Race Day!

The weekend after the big 60th birthday party was the Duck Commander 500 race! Mom, Selah, Faith, Tali and I sent the race fans off to the race like this: 

 A fake beard can't fool this little one - she would know her Pop-Pop anywhere! 

After the boys and Amanda left, the girls got their nails painted, their hair fixed and pretty dresses on. 

Mom and I took them out for tea and cupcakes! 

The racers had a great time, even though it was cold and rainy and the girls had fun being girls. What a great weekend!

Ready....Set....60!!

April 1st was a busy day! Not only was it the Triplets' 5th birthday, it was Dad G's (AKA -Pop-Pop's) 60th Birthday! 

Mom and I decided it would be a racing theme because he likes the races - but also because of his big surprise present. Mom, Amanda, Jackie and I had so much fun decorating for the big event!

 After the triplets' fun hotel costume party, we headed back to Mom and Dad G's house for the 60th party. We had sandwiches and then opened presents. 

The first present contained the BIG surprise...

Tickets to the Duck Commander 500 race!!

And the biggest part of the surprise was that there were tickets for all of the boys of the family and Amanda!! I had kept the secret from Gabe - here is his face when he realized he would be going to the race, too!!

 Many of his gifts went along with the race theme, like toilet paper from Amanda. This was a little inside joke. When Amanda was little he would take her to the races, but make a stop in the bathroom for toilet paper to stuff in her ears because he always forgot the ear plugs!

To make the celebration even more fun, we had surprise guests! Jackie and Ernest came up from Miami to help celebrate. They also brought a special gag gift...

 There used to be a fake poop that was passed around at birthdays and Christmas, but over the years, it has gotten lost. But, have no fear, Aunt Jackie found a new one! And so the tradition continues....

.....BUT there is also an inside joke between the Miami crew and Dad G involving pickles, so Dad G got a little confused. 

He thought the fake poop was a fake pickle and pretended to eat it! 

This, of course, made a funny gag gift just that much funnier!!

Such a fun celebration! 

It was great to be able to celebrate this sweet man. Dad G is the kind of guy that doesn't like a whole lot of attention. He prefers to be behind the scenes...even this party was more party than he really wanted. He is thoughtful and caring - always making sure we are safe and have what we need. He shows love through acts of service and I am convinced that he can fix anything! He has a gentle and calming personality, yet he is so funny!! He loves to make us laugh and then laughs along with us! We are all so blessed that he is a part of our family! 

Happy Birthday, Pop-Pop! And many more!!!

A Monster Good Time!

On April 1st the triplets turned 5! They had the most fun birthday, ever! 

All three of them love the Hotel Transylvania movies and so they had a monster dress up party at a hotel! How awesome is that?!?

Even the grown-ups (well most of them) dressed up! 

Natalia was a werewolf, Charli was a monster bride, and Adrik was a vampire. So CUTE!

There were pillows on the floor, popcorn to eat and the movie projected on a wall. 

And I can't forget the donuts! Talk about a "sweet tooth"!

The hotel also had swans, and so they had packages of swan food for all the kids to feed them. 

I found out it was a costume party the Thursday before the party - and we were leaving to go down the next day! Our invitation didn't get delivered for some reason. So Thursday afternoon I ran to our costume trunk and started digging. Luckily we had things that would work with a few little adjustments! 

Here are my little monsters: 

Faith made the sassiest little pink monster ever. This was a full body suit that was about 3 sizes too small, but I cut off the arms and legs and made them into cuffs and leg warmers.

Gabe was a pirate skeleton. He was Jack Sparrow for Halloween this year, so I just made a skeleton mask from felt to make it into a monster-ish costume. 

Selah was a ghost. She already had all of this costume in her box thanks to hand-me downs from a sweet friend!

Mig was the Grimm Reaper. He actually wears this costume around the house on a pretty regular basis, so he was excited to wear it out of the house! 

We had a cape and a mask for Byron from when he played the villain at Gabe's 4th birthday party. I had an angel of death dress. I added a black cape and a witches hat and it made a great witch costume. 

Here are all of the kids:

We arrived at Mom's house the night before the party and were greeted by surprise visitors! Aunt Jackie and Uncle Ernest came up from Florida and my sister Amanda came up from Houston! They were really there for Dad G's 60th birthday, but came prepared for the Monster Party, too! SO FUN! 

Here is our monster family. Amanda has the puffy blue monster hat, Jackie has the green monster hat, Ernest is in the back with the furry horn hat, Barb has the crazy rainbow mask (I LOVE IT) and the Cookie Monster in front is the triplets' other aunt, Lizzie. Rachel is a werewolf and Mom and I are witches. What a group!

It is not often you can get a group of grownups to dress up like this: 

It really was a super fun party for kids and grownups alike! 

Easter 2016

We had a fun and exciting Easter this year! 

On Friday we went to our Homeschool Prepare and Share gathering where the kids all shared a project from the month. Then they performed an Easter Reader's Theater and had a picnic. We ended the gathering with an Easter Egg Hunt!

Faith found one egg and was happy. She thought the hunt was over once you found one! 

Finally she understood that she was supposed to find as many eggs as she could! 

 Here is our Prepare and Share group:

And one with the Mommys, too!

These ladies have become such close friends over the 3 years that we have been homeschooling together. I couldn't ask for a lovelier circle of friends (both inside and out)!

On Saturday we died eggs.

Byron is such a trooper. Arts and Crafts are one of his least favorite things to do. But he participates with a smile - every time. :)

On Sunday morning we got up VERY early for the sunrise service at the park. Here is our quick but cute and festive breakfast: 

The Sunrise Service was COLD and very windy! We have started an MBF Drama group and our first performance was at the service, so we had to be there. I'm glad it was a short drama! And I am quite sure the congregation that showed up was glad it was short, too. It was such a powerful message, though, that I linked an iPhone video of it here for you to watch as well. 

After the Service we met some sweet friends for coffee and hot cocoa at Starbucks and then headed to regular service. After church we had barbecue lunch and our own Easter Egg Hunt. Luckily, the weather warmed up and the wind stopped by then! 

Faith found the PRIZE EGG!!

Each kiddo received a small kite in their Easter Basket and so that afternoon we took them to go fly them! 

It was a relaxing and fun way to spend Resurrection Sunday!!