Jacob's birthday party

Jacob turned 7 on May 20th. He has never had an official birthday party, so we decided this was the year. Sometime at the beginning of May, he was nagging me (which he is super great at) about getting started on planning his party. Well, I like to put things off, so I would always tell him "later". Finally he went and got himself a scrap piece of paper and wrote down what he wanted. I should have taken a picture of it. It was in first grade spelling and handwriting, and he wrote down 1.who was invited, 2.what games he wanted to play, 3.what he wanted in the gift bags, 4.what he wanted for his presents, and 5.what kind of cake he wanted.

So, finally his birthday came around. He had requested breakfast in bed after he saw the joy it brought me on Mother's Day. So, we delivered.

Then he went to school and I brought in peanut butter cookies to share with his class.

After school we went to Applebee's for dinner which was very good!

His birthday party was the next day. My darling loving husband started off the day by cleaning out the garage. Our garage was a disaster! He emptied everything out and swept and rearranged and made it look wonderful. It was such a relief to be getting that garage clean that I didn't even care that things were not getting done for this party that started at 4pm. I think I got in the shower at 3:45!
Well, five of Jacob's friends did show up. We weren't completely done decorating when they got here, so I had them help me blow up balloons and hang the Happy Birthday sign. Steve tells me this would only fly with boys. Girls would expect things to be done and pretty when they arrived.

This turned out to be the absolute BEST and easiest party I have ever done. Remember the list Jacob made? When it came time to plan I just grabbed the list and went shopping and then followed the same list the day of the party.
First we played UNO

Next we had a water fight with water balloons and dollar store water blasters

When they started fighting or crying about the water fight, we had dinner. Steve made hot dogs and sliders that were delicious.

Next we did a pinata which was tons of fun and quite a hit!

Shared pinata candy with a four month old!

Then we opened presents

And had ice cream cake which was halfway melted by the time we ate it.

It was a great birthday party and I am so glad Jacob is a part of our family!

Last Day of School!

Yea!! The boys are out of school for the summer. I love the school year plan here. They get out the last business day of May, and start the first business day of August. Then we get lots of week long breaks throughout the year.

The boys had their awards ceremonies today and they were lovely. If I just didn't have an infant who seems to only be able to sleep in his quiet bed. He was ready for a nap at 9am and we finally got done at 11:30. Oh the poor life of a fifth child.

Steven with his awesome teacher Ms. Peak. He had a great year with her!

Nathan is in the dark blue. Sorry, I had a fussy baby in my arms so Nathan got gyped. Jacob getting his award in Mrs. Childers class. This is the same teacher Nathan had last year.



So, the thing I am most excited about is the end of the year presents I got for the teachers. I am pretty bad at gift giving. I am not too creative and always have a problem coming up with something. Well, my friend Suzanne blogged about a Great idea that I thought would be really cute to give the teachers. Somehow I found the time and interest in doing a craft and made these great things for four teachers.




We filled them with a Wal-mart gift certificate and lots of candy. I was very happy with how they turned out. The only thing I did differently than Suzanne is I used Mod Podge for the final coat on the cans, so they were glossy.
Now we get started on a fun and wonderful summer! Yea!

OK, I am bored with those pictures, so you all are getting some new ones. Since it is Mother's Day I am going to start by saying....I LOVE BEING A MOTHER! I think it is the very best, greatest, most wonderful thing that I could be doing at this time in my life. And of course my love for being a Mom comes from the great example of my dear Mom. She was always there for us and loved us so much and I always knew that. What a major difference that knowledge makes in a persons life. Through Moms loving service she made me want to be just like her. So, Thank You Mom for all you have done for me, and Thank You Steve for making it possible for me to be "just a Mom." I love it!


Now for some stories. Most of you know that we had a very unfortunate break down on the freeway a couple weeks ago. We were on our way to go through the open house of the Atlanta temple. We were all very excited for the opportunity to see the temple. But...halfway there, something happened to the van. There was smoke, bad smell, and the heat indicator went up to red. We pulled over and knew there was something very wrong. We hung out there on the side of the freeway with our five kids for over two hours when we finally (all 7 of us) got in to the cab of the tow truck and the guy drove us and our van 100+ miles back to our house. A very frustrating and disappointing day for us. The boys were crying and crying and saying they will never get to go to a temple now. I was very confident when my answer to them was, "Yes, you will go to the temple one day. You will just have to wait ten or so years. But, you WILL get there." Something was wrong with the transmission if you are curious.

The boys playground for that afternoon.

Here is Brandon. Helpful little Brandon. He went to get the mail in the rain, and this is what it looked like when he got to me.
Steve had the task of keeping Alexander happy one afternoon and he came up with this brilliant way to do it. He just bounced slowly with him for a while and Alex loved it. What a good Daddy!
The littlest Hughes boy. It is so strange for me to have a baby that loves to sleep on his back. He gets very angry if I ever try to get him to sleep on his stomach. He is so adorable to look at when he is sleeping.
Speaking of my baby boy! He is an angel. He really has become the best baby. All it took was figuring him out. He takes Zantac faithfully and it has really helped. Also, I have reread my "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" book and am now taking the advice of the sleep expert and Alexander LOVES to sleep and is a happier child when he gets his sleep. The only downfall here is that he likes to be in his bed, in a quiet room to sleep. He doesn't want to be floating around town, and I have places to go sometimes. He also doesn't like to be awake for very long. Two hours max. So, if I have somewhere to go I need to be ready the minute he wakes up, and get one errand done at a time, then come home for another nap. Oh well, the newborn stage doesn't last forever right? One more thing about this little character. The other day he was crying in my arms as I was trying to get him to go to sleep. I had something boiling on the stove, so when he still hadn't fallen asleep after about five minutes, I got frustrated and just put him down on the bed to go check on the food. Well, low and behold, he snuggled up with his blanket and went to sleep! So, no more rocking this one to sleep, he just wants to be put down and left alone. He really is a whole new ball game for me. But he is a lovely little boy now.

Showing off his new onesie
Steve got out the Johnny jump up a while back to see if Alex would like it. It is now the spot you will find him most often. The boys love to play with him in it too.