Jordyn's open house

I know that I have a few years to go til our kiddos graduate, but with how much work I put into this open house I feel like he's my son!  Nancy's oldest graduated this year and she is a very emotional person and doesn't hide it at all... so when she's stressed, I'm stressed.  When she's pissed about something I hear about it.  When she needs help with a project I am in the trenches with her.  So, when her son's open house was coming up I was there helping with ideas, picking up food, getting things together and was going to be there early the day of to help, even though I had my concert the night before.  It was just gonna be a nice morning of putting food out and getting picture boards and things ready but that morning it was cold and raining and definitely not outdoor open house appropriate.  So... Nancy was freaking out because we had to quick clean her house and move everything inside.  Her cousin Lynette was there, and she is an absolute doll.  We worked really well together making sure Nancy had something to do always and not stressing about the things that we were working on.  I have to say that i was quite impressed with all the stuff that we got done in the short amount of time.  There was also some quick thinking and maguyvering due to the limited space but we got everything done and it was perfect!  I pretty much stayed around to make sure that food was stocked and that people knew where stuff was.  The whole thing was very cute because it was like baseball concessions since that is his main focus.  I even got a job offer out of the deal!  Another Mom that came loved the ideas and displays and how I was helping keep everything clean and filled and asked if I would be willing to work her son's open house the next weekend!  Score!




Some people did end up outside and they moved one of the fire pits in the front by the Tiki mobile that they had set up in the drive way.  The kids had a good time eating all sorts of crazy food and hanging out like a big kid at Nancy's house.










Congratulations Jordyn!  You are well on your way to success and we can't wait to see what college life and baseball brings.

JVG

Library zoo guy

One of the programs the library has in the evenings is this guy who has his own zoo.  He brought in all sorts of different animals for the kids to see and the crazies LOVED it.  Norah liked it a lot longer than I thought, but it was very crowded and it was starting to get hot.

Something I had never seen before are called sugar gliders.  They were so tiny and they all fit in this bag with the Momma.  They apparently are very chatty so even though they are cute they make obnoxious pets haha.  He had them demonstrate how they glide and jump and the audience couldn't get enough.  The guy who owns all these animals had his daughter there helping with animals and the music and stuff.  It was cute!

























There was an armadillo that the kids got to pet, a lynx, a honey badger that stole a rice krispie out of his pocket which the kids thought was GREAT.  A giant snake that they kept in the large crate it was brought in on and a bird.  it was impressive all the different animals he had!  I guess he comes back in the fall with different animals so I would love to take the kids to that!

JVG

Little bakers

Nothing is better than coming home from work to freshly baked brownies... except for freshly baked brownies made with love from your kiddos?  Can't beat that!  I love that they're so interested in how food is made and that they like making food.  I will take that all day long!  And to make it cuter they put on their aprons and their chef coat to make them to boot!
















JVG

Family snuggles

I love when the kids wake up and come into our room to snuggle... it's the best ever.  :)



















JVG

Ninja training

Some days you have to get creative to keep the inmates happy in a small space.  One of the nights I was a work G rigged up a ninja training for the kids to do and he said that Norah was actually really good at it!  :)










JVG

Penny wars

Mars is big into campaigning and raising money for clean water, and for making sure that the community around us has their needs met too.  They usually do Coats for Burton, so that kids aren't cold in the winter and we fill up grocery bags full of things so they can have a nice meal too.

One way they raise money for clean water is obviously through 20liters but their elementary also does a penny war.  This is Dude's first time in the elementary wing and he was so excited about the idea of the penny war. This is one of the first times that it's been a competitive thing that didn't just relate directly to him.  He did a really good job finding pennies though and asking people for some to donate.  We thought we missed the last Sunday to put some in but we didn't and he had a blast putting them in and seeing what the other grades columns looked like!







He was pleased as punch to know that kindergarten won!  And they raised a TON of money.  They got an ice cream and cake party which he was so thrilled about.  I was glad that he was able to associate trying to help others and be so excited about it.  :)

JVG

Kayaking

Have I said how much I love this house yet?  Because if I haven't... I do.  There are so many things that I keep finding that I love and we tried out one yesterday.  There is a lake across the street and they have two adult kayaks and two kid kayaks.  We loaded everything up and walked across the street to get into the lake that way.  Norah came with me and Lucy with G.  Duder tried his own kayak and he did a great job!  The water was really warm as well, so Lucy decided it was time for a swim.  Then, Norah decided that she was going to be like big sister and jumped in too.  They were happy as anything swimming around and being silly.  Dude tried getting in for a little while but he was more interested in the kayak.  Lucy gave the kayak a try too and she learned how to do it really well too!  That's good to know since there is another kid kayak and I didn't want to carry it if they weren't gonna be able to use it.  After the girlies got in we kayaked for a little while longer but then they got chilly so we went back in.  I figured that my arms and shoulders were gonna be more sore about afterwards but they weren't bad.  Can't wait to keep kayaking for the rest of summer!

JVG