Family Time!

This is the first year that Daniel, the boys, and I were alone on Christmas morning. It is also the first year that  I didn't see my parents at Christmas-- which was really disappointing. We all missed them and Christmas just wasn't quite the same this year. Luckily, I am flying down with the boys in a couple of weeks so we will get to see them then.

After Christmas we stayed at Daniel's parent's house for a night and then Daniel had to head home to work. The boys and I headed up to visit Courtney's family in Towson, and to break up the drive some we stopped over at Lyle's house in Virginia. It was quiet and a little sad being there without Lyle. But I was able to check on his place and the boys had fun playing with some of their cousins' toys :)

He refused to go to bed without me. Then he fell asleep on the couch at Uncle Lyle's house.

We left on Tuesday morning (Dec. 27th) and made the 4 hour drive up to Courtney's house. The drive went well and the boys were anxious to arrive but fairly entertained by their new DVDs.

We stopped at Wegman's for lunch. Wegman's is basically the Disney World of grocery stores. I am obsessed.

We got to Courtney's house just in time for dinner.

(I need the recipe for that salad dressing sis!)

We had a lot of time to just hang out at the house-- which the kids loved. And it was nice to just hang out without a real agenda.

These two played SO WELL together. Carson paid a lot of attention to Reagan on this trip.

Carver loved playing with the cousins and harassing Alex.

On Wednesday we headed out to Build-a-Bear. Grandmama got Carver (and Carson) gift cards for Carver's birthday, and all of the girls had gift cards to use as well. It made it extra fun for them that they were able to do it together.

The whole crew. Julia is such a good sport. 

On Thursday we went to Ikea. Because I love and adore Ikea and I rarely get to go. Seriously, I love Ikea. And Ikea on a quiet weekday morning is basically my happy place.

On Friday we went to lunch at Nalley Fresh and then went to the movies. "Sing!" was a big hit :)

Courtney gives the best gifts. Two ornaments to represent my sweet girls.

We left Courtney's on Saturday after lunch to head back to Lyle's and then home. The boys loved riding their Big Wheels at Lyle's  house :) 

Carver's 7th Birthday: Minecraft Party!

It's no secret that I love party planning. It is unfortunate that both of my boys' birthdays come right at the end-of-semester rush when I am trying to finish out the Fall or Spring semester with my colleges. I always start planning a few weeks in advance, but every year I am reminded that I need more time if I want to execute these parties well :)

Each year the boys have more and more of an opinion about the theme and activities of their parties. This is kind of helpful, and I like planning the party that they want...but I kind of miss the days when I could just choose whatever I wanted :)

Because this year, Carver wanted a minecraft party...and 1) minecraft is not cute, and 2) I know NOTHING about minecraft.

Thanks to Pinterest and Etsy, I was able to plan this minecraft party and I think it turned out fairly well. Sadly, when I have their parties at our house I am way too stressed to remember to take adequate pictures.

Cupcakes and favor bags. The bags had lego crayons in minecraft colors; a minecraft bracelet; and candy.

The kids table. 

Rice Krispie treats, minecraft-style :)

The first activity was using mod podge to decorate wooden treasure boxes with minecraft pixel paper. After the craft we played minecraft bingo with prizes. 

After the activities we had dinner. I ordered trays from Zaxbys and we had fruit with cream cheese dip, veggies and ranch, chips, buffalo chicken dip, little smokies in the crockpot, hummus with pita chips and olives, cheese and crackers, blue jello cups (to represent "water"), and rolls.

All in all, I was pleased with how the party turned out. I had more activities planned, but the kids just wanted to play-- and it was chaos. But Carver loved every single minute of it. We also had a number of friends of ours that came-- which made the whole evening that much better.

Carver's actual birthday was just a few days later and we had a small celebration that day too.

Pumpkin break for breakfast. 

Balloon-filled bedroom.

Mexican food for lunch.

And presents from family. With cake and ice cream. 

Carver's ginormous Darth Vader from Aunt Courtney (and crew).

It was a good day :)

And just like that, my oldest precious boy is 7!