2012 Egg Hunt

I can’t decide if it’s a good thing that Drama Boy helped Larry hide the Easter eggs this year. I don’t particularly enjoy the job, but he really doesn’t have to grow up quite so fast. We decided to hide eggs at the church this year as our own yard is too small to offer hiding places that challenge the bigger kids. Here are a few unedited pictures of  the event, which took place on Monday afternoon because all the big people were too tired on Sunday afternoon.

Larry sends the kids in five different directions. . .

Baby Boy is still young enough to get excited about eggs just scattered in the grass, though with a little coaching he found some that the older kids had missed.

Bouncy Boy (and Silly Boy) had made themselves Easter “baskets” out of cardboard boxes.

Silly Boy finds eggs nestled in the rocks.

Meanwhile, Boy Genius searched a little closer to the church.

The last few eggs are always the most elusive, and then Drama Boy started re-hiding some. . .in his pockets.

All done! Besides the candy, we had gotten a bin of basic Lego pieces to fill the plastic eggs.

A blessed Easter to all

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Happy birthday!

Happy 65th birthday to my one and only Daddy Boy!

Too bad I couldn’t find that picture of the fire extinguisher & your 40th birthday cake!

I need a vacation

I need a vacation. . .from trying to plan our family vacation! I probably said this last year too, but it’s a logistical nightmare now that we live where we can only see family during our annual vacation (or when they come to visit us, of course). When we lived in Illinois, it was very easy to visit my parents and other relatives in Indiana, so we only needed to use vacation time to visit Larry’s family in Minnesota. Then we moved to Iowa, and it was fairly easy to see Larry’s parents throughout the year so we used our vacation time to travel to Indiana–plus it was just close enough that I could drive myself and the kids to Indianapolis for a week.

Now. . .every year we have to figure out how to visit both sides of the family during a single trip. It isn’t easy, especially since it’s not feasible to divide our time equally on a yearly basis.  And it doesn’t leave us time for taking the kids to see sights outside of Indianapolis or Minneapolis-St. Paul. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but I also don’t want the kids to remember vacation as a time of being trapped in the Suburban for days on end. . .

Lunch is here!

This year we started a new family project: helping deliver Meals on Wheels. Some of the kids are more enthusiastic helpers than others but hopefully all will benefit from this experience.

Rather than one day each week, we deliver Monday through Friday every fourth week. The route that was open is the local senior apartments. Many of the other volunteers do not like this route but it works quite well for us. We have plenty of helpers to carry all the food and knock on doors and deliver meals. . .and we only have to get everyone in and out of the Suburban twice, once for each building.

Family tradition

Drama Boy is following in the footsteps of his father and his uncle. . .he has spent his last two weekends working at the local pizza place. Since he’s only fifteen, he is starting at the bottom: busing tables and washing dishes. No uniform, just black jeans and a dark t-shirt–not that he’d likely appreciate my posting a picture anyhow.

He seems eager enough to go to work, although when he gets home he is a typical teenage boy with little to say (other than “what can I eat?”). Many of you have probably had the same attempted conversation: “How was work?” “Fine.” “What did you do tonight?” “Wash dishes.” Well, okay, then. . .oh! He did say that he likes the hours much better than he liked helping Larry deliver papers in the wee hours.

Birthday party

I thought I’d share a few pictures from Silly Boy’s party last Friday evening. He’s still excited about Cars 2, and at first he wanted an oil platform cake. Ummm. . .so we compromised with Big Bentley.

That’s a carrot cake, covered with cream cheese frosting and sprinkled with toasted coconut (minus the clock face). I drew the clock details with black food coloring (which bled)–the best part was the tinfoil hood ornament created by Drama Boy. Silly Boy added his cars to the scene.

After the dishes were cleared away it was time for presents, and he was very proud of his ability to (mostly) read his own cards this year.

Being so soon after Christmas most of his siblings weren’t at the ready with gifts, although Twirly Girl had a matchbox car for him and Drama Boy wrapped up his own hex bugs to pass down.

Silly Boy received the usual haul of cash, and Great Mimi gave him a couple science kits. The “enviro battery” kit includes a potato clock, which had been on his Christmas wish list.

Papaw & Mimi sent him a nice new orange sleeping bag which he tried out that very night. And we had happened upon a Vikings backpack on clearance–he was very glad to not have to use Bob the Builder anymore.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A few snapshots from yesterday’s festivities. . .we were excited to have as guest our friend Karen, daughter of one of my long-time friends, Jo Ann.

Everyone waiting for me to put down the camera so we can eat. Dinner was definitely a group effort: Larry grilled steaks, Drama Boy made cranberry sauce, Boy Genius roasted green beans and made gingered sweet potatoes, and Twirly Girl made coconut-carrot salad.

Bouncy Boy climbs on Daddy because. . .I guess because he was there.

Baby Boy filled up on steak and cranberry sauce.

After pie (pumpkin, made by Silly Boy, and chocolate, made by Bouncy Boy), we played Farkel. Drama Boy wasn’t terrible excited but was more or less a good sport.

Baby Boy and Larry played as a team. . .until Baby Boy cackled with glee “I can farkel you!”

Bouncy Boy was in the lead for a long time, but Boy Genius came from behind and won. After the game was over Karen needed to head home; the kids got themselves ready for bed so they could watch a movie. All in all, it was a good day!