Jack's 10th Birthday Party

Remember Jack's surprise sleepover on January 29th? That night, we gave Jack a gift of a birthday party with several friends, and yesterday was the big day! Jack had invited 10 friends to join him, and we took them to a place in town that has Bowling, Laser Tag, Glow Golf, Video Games, etc. We only had 2 hours for the party, and we squeezed as much fun into those hours as we could. By the end of our time, we had a bunch of happy, sweaty boys on our hands, and Jack felt very celebrated and loved.

~ our birthday boy ~

~ bowling ~

~ Jack getting a spare ~

~ bowling brothers ~

Cooper LOVED bowling! I think he liked it so much that he will get a post of his own with photos and exclamations of his love of it!

~ Jack & Allie ~

In between turns, Cooper spent some time in Corey's lap.

~ buddies ~

(and a couple of little brothers)

Allie's friend, Katie, stuck around too. They both enjoyed bowling!

moving on to the next thing...

~ cake time! ~

Happy Birthday, Dear Jackson!

~ eating cake ~

After the kids ate cake, they all played Laser Tag. I was not allowed in the gameroom with my camera, so there are no photos of that, but they all loved it! After Laser Tag, parents showed up to pick up their kids, and we said bye to Jack's guests. We stuck around for a bit longer to let our kids play Glow Golf, another round of Laser Tag, some video games, and another game of bowling with the Rector kids.

~ Jack & Kirby playing Glow Golf~

~ Cooper putt-putting ~

~ Jack & Mom ~

~ Dad & Jack ~

It was a great finale to our long celebration of Jack's 10th birthday!

Oops. (I forgot to push "Publish Post")

I wrote a post on Sunday night called "Taking 4 Kids To The Aquarium (and living to tell about it)" that I evidently forgot to publish. If you are interested in it go back a few posts from here, and you will find it.

1 Holiday, 3 Mommies, 6 Kiddos, 3 Years, 1 Sofa

It is unofficially official... my friend, Randi, cannot ever get rid of her blue & white couch... and must always host a Valentine Party for these 6 kids. At least until they all go to college. Right, Randi?

Without really planning it, this sofa has become the place where time is measured for these six little buddies on Valentine's Day. When we started our Playgroup in the fall of 2007, it was out of a need to socialize, celebrate, and sometimes commiserate with friends that had babies that were going through the same things as we were. Through the years, we have seen our little ones grow into playmates that truly are friends. Our conversations have moved from how to move a baby from a crib to a big bed, to potty training, to choosing preschools (or not), to kindergarten plans. We have talked about how to get our kids to eat and sleep and share. We have found encouragement in each other as we all do things a little bit differently, but we all have a desire to raise Godly, kind, thoughtful kids. I am thankful for the women that I get to call my friends. These 3 - Cheryl, Emily, and Randi (among others) - are my teamates in this mothering thing as our kids grow - and we grow - up together.

Here is how our little ones have grown from year to year to year...

~ 2008 ~

~ 2009 ~

~ 2010 ~

~ The Playgroup Mommies ~

(This is one of the only photos of the 4 of us. It was taken last July.)

Playgroup Valentine Party '10

Yesterday was our annual Playgroup Valentine Party with Cooper's little friends. My friend, Randi, hosted us at her home and as always, it was decorated with the perfect little festive touches... like these "circle of love" doilies. (She talked about making them here on her blog.) She is a good balance for me. While Cooper showed up to the party with store-bought valentines with tacky Nerds candy, her kids had wonderfully crafted homemade valentines. I love her for that... but more than that... for the fact that she doesn't look down her nose, not one little bit, at me, the anti-Martha Stewart... whereas she is Martha in the making. :) I say all that to say... I love you, Randi. And thank you for opening your home and making our little parties so special!

We all brought a snack to share.

~ snack time ~

~ Claire & Joshua ~

~ Jonathan & Lila ~

~ Cooper and Luke making sacks to hold their valentines ~

~ Cooper's sack ~

~ Claire Bear & her sack ~

(I think that it is funny to compare her girl-sack to his boy-sack. He stuck a couple of stickers on it and was done... ready to move on to "the good stuff".)

~ the crew ~

We have taken of a picture of our kids in this exact spot every Valentine's Party for 3 years.

I love that my niece (and now my nephew) are part of our Playgroup!

~ pretty girl ~

~ sweet boy ~

Jacob and Tate (Randi's baby) are the 2 new additions to the group. Yesterday it became official...

She gave him this adorable banana valentine...

... and he accepted with a kiss.

(Or an attempt to taste her head, I'm not sure.)

Happy Valentine's week! Hope you all feel very loved!

