Happy Birthday Grace!!

Grace's celebration started on Friday at school. This is the first year that school has been in session close enough to her birthday to take something in. We went to the store and she picked out a strawberry cake and she wanted pink frosting. We made the cake on Wednesday night and frosted it Thursday night. We even bought candy letters to put on it, but once they were on and I went to take a shower half of the letters were gone. Hmmmmm... And of course there aren't enough letters to replace the ones missing...LOL

Sunday was party time. Since she had a birthday party in June (her 1/2 birthday) she understood there weren't any presents, but that didn't stop us from having a good time. Her friend Abby came over and played for a while, helped me make some cookies. Wrestled on the sofa and got ready for dinner. She chose seafood (I am the only one in the family that doesn't like it). The only seafood she really likes is crab legs, so off to The Crab Trap we go. We walked in and we were the only ones in the place so we partied like it was 1999. The waiter pulled out the lobsters from the tank and the kids felt the shells and Seth and I held one.

Since she had a cake for school she decided that a "Giant Party Sundae" was in the works for her birthday. She found this watching Sprout (a TV channel). We found the recipe online and bought the ingredients. We had strawberries, orange jello, banana pudding, grapes, angel food cake, more strawberries and a large dollop of cool whip topped with a cherry. It was very YUMMY!!

It is amazing to me that she is 5 now. I hope we all make it to 6..LOL It occurred to me today that she will be in Kindergarten next year, and although I am excited that she will be going, I am also scared to death. We all know she will is the last child we are going to have and she has brought so much love and laughter into our lives.

*Note: Seth is a SUPER big brother. He woke up early this morning and wrote a note and taped it to Grace's door. It says "Happy Birthday Grace". He was so good today. I know that they will have their sibling rivalries, but in the end I know they will be there for each other when it counts :)

A Weekend in Panama City, FL...

Richie has been in Panama City for NCO Academy since the beginning of November. He has been coming home on the weekends, and we decided that this past weekend we would go see him and enjoy some of the city. We took the dog with us and found a hotel. Well, the first hotel was less than appealing. So, we ate the cost and found another hotel that took pets. Thank goodness for Choice Hotels. It was amazing that the first hotel, which was not a chain was the same price as a chain hotel, but didn't offer the amenities of the chain hotel. Oh well, lesson learned!! Once we got settled into a hotel on Friday night, we got up Saturday morning to hit the town tourist style. We were a mile from the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum...AMAZING!! I could have walked through that thing 5 times. There were so many amazing things to read about and look at. Grace was not to thrilled about the museum, she thought we were going through a haunted house. She finally caved to the fact that we weren't paying attention to the act she was putting on and enjoyed it. Seth was great, he was walking around with Grace reading all the signs to her and was really enjoying the museum. I recommend it to anyone going to Panama City.

We saw a Siamese lamb and a 6 legged something.

This is the tallest man to ever live. He was 8' 11" tall. He just happen to live in Alton, IL and graduate from Alton HS.

A human unicorn, a sculpture made out of pure jade, and our last piece was the matchstick coliseum. It was amazing!!!

After about 2 hours in the museum, we headed across the street to Wonderworks!! And before you ask, yes, the picture in right side up. The building is upside down. How freaking cool is that?!?!?! This place was just as amazing. There was all kinds of hands on stuff to do. I put the camera away so that I could enjoy some of it too. The price of admission into here is a little more expensive, but the rope challenge is included and yes, I will embarrass myself for you and show you that I can do it!! Richie and Seth upgraded to play lazer tag as well. Seth was thrilled to learn when the game was over that he won...LOL

Yes, Richie is laying on a bed of nails...CRAZY!!

There was an art museum part of the building. WOW!!

After leaving the upside down house, we headed back to the hotel and Grace and I took a cat nap, then headed into town for some dinner. Then it was time for some putt-putt golf. This was the first time Grace actually joined up for the game. She would usually just walk around with us and not even try. She did great and got the hang of it. Seth kicked some behind and we all had a GREAT time!! There are lots of things to do in Panama City, FL, but we are only an hour and a half away, so we can take our time seeing things!!

Crafty Ornaments...

I found these nifty little cookie cutter ornaments online and of course thought, "I can do this!!". So, I headed to Wal-mart and picked up some cookie cutters. They had a bucket of 18 cutters for$9. I already had some glitter at the house and mod podge and ribbon. So, the kids and I got to work. We put a little glitter in a ziploc baggy. Brush the cookie cutter with mod podge (inside and out). Put the cutter in the baggy, close it up and SHAKE!!!! Once you take it out of the bag, put it on a paper plate to dry and then hot glue a bow on it!! We have a little tree by the front door, so the kids have taken to putting all the cookie cutters on that tree. It looks so cute though!!

