A Gathering of the Jedi...

Yesterday Jaron had a party with some of his friends for his birthday. He wanted a swimming party like he's had for the past two years, but this year I decided to do it at our house and not the rec center.

Here's the invitation I made for Jaron's party this year...


This was the sign I made for the front door, the "hanger" was the back yard...


This was a sign I had hanging on the gate to get to the "hanger", Jaron really liked it.


I put together a treat table for Jaron's party and I was really excited about it. We had some really fun ideas for treats and they were all really yummy.



Here's a close up of all the yummy "Star Wars" treats we had to eat...

We had "Edible Ewoks" (gummy bears) and "Hoth Pops" (powdered donut holes on a stick...I was going to make white chocolate covered cake balls, but Jaron wanted the donut holes)...


..."Wookie Cookies" (chocolate chip cookies) and "Space Rocks" (Nestle Cruncha Buncha)...


..."Light Sabers" (Tampico freezer pops) and "Leia Rolls" (mini cinnamon rolls)...


..."Boba Fett Bounty" (chocolate gold coins) and "Death Star Donuts" (old fashioned donut holes)...


..."Padme Popcorn" (buttered popcorn...I wanted to make white chocolate covered popcorn, but again, Jaron wanted regular popcorn) and "Space Dust" (Nerds)...


...and "Darth Vader" and "Yoda" chocolate cupcakes (per Jaron's request)...


We also had lunch for all the kids.


Lunch consisted of "Padawan Pizza"...


..."Yoda Soda" (Sprite and lime sherbet)...


...and "R2-D2 H2-O"...


This was the gift table with the goodie bags for all the kids. In the goodie bags were some "Star Wars" fruit snacks, a "Darth Vader" pencil, and either a "Darth Vader" or "Yoda" pencil sharpener.



I also had some "light sabers" for the kids to keep and play with in the pool...


While I was setting everything up for the party, I was getting a little nervous and frustrated because it was really cloudy and it was starting to rain a little bit. It had been nice and sunny all week and then on the one day I needed it to be nice, it was raining. I didn't know how things were going to turn out. I thought maybe the kids could watch a Star Wars movie if it got too bad.


The kids played a little bit on the trampoline before the party started. I love Jaron's face...


Then, we let the kids eat...


I also got the kids some fun curvy straws to use for their drinks...


I'm not quite sure what's going on with Jantzen and Tate's faces in this picture...they are a couple of silly boys!


Jaedyn enjoyed her "Padawan" pizza in the house with her daddy and she really liked it. I love her facial expressions as she eats, she's too cute!


Despite the sprinkles coming down, after lunch the kids decided to get in the pool. Jaron was a little hesitant at first because he said the water was too cold. Instead he just had fun hitting his friends with the noodle. I told him if he didn't get in the pool I was going to push him in. I started walking towards him and then he jumped in.


I wanted a picture of all the kids together before they all got crazy and this is what I ended up with. I absolutely love this picture! Jantzen was being a stinker and didn't want to be by the rest of the kids for the picture, so I thought, "whatever"! What he was really doing was getting ready to make this picture the best. He jumped off the ladder into the pool right as I was taking the picture, it was perfect timing! I love how he's perfectly posed as he's jumping in the pool with his noodle in hand. That kid makes me laugh so hard sometimes.


The kids had a blast playing in the pool. I had to do some fun editing in the top picture because Kennedy dove in the water right as I took the picture and the result was a picture of her toosh. I didn't want to embarrass her, so I added a smiley face to cover it...pretty cute, huh?



After playing in the pool for a little while, the rain started coming down harder. I thought the kids would get out and not want to swim anymore, but I think it made it more fun for them. Nothing was going to ruin their fun in the pool.

Here's Jaron and Jace having a noodle war, or should I say, Jaron beating Jace up with the noodle...


Then, Jaron had a splashing war with Kaiden...


While Jaron was having wars in the pool with his friends, Jantzen was playing on the trampoline with Sadie and Tate and they were having a blast! Jantz was loving the fact that the trampoline was wet from the rain, it made it slippery for him to slide around on.



Jaron saw that they were having a lot of fun on the trampoline, so he decided to join them...


...then Jace joined them and they all bounced all over the place. I got some really good pictures of the kids up in the air...


A little bit later the light saber battles began. Jantz and Tate battled on the trampoline, while Jaron and the rest of his friends battled on the patio...




It didn't take too long for the older kids to want to battle on the trampoline too, so they all moved over there. It did get a little crazy a few times with so many kids battling each other, but fortunately there weren't any injuries.


About a half hour before the party was over the sun and blue skies decided to come out, just in time for Jaron to open presents...


Jaron got some really fun gifts from his friends this year. They all know him so well because he was so excited and loved everything he got.

He got a light up light saber from Jace and a "Harry Potter" Lego set from Kennedy, Sadie, and Tate...


He got a new "BeyBlade" from Keagan, money and his favorite brownies from Sierra, and a new "Nerf" water gun from Kaiden.


After Jaron was done opening his presents, we sang "Happy Birthday" to him and had cupcakes. What a cheeser Jaron is for the camera!


While we waited for parents to come, the kids had some more light saber battles on the trampoline. This time they only battled two at a time, Sadie kept beating everyone...poor boys, being beat by a girl is so humiliating.


The party ended up going good and was a lot of fun for the kids despite the flashes of rain. I'm glad everything turned out so well and that everyone had a good time, I had fun planning it all. It's nice that Jaron has such awesome friends that he can celebrate his birthday with. Thank you everyone that came..."Happy Birthday Jaron"!

A Decade Old!

