Surprise!

Well I pulled it off...and it was better than I even imagined. As most of you know Tye is going to for double surgery next Tuesday, two days before his birthday. He was really disappointed because he knew that meant nothing fun for his birthday. What he didn't remember is that his Mom is phenomenal and loves to have parties! Needless to say I planned a big surprise Birthday party for both Tye & Tate on the same day. (Their birthdays are so close, It's always been easier to throw one big party).

I almost didn't pull it off. Tate got in the car one day after summer school and said, "Are you sending my friends letters?" I said, "No, why would I send your friends letters?" He said, "I don't know, but that's embarrassing, send your own friends letters!" I was trying so hard to keep a straight face, but planning a surprise party for Kindergarten class was going to be tricky.

I ordered the cakes:

Tate's of course with Horses

And Tye has been telling me for weeks he wanted a "Colts" cake, no shocker there.

Pizza Hut was nice enough to host 30 kids 6-9 years old!

We had a neighbor tell the boys he was taking them bowling and he brought them down to meet all their friends. They were both totally surprised, shocked and embarrassed. Tye's face went red immediately and Tate wasn't sure what to do, so he just kept looking around.

As Always, you have to sing Happy Birthday...

Make some wishes and blow out the Candles..........

Open Presents (my kids favorite part).

Eat pizza, breadsticks, rootbeer and cake & ice cream.

And then head to the Tundra Lodge, a huge indoor waterpark in downtown Green Bay, it's one of our family's favorite spots! (What I was thinking taking 25 kids to a waterpark...well let's put it this way, I wasn't thinking!!!!)


The fun never ended as the kids went from pool to pool trying out all the activities.

By the end of the day, the kids were exhausted, I was exhausted, but it really turned out so much better than I even imagined. I love my boys, and so happy they had such a great day!

I had to include one last picture, Tate was so tired by the end of the day he actually fell asleep while Wes & I were cleaning up......so sweet!

Moments

Life consists of little moments that make being a mother somewhat rewarding.

Tate drew me the following pictures while he was at school:

Interpretation: I love you Mom - my life no good if you "wrt" (weren't) my mom - would "B" Sad! It made me so happy that he was actually thinking of me during the day. A few seconds later he pulled out the next one.

Interpretation: I love you mom - thank you for being my mom - I am sorry if I have "ban" bad - i will never "frgt" you!

I wasn't even upset or remember him acting up that morning (trust me there are many mornings that I need a fire truck to put out all the fires in this house) - but loved the drawings of us together.

Wes was sitting there admiring my pictures and Tate pulled out the following for him.


Interpretation: Don't worry Dad, I still love you to.

Pretty cute, but I love the tiny little smiley face at the bottom of the page.

Little moments like this are few and far between, so I Cherish them every time they happen.

Fathers Day Pictures

Finally, it was warm enough to take some pictures of the kids for Wes - I printed them on a Metallic paper and they turned out perfect for his Office at work....a great Fathers Day present!

The Week

It's late Saturday afternoon and my entire family is asleep. Honestly there are only 3 sounds in the entire house. 1. The Dryer, which is constant. 2. The AC, which I finally turned on this week. (Shocker, June 20 and the AC finally comes on, were actually supposta hit 80 today which would be the year high, but I'm not counting my breath). 3. Me typing . It's crazy!! No TV, Radios, Fighting, fridge bring opened 73 times a day, my name being screamed.....I could soooooo get use to this, but I know better.Our week was pretty normal, )no pictures to post that might cause a divorce), just a regular week.

I have a tradition to take the boys pictures the first day of school and the last. So this week was their last day of school so I had to take a picture. (They are also going to a new school next year so I wanted a picture of them in front of the old) Tye was totally embarrassed...Tate is still to young to care.

When I was climbing back into the truck, this is what I saw.....

Wes shaking his head at me wondering why I do "crap" like that as he calls it and sissy moving her car seat up to the front seat because she wants a "friend" to sit by.


So since school is out you can imagine the condition of my house, my nerves, my food storage, my patience, my laundry loads, my everything.....All of you Moms know exactly what I am talking about. The first couple days it's nice to not be a drill Sargent and not pack lunches and actually get to relax for a few minutes in the morning. But by 9:36 - you are desperate to find something to keep your kids entertained, out of trouble and not fighting. I have a suggestion, it's not the cleanest thing in the entire world but it keeps my kids entertained for hours!!!

A MUD HOLE

We are landscaping sections of our back yard so I have a big pile of mud. The kids spend hours at there digging and making Dams. It's all fun until I make them use the hose and wash off before they climb into my tub. Tate HATES washing off with the hose because "it's tooooo cold" he just sits out there and pouts until he finally comes to grips with it. I had to take this picture because he just sits out there and talks to himself about why he doesn't want to use the hose.



Baseball, Baseball & Baseball.

Practically every night of our life consists of some sort of baseball. I do enjoy watching the boys play. This week I actually brought my camera along.

Wes is Tate's coach and he plays on the Marlins.

Tate can seriously hit the ball! He is a great hitter, now the outfield ..... he'd rather play with the grass he gets so bored. But I love his little face in this picture, getting ready to hit the heck out of the ball. He's hit so many home runs this year I've lost track.

Go figure, Tye is the opposite. He's great in the infield. He switches back and forth from first to short and does a great job.


This year, he's struggled at hitting. One game he struck out every time and boy that's hard. It's hard because his confidence, you want your kids to do well and when they are frustrated and discouraged you feel just as bad.

I finally told him this. Well your hitting hasn't been that consistent, but if you can hit a home run tonight, I'll pay you 5 dollars. Tate immediately pipes up..."How come you didn't pay me for all my home runs?" (I'd be broke) I finally said, Ok, if Tye can do it, I'll pay you both 5 dollars. Needless to say I paid out 10 dollars, but it was so worth it to see Tye's face after that hit. I love the face he makes when he's trying not to smile.

As for me and my week....It was fabulous! I went to Wasau WI for Youth Conference, I love, love, love the youth in our ward. We stayed in the dorms at University Wisconsin, (which were pretty grim) but it was so fun to see the youth so happy & excited. Here's a snapshot from my door room hanging out with some of the kids in our ward.

And that about sums of the week. Random facts: Wes & I love the show Wipeout and the Newlyweds, were totally cheering for the Mormon couple. My garden is doing great and the pumpkins are out of control. We went on a super fun date with some couples from the ward, My mom is leaving to go home tomorrow and I'm sad. I've got a fun present to give to Wes tomorrow for Fathers Day, the boys surprise birthday party is planned and I can't wait to see their faces. Tye is having double surgery in 2 weeks and I'm having surgery in August. The sun is actually shinning today, which is rare, and finally were heading to the movies and out to dinner tonight - but I'm letting my family sleep as long as they can!