It's a Sleepover!

Wow! Twelve little girls can really wear you out! Caitlyn and Kylie had their birthday sleepover on Friday night. The girls had a blast of course eating ice cream cake, pigging out on pizza, playing games, painting nails, watching movies, and staying up until 5:30 in the morning. Yes, you heard me right!

The party started about 5:30ish, and while we were waiting for the pizzas to cook, the girls just played and chatted. Many of them were so excited about sleeping over that they put on their jammies as soon as they got here! :D Since both of the girls were having a joined party party, there was a definite divide between the younger girls and the older girls. Luckily, everyone got along and there were no fights the entire night.

Once the girls ate their pizza, it was onto the cake. I usually make the girls each a birthday cake, but we had decided on one cake this year since they were having a joined party. When they asked if they could have an ice cream cake, I wasn't sure I could pull that off, so we went to the store and the girls helped me pick one out. Honestly, even though it felt weird not making them a cake, it was one less thing on my to do list! :)

 

  

  

 

After cake, it was onto presents and what fun it was. The girls really got some great gifts, and I am so thankful that they have such nice friends. Caitlyn and Kylie also received some gifts from my parents that were big hits. Some of Caitlyn's favorite gifts were the purse and matching wallet she received from her friend Grace, the mp4 player with speakers she received from Grandma and Poppy, the Paperoni set she got from Kasie, and the Bedazzler she got from Taylor. She's already Bedazzled a pair of jeans!

 

 

Kylie also hit the jackpot, with many of her favorite things. She received a couple different My Little Ponies, several of her latest obsession Littlest Pet Shop figurines, the TinkerBell movie on Blu-ray from Grandma and Poppy, a Furreal pet, and the new Twister Hopscotch game. Both girls also got a $10 bill and a $10 gift card to McDonald's.

 

  

 

After presents, we played a few games, and gave out some prizes. Each girl received a photo Valentine card from Kylie and Caitlyn along with a Hasbro card game. I had kept all my Hasbro coupons from coupons.com and used them to snag the card games very inexpensively. Normally retailing for $5.99 a piece, I was able to get ten of them for a little under $10 dollars! Since I had already gotten the photo Valentine cards for free when I signed up for an online photo site, I think I did a pretty good job getting inexpensive party favors.

While the girls actually settled down pretty early and started watching movies, playing Nintendo DS games, and snacking on popcorn and cookies, it was almost hopeless at getting them to sleep. A little after 10 PM, a friend of mine dropped off her teenage daughter (Thanks Savannah and Jackie!!) who had been at a Valentine banquet, to help out for the night. She was a life saver, painting the girls' nails, doing their hair, and spoiling them rotten! I finally collapsed at around 3 AM and only two of the girls were asleep. One of them was my sweet Kylie, she's not a night owl. :) The next morning Savannah said that most of the girls had been up till after 5 AM!

 

  

 

The party was a success and I was so thankful that the girls were so well behaved. But I'm so glad that I don't have to think about another one till next year! :D

My New Laundry Room!

The last few weeks have been so busy here with the snow, the girls' birthdays and sleepover, and the kids passing around a cold, but I guess I always say that. It all comes with the territory with four kids, a husband and a dog I suppose! :) Anyway, I wanted to take some time today and catch up on some family posts. Jeremy has been busy busy working on even more house remodeling projects!

I forgot to take a "before" picture of my laundry room/pantry/hot water heater closet but I found this picture from last year that shows at least part of what it was like before.

As you can see, my washer and dryer were covered by folding doors, and off to the left side was a VERY small door that housed the hot water heater, but that we also used as a very much needed pantry space. We had been talking about doing something with this space for quite awhile, because the folding doors and the pantry door remained open most of the time (except when we had company over) and the small door on the left was so small that no adult could walk in it without turning sideways. I won't even mention how I manged to get myself wedged in the pantry one day! Lucky for me, Jeremy was home. :D

A few weeks ago, I heard a strange noise one evening and came out to the kitchen to see my husband sawing away at the post between the small door and the folding doors. When he decides he's going to do something, he just starts right then without warning! There was one thing he hadn't thought about though. This was a Thursday night and we were having 40 people over on Sunday night for the playoff game! After he assured me he would get it completed and finish painting my kitchen, I sat back and let him go to work. Jeremy always comes through and does a great job, so I wasn't worried... very much.

By late Saturday night here is what my new laundry room/pantry/hot water heater closet looks like!

 

 

Complete with hooks for my aprons, and even a dark wood wall behind the washer and dryer, Jeremy completed the room in about 48 hours and I LOVE it! It's accessible and thanks to these gorgeous baskets, new pantry shelves, and a hamper that Jeremy turned into dog food storage, it's organized too.

