Happy Bday B10 & CW

Today we got to spend another morning with the cousins :) My sister threw a birthday / get-together party for the boys so all of their friends could come and play and see CW before he heads back to his Dad's.  It was B10's birthday and a beautiful day outside, so it worked out great.   The kids were excited to do something different and loved hanging out with their cousins a little more before our routine kicked back in next week.  I realized looking through my pictures I don't have one of the birthday boy or CW, unless you count at the table.  They crack me up...it was hard to catch them at the end to get a hug :) I think they had a great morning hanging out with their friends.

Me and my kiddos playing on the see-saw :)

The other side of our see-saw (plus Sister, who just likes to be in pictures :) Cookie & cousin GO. Silly girls.

ha! They switched again...the see-saw was a big hit I guess.

The many faces of Brother...ha!

I like the eye brow raise in this one...

and a sweet one with Cookie.

A bunch of kiddos ready for something to eat (and I mean a BUNCH...I think there were like 18 of them :)

CFA, chips and cake...can't beat that!

It was a little chilly in the shade, but the sun warmed us up quickly.  Doc was off work this week, so it was fun for the little ones to get to hang with him some too.

It was a great day! We had a lot of fun hanging out and the kids wore themselves out. We headed home around 1pm and went straight to bed for a nap.  I knew the last few days had been long for them and they both slept until after 4pm.  We had a relaxing evening.  Played a little wii (Just Dance), watched a movie (Curious George) and had a picnic lunch. I am glad we have a few more days to get the house in order.  The only other exciting thing I did today was use some Christmas money from family to renew our Children's Museum membership...yay!!! You all get to hear about more free museums all year. Gotta love it, that's how we roll. I can't wait to find new ones to visit and making plans to spend the day downtown at Imagine It! Love it!

Christmas time with Granddaddy and R/

This year my Dad (Granddaddy :) and R/ came down to visit us a couple of days after Christmas.  It was fun to have something to look forward too after the holidays too. We were excited b/c Uncle J and Great Granddaddy were coming from out of town too.  With my Sister and her kids and my Brother coming too we were going to be a full house!  The girls started the day by trying on some adorable Christmas hats R/ brought...they were princess Santa hats...right up our alley :)

R/ and the little girls...Sister and cousin, GO

Me and my girl :)

Us with R/

and all the older girls together.  I thought they were all cute pictures! So fun!

Meanwhile, the little girls were happy to love on their Granddaddy.

Family picture time! There were 13 of us and I think we did a pretty good job getting everyone in.  (Oops...Hubby did a good job getting everyone in :)

Present time! The plan was kids presents before dinner, dinner (bbq-yum), and adult presents after dinner (with kids playing upstairs and watching a movie:). The plan worked well I think. The kids had a good time and I love watching everyone open their presents.

Everyone got a good seat and chilled to watch the action!

Me :)  I postioned myself behind my kiddos, so I could help open...etc.

Sister got a really cool bubble "necklace"... it holds the bubbles around your next, so they don't spill.  It came with a bubble flute that you can blow bubbles with...so neat!

Brother got a very cool traveling activity. ( I was excited to get a few things for each of them like this, since we have been taking more car trips lately.  It is perfect for riding in the car.)  It is a Fire Rescue magnetic book...you can create "scenes" and move the men around.  It was really cool!

More opening.... R/ has an order we go in.  It keeps everything organized and exciting :)

Sister and GO each got a book set that were adorable!! One was the "Boogie Monster" (Sister) who likes to dance and one was the "Tickle Monster" (GO) who likes to tickle :)  Sister's also came with a CD to boogie too.  Sister of course heard the word MONSTER and wouldn't touch the book.  We had to work her into it the next day (pictures to follow).  GO took her roll as tickle monster very seriously though...she was a hoot!

Um...this is poop soap. Really. ha!

The older boys were not to sure about it...

Sister opening her Minnie Mouse...BIG FAN! She played with that toy the rest of the day :) Later I found her in the playroom introducing all her new dolls to each other (Minnie, new Snap & Style from Kiki and Dora from Nonnie...they all had to meet everyone. So sweet :)

Uncle A putting together Brother's remote control car that is the BOMB.  It works SO good.  He has played with it any chance we let him (it is a little loud indoors, but the upstairs room is perfect :)

Brother also got an "airport".  Complete with plane, travel bus, etc...I actually haven't seen much of that toy b/c the older boys took it upstairs to put it together to play with while they watched a movie last night.  I am going to go check it out! :)

See?! He was ready to go with the car...it is neat, it can drive on either side and flips while you are driving it.

The kids also opened presents from Uncle J, Great Granddaddy and Aunt Kiki (and us for the other kiddos :).  Our kids were certainly blessed this season. 

B10s new wii game ;) / CW got another Lego Brickmaster / & GO got an Olivia tea set.

Sister got "Just Dance Kids" which was a big hit with everyone later :)

My kiddos also got a new dual screen dvd player for car trips too :)

The girls both got new baby dolls from Great Granddaddy and they couldn't rip into them fast enough :)

Brother got some new tools for his tool bench :) (The little girls liked that gift too!  To be far any toy within their reach was fair game :) Brother got a charger for his leapster too ( I said that was really a gift for us since we won't have to buy batteries anymore :)

He also got a new Star Wars game from Aunt Kiki.

and Sister got some pjs for her Rapunzel doll.

and of course, an adorable lollidots hat :)

More fun travel toys from Uncle J (with an Olivia book, Tinkerbell coloring book and  Thomas DVD too!) Brother got a cool new game (that I can't wait to play at family game night) and a little money to pick something he would like :)  He put it in his bank, so I am not sure he remembers it is there...to tell him, or not?! That is the question.

Uncle A took the opportunity to pass out some gifts from him since we had a little time and we are all big kids anyway :)  Uncle J got a real Japanese slot machine that uses tokens.  It had lights and pictures flashing everywhere.  

Even the little kids were enthralled by it... too funny!

After our BBQ dinner (yum) went sent the boys upstairs to play with their new toys and the little girls into our bedroom to watch Dora, and it was the adults turn to open gifts. We all had a great time sitting around and spending time together.

By the end of the night we were all pretty tuckered out.  The kids all put on their pjs and everyone headed home for the night.  CW and Brother had a sleepover, since he was only in town for a few days, but they were even asleep pretty quickly once their heads hit the pillow.  I am glad everyone went to sleep, we had another couple of busy days in store, b/c that's how we roll :) More to come...