastly, I had bought this pink table cloth as a backdrop to kinda do final individual spa pictures of the girls, but we ran out of time so I just did a group one at the end. In their gift bags they had a necklace, ring, bracelet, scarf and hair flower bow, that would have looked cute for their pictures but alas...Fail #?

Since it was so last minute, she only had 5 girls show up, one of which left early, so this is the complete group. Good things she has plenty of sisters to fill in. Of course I didnt think to let them in the picture...fail, fail, fail! 

After a few, thats right- failed attempts at a good group shot, Emma finally had to wrap her arm around Sarah because she kept raising her arm in front of the camera and making weird frown faces. She must have got sick of standing there. She looks like shes loving on her, but its really her trying not to strangle her!

So heres how the final shot turned out.

Scary to think what these poor girls went home to tell their parents about our failed party. Think this picture is good enough to send them and make them think they had a good time?
This morning as I woke up on the actual day of her birth, I realized it is her golden birthday...8 on the 8th. Totally coulda ran with that. Oh well, too late now. Im a loser.

Kickin' it

Fall is in the air, and that means time for this again...

 Yes, Soccer is back in full swing, and this time we were crazy ambitious enough to put 3 of them in! So 4 days of the week have been completely devoted to practices and games. Katelins sideline cheer leading has been lacking this season, since her games are usually overlapping one or both of the other kids games. Ryan is the assistant coach for Alissa team again, so he has to be there, and someone has to stay with Zack since, you know...hes 5 and everything.  But she is lucky to have a great coach and team this year, even though she is not happy she got stuck wearing boring old white again. She also has two friends from church on her team this time, so she does get some cheering from supportive friends.

Since Ryan has to be with Alissa to help coach, I am usually with Zack or Katelin so I havent seen a lot of her playing time either, but Ryan has assured me that she is doing fabulous this year, and has a lot of potential as a soccer player. Of course, she is so hard on herself all the time that she doesnt see it, especially after the one mishap of making a goal for the other team. I was there for that one, so she could cry into my shoulder for a while, until someone from the other team did the same thing, so it made it even. She was teary eyed for this picture as well, although I cant remember why...something about her shirt being tucked in which made her "look like a fool" in her words, I think. Anyways, its always something with her.

Zack, our little space case. Is it a bad sign that whenever he is in the game they dont score? He has some pretty good little players on his team, but he just seems lost. Not impressed with his coach at all. Not to mention the neighbor girl that has a crush on him so she hangs all over him during practice. I think we are going to start skipping his practices and just working with him at home. At least he looks cute. 

We actually only have 2 more weeks left of the soccer craziness, then we get to relax for the holidays. They will be a breeze compared to all this running around! Bring on Christmas!

4 down, 1 to go!

Well, its that time of year again...the time of year all parents look forward to...back to school time! Actually thats not entirely true. Admittedly, I wasnt looking forward to sending my 4th child off to kindergarten. Isnt it supposed to get easier? Zack is such a little Mommas boy. He loves to cuddle me and tell me how pretty I am. I feel this special attachment to him being my only boy. I am really dreading him being gone and all grown up and off in school all day without me by his side. Maybe its because he didnt do preschool, and Im just not feeling like hes as ready as the girls were. Or maybe I am just depressed I only have one kid left to go until Im completely alone during the day, and I have no clue what Im going to do with myself. Maybe its because I have a kid thats going to be a teenager this week and its freaking me out! The fact that when Brylee starts Kindergarten in two years, Madi will be starting High School! No. Im not ready for that!

