Twins' 4th Birthday Brunch

The twins had their 4th birthday on December 21st.  We had a "kid" party at Romp 'n Roll, but I knew I wanted to do something for their grandparents and great-grandparents and anyone else who didn't want to make the one hour trek to the kid party. 
We decided on a birthday brunch that morning.  It was a lot of fun, and 70 degrees outside!  We could have had a cookout that day! 

Here are a few pics from the brunch. 

Gifts and party madness- my Dad got in the spirit with a princess mask.  Such a trooper he is! 

 

Carson's big gift from Mom & Dad- a toy excavator to play on outside and a new wheelbarrow

 

Emmy's big gift from Mom & Dad- the Doc McStuffins check-up center, along with all of the Doc stuffed characters and a Doc McStuffins costume to wear.  The girl loves her some Doc! 

 

Some other fun gifts they got were-

• tobagons (that we couldn't use in the teeny bit of snow we got yesterday!)
• umbrellas (Carson opened his and squealed- "a brella for ME?" It was so cute!
• John Deere quilts-pink for Emmy, green for Carson; handmade and so nice
• new bath towels and bath wash
• money from several grandparents and Uncle Dale, and cousins Taylor and Jack
• stamp and paint sets from my cousin Brandy (what did I ever do to her?  haha- Henry actually had his forehead stamped one day!  Poor Henry!)
• Stompeez- a big "want" since last Christmas
• Ice Cream Magic-cousin Hunter swears by Ice Cream Magic!  We haven't tried them yet.  I think I'm gonna have to pick one up for Henry too
• stuffed puppy dogs that they now sleep with also from Taylor and Jack
• Seat Pets- these are so neat and they work nicely!  The kids really wanted them.  Do you see an "As Seen on TV" pattern here? 
• Veggie Tales devotions books
• Toy Story/Princess figurine sets from Morgan & Dylan
• several pairs of new jammies from different folks-which were something we needed! 

I think that was it, and it was surely plenty!  They have enjoyed everything.  It was a fun brunch! 

 

 

 

Our party "theme" if you will was Monster Jam for Carson, Disney Princess for Emmy.  They chose the themes themselves and picked out what would go on their cakes.  Here are how the cakes turned out....

 

 

A Better pic of the cake.....but before I added the crushed cars.  Henry got ahold of the cake and mashed the middle where the "d" in birthday is.  Little brothers! 

The finished cake. 

 

Our menu for brunch was: 

• Breakfast casserole-which was so yummy!  It was the best one I've made and I think it was because all the ingredients were fresh and local, except the cheese.  I used homemade sausage that was made on Tuesday before our Saturday party, fresh bacon from our cousin's pig farm, fresh eggs from my back yard, and fresh milk from our milk share. Delicious!
• Ham rolls
• Mini cinnamon rolls- from Sam's club
• Mini blueberry muffins-from Sam's club
• Mini chocolate covered donuts- from Kroger and Carson's favorite
• cheese cubes
• apple slices-I even bought these at Sam's so I wouldn't have to worry with dipping the apples into orange juice to keep them from browning. 
• veggie tray and dip
• chips and onion dip-courtesy of my sister
• tea
• coffee
• orange juice

I used a lot of premade stuff which is so not like me.  I felt really guilty about it at first, but it was a smart move.  I was able to enjoy the party more, cook less.  I don't know why I always feel like I should cook everything, and cook it from scratch! 

 

All in all, I think brunch was a lot of fun.  It was nice to be able to let the kids play outside some in between eating, presents, and cake time.  I also enjoyed not having to wait around all day for the party, trying to keep the house clean.  The kids are also generally more pleasant in the mornings before they get worn out from the day! 

 

I hope the kids enjoyed their brunch as much as I enjoyed planning it for them! 

 

 

 

Snow Day!

We had an unexpected dusting of snow today and the kids have LOVED it!  We have been outside twice to play in the snow.  It's the first time Henry has been big enough to really play in the snow, so that has been fun to watch.  I don't think he's all that crazy about it, but he did seem to have some fun.