I do have one more ornament that I would like to make for the kids, but first I have to find some plastic ornament balls. I don't really want to use the glass ones. It is a time capsule ornament!! I may even try to make one every year for them. Found at cleverlyinspired.blogspot.com

Some Twister and Santa Parade!!!

Wednesday was a laid back day. I went to dinner with some of the girls at Outlaw Blues. Dinner was great and the company even better. We missed some of the girls, but hopefully I will see them at the ornament exchange party this month. I love Skype!! Thursday was all about family. Tiffani brought over some games. Twister was quickly taken out and the kids really got a kick out of it.

Friday morning Mom and I took the kids to meet up with Aimee and the boys for the Santa parade. Aimee and I noticed the uniforms of the high school we attended and Seth was in awe that i actually remembered that it was my school marching in front of us. LOL...Jeez, I may have just had a birthday, but I do still remeber a lot of things.

After the parade we went to lunch at one of the downtown shops. We do miss everyone so much and can't wait to see everyone again soon. Our next trip to Illinois won't be until February for Monster Jam. We will be taking the train home, so you can imagine the pictures that will be taken on that trip!!

Thank you everyone for a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I hope you have a fabulous Christmas break!!

Lunch in Downtown Lebanon and a Kickin' Birthday Party!!!

Tuesday was another busy day. That afternoon we met up with Annie, Abby, and Liv for lunch in Lebanon. I love the littel cafes uptown/downtown (which ever you prefer)...LOL We went to the St. Louis Cafe and had a wonderful lunch. The girls are getting so big and Liv is just soaking it all up!!

And, yes, we are freezing. We have fully acclimated to the weather of Florida and it fits us quite well, if I don't say so myself. This peticular day it was about 60 degrees outside. Now, don't get me wrong, it is 60 degrees in Florida right now as I am writing this, but 60 degrees here is SO different than 60 degrees in IL. The crazy wind in the midwest is a killer. I was bundled up like it was 30 below. Ok, enough of my rambling. We had a GREAT time spite the fridged air and the kids loved seeing their friends. It was great to catch up with Annie and realize we are in some deep trouble when these kids get older...LOL

After a very filling lunch we headed back to Nina and Grumpy's for a rest before an eventful evening. The kids passed the time by climbing the tree and playing soccer.

Tuesday night was a soccer filled birthday party for Carson. Little man is turning 6. OH MY GOSH!! Where is the time going?

The kids played soccer for about an hour and then we headed upstairs for some hotdogs, cake and presents!!

Grace met up with her friend Emma. The girls weren't too interested in soccer so they played in the open field running around.

We gave Carson this surf board that was made here in Navarre, FL. I can't wait to see it up in his room when we go back home!!

SURPRISE!!!

Monday was a big day for the kids!! We moved to Florida from a small town, where pretty much everyone knows each other. And if they don't, they will soon hear the gossip sooner or later. Well, since my kids didn't have school the entire week of Thanksgiving we left early and went to the school so that Seth could eat lunch and go to recess with the second graders. This all started when Mom went to school and told the second grade teacher that we would be coming. We thought that she wasn't going to tell the kids, but she did. No worries, the entire school knew, but somehow the one person that we for sure didn't want to know didn't. Mrs. Fritsch is like Grace's second Grandma. Just about every morning last year, we would go into the school and Grace would run up to her and give her a hug. She now works in the cafeteria, so we got to school early before lunches started and surprised her.

We waited around for the Kindergarteners to have their lunch and the kids sat with Freddy for a few minutes before we headed out to the playground for recess with second grade.

Ok, here is how this played out. One of the parents that I know from the school wrote on my Facebook page, "Seth is coming to school on Monday. Seth is coming to school on Monday? ...I think Seth is coming to school on Monday, boy this kid is bigger than Santa at this school right now...hahaha". Well that was pretty much how it worked out. We got to the playground a little earlier and the first graders where out there. Grace headed straight for the jungle gym and found her spot. She played like she had been doing it for years. She is so ready for school!!

So, a few minutes later the second graders came out. CRAZY!!! You would have thought there was a rock star in the building. Somewhere in the mob is Seth!!

Seth and Alex E.

Seth and Kylee.

After recess we went in to have a school lunch. That day was soft tacos.

Every kid was asking Seth to sit next to them. I finally had to politely tell the kids that Seth would sit in a seat and whoever sat down first would be sitting next to him. Seth was getting overwhelmed with all the kids, you could tell he didn't know what to say because he didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Grace sat with the girls and was enjoying the official school lunch. She was hesitant on the whole lunch line ritual but figured it out pretty quick.

After lunch we visited all the teachers Seth has had since Pre-K. First was Mrs. Moore. Then Mrs. Quayle for Kindergarten and last but not least Mrs. Barnouski for first grade.

In Seth's words, "It was awesome that I got to see them!"