BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

Someone turned FIVE this past April!

Birthday celebrations usually consist of a meal of your choosing and presents/cake with just us after Daddy gets home from work on the actual birthday.  Then, we will usually have immediate family over to celebrate on a weekend that is convenient.  Five is a big number in our family.  It is the first time you can invite some friends and have a "big" party, not just our normal small-ish gathering.  (As if 20+ of immediate family is SMALL!)  Anyway, Missy's birthday fell on a Friday..BUT it was the day after the wedding AND an unavoidable event that night (I'll explain later)--so we did things a bit differently.

Mike was home and since we couldn't do a special dinner, we did presents first thing in the A.M. and then went out for breakfast!

This is a rare treat, breakfasting (well, dining really..) out. 

So, it was a nice alternative to our normal birthday routine.

We even brought along a candle to stick in her pigs in blanket.

 After that, we headed to our next place on the list..only to find that we needed to wait a half hour or so until the place opened.  It just so happened there was a park RIGHT down the road.  Perfect for a half hour's worth of play.

When time was up, we headed back to a paint-your-own-pottery place (now open!) to wrap up the birthday celebration.  It had a two-fold purpose.  #1, something fun to do on a birthday and #2, the kids each picked out a piece to give to the grandmothers for Mother's Day.

Rian picked out a teacher mug.

Carina a ring holder

Michael a dragon.

Travis a vase.

Even Mike got in on the painting.

Jared slept the whole time in the stroller.

Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of the finished products after we picked them up.

Everything was lovely though.

That concluded our birthday day celebration.

The day however, was FAR from over!

APRIL WEDDING

The end of April was one major event after another.

Literally.

Wedding, bridal shower, birthday..

First up, wedding.

My uncle got married at the end of the month.

The parents.

The happy couple

The reception.

It was at the Lafayette House.

All the times I've been there, I've never been to a wedding reception there.  

The room was nice.

Mother of the groom and her oldest son.

Blurry bridal party.

Congratulations!!

Wishing you a lifetime of love and happiness.

OOOOH BOY!!

Hey!  Miss me?  May was seriously crazy busy.

I have a whole bunch of stuff to catch up on.

Events that just cannot be skipped over..

You'll have to bear with me for a bit.

I'll admit that I did have a couple of opportunities to sit down and update, but honestly it felt like a waste of time.  Sleep, people, quiet etc. were more important at the time.  You could say we've been too busy living.  Anyway, shall we get to it?  I don't promise to go in order.

OKAY!

April saw the boys in their new room!  There are still a few things left to finish up, but they are minor.  I'm still loving the carpet.  I tell you--it is softer than my mattress!  As for the rest of the house, well....it is still in a state of chaos.  We are down two closets currently, so there is nowhere to sit in the living room because the contents of the closets have taken up residence on the couch.  My living room decor consists of clothes, totes, and bed frames..not to mention toys and papers.  The girls are currently in limbo.  They don't have an official room.  They are camping out on mattresses in the old boys room.  Their old room is empty.  Well except for tools and building supplies.  We have the majority of the supplies needed to complete the room, but as May was so busy, we're looking for time currently.  We can't really do anything else until that room is done.  We need to move out of our room before the girls can have a bedroom.  Fun times!  Character building, right?  

April brought a trip to Liberty Science Center with friends.

I have never been there when it was so crowded!

It was P.A.C.K.E.D. full with people.

The kids still enjoyed it, even though there were some things we could not do because of the crowds.

April also brought Easter.

Here are a couple of shots.

There is always one that doesn't want to cooperate.

Last bit of April to come in the next post.

Thanks for sticking around!

FORWARD!

We can finally move forward!

Carpet was installed this morning.

We were expecting it early last week, but there ended up being an issue with the warehouse..so we had to be a bit patient.

The audience.

Finished product.

(I will be taking down those posters.)

I'm hoping we can move in the furniture tonight! 

Then comes the next room!  

LEAVING MARCH

I can't say I'm sad to say goodbye to March.

It has been a long, cold, snowy winter.

I will not miss it.

I have my windows open today, hoping to be rid of germs.

Two of the kids were hit hard this past weekend with..something.

Maybe fresh air will help us cleanse.

In other news, April begins baseball season!

So long life until mid-June!

Yeah, it is pretty much six days a week, between the two teams.

Michael is playing baseball and the girls are playing T-ball.

I'm thankful that the fields are both close.

Don't count on my doing much of anything else for the next couple months.

April also begins wedding season for us.

We have a wedding per month for the next three months.

April also will hopefully see the boys in their new room!

Carpet is ordered and I'm hoping it will be installed this week..

The room is all painted..in shades of brown.

I know it looks goldish/yellow in the picture, but its brown.

We were going to go with a camouflage theme--but we couldn't find a border that we LOVED.

So, instead I came across one with different wildlife on it and the boys love it AND we can still use the camo/hunting theme with wildlife.  It was a win/win.  I'm excited to see it all come together.

I was hoping that March would bring us a walker.

We aren't quite there yet though.

He stands and will take a couple of steps, but does NOT want to take it slow and steady.

He tries to run and of course falls down!

It'll come.

I still can't get over it.  I've said it before, I'll say it again--it is amazing how different every child is.

I'm getting excited to celebrate a 5th birthday,  garden, and go to the homeschool convention, and order our curriculum for next year!  

So many possibilities and fun things that April brings!

So long, March!

Til next year!

A GLIMPSE OF SATURDAY

Progress.

MY "HACKS"

Sometimes little things make all the difference.

Once upon a time, I had a clean, neat house.

It wasn't an issue.

Once number #4 came along AND I started homeschooling it became much more of a challenge.

I've written about it before.

There are only so many hours in a day and schooling takes precedence.My house is not so clean and neat anymore.

I don't think we're at the filth level, thankfully..but lets just say I wouldn't encourage anyone to eat off of my floors or run their white gloved fingers over any furniture.

Here are some little things that have made a big difference for me personally.

#1) I resolved to have the dishes done every night before going to bed.

I hate waking up to a messy kitchen.

I confess, sometimes I will leave 2 or three things--but NOT the counter piled.

Also, I used to leave clean dishes to dry on the counter.

They were clean..but it was more "clutter" on the counter.

So, to force the dishes away ;) I rearranged the counter-top so that now, there is no SPACE to pile them on the counter.  Hence, dishes get put away right away.

#2) This is still a work in progress.  Laundry gets done on a regular basis.

It gets folded on a regular basis.  BUT, it often will sit on the couch in those folded piles.

So, to counter that tendency.  I am trying to fold my laundry on top of the table.

I always need the table, so it cannot sit there for more than, oh..2.5 minutes.

It does help that children 1-3 put their own away.

Again, it is the little things.

Any helpful tips that you have to add?