Kayleigh's Pool Party

Weeks before Kayleigh's birthday she and I lay in my bed brainstorming what kind of party we should have for her birthday. In my mind I was trying to avoid hosting one million of her closest friends in my home since I am already barely making it with three kids. I thought about the things Kayleigh loved to do and swimming came to mind. So I asked her if she wanted a pool party and she said YES! The weather wasn't that great the morning of her party so we were thankful that the pool was heated. Kayleigh had such a good time that after the cake she wanted to get back in the pool and swim more and totally forgot about opening her presents. ( So did her mother since I am losing my mind these days!) We did remember to open her gifts thanks to some friends reminding us! We gave each child a pool noodle as party favors which was pretty exciting since items you can buy to play with in the pool are slim to none in this Asian city that we live. We had such a good time we may just do it again next year!

Some of our "crew" members. Zach, Michelle, Justin and Kate.

Zeb using Layla's pink towel. He had soaked his already and needed a dry one.

The swim caps were required by the way!

Anchor Party

In the fall Kayleigh started to attend a co-op class once a week for home school kids. She goes to a library called the Anchor and it has a wonderful selection of library books the kids can check out as well as home school materials. Kayleigh has really enjoyed making friends there and being a part of the class. Today they had a Christmas party for the all the kids. She had a great time. They played games, made some crafts, and had a gift exchange among all the kids.

Kayleigh making an ornament.

Tea Time!

Kayleigh loves to play tea party especially if I let her fill her pot with sweet tea! Yesterday Zeb thought he needed to take part in the action as well. After the first pot of tea was gone I decided to just give them water. They really had a lot of fun and water was everywhere which is the reason for the towels under their cups.

Hard Hat Zone

Kayleigh and Zeb's friend Nathan had his 4th birthday party on Saturday. It was a construction party. It was full of fun games like painting a house, a wrecking ball that knocked down boxes, and a race with dump trucks. The kids had a blast! I am pretty sure my friend Brooke ( Nathan's mom) is the next Martha Stewart. She had hard hats for each of the kids with their names on the back. She also sowed each of the kids a tool belt that had goodies in it like a tape measure. She is amazing!

Painting the house.

Dump truck race.

Zeb the construction man!

Kayleigh the construction woman!

Happy 2nd Birthday Zeb!!!

My dear little Zeb. I can't believe that you are two! Time has flown by so fast. You bring so much joy to our lives. You are funny, energetic, and very loving. Your birthday certainly wasn't what your mommy planned for it to be. I had planned a big party with all your friends and you were even going to get a "Mater" cake. You however, got very sick and we had to cancel your party. When mommy rescheduled your party we sang to you and while you were eating your cupcake you threw up everywhere! Zeb, I hate to brake the news to you but that is certainly a party killer! It didn't stop you though. You wanted more cake after throwing up and you were up running around ready to open gifts while mommy was cleaning up. I certainly won't forget this birthday. I love you and am so glad that God has blessed us with you.

Zeb's Helmet Graduation Party

Here is a little video during Zeb's Helmet Graduation Party. Hope you enjoy it!

Family Visit Day # 3- Zeb's Party

Monday morning we decided to rest since our weekend had been so busy. We took Hayley and Charlie to one of our favorite Chinese restaurants. That afternoon we had Zeb's birthday party. Danielle volunteered to make the cake. It was amazing!! She even made a miniature train for Zeb to eat on his own. He absolutely loved the cake and had no problems digging in right away. Most kids cry during their first birthday party but this little man had a great time. He only cried when we had to give him a bath to wash off all the cake. It was a great party and I am so glad that Hayley and Charlie could be there to celebrate.

Here he is getting ready to dig in. We decided it would be best to let him eat in his diaper. In hindsight I am very thankful for this decision!

Cheers everyone! I've downed this cake no problem!

Zeb opening his presents. Marianne and David gave him this really fun truck that actually backs up and goes a different way when it runs into something. However, it plays this really annoying song that can drive you completely insane.

Lydia's Birthday Party

Today we went to our friends house to have a end of the summer cookout and to celebrate Lydia's 1st Birthday. Lydia is one of Kayleigh's friends. Our friend Erin Ashley had a great idea to buy a pool and have the kids swim before dinner. They had so much fun. Kayleigh's favorite part was pouring water over all the girls heads. We had a great meal of grilled chicken and lots of fun sides. We ended the night by watching the Olympics with everyone.









Below are all the women that were here in the city this summer. They are all very special friends.









Poor Lydia got a little overwhelmed at all of us singing Happy Birthday to her. She didn't know quite what to think.





Check out the serious drool on this boy's shirt. John jokes and says he has to be dehydrated from loosing so much water!

Playground (Part 1)

We just celebrated Juliana's (Kayleigh's friend) birthday today. We found an indoor playground at a local shopping mall that kids can play in for a small fee. This includes a huge jungle gym with tubes, two levels, slides and a big room full of balls. As you can see Kayleigh absolutely loved playing in this area. We are very glad we found this place. I have a feeling we have not seen the last of the indoor playground!

Murder Mystery

John and I went to a Murder Mystery Party last night. It was a 1920's gangster theme. We had a great time. John was one of the people murdered so we had to figure out who the killer was! The good news is if you get killed you get to come back as another player. We had a blast. It was really fun to dress up and play the game.

This is the morning after. We spent the night with our friends that hosted the party and Kayleigh was wearing someone's boa around. She really liked it!