Annah's Birthday Slumber Party

We had fun celebrating Annah's 10th birthday with 3 of her friends last night!  Michaela, Taylor, and Ashley came for Annah's slumber party.

Our first party activity was to make outfits from foil.  It was quite a challenge for them, but they shared a lot of giggles and silly ideas.

Caeden was maybe not the best choice for a model.  He can only stand still for a short time!

Annah was surprised by her presents.  She had told me a couple months ago that she wanted a beach Barbie "just like Ashley's."  I had no idea what kind that was, but Annah said I picked out the exact right one!

Annah loves games!  She received Parchesi, Rack-O, and H2O UNO To-Go.

Some real make up to play make-over.

Sparkly jeans!

And the big surprise...A betta bowl, pebbles, and food for her first real pet!
She gets to pick it out herself.

I put together a little in-house scavenger hunt with little poem clues.  The kids loved it, and kept shouting, "This is so cool!  This is FUN!" as the ran around the house figuring out the clues and finding them.  I think we'll have to do more scavenger hunts in the future!

Annah was really excited about her cake.  My friend Cora is a Pampered Chef consultant, and had sent me a calendar for 2010.  When Annah saw the Heavenly Lemon Angel Food Cake for May, she wanted to make it.  So, we had made it back then, and she loved it and wanted it for her birthday. She helped me make it, and was so happy to share it with her friends.
And, she was excited to get all those candles out with one blow!

Of course, we had to do "make-overs."  Annah did everyone's makeup, and I painted all the girls' nails.  They were so cute.

The girls stayed up pretty late playing UNO and watching Because of Winn Dixie, but they knew they were sleepy, and most fell asleep before the movie ended.  They were awake by about 6:30 though.

We had pancakes with fresh strawberries and cool whip for breakfast, and they played some more UNO and watched a bit of Newsies until their moms came to pick them up.

They were a good group of girls, and I'm so glad Annah has sweet friends who shared her birthday celebration with her!

Pumpkin Carving 2010

We really had a lot of fun together, carving our 3 pumpkins tonight!

The kids all love to "squish the guts" in their fingers.  So their job was to scoop the guts out and separate the seeds so we can roast them later.

Sylvia shared all kinds of pumpkin facts with us while we carved.  I think she has been learning about pumpkins this week in science class.

Daddy and Mommy discovered our backs and creaky joints don't take well to sitting on the kitchen floor too long anymore.  We must be getting old.  At least we can still get down on the floor, for now. Hahaha.

Eeew, SQUISH!

Too many seeds to count...

Family fun on a Tuesday night, yeah!  :)

As we carved the pumpkins, Sylvia read this prayer for us:

"Pumpkin Prayer"

{cut off top of pumpkin} 

Lord, open my mind so I can learn new things about you. 

{remove innards} 

Remove the things in my life that don’t please you. 

Forgive the wrong things I do and help me to forgive others.

{cut open eyes} 

Open my eyes to see the beauty you’ve made in the world around me. 

{cut out nose} 

I’m sorry for the times I’ve turned my nose at the good things you provide.

{cut out mouth} 

Let everything I say please You.

{light the candle} 

Lord, help me show your light to others through the things I do. 

Amen!

Caeden's 6th birthday party

Today was the official party to celebrate Caeden's 6th birthday.  Besides our family of 5 and Krampa & Gram, Caeden invited 2 friends--Kyle and Reece--to come over to our house for the party.

The kids love to have a theme for their birthday parties, so as a surprise, I chose Super Mario Brothers for Caeden's.  The kids did a egg/spoon race in the yard with eggs that look like Yoshi eggs.

Caeden was excited to have his friends over, but not enthused about having another picture taken.

Inside, we played "Mario Says!"

We had Papa Murphy's pizza for lunch!

No one could make me a cake with any Super Mario Bros. images on it (licensing issues), so I found these little Mario & Luigi figurines and Meijer bakery came up with the rest.  

Caeden was elated, kept going back to the kitchen to look at the cake, and couldn't wait to play with the little Mario & Luigi!

"I'm SIX now!"

 

Caeden & Kyle (and Mario & Luigi)

The boy received a lot of gifts!!

Gram & Krampa gave him a nice new winter coat, lots of much-needed jeans and shirts, and a watch!  He is really excited to learn to tell time on his watch with 3 hands. ;)

 

Uncle Travis & Aunt Erin and cousin Tessa sent a super cool remote control monster truck!  Caeden's eyes and mouth couldn't possibly have opened wider when he opened that!! 

 

Mommy & Daddy gave Caeden a Super Mario Bros. shirt, some jeans, some small LEGO sets, Pick-up Sticks, and Tiddlywinks.

 

And, he was quite surprised and excited about the Super Mario Galaxy 2 for Wii game!

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Since we won't see Gram & Krampa again for Annah's birthday, they gave her presents today too!

She will be a decade old in 2 weeks!

Gram & Krampa gave Annah a gorgeous new winter coat, scarf, boots,
2 pairs of gloves (1 for chilly days, 1 for playing in the snow), and a sock hat!
She's going to look sharp and be warm this winter!

New nail polish in girly colors--pink, red, and purple!  Ooh-la-la!

Annah loved the creative way Gram wrapped this box!  

Caeden doesn't mind sharing his birthday party day if he's already opened all of his presents.  

What was Mommy thinking, buying him a kazoo?!

3 sweeties  :)

The best surprise of the weekend was that Grandpa & Grandma L decided to come down Saturday evening!!  It is hard for them to get away, with Grandpa's business, and they hadn't been here in over 5 years.  So, it was very special to have them here!

Grandma played Caeden's new Tiddlywinks game with him.  (Sylvia kept score.)