An Exciting Day!

Sunday, June 15th was an exciting day for our family. This year Brandon's birthday fell on Father's Day, so my 2 boys had to "share" the day!

When Brandon woke up he had to walk through the streamers and balloons to get out of his door! This has become kind of a tradition at our house. After the birthday kid goes to bed the night before his/her birthday, Mommy has to decorate the house in some way for when they wake up on their birthday morning.

We had to quickly open gifts since Daddy had to leave for church right away. I told Brandon and Todd that they would have to share a gift this year since they were sharing their day. Then I surprised them both with a Nintendo Wii. I don't think they minded at all to share!

Then another surprise for Daddy... Guitar Hero for the Wii! There were 2 very happy boys in the house this morning!

Since Brandon turned 8, he no longer has to ride in a booster seat in the car. So, he rode to church just like a grown up!

After church, Brandon decided McDonald's would be a good place to eat his birthday meal.

Then we came home and Todd got the Wii all set up and they tried it out!

Playing some Wii Golf!

After Bekah's nap, I took them to see the Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian. It seemed to be something that Todd and Brandon both wanted to see, so it was a nice treat for both of them on their special day.

Todd got to pick where to have dinner, and he opted for Outback Steakhouse! I think his favorite thing there is the Bloomin' Onion appetizer.

Todd is wearing his gift from the kids...a World's Greatest Dad shirt! I am thankful that he is a great Dad for our kids!

June 17th

On June 17th, Todd and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary! Here are some pictures from then and now!

Kara came over to keep the kids for us around 10:30 last Tuesday morning. Todd and I shopped a little bit together (we each got a new shirt). Then we went to see Iron Man at the theater, and then we went out to eat at Applebees. Then it was time to head back home and get ready for Vacation Bible School at church. We are so appreciative of friends to keep our kids and the time we get to spend together. It was a very nice day!

Transformers Party!

Last Saturday was Brandon's Transformers Birthday party. We had a total of 9 kids come over for pizza and cake! Before the party we gave Brandon a Transformers shirt to wear, a Transformers plate and cup to use at the party, and his own copy of the old Transformers movie!

The whole gang!

The boys enjoying their pizza.

More pizza eaters!

Of course Brandon's favorite part was the presents. He got a Nerf gun, some Legos, a movie, a Playmobil pirate ship and an alarm clock. Poor kid, he just doesn't have very many toys! ;-)

Brandon picked out the cake from Wal-Mart. His decision really had nothing to do with the cake, only the fact that it came with an actual Transformer toy on top of it!

We let all the kids watch Brandon's new Transformer movie (the old cartoon one).

The girls decided that laying on the floor was the best way to do the Transformer party blow-outs!

Brandon is showing off his new Nerf gun with his friend Tyler (we got Tyler his Nerf gun for his birthday!)

Art Show

This past school year was Brandon's 2nd year to take art class. He has a wonderful teacher and enjoys it so much! The area we live in has lots of other homeschooling families, and there are so many opportunities for him to participate in all different kinds of activities. I am very much not an artist, so this opportunity has been great for both of us! I tried to teach art in Kindergarten and didn't do so great, so this is a perfect situation for us. His teacher is awesome and teaches them so much. He is learning art history and art appreciation along with how to be an artist himself. This year his art class took 2 field trips to 2 different museums in Louisville also. It is so much fun!! Last Saturday was his art show which displayed work from all of his teacher's classes.

Here he is with his art certificate and his teacher.

Here are some of the art kids!

And those were his top 3 works of art from this past year!

Piggies

Here are some shots of the guinea pigs that we kept for some friends. The kids really enjoyed having pets in the house and were sad to see them go! In case you are wondering their names are Eggnog, Coconut and Waffle!

Fun with Friends

Here are some pictures from the week we kept Isaac and Anna Laura. The kids had such a blast together and decided that they would like to live together all the time!! When it was time to go, Isaac and Anna Laura didn't want to go and Brandon and Bekah didn't want them to leave!

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to Me! Today Todd and I are celebrating 13 years of marriage! Since VBS is going on this week at our church, Todd took the day off from work. Otherwise, we wouldn't even really see each other all day. So, Kara is coming over around 10:30 to keep the kiddos for us while we go out and do something. We're not exactly sure what that will be just yet, but it will be something!

Busy

Things have been busy at our house over the last week. On Monday we had some friends stop by and drop off 2 of their children to stay at our house for a few days. They were headed to the Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis and since we don't see them often the kids took advantage of the opportunity to spend some time together. Then on Tuesday our neighbors left for vacation and we watched over their house and took care of their pets. On Thursday around lunchtime our friends came back through and picked up their kids. Then that evening we had some friends over for dinner and they left us their 3 guinea pigs to watch while they are out of town for a few days. Today Brandon had his art show for the end of his art class this year. Then tonight we had his Transformers birthday party. And now we are gearing up for Father's Day tomorrow and Brandon's actual birthday. Then Monday begins a week of Vacation Bible School at our church as well as the kids' swimming lessons. As you can see, we are busy! Hopefully I can get some more pictures on here soon!

Houseboat Weekend

Last weekend we got to spend on a houseboat with Todd's entire family. Here's a link if you want to see the boat: http://www.cedarhillresort.com/Super80.htm. We all had a great time except for the fact that Tessa and Jackie got sick on Sunday (maybe some bad jalepeno dip). The weather wasn't quite as warm as we would have liked, but we still had some time to swim and play in the water. We also enjoyed time in the cabin playing games and chatting. And there was a lot of fishing going on too. It's not often that all 12 of us can all be together for more than just one meal, so it was nice to all be together for 2 days.

Here is a link to see all the 138 pictures that we took if you are interested:

http://s265.photobucket.com/albums/ii208/heather_b_young/Houseboat%202008/.