Haley's 12th Birthday Party!

We went up to my sister's home to celebrate her middle child's 12th birthday!!! The kids were of course, so excited to stay with their cousins.  It was a fun time, that's for sure.  I did stop at my parents for the first night and visit with mom and dad a bit!  That was nice.  We headed over to my sister's home the next late morning.  It was windy and snowy!  Haley's party was at a fun zone in Middletown, DE (about 30 minutes away).  Haley invited 4 friends and Bre invited 1 friend plus the cousins.  The kids had a blast.  There were many different activities to do: ball pit, arcade games, lazer tag, bowling, frog hopper and electric bumper cars.  The kids were 'set free' for 1 hour.  Then everyone came back for pizza and cupcakes before they were off again for another 45 minutes.  Each person had a 'card' with time on it...they would swipe their card before they played a game and could keep playing until their time ran out- each card had 1hour 45 minutes or so!  Hunter's favorite was the motorcycle arcade game...he kept talking about how he steered from side to side down the track.  Ethan enjoyed the lazer tag the most I think.  He played at least 7 games!  Alexis had fun on the bumper cars!  She enjoyed driving!!! HA!

Little Dave and Ryan....he was so good with Ryan.   

 Little Dave was reading to him...and showing Ryan a few pictures of Medival Times!

 Oh these two are trouble with a capital T.....and they certainly know how to have a fun, great time together! I love it! Their expression says it all! ;)

 Hunter was lazering everyone with Little Dave's Iron Man mask! HA!

 Alexis was practicing the piano a little bit! I love that she enjoys playing still!

 Alexis, Haley and Ryan....all smiles!

 My sister, Christina and her hubby, David

 Bre holding Ryan...all is well until there is spit up/throw up/slobber/dirty diapers- then all bets are off!! I love this picture though! Bre got contacts...she's so beautiful...and she's getting her braces off soon!!!

  Here's the birthday party gang!!!!

 Ryan out like a light....catching some zzzzzs!

 This one makes me laugh....Ethan and all the girls in lazer tag! 

 Say Cheese....

 Once we came home from the party, everyone spent the night....all 12 kids....at first I was thinking, oh boy! This is not going to work!  But, it worked out great! The kids had fun and everyone slept fairly well I think.  Here is a picture of the kids at the trough!  Thank you David for cooking breakfast! We stayed until about 4ish and were home by 7:30p.  It was a good time! Thank you Christina for letting us come and visit! Happy Birthday Haley!!!!

 Haley loved her cupcakes! HA! Cute face love!!!

Let it snow, Snow, SNow, SNOw and SNOW!

January was our snow month.  The kids went to school a total of 10 days during the month of January!  I can say the kids enjoyed being off but by the end of the month, even Ethan was ready to go back to school for fear that he would have to go longer in the Spring/Summer!!! 
All was well until I had to shovel 14 inches of snow off the driveway at 6:30 AM....I had to be at work by 9am....needless to say, I was very thankful my Dad was at my house to watch the kids and I had him take me in.  I don't think I would have felt comfortable driving in that much snow!

 

Pinewood Derby time!

Each year, the kids look forward to the Pinewood Derby with much anticipation.  As last year, we had some help with cutting the cars as the kids wanted them from a great friend at Church.  The kids decided what they wanted their cars to look like and then Bro. Adams helped Ethan and Alexis cut them out!  The kids always have a great time figuring out where to add weight.  Ethan's car was a wedge this year and Alexis' car was similar to Ethan's car last year.  They painted them, added weight, took them to the post office about 10 times to check the weight ( thank you post-man for your patience) and put the finishing touches on them...the grafite in the wheels.  With our pack's new track this year, everyone was very excited to see how their hard work would turn out!!!

 Can you tell which one is Ethan?  We need to get him a tan shirt still...not to mention his height?  Yes, he's grown about 4-5 inches over the past year!!!

 Hunter was right up front.....making sure he didn't miss the action!

 Love this picture of Mr. Holsinger.....these cars have to be perfectly in the middle, ya know?!?  It took ALOT of work from the leaders and they did an awesome job!!!!

 Our cute little bubbly Ryan!!!

 Go, Go, Go, Go, GO!!!!!

 George, Ethan, Jaden, Austin, Lewis and Aidan.....the Webelos 1....can't believe they are getting so big!!!

 Hunter and his bestie...Helen.... I absolutely love this picture.  Helen would not look at the camera, she was too busy until her mom yelled, "Kitty"...then she looked up!  It was hilarious!

 Ethan and Alexis and their awesome cars....GREAT JOB THIS YEAR GUYS!!! Mom and Dad are super proud of you two!!!