Bath time!

So tonight was just CRAZY trying to get everything done that needed to get done.  And of course all at the same time a million things go wrong.... the cat pukes in the hallway, the timer is going off on the oven for dinner, Annie is sobbing that her hiney is raw and needs to get in the tub, and a hundred other things.

So I stepped over the cat puke, cleaned Annie up and got her into the tub.   While I am sitting there waiting for the tub to fill up I look down the hallway and notice that Noah J is cleaning the cat puke.  On his own.  Without being asked.  And actually doing a good job of it.  Now, some of you might think no big deal, but for my work avoiding son, this is huge!!  He came over and I gave him a huge speech on how proud of him I was to show such initiative.  His response was "and you didn't even have to ask me!!"  LOL  Next on the list of course is the beeping in the kitchen so I asked him and Wyatt to come and sit and watch Annie while I moved the pots around and came right back.  So when I come back around the corner to tell them one more minute longer I see this.  And they proudly proclaimed to me that I didn't need to wash her cause they had already done it... even her hair!  :)  I was so tickled pink I had to take a picture.  These boys really surprise me some times.

They even dressed her in her jammies and brushed her hair.  They told me she only gave them a little trouble.  :)

Noah turns eight!

So hard to believe this little guy has been around for 8 years!  Although my memory is starting to get a little fuzzy and I've almost forgotten what a difficult little babe he was! :)   Sometimes I remember but it all seems a bit rosier now that I am watching him grow up.  He asked me the other day if I was sad he was getting so big and I told him just a little bit and he told me, "Don't worry, I'll let you hug me even when I'm grown."  So, so sweet.

The morning started off with name pancakes, cards, and gifts.  Luckily by now Annie had the routine down and there were no tears.  Wyatt got him a train he has been wanting and Annie got him one of those rubbery splat ball things.  You can see he was thrilled with both!

He even needed to show off his muscles to us... I'm pretty sure he thought they got bigger like Wyatt, LOL!

We had the whole family, along with Sara, Maddie and Emma over for dinner again.  Noah picked the menu and it was identical to Wyatt's (of course) except he insisted on also having pretzel sticks and Cherry Coke.  And of course cake and the opening of gifts!  He was thrilled with everything.  They were so happy to get so much of the stuff from their birthday buckets at Learning Express.  And even happier to get to hang out with his BFFs! 

Organization for My Father's World Papers

So this is a random post for me, but I am sharing how I organized my papers from MFW.  Somebody requested pictures of how people organize their papers so I posted this one on Facebook.  I had a request to post this so they could pin it on pinterest, so here it is!

I used a 3.5" binder and Avery Big Tab Slash Pocket Dividers 8 tab, kind of like these.  I founds shoplet to have the best price on them at the time.  I stuck the papers for each week from MFW in the front pocket and all my extras for each week in the back pocket. 

I have loaned out my kinder binder so I don't have it on hand to look at, but I think I purchased 4 packs for it and 5 packs for Adventures, which left some extra for whatever I wanted to file in the back. 

Donut party!

As I mentioned before we did not have a huge party this year, but we did invite all of their friends over for donuts and to jump on the new trampoline!  We somehow managed to only take a few photos, I guess cause we felt so relaxed just hanging out with our friends.  We had tons of donuts and milk and lots of jumping to go around!

I tried to make some of those donut cakes you've seen on pinterest but they came out horribly!  I was just glad they didn't fall over while lit.  :)  And of course a party isn't complete without presents.

And that is it!  Told ya we didn't have a ton of pics.  So thankful for our dear friends who stick by our side!

Wyatt turns six!!

Can you believe this little pumpkin is six?  We did birthdays a little bit different this year.  We usually have one big party for both boys but this year they just could not agree on one party.  So we started to plan individual parties but I was just dreading paying for both.  So I came up with a brilliant idea and was able to convince Josh and the boys to go along with it.  :)  We decided in lieu of a party the kids would get a trampoline for the backyard and then we would have family over for dinner on their actual birthday. 

So we had to switch up our normal routine.  Normally we have cake for breakfast but since we were having cake after dinner with family we opted for special name pancakes!  They were tickled with them.  And of course there were a couple of small gifts.  The kids understood that mom and dad would not be getting them anything but the trampoline but we wanted them to have something to open, so we let their siblings pick them out one small thing each.  We prepared Annie for the concept that she would not be opening gifts, but she just was not content with the idea.  As soon as Wyatt started unwrapping his first gift (Annie got him a tiny magnet that says "I Love Camping" with a little tent and tree on it - the boy has been wanting it forever!)...

 this is what happened.....

Heartbroken little girl!!!  Please don't think poorly of us, but we cold not stop laughing cause she was so disturbed she didn't get to open it up.  Ya'll, I must have told her a hundred times the night before that she would not open the presents, only Wy.  This should have been no surprise, but she was still hysterical, LOL.

Wyatt loved her and she eventually calmed down, but these pictures just crack me up!!  Wyatt opened Noah's gift to him...

which he has also been wanting forever!!  Only six year old boy with plastic organizing  bins on his wish list, LOL!! 

The rest of the day was spent prepping for our dinner guests.  Wyatt picked the menu: hotdogs w/Hawaiian roll buns, Ruffles AND Lays (very specific here!), his favorite ranch, pink lemonade, and a cookie cake.  Grandma and Grandpa, Granny, Christy, Joseph, and Rebecca all came over to celebrate and jump!

Of course the most exciting part of the day was when he got to open his 3DS from Granny!  He has been promised for years that when he learned how to read and turned six he could get one.  He held us to that promise!!  He got a bunch of awesome gifts and the kids loved playing with these mustaches.

And the night finished off with a cookie cake with a fisherman on it!!  He is so adorably sweet.  He asked me the night before his birthday how his body knew that it was supposed to grow on that certain day every year.  We were going through some clothes in his closet the week before and he kept telling me that he was sure some of those big shirts would fit after next week.  I wasn't really sure what he meant but then it all came together - he thought he would wake up on his birthday bigger!!!  Love this bug!!!

Cotton Candy ice cream pops!

Ever since we went to Blue Bell and Wyatt learned of the existence of these Cotton Candy Bars it is all we have heard about!  We finally picked up a box for an after dinner treat and Josh snapped these pics of Annie while she ate.  No words are really necessary... the pictures really tell the story.  Love how expressive her face is!