Snow in November?

Crazy, but Charlotte got snow in November!  Now that is just not the norm here, typically we are still wearing shorts and t-shirts in November. Although it was not much, a light dusting, the boys were so excited.  The thought of no school raced through their heads as the flakes came down.  But the snow stopped as quickly as it came.

 

 

Cherokee Tribe

Ryan's 4th grade class studyed the Cherokees.  They broke up into groups and each had to research and do a project.  Ryan and his friend James McKenna decided to research Cherokee tribal roles.  They each did their research on the internet and then worked together on the weekend to put together the poster board.

They had so much fun working together and the project came out great!  Parents were invited into the classroom and each group had a speech prepared on their topic.

Partying with Laser Tag

I wanted to have a big party for Ryan's 10th birthday but didn't want to break the bank.  I saw a deal on LivingSocial for mobile laser tag.  They come to your home and set up barriers and the kids get to choose their weapons and they get to run around for 1 1/2 hour. SOLD!  This was perfect for a bunch of 9 and 10 year old boys!  Dustin the owner of SpecialOps Mobile Laser tag was awesome!  He was great with the kids and had them organized into teams.  Ryan had the biggest smile on his face the entire party!

 

Ryan didnt want pizza for his party so I ordered a tray of nuggets from Chick Fila that should serve 15 and I had 10 boys...we plowed through them, wow they can eat. I haven't gotten around to painting the dining room and changing the light fixture, ugh now that I see the pictures. It is one of the last rooms I haven't painted since we moved in.

After eating nuggets, chips, fruit and cupcakes we still had an hour to kill before parents started picking up.  So I sent them outside, the noise level was high and I figured the cool night air would wear these high energy boys down!

Ryan wanted to have a sleepover after the party but I learned from child #1 that having 9-10 boys sleepover at a time is not good for anyone especially the parents. Just because it is called a sleepover doesnt mean they are sleeping.  I think the whole point is to stay up until the last one is standing.  So I let him invite 2 of the boys over to sleep, much more manageable!

I am now the parent of 2 boys in the double digits, 10 and 12 years old! How'd that happen?!

Fun with Friends

Don and I decided we need to entertain more so I invited some friends over, well I guess I didn't keep count because when all was said and done I had invited 15 people over for Saturday night, 8 adults and 7 kids, all boys and they all said YES!  Age ranging from 9- 14 years old!  Can I just tell you we had the best time and laughed so much, my stomach hurt!

 

I'm not use to cooking for a large crew, but Rachel the most wonderful hostess, helped and when all was said and done, we had I dont know how many pounds of chicken, 8 hotdogs, 3 pounds of fingerling potatoes, caramelized green beans (from our garden) and a huge salad (lettuce from our garden).  Forgot to mention the jalapeno poppers I made with the jalapenos from our garden.  We had apps and Rachel and Megan brought the most wonderful pumpkin desserts to end the evening.

My baby is 10!

Yep, Ryan is 10 years old, double-digits!  He has been so excited for this birthday to come! We started the day with the usual tradition of pancakes, yep on a school day at 615am, spelling out his name.

 

 He wanted a pair of aviator sunglasses, I have to say he looks so cute.

We went out to dinner and met mom and Terry, Ryan's choice of restaurant course.  They even rang the gong and gave him a free brownie sundae dessert!  Yummy!  All Ryan wanted was cash, he is saving for either a tablet or an ipad, he has yet to decide.  So grandma gave him a wad of cash, look at that smile!

We painted the school rock for his 10th!  By the time we finished it was dark because of daylight savings and Ryan was covered in paint, that is because he and Justin were spraying paint on either other and then Ryan was dipping the roller into the paint and then holding the roller in front of him and rolling it really fast so that the paint was flying everywhere!  Really?!  But we finished and I think it came out really good!

Happy Birthday Ryan!!  Party to follow on Friday!

Moving on

Nick made it through boot camp in Fort Leonard Wood, MO.  He says it wasn't that bad, we are proud of him for following his dreams.  Don went out to be part of Nick's special day, graduation from boot camp!

Nick has now been bused 17 hours to Ft Benning, GA. Good Luck to you Nick!

Halloween's Past and Present

I know all parents say this but where has the time gone!  My sweet little boys are growing up right before my eyes.

2005

 2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

He's on his was to 2nd Degree Black Belt...

My little guy, or not so little any more had another successful testing and ceremony.  He now has 6 silver strips on his 1st degree black belt.  Only 2 more strips and he will be testing for his 2nd degree black belt!  That is about 5-6 months out.  Still a bunch of work ahead but he is up for the challenge!

 

We miss our Nick!

So Nick has been at boot camp now for over 3 months.  We have gotten letters and a few calls here and there.  They do not have phone privileges that often but he calls his mom and dad when he can.  He sent the picture below.

He has gotten past the homesickness and seems to be doing very well and made some friends along the way.  Don will be flying to Leonard Wood, MO this week to see Nick graduate from boot camp.  Such a proud moment.

Chicken Pot Pie

Justin likes the idea of cooking.  He likes to help with dinner and decided that he wanted to make dinner all by himself.  He found a recipe, Chicken Pot Pie and decided that was the one!  I shopped for the ingredients.  He chopped and diced and sauteed and put it all together. 

The recipe made 2 pies, one for now and one for the freezer!  They were so yummy and the best part was I didnt have to cook.  Now I need to work on his cleaning up skills!