Star Wars Party

We won a Star Wars: The Clone Wars party from House Party.  This is the second party we have won from these folks.  They are always a lot of fun.  The product manufacturer sends you samples, coupons, new products and toys.  All you have to do is invite some friends over and share the wealth.  Ok, I guess technically with some of the parties we could get away with just saying there are enough people in our own family to qualify for the free stuff but I just would not feel right about that.  Besides, we all love an excuse to invite friends over for a fun, relaxing time.

We received this game for the kids along with temporary tattoos, coupons, a DVD with out takes from the Clone Wars series and a few other treats.

The boys made cupcakes, we had pizza, watched the series premiere and the kids played outside until it was dark enough for the deer to start taking over the backyard. They may look cute but you don't want to come upon a deer at night that thinks you may be invading their territory.

  

Even the adults had a chance to sit down and talk and relax.  We actually had to drag the Dads back inside when it was time to send some folks home.  Here's hoping we'll be able to do something like this again soon.

Happy Birthday Katie

Katie turned 6 this week.  Her birthday card arrived right on time for us to all go out for her birthday dinner on her birthday.  This is becoming a very big deal to the kids.  Half way through dinner Katie leans over and asks me if they will be bringing her ice cream.  Yup, we know what is really important.

Happy Birthday Katie.  Hope you had a wonderful day.

Tractors

I don't understand the allure of tractor pulls. Must be a country thing.  But the kids liked it.  Lots of neat older tractors at least.

Home Depot Workshop

If you have never taken your kids to one of the Kids Workshops at Home Depot, you really need to change that.  These wonderful program provide young children with a chance to build a real wood project all on their own.  Or with minimal help from an adult or older sibling.  Even better, they are totally free.

Today I took Katie, Kieran and Liam and they all built their own pencil holders.  When you show up alone with 3 kids, they even send over one of the folks who works at the store to help out which is rather nice. The projects are easy enough for these three kids to honestly do them on their own with a little guidance and some help every so often pulling out nails that went in crooked.  We have taken younger kids but they require a bit more help so unless both parents are going, we tend to stick with the 5 and up crew.  I believe the workshops are aimed at kids from ages 5 to 10 or so but I've never seen them turn away a child who was slightly older or younger.   Everyone had a blast and is looking forward to going again next month.

Bee Hive

Upon further inspection, we believe these pesky suckers are hornets. Someone will be by tomorrow to remove them for us.  At least the nest is on the back half of the property and not too close to the house.


While taking a walk this evening I discovered a rather large bee hive nestled in one of our pine trees.   Thankfully it does not appear to be a wasp nest which was my first thought since we have those all over the yard.  Not quite as prevalent this year as in the past but the kids have been stung often because the wasps like to make nests under the swingset slide.

Now we have the question of what to do about it. With wasps the answer is easy.  With what might be honey bees, the answer is a tad more complicated.  This may be the answer to why our fruit crop seems so abundant this year.  We should be able to teach our kids to avoid it but not guaranteed since boys are curious creatures.

One or two stings is not really a big deal.  But more would be.  And we do have other kids over often enough to be concerned just in case.  I imagine I'll likely be calling a bee keeper to come remove the hive.  Hopefully that can done without disturbing the bees too much.

Robert

He loves the water table but hates the bathtub.

He's old enough to enjoy his own ice cream cone.

He loves to explore the yard.

He loves to read books.

Happy Birthday Gabe!

Yes, I know the pictures are a bit late.  Such is life around here right now.

Gabe turned 3 and had a wonderful day.  A very simple Thomas the Tank Engine cake which we ate for dinner per his request.  I've decided at this point in my life that I refuse to spend more time decorating a cake than it takes to eat it.  Sorry, I have priorities and I just can't waste a few hours decorating a cake that will be eaten in about 15 minutes.  Funny thing is the kids don't care.

Look at that happy face. 

His older brothers and sisters continued the tradition of wrapping their old toys to give to him. I'm not sure who enjoys that more. The kids doing the giving or the birthday child.  It always cracks me up to see what is passed down each year.

Happy Birthday little dude.