Grace and Juliet's 7th Birthday Party

One year ago (give or take a few weeks)  Michigan went into full lockdown mode.  The party that we had planned and paid for the twin's 6th birthday was postponed, for a full year.  Fast-forward to this year: it was time to party!

Grace and Juliet were excited to open their "biggest" presents before their party on Saturday (they were roller skates!)

Birthday Girls!

Everyone crowd in!

Hold up 7 fingers!

When I was telling Billy that I was not planning to order a store cake for their party, Grace was indignant, because she thought that I meant they were not getting any cake at all!  She was okay with the homemade one once she realized we just didn't need the big one we usually get when we are sharing with friends.

Matching kitty mermaid masks from Avia!

And new special T-shirts.

Juliet is growing up so fast, and when she's away from her sister, it is more apparent to me!

Same with my Grace!  Away from Juliet she just seems so grown up!

Cake and Ice Cream after pizza and popcorn!  14 candles on one cake is quite a fire.

Blow out the candles!

Juliet had a tough time with that last one.  It wasn't even a trick candle!

It was a little sad to not invite any friends, but everyone enjoyed getting out of the house to celebrate our favorite twins!

later days

February 27th, Roller Skating Fun

The expected high today was 22F.  It was cold and windy, and there was lots of snow blowing around off of roofs and trees.

Today was a mops day.  We had a speaker and a panel, and it was so good.

After mops I had lunch with Billy at Wendy's.  He whined that I went the speed limit the entire drive there, even though we had plenty of time to eat and then relax.  lol

Once I dropped him back at work, I went to Goodwill and shopped for a while.  I bought two new cannisters for flour and sugar.  Both of them will now hold an entire bag of each store, so I will no longer have to keep open packages in the basement!

After school the kids worked quickly through all of their afternoon responsibilities to get ready for skate night!

We were in the car by the time Billy came home.  And made it to the skating rink for the fundraiser before 6! I skated with them this time, and managed to not fall down and bruise my other leg!

Emily was skating with me, but once Clara arrived, she spent the evening with her.

William's class had the highest attendance, so they won the laser tag game.  He was very excited.

After their game, Emily, Grace and Juliet spent their money on another game with Clara and Henry.

It was little kids versus big kids.  (These two pictures courtesy of Rachel:)

At the end Rachel told the instructor to tell them that the little kids one, and the twins were soooooo excited to tell me that they beat the big kids.  I came clean on the car ride home and told them that Emily and Clara actually won.

Now all of the kids are really into laser tag, and I think that might be what Emily picks at her upcoming party. = )

For dinner we had the family pizza special (x2.)

later days

Skate Night, Number 2

We enjoyed the second skate night fundraiser of the year.  I think they might have gotten new carpet since the last time we went!

The only picture I snapped of Grace:

And the best of the few I snapped of William:

It was a pleasant evening, as usual.  Pizza for dinner and tired children at home. ; )

I did tell them that next year we would have to split our evenings between Alice's school and everyone else's school.  They seemed okay with this arrangement. I can only imagine going to 8 skate nights in one school year, and I don't like it. = )

later days

Yard Sales and Weekends

Since we are spending less time together with school in session, we make the most of our weekends.  = )

When Emily was in Ms. Jones class, she desperately wanted a Skippyjon Jones stuffie.  I'd seen dozens at sales over the years, but it took my mom and I two years to find one!  Emily was so excited.  She dug out the book, and made her own journal: "Skippyjon Jones: Third Grade Adventures."  Once she's done, we'll be giving the journal (and the stuffie) to our favorite first grade teacher. = )

We haven't gotten the list of roller-skate nights yet, but I found a pair of skates for Juliet.  She had some that my mom bought new, just for her, but since they had a triangle formation on bottom, they were not allowed at the final skate night last year. = (

My search for a syrup container is over!  I found this one at a yard sale in town.  The container in the back was what I would put my favorite Canadian maple syrup in, while I looked for a better container.  The Canadian brings down a 2L (?) container when she visits and I would literally cry if my children (or I) spilled it, so I take the time to transfer it.

Alice checked out a cookbook over the labor day weekend.  She and Emily made us some fresh mini apple strudel pastries.  They were quite tasty.

