Michael's Golden Birthday!

Michael turned 5 this year on the 5th so it was his golden birthday. He's be talking about this Ninjago birthday for months so it had to be great. His birthday party was the Saturday after his birthday so the day of his birthday we had a fun family day. First we made him breakfast in bed ( his favorites: eggs, bacon, strawberries, toast, and a dananimal) then we went to see a movie with his cousin, and Nana and Papa came over for ice cream and cookies. (we sold our car that night and it was crazy busy but Michael was unfazed and said it was the best day ever) On to the party... Mikey and I (jes) spent 3 days making his Lord Garmadon pinata, which he thought turned out awesome, but he loved hitting it with a stick better!  

 Everyone dressed up as a ninja and we added weapons and ninja star headbands.

 Joshua

 Michael

 Hazel (little Sensei)

 Bowen

 Nora

 Jackson

 Caden

 Mikey with his fire sword

(Blake didn't want his picture taken but he was a cool black ninja)

Mikey's cake this year was the easiest I ever made. We found a baker that shipped edible cake picture that fit a 9x13 cake. So all I had to do was frost the cake put on the sheet and finish frosting. I will definitely do it again! Micheal loved it and it only took 10 minutes!

Kurt dressed up as Sensei Wu and gave the kids ninja lessons at the party. What a good sport!

The Mini Van Chapter of Our Lives

After years of putting it off we've finally excepted our fate, we will be a mini van family. We sold our much loved SUV last week that we maxed out with 3 car seat for as long as possible but with the upcoming addition of Olivia we needed to up size. After months of searching for an SUV that fit 7, had captains chair in the second row, in our budget, we finally decided what we really looking for only can in one package...a mini van. So then we searched for just the right mini van and found the Nissan Quest. It doesn't look like the typical mini van and has great rating after 2011 and in our price range. So we finally took the plunge and bought it. We got an awesome deal on it and the kids think it's the coolest car in the world, I'm not drinking their Kool-aid but it does ride nice. Hazel loves it because she has her own row for now and talks up a storm! Welcome to a new chapter, hopefully it's fun!

Olivia's Room

The inspiration for the room came from this bedding that was meant for teens at walmart but has the colors and abstract floral I wanted. I bought a full comforter set and turned the shams into the bed skirt and pillows for the chair. The comforter made 4 crib blankets and the sheets I turned into receiving blankets. Not bad for $25. The wall color looks lighter in the picks because of the sunlight but it is the color of lilacs.

 Michael's artwork (the green and purple painting) and Hazel's abstract which I wrote (I am Loved over the top of the canvas')

 Olivia's name over close-ups of 11x14 flowers I got from an old calendar that I framed.

Josh's art work