Today was Jaron's 10th birthday, I can't believe he's that old already! Unfortunately that means that I'm officially a decade older too...:( Anyway, Jaron had a busy, but fun day today celebrating. Last night he had his best friend Jace sleep over and then they got to hang out all day together too.

Here were the decorations I put up in the house for Jaron's birthday, he chose a "Star Wars" theme this year...


The kids love it when I decorate the house just for them, especially when I have something matching their birthday theme hanging from the ceiling in the kitchen. For Jaron I made stars that hung from silver star garland and a "Star Wars" happy birthday sign that matched his birthday party invitations...he loved it!

Here's a close up of the hanging sign...


For breakfast Jaron requested crepes. We usually only have them on Christmas morning, but he really loves them, so that's what he got and as you can see, he REALLY enjoyed them!

(Don't you love his Darth Vader cup? He insisted on using it since it goes along with his theme)



I had originally planned on taking Jaron to see the second half of the "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" movie, but since he had a friend over I decided not to, besides, we were invited over to a friends house to swim in their pool and all the kids wanted to do that.

This swimming pool is so much fun, I wish we had one like this in our back yard. Jaron and Jantzen absolutely love the fact that there's a hot tub in one corner and a water slide in the other corner. Of course Jaron has to act like a goof ball for the camera...


He played a lot of games in the pool with his friends Jace, Keagan, and Kaiden...


...but mostly he enjoyed the water slide...


...and jumping off the waterfall...




Jantzen even got in on some of the fun stuff...the water slide was his favorite...


I loved watching him play in the waterfall...


Later on we took Jaron to Cafe Rio for dinner. He originally wanted to go to McDonald's, but changed his mind later (I had no problem with that!).

Here's Jaron enjoying some yummy Cafe Rio chips with Jantzen and Jace...


After dinner, we came back to the house so Jaron could open his presents.


The kids always get out a little chair for them to sit on while they open their presents and right after Jaron sat his chair down Jaedyn went to get herself one. It was so cute because she sat it right next to him. She had to sit by her "honey" while he opened his presents. Every time he opened one she'd get all excited and at one point she stopped, put out her hands, and said, "I want one"...it was so cute!


This was Jaron's favorite present, a "Star Wars Emperor Palpatine" Lego ship. He was so excited to put it together.


Jaron got some fun stuff this year, he loved it all! He got the "Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Lightening Thief" DVD, a "Halo" action figure, a "Halo" Lego set, "Rocka 3.0" (Hero Factory) figure, "Star Wars" Lego ship, Blue "Club Penguin" toy, a black "Puffle" (Club Penguin), an inchworm "Hex Bug" robot, a "BeyBlade", and two tornado "BeyBlades".


Then, when Jaron was all done opening his presents it was time for cake and ice cream. It took a little while to get him away from his new toys so we could sing to him...he just wanted to play.

Here's Jaron's cake this year. It has Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker fighting with their light sabers (they actually light up).



Jaron had to have a picture with his cake of him making Darth and Luke fight (if you look closely you can see that their light sabers are a different color, he's making them light up)...


We then sang "Happy Birthday" to him and he blew out his candles...


Jaron asked for the piece of cake that had his name on it, but instead of eating his cake and ice cream, he just sat and played with his "Hex Bug".


Jaedyn sure enjoyed the cake, well, at least the frosting. That's all she ever eats when she has cake, just look at her face...


When Jaron finally started eating, he only ate his ice cream, but his robot was right next to him so he could resume playing with it!


While we all were enjoying our cake and ice cream, Darth and Luke were battling it out on the table. I wonder who's going to win...


We decided to let Jace have another sleepover because both him and Jaron wanted to continue hanging out and play with Jaron's new toys. The first thing they did was put together Jaron's new "Star Wars" ship. That kept them busy most of the night, then they had popcorn and watched Jaron's new movie.


It was a good day for Jaron. He said he had a lot of fun with his friends and he loved all the presents he got.

Jaron is such a blessing in our family. He's a good kid that helps out with his younger siblings and is very caring and thoughtful of everyone. I couldn't have picked a better kid to be my first born. We all love you so very much Jaron, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Say What!?!?

Last night when I climbed into bed I had the weirdest conversation with Josh, or I should say a sleeping Josh...that's right, he was talking in his sleep and it was the funniest thing.

Josh started mumbling something incoherent about being woken up. and here's how the rest of our conversation went:

Me: "Good Night!"
Josh: "Woken up I am!"
Me: "What?"
Josh: "I was woken up by the smoke of the birds."
Me: (laughing) "What?"
Josh: "I was woken up by the birds."
Me: (uncontrollably laughing now) "You're talking in your sleep."
Josh: "No, I'm not!"
Me: "Ha, Ha, Ha!"

I couldn't stop laughing, it was so funny! He must just have birds on the brain a lot these days. That's what happens when you're addicted to "Angry Birds".


The best part of that conversation is that he probably doesn't remember any of it...but now he does!

One of the "Big" Kids!

There's nothing that can go on around our house without a little one following along. Jaedyn loves to do everything that the "big" kids are doing, she hates to be left out. The other day Jantzen and Sadie were playing the Wii and Jaedyn quickly got herself a controller and started playing along. She's always getting into the Wii controllers and pretending she's playing, so when the kids actually do play it, she gets all excited. She doesn't really play the game, but the big kids are really good about letting her pretend. Jaedyn is getting really good at pretend playing.



I just love the concentrated look she has on her face, like she's really into the game...not to mention the fact that she has to have her cell phone with her wherever she goes...


My kids are so fun...I really don't want them to grow up anymore!