Instead of taking on the expense of putting in cabinetry above the washer and dryer and above the hot water heater (hiding behind the shelves), Jeremy kept the existing shelving units and covered them with very nice looking bamboo roman shades, and used some storage baskets that matched the dog food storage.

We just need to get one more matching roman shade for the window on the back door and it'll be perfect! It is amazing how much bigger my kitchen/dining area seems now. Thank you sweetheart!

Wordless Wednesday

I think someone is channeling Michael Jackson! :)

More Snow!

 

If you remember, right before Christmas we got almost a foot of snow here in the Richmond, Virginia area. That is very rare, especially that early in the winter season. But we had a blast, and as you could probably tell from all the pictures and videos, the kiddos were out playing in it every day until it melted.

Since then we've had very weird weather, with the temperatures being well into the fifties one week! But it has cooled back down immensely and the snow started again. Last weekend we got a foot of snow. That's right! A good 12 inches! It hasn't even melted yet and this morning it started snowing again. It's been coming down hard all day and doesn't show any signs of stopping soon. They said on the weather channel that it may turn into sleet later on tonight. Yuck!

While the snow was coming down and the wind was blowing hard, the kids decided earlier that they wanted to get out in it and play for awhile. Armed with my video camera and regular camera, I headed out to get a few shots before I froze my rear end off! Enjoy the pics and video. I love the one of Caitlyn trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue! :D Looks like they're calling for more snow to come our way on Tuesday!!

 

  

 

P.S. Because of the yucky weather and the chance of sleet later, we had to postpone the girls' birthday sleepover till next Friday. That's actually on Kylie's birthday, so they weren't too bummed. We are also planning on having a Super Bowl party here on Sunday. As long as we don't lose power and the TV still works, looks like we'll be here partying!

Happy Birthday Caity-bug!

I know I say this every year, but I really can't believe how fast the years have flown by! Today Caitlyn turns nine years old, and as our oldest child creeps closer and closer to her teenage years, I try to comprehend all that God has blessed our family with these past eleven years of marriage. God is good... ALL the time! Even through the hard times, God has proven himself over and over to our family, given us so many blessings we don't deserve, and allowed Jeremy and I to experience the joys of raising a beautiful and amazing daughter.

We don't have any exciting birthday plans today, just hanging out at home, enjoying the foot of snow we got over the weekend, and playing hooky from schoolwork. On Friday, both girls are having a sleepover. AAAHHH!!! Twelve pre-teen girls in our house at the same time just might be crazy, but I figure with both of their birthdays so close, it's easier to do it all at once. :) I will be sure and post pictures after we recoup from the party! :D

Love you all and thank you to God Almighty for the privilege to have Caitlyn as a part of our family!

Play-Off Game Party 1/24/10

This past weekend we had a great house party courtesy of Digiorno! As part of my blogging on My Four Monkeys, I'm a member of the HouseParty.com website. You host parties of your friends and introduce them to different products. This was our first one, and we ended up having 45 people over (that did include one unborn baby :D)! Really, it was just an excuse to have a blast hanging out with our friends. :) Digiorno provided the pizza for the party and we did the rest. We invited friends to come watch the Saints vs. the Vikings on Sunday night, and while our team (the Vikings) didn't win, we still had a great time with all our friends! So much in fact, we are hosting a Super Bowl party too!

Good food - Great friends!

Michael says, "I tasted. I believe."

 

Cooking them as fast as we can!

Go Vikings!

 

No Delivery! My pregnant friend Misty sporting her Digiorno sticker. :)

Even Luke got to stay up and watch the game!

 

Mr. Lacks in John David's Obi wan Kenobi mask :D

 

 

**Thank you to House Party and Digiorno for providing the Party Pack!**

Uncle Joe and Leona Bring Christmas to Virginia

We were very excited to have my Uncle Joe and his wife Leona visiting last Sunday and Monday. They were passing through on their way to vacation in South Carolina, and we were lucky enough to spend some time with them. We hadn't seen them since shortly after Luke was born! There was lots of playing cards of course (our favorite past time with Uncle Joe and Leona), and they even taught us a new card game called "Golf". Hitching a ride from Indiana, our Christmas presents from Nanny and Michael were a welcome surprise. It was Christmas again at our house for a little bit! The kids got some fun craft supplies and some other goodies, and all three big kids got new watches. Jeremy and I got a new game called "Don't Quote Me" and a few other things. We can't wait to try it out with our friends! Uncle Joe and Leona also brought the kids a VHS copy of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It's the version with Donny Osmond, and the kids got a kick out it. They've watched it like five times already! Half my pictures came out fuzzy for some reason, but here's a few that turned out okay.