Annie's 11th Birthday

Annie turned 11 last week!  On her birthday, I kept her and Abby out of school and we had a day trip to a nearby city instead.  When we got home, we had family gifts.

We had ice cream for her dessert that day.

Dinner was last because it was a cub scout night and the Webelos were coming to our house to make dinner for one of their requirements.  They thought is was fun to make Annie's birthday dinner.  (They're her age, and are also her friends.)

A couple of days later, Annie had a lateover party.  She wanted to invite 32 girls!  We managed to cut the invitations back quite a bit.  Ha ha!

Jim grilled burgers for dinner.

Friend gifts.

Annie took some pictures while everyone was waiting on me for cake.

She wanted a giant ice cream cookie cake.  We made three giant chocolate chip cookies, and layered it with strawberry revel ice cream.

She wanted to have a movie night, so we invited the girls to wear jammies and bring blankets and pillows. 

Little Women is one of Annie's favorite books, so that was the movie she chose.  The girls were hilarious with this movie.  Every time there was a kiss, a dramatic groan went up from this group.  So funny.

End of March

How many friends can we fit on the foyer couch at church?  17!

Mad Brig.

We rearranged our family room, and made a more permanent set up for our projector last week.

The set up in the room has felt awkward to me ever since we moved in.  It's taken me months to figure out how to arrange it!

Moving furniture and making a mess...

We set up the projector at the same time.

Movie ready.

The cords tuck away on top of the bookcase.  I really like how this room feels now.  I'm finally motivated to decorate.  Ha ha!

Abby and Laurel surprised Jim by doing the dishes on his day.

Abby (almost 6yo) was throwing a fit over these pull ups. Laurel (age 3) is independent with potty needs, but has been having trouble staying dry at night. So I bought these for her (first child I've ever used these with...) and she was excited to show Abby. Abby was angry because she didn't get these when she was 3.  Then, later that evening she decided to try one out.  

11:30pm on my way to bed, and I had a surprise.  The little girls' room was empty!

Adding to my list of things I never thought I'd do as a parent:

I woke my 12yo at midnight and made him climb up the laundry chute. 😂

It was 100% necessary. We'd given Alex (9yo) permission to lay in our bed for a while because he and Logan had been fighting. Alex locked our door (which has a key lock, but we don't have a key) and fell asleep. I couldn't wake Alex, so the only access to our room was through the laundry chute.

On Saturday, we did a little yard work and ended with a fire.  The boys were happy to oblige me by starting and caring for the fire themselves.

I pulled out a bag of marshmallows (hidden from last summer) and we had a little treat.

We've had a virus going through our family, and Laurel has had it the worst.  She slept most of two days.  Abby was sweet to read to her on Sunday.

Annie, Logan, and I had some picture fun on Sunday.

Cute hair.

Photo bombing brother.

A couple of short legs pictures...

And a long legs picture.  Perspective makes a difference!

Playing with my filters while checking on little miss sick.