6 Years Old!

My, how time flies when you have kids! I've always been told to cherish the time you have with them, but never dreamed a year could pass so quickly. For their 6th birthday I decided to let the boys have a "friends" birthday party. I let them each choose their own party theme and invite 3 friends. I had mapped out the entire 2 hours that the kids would be at our house. Doesn't sound too difficult does it? Well, it wouldn't have been had it not decided to rain that day.....all day! All my fun-filled party games and activities were supposed to take place outside. Now what? Try entertaining eight 5 & 6 year old boys indoors for two hours and see how your nerves are by the end of the day. All in all I would have to say it went pretty well. Greyson & Kaeden and all of their friends had a blast so that's all that matters.

The first of several balloon games. They had to push against each other to try and pop the balloon. Looks harder than you think. The balloons kept slipping out and we would have to reposition them again.

Greyson and Jacob Van Winkle hold the balloon between them and wait patiently for Andy to get everyone else ready.

Kaeden gives me the "How you doin'?" look.

His partner was Justin Maggard.

Jay Meinders and Alex Buswell

Avery McGee and Dylan Warrick push with all of their might.

Yet another balloon game...to see who's balloon deflates and flies the furthest across the room.

Greyson chose The Incredible Hulk as his theme.

And Kaeden chose Pokemon as his.


Greyson waits patiently for the singing to stop.

Kaeden gets ready to blow out his candles.

Who will win??? Believe it or not, our asthma boy (Kaeden) won.

Present time....the best part of all!

So meticulous.

Oh, wow!

Look mom, Ben 10...just what I wanted!

A cool game called "Hot Shots"

Time for cake and juice.

Look at all the Pokemons and Hulks!

What a fun bunch of boys!

What happens after a sugar high.

The Sunday following their birthday we had another party for them with our families. Just what they needed.....more gifts.

Look at all of those! Where am I going to store all of those toys?

Cool! Star Wars toys!

Sweet! My Ben 10 Omnitrix!



Awesome! My Black Bumblebee!

Eyeing each others toys.



Both of the boys LOVE musical cards so we got them each a Star Wars musical birthday card. They thought that was awesome!

1st Soccer Game

Now that the boys are in kindergarten they are eligible for soooo many things! I thought that maybe I would have a few more years before delving into the wonderful world of sports. When I was growing up, we didn't have sports until our late elementary years.

This fall we decided to enroll the boys in both soccer and "Mini Mustang Football Camp". A grave mistake on our part. We should have started out with just one sport. We didn't realize what a toll kindergarten alone would take on the boys. Oh well, you live and you learn. We have just had to learn to deal with crabby, tired boys and do the best that we can.

Last Sunday was their first soccer game. After having only three practices under their belt, I was curious to see how the game would go. I was very impressed with both boys' participation and skills. They had a blast and were exhausted by the end of the game.

Greyson talking with coach Holly Maggard,

showing off as usual.

Kaeden goes down amongst the sea of red

Greyson kicks the ball out of the goalie's zone

Kaeden (in light blue) running after the ball

Kaeden (#6) throwing the ball back into play

Greyson runs after the ball


Good game guys!

A little motivational talk from

coaches Maggard & Liebe after the game.

Go Cubbies!

On Friday, August 29th, Andy decided to take us all to the Iowa Cubs game. It's kind of nice having a hubby who works for the Cubs...Free Tickets! Yeah! It also means having an "in" to special perks. Earlier that day I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth pulled so I wasn't feeling quite 100%, but still wanted to go with my "men" to the game. When we got downtown, Andy made a call and got us a parking spot right in front of the stadium so I didn't have to walk far. What a sweetie!

It was a beautiful night for a game and the Cubbies did awesome! We also got upgraded seats (thanks to another perk of the job) and got to sit in the box seats right behind the visitors dugout. The boys had a blast!

Andy and Greyson (mini-me)

Andy and a very tired & grumpy Kaeden

The boys just had to sit by themselves in front of us.

After all, they are almost six years old you know!

Greyson, just chillin', eatin' his cotton candy.

Now, let's just hope the Chicago Cubs can continue their

success and make it to the World Series!!

Go Cubbies!!!!!