I have to say, this was the first snow where we've had snow bibs for the kiddos.  They are a must from here on out!  They made snow play SO much easier.  Previously, the kids would bundle up, head out, and immediately get soaked from the snow.  This would result in many trips outside, and many clothing changes. 

Today, with the bibs on, their clothes did not get wet underneath hardly at all!  It was great!  Once they were ready to go out a second time, we put the bibs back on and they were good to go.  They really tested them too, because they made snow angels and spent a good bit of time laying in the snow. 
I will make sure we have bibs from here on out.  We actually didn't buy any bibs, they were all (thankfully) given to us as hand-me-downs.  Carson and Henry's are like brand new.  Emmy's are a little worn because I'm pretty sure they went through all four of my youngest sisters.  The straps were broke, but they are tied and work fine.  For as much as it snows here, it's not a big deal at all. 

I will have to keep my eye out for snow bibs on clearance and at consignment/goodwill.  I'm sure we'll get more hand-me-downs too.  For my sanity, they are a must! 

Now if I can get decent waterproof gloves for the kids.....

Sunday Scripture & Monday Musings

Sunday Scripture for the week:  (that I never posted yesterday-I spent the afternoon outside!)

"Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward.  As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth.  Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them."  Psalm 127: 3-5

• I chose this scripture for two reasons.  First of all, my BFF is having a baby!  We found out over the weekend that we will add another little one to our family in August.  How exciting!
• Secondly, after my hubby being on call for two weeks and having the kids myself a bunch of that time, I think I needed the reminder!  It is so easy to get weary at times when the house is full of little ones.  I must reminder that these days will go by so fast and I WILL miss them one day.  I will miss writings on the wall, stains on the floor, stepping on toys that HURT your feet,  dealing with poop (well, maybe I won't miss THAT!), and all the fun stuff that goes along with little ones as we try to teach them as they grow. 
• The amount of apples we go through in our home is crazy!  On Saturday I bought 6 pounds of apples and they are almost gone!  My kids eat apples all day long.  I think we need to start planting an orchard. 
• Speaking of planting, my mom reminded me that I need to start thinking about the garden.  I have a seed catalog that came last month....maybe I'll pull that out and start figuring out what we will plant.  I know a few things I want more of this year, a few things we don't need so much of because they did so well (like jalapenos!). 
• My dad is mounting our new flat screen t.v. today!  Yep, we finally got a new one.  No, the old one did not break.  My grandma decided to give us a gift card for Christmas to get a new one.  We got one to mount on the wall where little hands can't touch it.  I have to say, I am excited.  I am so done with dealing with t.v. issues.  We've been watching only movies for 2 weeks because the kids broke a cable that hooks up the satellite.  It was the second one they've broken in the past few weeks, so I refused to fix it again!  I will also be glad to see the entertainment stand go.  It's served us well and I'm done with that too! 
• I went to the library Saturday and got some more books to read.  Mistake.  I already finished one Saturday night.  Books are too distracting for me.   I guess that proves even good things can be bad.
• Oh, and I am getting all caught up with electronics-I have a new cell phone being delivered tomorrow morning!  Yay again!  I finally found a touch screen phone with a better camera, that is a basic phone.  No data plan required!  I am elated.  I've needed a new phone for about a year or more.  Now, next I'll post how the touch screen drives me crazy!  Ha!  Oh, and it was free except for some upgrade charge which I'm still not sure I understand. 
• We are touring two prospective preschools this month.  I am excited and also can hardly believe it.  It's really happening, my babies are growing up!  I'll have to share what I liked about each and what we decided to do.  I think I know which way we are leaning, but I can't say really until I see what they each offer. 
• I hope to post pictures soon, I have to upload some anyway that I want to order for Henry's birthday poster.  Yep, we are already planning for Henry's birthday.  We do love a party in my family!  It's so fun to celebrate each person.  Mr. Henry is having a farm-themed party with basically our family/grandparents at my grandma's house. Small and age appropriate I think.   It is such a cute theme that fits him well- cows, chickens, tractors, etc. and is called "Cock-a-doodle TWO".  He will love it.  Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was a close contender (or "hot dog" as Henry calls him).  I also thought about playing on the whole Valentine's theme and having a candy/sweets them with "Henry is TWO sweet" as the theme, but I decided farm stuff fit him better since he LOVES tractors and anything farm related, especially John Deere and New Holland tractors.  Another little farmer just like his big brother!   