My babies still like to sit in my lap. = )

My mom found us a copy of the Oregon Trail board game.  We played two rounds.  In round one, we died early, and only Billy died of dysentery.  In round two we were literally one card from winning when the last player died of hunger. = (  Oh, what fun memories of elementary school.  Here's looking at you Cole & Jordan!

School has a way of wearing out my children, and the carpet in our living room has this mystic property of causing sleep. ; )

After months of looking, I found it! A sewing table that folds up in to a neat little cabinet.  You place your sewing machine on the tray, and it lowers down to store and raises up to use.  And it is so compact when not in use!  It had wheels, and the knob on the door acted as a lock to keep the door from swinging open.  There were trays that would swing out for scissors and tape measures and pin cushions.  There were even thread and bobbin spindles.

Sadly, my machine was too big for the drop down tray.  I was soooooo disappointed.  It sat in our living room for almost an entire day before I finally conceded that I couldn't make it work.

I set it out on the curb and it sold the next day.  I'm still torn up about it. = (

We had it on the tarp, so we could wrap it at night, to protect it from all the water in the air.

Grace won a puppy bank painting kit at Sunday School one week.  When she finished, she wanted to use the rest of the paint on paper. = ) 

And now, we are already halfway to our next weekend!

later days

Skate Night

4 times a year, the school hosts a fundraiser at the local skating rink.  The kids love to go, and the school gets money it's a nice setup.  We bring our own skates, but this time Juliet's skates were rejected because they were balanced in line skates. = (  Sadly, those were the ones that were purchased new.

This particular trip, we brought along Alice's friend Willow.  She is one of the few that has used the spare seat in our car multiple times. = )  She is a gracious guest, and always includes Alice's siblings!

Billy gave them the option of arcade tokens or 'skatemates,' but Alice was the only one who picked the arcade.

Emily really wanted in my picture:

The pizza dinner was tasty as always (they are my favorite local pizza place.)

At the end of the night, poor Willow fell and injured her back.  She's still recovering, poor thing.  Hopefully she heals soon.

My crew had a great time, and looks forward to going next year.

later days

Thanksgiving 2018

We were really fortunate this year that Billy's family came to us for our Thanksgiving meal!  The Crockers came in the weekend before, and Aunt Wanda, Uncle Wayne and Aunt Barbra came in on Wednesday.  My mom came over that morning and brought a green bean casserole to add to the table.

The turkey took forever to cook! I had thawed it plenty early, double checked the temperature, and weight, but it was so pokey.  Eventually I resorted to blaming my oven for not heating properly. Turns out, I forgot to take out the packet of giblets. Oops. lol.  So, we ate plates full of sides while the turkey finished, and then Billy carved the troubled bird.

The kids were highly entertained by Aunt Wanda, who taught them how to make a conga line. = )

After the meal, they enjoyed watching family movies that had been recently converted from 8mm to DVD.

The kids enjoyed hanging out with Uncle Wayne and Aunt Barbara. And, since they kept coming back, I guess it wasn't too bad for them. ; )

On Friday Morning, the kids had their first round of Christmas.  Bill and Brenda spoiled them with toys and treats galore.  They were soooooooooo thrilled. = )

 

Once the mayhem was cleaned up a bit:

And my much anticipated gift, the wok of my pan collection!

Emily was very excited to open up a set of Christmas crackers that evening.  These had whistles in them, and they were numbered, which was odd.  Then, we found the music as we were cleaning up, and it all made sense.  It was entertaining to watch, but didn't sound much like a song... lol.

The Crockers had to head out Saturday morning, since they were driving back to Texas.  That evening, we melted the hot chocolate snowman, Carl, that Aunt Wanda had sent our way.

It was quite the event for the kids.  And Billy had me beside myself with the hot wok of milk (the first time I used it!!!) on an unstable table surrounded by our children.... but it all worked out and everyone enjoyed their taste of Carl.

On Sunday, their flight was in the evening, so we headed over to the skating rink and had their awesome pizza for lunch.  I was pleasantly surprised by the crowd.  I figured it would be far more packed than it was.

It was very fun to meet some of Billy's extended family, and have a full house for Thanksgiving.

later days