Nathan's 8th Birthday Party

Nathan turns eight in just a few days. I can't believe it! He's planning a VERY special day for his actual birthday, but we celebrated with his friends a few days early. This year he wanted a smaller "big kid" party. Actually he really wanted a sleepover, but I just wasn't quite ready for that birthday milestone, so we compromised and invited his friends over for an evening of pizza, ice cream and boy time. This was our first "friend" party. We didn't invite family or even little siblings. And the parents just dropped off their boys and then picked them up at the end of the party. So weird! But the boys all had a blast- and it was so easy for me, well except for trying to supervise so no one broke a bone, ha!

I did very little decorating or prep, but I did make some Lego gummies that are always a hit at birthday parties. I had to hid them from the boys during the party, ha!

We'll be out of town on Nathan's actual birthday, so we let him open his present from us right before his party. He was a very happy boy! I love how much he loves Legos.

The boys arrived and immediately went after the gummies.

I didn't plan any activities for the evening- just the food. Nathan wanted to play outside, play legos, watch a show and eat pizza and ice cream, and that's mostly what they did.

They were playing tag, but somehow everyone was also throwing toys around too. Boys :)

They also went upstairs and looked at Nathan's Legos for awhile.

A couple of the boys were late because of soccer practice, so once they arrived they sat down to eat pizza. I made them take a group picture first. Nathan invited four friends from church, three boys from his class, and one family friend. They are all such a GREAT group of boys. I'm so, so grateful he has made good friends and especially that he has such a good group of friends at church. I hope they always stay close friends as they grow up.

Eating, laughing, and burping. Boys!

After dinner they all ran back outside for awhile and then came in to watch a show. They watched an episode of Ninjago and then were ready for ice cream sundaes.

Nathan's not a huge fan of cake. He'd much prefer ice cream, so that's what we had to celebrate.

After ice cream Nathan opened his presents. He got some great new Lego sets, nerf guns, a Harry Potter blanket and gift cards. His friends know him well.

After presents, the boys mainly hung out upstairs. A group of them played Mario Kart and some played Legos in Nathan's room. They were all so easy going and found things they enjoyed playing. Much less drama than I'm anticipating at my girls' eight year old parties.

Near the end of the party, Nathan opened one of his new sets and his friends helped him work on it.

We asked the parents to pick up their boys at 9:00. They were all sad to go. Nathan said he had so much fun at his party. I'm so glad. He's so big but also just the sweetest kid I know. It's such a joy to celebrate him!

April Fun

We are enjoying Spring in Oklahoma! Here is some of the fun we've been up to.

So, this wasn't super fun, but at the beginning of the month we had a free, cloudy Saturday and we spent the morning cleaning windows and blinds. I'd been intending to clean our windows for probably a year and never found the time, so I'm glad it finally worked out.

The kids weren't super thrilled about it. We rewarded them with a birthday party that afternoon and a movie night.

Elisabeth got ready for school one morning and said, "Mommy, I think I'll be the most stylish one at school today." I love her silly personality.

Samuel started a spring soccer class at Soccer City this month. We usually do Almighty Sports for soccer, but this worked better with our schedule and it has been great so far. He has learned a lot and loves it.

On pretty Spring days (when we don't have after school activities) we walk/ride bikes to pick up the boys from school. I enjoy living so close to our elementary school to be able to walk to pick up the boys.

The boys school had a STEAM night and we all had a great time doing all the fun activities.

We had friends over for dinner one evening, and the weather was gorgeous. We grilled and the kids played outside almost of the whole night. It felt like summer! We are ready!

We had a good mail day earlier this month! We cannot wait to use these! Most of the month has been spent planning/talking/and preparing for our trip next month.

Elisabeth's recital costume came in and she got to try it on at her dance class and perform her dance for the parents. She's such a performer and a girly girl/princess, so dance recitals are her jam (mine too :))

Our good friends from Western Oklahoma came up for a weekend visit, and we had so much fun with them! We invited them up to go to the Gathering Place, but Saturday was yucky weather, so we stayed in with the Millers and played during the day, which was still a lot of fun!

Nathan and Carter are becoming good friends. It was fun to watch them play together all weekend.

And these princesses are pretty sweet friends too. Elisabeth was so excited to have a sleepover with them.

We broke out our classic NES, and Mindy showed off her Super Mario Bros 3 skills. I think Matt was happy to have a partner that didn't die all the time, ha!

8 years of friendships and 12 kids between us. I'm grateful for the friends who have walked through parenthood alongside us.

Sunday, the weather turned out gorgeous, so we skipped church and spent the day at the Gathering Place. SO fun!

Four hours later and four sleeping kids in the car. We had such a fun visit. We're hoping to plan another family weekend together this summer.

Elisabeth had Donuts with Dad at her school. She was so excited and is so very proud of her Daddy. She insisted that he walk her into school that morning. I love the way Matt loves and spoils his girls. He can't say no to any of us, and unfortunately, we're all figuring it out :)

We are loving the nice weather and our weekends usually always include a trip to a park or playground. Katherine's favorite thing to do anytime is swing.

Elisabeth has been asking to play Mario Party any time we have one on one time. It's fun to play with her. She's starting to get better at it :)

We had another beautiful afternoon and dinner with friends this month. We've been spoiled with nice weather. It's nice to send all the kids outside to play and eat.

The big boys thought they were too good to eat outside, ha!

While the kids were outside playing, the adults even had some time to play a game (with just a few interruptions)

Those two red heads love each other. Wyatt is so sweet with Katherine.

The girls and I have fun on our girls days. Elisabeth asked to play at the mall one morning, so that's what we did. And she is getting good at her cartwheels!



We had a fun play date with these four year olds. Recently when we get together, we've started going to Sams for lunch. Elisabeth always asks to eat there. She said it was her favorite restaurant, ha!

These girls are getting so big. I'm sad that they'll be at school everyday next year and we'll miss these fun play dates, but we're ready for this summer and sleep overs and pool play dates.

Samuel and Elisabeth both had zoo field trips on the same day. I know that those pre-k and Kindergarten field trips are a big deal, so thankfully Matt was able to take off work and we tag teamed spending time with both of them and their classes. They were both excited about their special days!

The other two siblings couldn't feel left out during pictures :)

Samuel's class broke up in small groups and he spent the day with Cody and Asher. They're two of his favorite buddies from his class.

Elisabeth has made some sweet friends in Pre-K this year. She looks forward to school every single day and can't wait to play with her friends. I can't believe the school year is almost over. She's going to miss her friends this  summer.

Any time Elisabeth has a friend over, they always immediately change into princess dresses. Katherine joined in on the fun this time too, and then I couldn't get her to take her dress off, ha! She knows she's the little princess in this family.

We've had some warm days and after several days of begging to play in the water, I gave in. Elisabeth has a hard time playing independently a lot of the time. She's such a social little girl. But she stayed outside forever playing in the water, and tricking me into getting shot with a water gun.

Samuel lost his first tooth this month! He was so excited to have a wiggly tooth and extra excited to get money from the tooth fairy. He's growing up fast.

 We also got to find out this month that the kiddos are getting a baby girl cousin. We're all so excited for October :). They also enjoyed the pink cake to celebrate the exciting news.

April has been busy and fun. We're gearing up for the end of the school year and getting ready for summer!