Well, I'm off to attempt to clean.  I clean all the time, and if you walked in the house, you'd never believe me!  Reminder-I will miss this!  I will....... (if I keep telling myself that I may believe I'll miss the dirty house, right?) :-) 

I'm Back!

I am back!  I've been very absent from the blog lately it seems.  Things have been a bit crazy to start the new year.  Sadly, my Uncle lost his battle with brain cancer on the 3rd.  We said goodbye to him at the most beautiful funeral I've ever been to on Tuesday.  I am glad he is no longer suffering, but everyone will miss him greatly.  It's never easy to say goodbye, so it's been an emotionally draining week.  I can't even believe it's only Thursday! 
Tonight it Dustin's last night of being on-call, so hopefully we'll get some much-needed family down time this weekend. 
Today I've been busy trying to clean up the living room to a recognizable state, and also find the countertops in the kitchen under the dishes, crockpots, etc. that I've had out this week.  We've ran here, there, and everywhere and hadn't had time for much housekeeping.  I did actually manage to keep us fed without relying on fast food for the most part.  Thank goodness for crock pots!   Also,  I think our vacuum may have blown up as I was cleaning.  At the very least, it overheated and gave up on me.  We go through a lot of vacuums around here for some reason.  Maybe cause we use them ALL the time?  Like, twice a day all the time.  I don't know. 
Our heat went out on the coldest night we've had this winter.  It was a warm 54 degrees in our house that night/morning.  Fun stuff.  I don't worry about myself, but my babies can't be cold.  Poor Henry's teeth were chattering when he woke up.  Thank the good Lord my Dad knows how to fix just about everything!  There's a reason we call him "Poppy the Great".  Three hours and one $15 part later, we were back in business with heat.  That same day we had a chicken go missing, but found it the next morning.  It chose to spend a night in the tool shed instead of the coop.  I guess even chickens need a break sometimes!   Thankfully we found her, because Carson was very distraught about it. 
Yesterday, we had a big birthday celebration for my sister Amanda's 30th birthday, and my sister Alyssa's 11th birthday.  They were born the same day, 19 years and a few hours apart.  We kind of had a little surprise because we jazzed up our normal birthday supper with streamers, balloons, special cakes, and a collage of pictures of them both since they were babies.  We also had a delicious supper with a menu chosen by the birthday girls- ribs, steamed shrimp, chicken on the grill, mac & cheese, coleslaw, broccoli casserole, sausage balls, green beans, mashed potatoes, and probably more stuff I'm forgetting!  I was so stuffed last night, but today I wish I had thought to bring myself some leftovers!  :-)  Ribs are one of my favorite foods! 
Well, I'm off to look for a new cell phone online.  One that doesn't require a data plan.  We'll see how THAT goes, as there aren't many out there these days! 
I have lots of posts to catch up on, so stay tuned! 

Happy New Year!

 Happy 2014!  And we're back!  I finally found time for the computer after all of the birthday fun, Christmas celebrations, and then sickness going around. 
I hope to upload lots of pictures soon and play catch-up on all of our happenings. 

For now, it's Happy New Year!  We enjoyed spending a low-key New Year's Eve (minus Dustin who had to work) at my Nanny's house with all of the family.  We opted to order pizza and have a few appetizers and salad and call it supper!  If it's one thing I think I can say about everyone-we are cooked-out!  At least I have been for a several days! 
We actually reminisced on everything great that had happened last year, much of which I had already forgotten!  Isn't that sad? 
We made it until about 10:30 before calling it a night and going ahead with our toast, which we very classily had out of Dixie bathroom cups with Welch's Sparkling White Grape Juice!  :-)  We had 4 small kids wanting to participate and I could only imagine all of my grandma's wine glasses being shattered during a toast!  :-) 
I had all my kids asleep by 11:30 and watched the ball drop to the sound of snoring all around-Dustin and the kids were knocked out. 
A perfect way to ring in the new year, I think!