(Inhaling into paper bag)


Okay, I think I can compose myself enough to get through this. Im pretty sure Zack was having some reservations too, although he is much better at showing it and acting all cool about it. How do I know this? Zack was so nervous meeting his teacher at the open house, that he forgot his name! No lie! He actually ended up getting the same teacher Alissa had, who is very sweet and loving. She was excited to see us and Alissa again, and totally knows who Zack is but bent down to talk to him and ask him to tell her his name. After a short pause, he responded with "Taylor". Then she asked, "Well, whats your first name? Doesnt it start with a Z?" After thinking about it, he looked up at me with a panicked and confused look and whispered "Mom...is it Zack?" Yes, I laughed...and then reassured him that yes, his name was Zack. Poor kid. Ryan's claim is that he just responded the same way all typical guys respond when a pretty girl asks you your name. (:
Then as I am waiting with him in his line to go into school, he kept wandering out of line. His class started going and he proceeded to walk in a totally different direction. Am I a little worried...yes. He was so spacey this morning! I will be relieved if he can make it through this first week without being completely lost and confused. *sigh*

Anyway, here is the photographic evidence that I now have 4 of my 5 children in school...no denying it no matter how hard I try.

Off to the bus stop.

Waiting for the bus with neighbor friends.

First step accomplished...arrived safely to school, although a little late. The school changed their start time for 15 minutes earlier than before, but the bus pick up time stayed the same. Someones gonna have to change that!

As a big 5th grader this year, Katelin is off to fulfill her responsibility as one of the members of the school safety patrol.

Catching up with another friend.

What is Brylee going to do with everyone gone? Stay tuned.

Alissa got put in the only split class this year...meaning she is combined with 2nd and 3rd graders. Guess that means she is on the smart 2nd grader list? She is a little nervous about being with 3rd graders and how this is all gonna work out, but the nice thing is that she has a smaller class, with only 25ish kids compared to the normal 30-35. It also sounds like it will be more one on one and personalized to her skill level in contrast to the class as a whole. Another big plus is that her teacher got picked to be one of the only teachers to get the most updated version of Promethean boards. Its like a touch screen chalkboard/projector/I-pad. Just google it. Its pretty much the future of educational tools, and pretty darn cool! 

Here she is in line with her class. Look at how little she is compared to those 3rd graders! As if she wasnt already self conscience about her height, and well...everything!

And heres Zack, in his own world.

And his pretty teacher saying hello. Hes still tongue tied. (:

And Brylee, not wanting to be left out this morning...

I think, at the moment she is enjoying the run of the house. Best of all, no one is here to tell her she cant and shouldnt watch Dora, or play with Zacks light saber. Yeah, I think she'll be just fine for the next 2 years. Only 2 years!

Back to the paper bag!

A Hometown Vacation

Ryans brother Willie, his wife Tina, and their 4 kids came out for a visit in July. Apparently, their kids all chose our house as their destination vacation for this year, and wanted to repeat the last vacation they had here because they had so much fun the last time! No pressure right? Well, if its a repeat they want, thats what they'll get! The day after they arrived, we head out to Wisconsin Dells, Wilderness Resort. I wont bore you with a million pictures, but here are just a few.

Brylee and Zack are still a little nervous about water, so I spent a lot of time floating around the lazy river like this...

 and Brylee spent a lot of time doing this...

 Ryan and Willie spent a lot of time racing down slides together. Some things never change.

 Madi and Libbie werent afraid of getting wet. Wait for it... 

 Left out the picture where Ryan lost his suit when that bucket of water came splashing down. Your welcome! (:

We even stayed in the same condo. Look familiar? I wasnt taking any chances of not living up to just as fun of a vacation as 2010.

 Ahhh, look how they've grown! 

2010

2012

 Brylee getting a little more wet, maybe?

 At least she's enjoying herself.

 Boys being boys.

 Madi and Libbie had it made being big enough for all the slides on their own.

 More brotherly love. 

 Us grown up girls did get a few chances to join in the wetness. 

 I think it was after this run, that Willie had his hands full from Zack puking all over the place. Of course they had to shut down the kiddie pool for a while to dis-infect the area. We made a prompt exit to another location away from embarrassment. Sorry Will! I think he had just had too much sun and excitement, so he took a little break.

We had just enough time before the closing of the rest of the resort to fit in a little water volleyball! 

After a stop to Culvers for dinner, we headed home. We had another week of excitement waiting for us!
Days 1-3 full of fun, check!