My Little Gymnasts

The kids REALLY enjoyed their year of gymnastics--Brennen wasn't officially in a class, but he learned a lot of what the other three did while I was there helping coach the little ones. Here are a few pictures of their final lessons and the Mini-Olympic event they participated in--bringing home medals and ribbons for their improvement and accomplishments in their first season.

And then for her actual birthday . . .

With our family picture wall taken down, Gab got HUGE letter decorations for her birthday (and they stayed up pretty much til moving day :) For lunch, Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle C visited and took Gab to our favorite chicken place. I tried to take pictures, but they didn't turn out well-enough to share . . . it's kind of one of those local, community dives, where if you really think about it, you might not want to eat there, but the food is so good that you overlook certain things (like the bra-less, but sweet as pie, past middle-aged waitress serving the ice cream).

When her dad arrived home, we celebrated with pink and purple sprayed cupcakes that I found at our local grocery store--my baking EVERYTHING was gone at this point :) She was delighted, as you can see in the pictures. The cupcakes were followed by another round of gift-opening, including a special music box and art supplies from Grandma J--happy birthday girl!

For supper, we met with our friends the Bocks at the Mexican restaurant--where Gab got yet another birthday dessert and song, this time in a foreign language :)

Party 2

With Grandpa Barry (and noodles) back in town, we held another party for Miss Doodles with the extended family! We were surprised and excited when more than originally were expected--made it to the party. For this round (and because my baking pans were packed at this point), we went with the Costco 7 layer chocolate cake . . . and we sang to her daddy in  honor of his upcoming birthday as well :)

 Birthday boots!

Noodles with Grandpa!

Noodles for Doodles!

 Two candles for Gab and two for her dad, who is for some reason not pictured--oh wait, if you look under the arm of the chair, you can see some of his jeans :)

 Little brother selected this gift from his own collection, and wrapped it himself. He was so excited to give the pistols and holsters he'd gotten for Christmas to his big sister, that he couldn't wait til her actual birthday. He's not asked for them back since. Such a sweet heart he has!

Somebody likes hats!! 

 My dad giving my grandma a ride in the wheely desk chair :)

Birthday Girl

In the midst of the madness, a certain young lady was ready to celebrate her birthday. We decided with her older sister that 9 was a good year to have a friend party, but we were about to leave and go to a place where there were not yet friends . . . what to do? Squeeze in a fun party (among the half-packed layout of the house :)

She chose a Pajama Party theme . . . invitations went into the mail . . . and everyone had pictures or games or reasons they couldn't be there the entire time. And you know what? God took care of that too! The uniforms didn't show up in time for pictures, so pictures were moved to another date. Games that were supposed to happen, were delayed because of soggy fields. With the exception of one girl who came late, Gab had the whole invite list at her party for the whole time. Pretty cool!

It seemed like it took awhile for the girls to gel and self-motivate fun. I planned a very open schedule, because I like kids to make their own fun :) We ate a pancake and sausage lunch, with fruit salad (prepared by the birthday girl)--the orange slush punch was a huge hit!

Gifts came next, and she got some great art supplies, a bubble machine, and Barbie and the Pink Shoes DVD--when you're at a pajama party, you have to watch a movie right? So on their sleeping bags and pillows, in the middle of the day, the girls watched the movie--and had a balloon fight, and split up to go play in the backyard.

We called everyone together to make Cool Whip and sprinkle strawberries, to sing the birthday song, and enjoy some "pancake" themed birthday cake :) Afterwards, they painted nails, did make-up, and giggled (as little girls do).

Pretty sure Miss Gabs ended up having a special friends birthday party--one of half a dozen parties (she always seems to get the most!) to celebrate wonderful her :)

We have how long?

When the job interview happened, we were told we'd hear back in a matter of weeks--when that turned into months, we turned our sights elsewhere. When we turned our sights elsewhere, the hiring manager caught wind of it, and increased his efforts to hire my talented hubby. In an instant, the call came in, our answer was yes, the house went on the market, three days later it sold, Grandma J flew in, with her in charge of the kids--we went house searching, saw 12 plus properties, made an offer on one, and it was accepted after a bit of negotiating that same day--what??? We were given an impossible 5-weeks to make all this happen, and it did--with very little stress. I must say, Realtors are wonderful people!!

And our family made it  happen, with prayers, helping hands, childcare, packing, driving, and unpacking assistance. Family is a wonderful aspect of God's plan for humanity!

 Two Cae took :)