Prayers

There are many advantages to living in this age of computers. We can instantly chat with any number of our friends and family through FB or IM. We can keep people updated on our lives through blogging. Heck, we can even SEE each other on real time using Skype. But, most importantly, we can reach a larger audience of friends and family when it comes to prayer. I have used this forum to ask for prayers in the past - like when Cara lost Lincoln and when Haiti was rocked by the earthquake. Today is another one of those days. Though, today's prayer is not directly related to me, I know there are those in my family who are hurting. My sister and brother-in-law Jeff lost a very dear friend named Matt. He was only 24 and died due to complications from diabetes. A disease he didn't even know he had. So, today I ask for prayers for those who have been left in his absence. Those who are struggling to come to terms with his loss. I ask for prayers for my sister and for Jeff and for those at First Brethern Church who knew and loved this young guy and are now trying to understand what happened.

Valentine's Day Parties

Today was a busy day! We had 3 Valentine's Day parties to go to. Madie and Noah had a half day, so theirs were this morning and right after theirs, we drove over to Opp School so Livie could have hers.



For Madie's class, I had the kids make candy necklaces. They all seemed to have fun making them and only a few spilled them or dropped them during the process.

Here is Madie and some of her friends showing off their necklaces. My sis-in-law taught me long ago that if you let them do a silly face picture, kids will almost always sit still for a nice picture. I got the nice picture, but liked the silly picture more, so here it is. :-)

Here's Noah towards the end of his party. They also made candy necklaces (can you tell I'm room parent for both classes?!), so you can kind of see his peeking out of his pullover.

At the end they were playing "Heads up 7-up". Remember playing that game? I played it when I was a kid.

I didn't stay for Livie's party, but we got her valetines in each of her teachers' and classmates' bags. She was very excited to give them away.

Here she is with her friend Ty. She loves Ty. I don't know if the feeling is mutual, but she thinks he's awfully special. :-) So, all-in-all a successful day of parties and now we have a living room floor covered in cards and candy. Think I may have to go inspect what kind of candy they have now..... YUM!

Special Person Day

Today was Livie's "Special Person Day" at school. Noah had that 3 yrs ago and took his Aunt Em. Livie decided to take our friend Patty. She was so excited!! I showed up a little early to pick her up, so I could take a few pictures.



Here is the wall with her class's hearts on it. I don't think I'm out of line here saying her heart is the coolest ever!! ;-)

When I showed up, they had already finished decorating and eating their cookie, hearing stories, and some of the other fun stuff they did, and were off to the playroom to play. They were playing hide-and-go-seek here.

And, here she is with Patty. They had a great time and Livie was thrilled to have her come and play with her today. :-) Thanks Patty!!

Superbowl

We had our very first Superbowl party and it was so fun!! We had (including us) 3 men, 5 women, and 10 kids. It was a full house indeed! We girls didn't watch really any of the game, opting instead to sit at the table and laugh and chat the evening away. The kids all played so well together. I love that our kids are at the age where they can play together, without us worrying about keeping our eye on them. We all took turns checking on them, but they really did a great job.



Here is Madie with her friends Ella and Gracie. They played dolls and dress-up and did their hair. They were so cute together. :-) Livie played with them too, but enjoyed playing with everyone tonight. Not just the girls.

Here are the boys doing what boys do - playing Mariokart. Even little Tobias got in on the action, watching the games as he rode the big wheel. They too all played so wonderfully together. I'm so thankful that we have such great friends and that our kids all love each other and get along. Such a blessing!

Here's Pete and Craig watching the game. The rest of us were all sitting at the table together. I sadly didn't get a picture of that. It was a great group. We had lots of food, lots of laughs - you couldn't ask for more than that! Great night!

Oh My Lawn! Chuckie!!!

I'm wondering how many of my readers have been to Chuckie Cheese before. How I didn't know of the level of insanity that this wonderful place creates I'll never know, but I found out tonight, let me tell ya! ;-) Our great friends, the Thirys invited us to go to Chuckie's to celebrate both their son Jack and their son Charlie's 4th and 2th birthdays. We were so excited to go! They are such a fantastic family. We love them all to pieces. So, to go to this party was a no-brainer. Plus, my only experience of Chuckie was when Madie and Noah were very small and the place was nearly empty when we went with Pete's sister's family in WI. Tonight was the "true" taste of Chuckie though. I told Pete as we were driving home that I should've taken a short video to show those of you who have never experienced the Chuck, the reality of what it's like going there. It was P.A.C.K.E.D. Not just packed with little letters. Packed with periods in between the letters, packed. I couldn't believe it! Livie got a little overwhelmed by the noise and amount of kids, but Madie and Noah really enjoyed it a lot.




When we first got there and found the party table for us, they gave each of the kids a cup of tokens, so we took them out to play. Livie found Barney and was very excited! He's a dinosaur and that's all that matters to her.




There was this HUGE tunnely thing that went up to the ceiling and Madie and Noah loved that. Noah especially. He liked being in the car. You might be able to see his eyes peeking at us.




Then the girls tried out the little merry-go-round. Livie liked that one a lot too.

Here is the Thiry's oldest, Emma. She's Madie's age and is a sweetie. Never got a picture of Tess, who is Noah's age. It was hard trying to keep track of kids and tokens, and take pictures at the same time.

Here are Madie and Noah. They played in this for quite a while at first. That is, until they discover they could play games and get tickets. Then it was all about the tickets. We collected over 300 and they got some small little trinkets at the prize store. Very fun!

Here's Livie riding a horse. She and Madie both did this and really enjoyed it!

After they played for a while, we went back to the party table for pizza and cake. Here's Chuckie talking to all the birthday tables. There were about 8 bday parties going on.

This gives you a glimpse of how packed it was. Just imagine 7 more tables to my right and 2 more to my left, then expand it longways. There you have it! ;-) Oh, and did I mention I had to wade through this crowd to get Noah a hot dog, because he doesn't like pizza?! Ornery!!

Here are the happy kids!

Here's Charlie, the birthday boy, with his dad. :-)

And, sweet Jack, the other bday boy! You could tell he loved EVERY minute!!! He was so cute. Even little Charlie was dancing to the music. :-)

Chuckie posed for pictures with anyone who wanted them, so Madie got in there.

So did Noah. He even gave him a high five. :-) It was a busy, crazy night, but lots and lots of fun too. We were so happy to celebrate two fantastic little boys' birthdays. It was a great night!

Glasses.... Again

The other day I posted about Madie and Noah's new glasses. Of course they were excited and eager to show them off. Well, yesterday we were in the basement sorting out bins and I came across my memory box. I showed the kids what was inside and found my glasses from 1st grade. Wow!!! Those things were U.G.L.Y.!! But, with ugliness comes hilarity, so since Livie was left out of the whole "new glasses" craze that struck our family last week, I let her try on mine...

Isn't she gorgeous?! She's going to be breaking hearts wearing those things!! ;-)