Andy's baseball birthday party

Not sure what this means about the level of indulgence that my children enjoy, but we celebrated Andy's birthday for three straight days.  Whew, I'm worn out!  All the cakes, presents, special lunches and whatnot culminated in a baseball/pool party at my mom's house on Friday night.  Andy was thrilled that so many of his friends from school and church could come and they had a ball!

Unfortunately, Rosie got her vaccines the morning of the party and was pooped out before it even began.  She hung in there, but was on my hip the entire day.  All that to say, my pictures kind of look like they were taken without time spent on details such as zooming a focusing because they were all shot one-handed while playing keep-away with the camera and a one-year old.

I made the happy birthday banner using a free printable you can snag at cap creations.  I think it turned out very cute.

And here's my sweet mama getting things ready on the courtyard. (how cute are those baseball shaped sports drinks?)

Ready to go, bring on the 8 year old mayhem.

Brayden at bat

The birthday boy taking a swing

Hunter swinging for the fences

Bibeth representing for the girls

Not sure we have ever had so many kids in the pool at once!

Hitting the snack table- cotton candy makes any day extra special

Sydney and Andy

Nanny actually carved the watermelon to look like a baseball

Zadie and Hannah

After loading up on sugar and competition, the boys kept trying to shove each other in the pool.  The following is what happens when you get pushed almost all the way in.  I was so grateful he wasn't seriously hurt!

Alright, if you're still with me, the following is my attempt at capturing the chaos of cupcake eating and present opening.  Andy's friends and family were so generous with their gifts that he was overwhelmed by how much cool stuff just kept coming!

Notice the wardrobe change in the next pictures.  I was thinking that the best way to bring them down slowly from the sugar coma of the night before was to feed them cupcakes for breakfast the next morning.  Hey, that's what I was eating, it only seemed fair.

mmmmm, breakfast of champions :)

And we survived it all.... Now 2 more days until monkey #2 turns 4 and we do it all over again!

ocean mural

Our church has been rearranging to make room for our growing children's ministry.  Pretty cool, huh?  Well here are some photos of the room that was previously the pastors office.  It will now be used for pre-school Sunday school.
Our theme for the whole project is water, so this is our ocean floor room.  Dave asked if I would paint the mural and I was happy to have a project to occupy myself with.  Sometimes I forget how much I love to paint, but each time I got to sneak over during naps and after the kids were in bed I got excited all over again.  I can't wait to move on to the next room!

The project is not completely finished, so I will try to take some more pictures once the new floor is in and whatnot.

The kids insisted on having some of the characters from the Nemo movie :)

Thanks for looking :)  Hope the kids enjoy the space as much as I did creating it!

The first day of school- lets put an end to the crazy

One day, when I am 'finished' raising my children (yes, I know this is the irony of the task, like so many of our life's goals, it is never fully accomplished and complete), I will wander through my days with no pattern or structure.  I get bored so easily that I will probably not settle into a routine for more than a day or two before changing things up.  Yup, I will drive my husband bananas!

How likely is this?  Well, a girl can dream.  For now it is the structure that keeps me going and at least half sane.  This summer has been a wonderful pile of beach trips, swimming lessons, broken bones, swim meets, play dates and crazy.  The crazy fell mostly in my lap as it seems my job is to keep it all moving and keep everyone fed.  They get extra hungry in the summer.

Well, my reward for keeping them alive and well is right here.  The first day of school.

Yes, I cry and miss them all day long when they're gone.  But then I'm actually really happy to see them when they get home and I have had a chance to go to the bathroom all alone and I am less cranky.
(Well, not exactly 'alone' Rosie was probably pulling all the towels out from under the sink, but it's all relative at this point)

You may think that Rosie wants to go too, but don't let that cute little cupcake fool you; she just wants the others to take a hike so that she can get into all their cool toys that they don't like to share because she drools on them and tries to put the pieces in the toilet.

Zadie with her teacher Ms. Denise

 Zadie goes to preschool three mornings a week this year and I think it's just right for her.  She's still a little bit of a home body and while school is good for her, I fear too much would make her moody... or moodier... (is that possible?)

And please pray for the teacher who will be charged with keeping this little maniac in line.  Not sure what it is about 8 year old boys, they're like an alien life form.

Sometimes I don't know what to do with him, but I love him so much it's hard to contain.  I can't wait to see what lies ahead.

Look out world.  Today, the third grade.  Tomorrow, well, let's just hope we make it through today :)