BEAUTY #2

First we had St. Al's play, then today we went to the live action film (James is feeling much better and I'm on the mend enough to go out in public). The SouthPark GATES students will be putting on their play at the end of the month (making that our 3rd showing this year).

SICKIE SATURDAY AND SUNDAY

With mama totally knocked out by a cold and a surgery decision to make, and James sniffling and sneezing, we decided to skip the birthday party we were invited to and just spend the weekend resting up. Thankfully the kids were able to keep themselves plenty busy with Legos and other crafts!

Cora finished her Lego Friends Amusement Park set (it took a couple months because she tends to just do a little bit here and there with her sets)!

The Lite Brite made a reappearance (I love when old toys become new favs again) and James got busy designing Star Wars planes to fly in the 3D Crayola set that Will and Lauren gave him for his birthday.

 He also put together a couple of 3-in-1 Lego sets (he LOVES the dragon):

Cora decided to help James with planet painting for the model Uncle Jamie gave them too:

SPRING BREAK DAYCAMP

The kids spent Spring Break at the YMCA Daycamp for the first time this year (because Gramma is coming out at the end of the month instead, to help Jay while I'm at a week-long training course) and they had a great time! Just like in the summer, they got to swim twice a day, watch movies, do arts and crafts, read stories and play games, and run around outside on the track and in the gym. The best part for them was simply getting to be with Coltin and Emma every day though, I think, as that's all they really talked about. The best part for us parents was that they were exhausted every single day (James got over 12,000 steps each day!) and bedtime was very easy all week ;-)

Partner Portraits (Cora drew Emma, and Emma drew Cora):

Leprechauns (they each posed near their artwork):

 Making Pots of Gold: 

 The week ended with St. Patty's Day, so they brought home all their artwork and we hung the Pots of Gold in the kitchen.

FENIAN'S

 I had an appointment with a knee specialist at the MS Sports Medicine Clinic this afternoon, so we decided to have a very late lunch/early dinner afterward to celebrate St. Patty's Day (Corned Beer and Cabbage for Jay, Fish and Chips for me) before heading back to the 'Burg to grab the kids and spend the evening at home (as I was developing a nasty cold complete with fever and inability to breathe well - no party at Martin's for us!)

BOOSTERED UP

As a treat to ourselves, we decided to make the best spring cleaning decision ever and get the van washed and detailed (seats shampooed and everything). After having other people's kids tell us how stinky the van was, it was obviously needed... So we took out the giant Britax combo seats that we've been using for years (which have gotten completely disgusting and their foam cushioning destroyed), cleaned out and reorganized all the "stuff" and junk, and turned it over to the professionals. In the meantime, we ordered the kids each a new high-back booster seat for the van (James had actually outgrown the harness setting on his Britax... 8 years old, >60 lbs, and almost 52" tall!) and converted the smaller Britax combo to a high-back booster in the Jetta. Cora felt pretty cool driving around in the Jetta while the van seats dried with her new belted car seat...

 Then today the van was all set up with their new booster seats installed!

Dude, even the windows were clean. Inside AND out. Hopefully it lasts a while!

BARLEY'S ANGELS - MARCH

I hosted Barley's Angels tonight and I decided to bring some St. Patty's Day brews (Guiness and Killian's), a meat and cheese tray, and some green frosted cookies. It was a very small group (as it has seemed to be for the past few months - hope we can change that soon), but we enjoyed ourselves and I stayed out pretty late for a work night. Evil Greg had brought us a fancy Imperial IPA from the Portland area once again, so I needed to let that settle before heading home.

GATOR BURRITO

JAMES' GOOSEBUMPS BIRTHDAY PARTY

James decided on a Goosebumps theme for his birthday party this year, so we ordered him the newest Goosebumps Slappyworld book "Slappy Birthday to You" and planned the minimal decor needed for his skate party around the novel. He had a "Slappy Birthday to James" birthday cake, lime green frosted cupcakes (the usual red velvet recipe), cotton candy (in reference to the Goosebumps movie with the old run down carnival), a bunch of candy, a sampler tray of Girl Scout cookies (because we had 20 boxes in the house...), chips, pretzels, pizza, and Goosebumps novels as "party treats" for his guests. He insisted on wearing his Slappy Halloween costume (so we've certainly gotten our money's worth out of that this year between Halloween, Character Day, and his birthday party!)

Almost all his Cub Scout friends attended, as well as all the boys (and their siblings) that he really wanted to party with, so he was a happy dude!

Group photos are not easy at parties since the kids are always running (or jumping or skating) around, but I tried. These photos have almost everyone (not Cora or Emma, though):

 After the party, we transferred Will, Coltin, and Emma to our vehicles and took them home for a our first ever sleepover at our house. They were all SO EXCITED! I drove the girls, and it was the noisiest car ride of my life... Singing at the top of their lungs, dance moves in the back seat, joke telling, plan making, and eventually just screaming at the top of their lungs for the fun of it.

The boys were already tired from all the skating, so they happily settled in to watch the Goosebumps movie (while eating leftover pizza, chips and Ranch dip, and a little more candy...)

The girls watched Trolls (which we rented for the weekend), read some books to each other, tricked me into thinking their yawns meant they were ready for bed, then crashed the boys' party in the living room to watch Spiderman cartoons until Will and James and Coltin kicked them out because they wanted to go to bed.

The boys passed out as soon as we sent the girls back to Cora's room, but the girls were still wide awake over an hour later at 11:30pm. Jay and I gave up and went to bed at that point (we were exhausted), after telling them they could stay up talking and playing as long as they kept their door shut and their music off so that the boys could sleep.

The next morning was filled with LOT of Lego playing, some donuts (funny side story... as I was leaving to go get the donuts Jay asked me to take the girls so he and the boys could have just a little bit of peace and quiet... rather than text Dawn for permission to drive Emma around again, we just sneaked out quick, only to run into Stirlin at the donut shop - luckily he didn't mind!), a little bit of time out in the backyard, and eventually video games for the boys. (It was cold, but the girls decided to stay outside anyway.) Oh, and James opened his presents (since he didn't do so at the party last night).

Once Coltin and Emma left around noon (Will had left earlier because he was heading down to NOLA for a family adventure), Cora put back on her pajamas and fell asleep within 10 minutes of my starting Trolls for James to watch. Naps are awesome. James loved his party and his sleepover, so we'll call his 8th birthday a success!