From The Vault: Cowboy Jack

This is one of my all-time favorite photos of Jack. I had never shared it on my blog before, so tonight I decided to take it out of the vault. This was a day last February when our family went down to Corey's place to do some work - the place where he has very fond memories of time spent with his dad when he was a boy, and the place where he is making many fond memories with his son. I love to see my little boy that has been raised in the city wearing cowboy clothes and working with his daddy. Jack is learning so much from Corey as they spend time together at The Place, and I am thankful that Corey has land to take him (and someday Cooper) to and the desire to teach him how to be a man the way he does. He will be hard working, smart man someday... and a lot of that has to do with his daddy. Thank you for loving my sons and teaching them well, Corey. I am thankful for you, and I love you! And Jack... there is not a cuter cowboy on earth than the one in this photo! I love you too!

Taking 4 Kids To The Aquarium (and living to tell about it)

Off and on this weekend, we spent time caring for my niece, Claire, while her parents were on a mini-vacation to the mountains. We had a great time spending some one on one time with her. She is a cutie and made us laugh a lot! On Friday, my kids, Claire, and I went to the Dallas World Aquarium for the afternoon. (I love this about homeschooling - we get to go on field trips at times when places like aquariums are not too busy.) We have absolutely loved having a membership to the aquarium this year! While it seemed like a costly investment at the time that we joined, it paid for itself in 2 visits and we have gone 5+ times so far... and we are members until June. Each time that we go, we see something new, and we love it. We have gotten to go as a family and have taken several trips where we invite friends to come along. This was one of those times.

~ Jack & Cooper looking at the penguins ~

~ 2 manatee ~

~ anteater ~

This was the first time that we have visited that the anteater was in his exhibit.

~ Allie, Claire, and Jack ~

This is where Claire hung out most of our trip through the aquarium - on Allie's hip.

~ another new exhibit - a baby croc ~

~ the girls ~

~ Cooper, Jack, Allie, and Clarie ~

~ by the big tank ~

~ by the big tank ~

(with a flash)

We ate lunch in the restaurant in the bottom of the aquarium. Good food, SLOW service, fun atmosphere.

I like this photo of my girl!

Claire took this one of Cooper and Allie. I think it is a cool shot!

~ Beautiful Claire ~

~ Photo of Mom & Jack in the restaurant (by Cooper) ~

~ Claire & Allie through the aquarium ~

~ in the shark tank tunnel ~

~ Coop & a shark ~

~ Jack & some sharks ~

~ Claire and a shark ~

~ look to the left ~

~ leaving the aquarium ~

Oh, and by the way... it really wasn't that hard to take 4 kids to the aquarium (and live to tell about it). With Allie's help and 3 other kids that were really good, we had a great time!

Celebrating The Big 1-0

It's not every day that you turn into a double-digits-kid. Yesterday was that day for Jackson, so we celebrated his 10th birthday a little bit here-and-there all day long. It was a school day, so we started the morning out early. As soon as he realized that it was his birthday, he was up and attem, dressed in his uniform, and ready to open gifts.

He had a few gifts, so he decided to open 3 of them in the morning and 3 at night. This was the first thing he opened, and he was SO excited...

~ a hamster cage! ~

Jack had been wanting a hamster for a long time, and he was thrilled to find out that he was getting one for his birthday. Our plan was to give him the cage in the morning and take him to pick his hamster out after school that afternoon.

~ cinnamon rolls on the Special Plate ~

I had never taken Jack a lunch at school, and I thought that it would be a special treat for his birthday. He especially loved his chocolate milkshake. We also had brownies to share with his classmates, and they all sang him Happy Birthday.

Corey arranged his work day so that he could join us when the kids got out of school. We all went with Jack to pick the perfect hamster.

He settled on a sweet little Winter White Hamster and named him Einstein.

Isn't he a cutie?

We thought that Milly would be very interested in him, but she sniffed him a bit and went on about her business. When he rolls around in his ball, he sometimes bumps into her while she is laying on the carpet, but she is not phased in the least.

~ the last of the gifts ~

No special occasion is complete for Jack without some Lego action.

For dinner, we took Jack to a hibachi restaurant, and he loved it. (although Cooper hid under the table because he does not care for the fire on the table) After dinner, we all went to Chuck E Cheese's to play video games.

He is a fan of any games that give him tickets, so he can use them to "buy" things at the end of the night.

~ Coop playing in the tunnels/ slide ~

"I partied with Chuck E" balloons :)

~ Corey with the Birthday Boy ~

~ me and my 10-year-old

It was a great day.

Boy! I love that boy!!!