Kate Turns 10

 

For Kate's 10th birthday, which was August 8th, we made a trip to the Goodwill and bought party dresses for all the girls and remade them.  We had 3 machines going, 5 seamstresses making alterations, and a table full of kids making fun party hats.  After the gowns were fitted and high heels were chosen, Glynne took the girls on a photo shoot.  

Can you tell which pair used to be black? Spray painting shoes does work!!

Mark Thompson, all decked out, and at our house to play with the boys, hopped in the last picture.  What a crew!  They wore their fancy dresses and were served dinner in our decorated mudroom! 

After dinner, the sleepover party began.  Every new 10 year old in our family gets his/her first sleepover.  So...this was Kate's year to host her first one.  These girls were so well behaved.  It was a joy to have them around.  Anytime Kate asks to have these girls over, I will definitely say yes.

 

School Has Begun!



 

     This is going to be a quick little update.  I hear yelling downstairs and should get up from the computer to go check it out, but... wait...it stopped.  Yay!  I'll keep on typing.  Another school year has begun.  I, personally, was ready.  Summer is nice - don't get me wrong - but days without somewhat of a plan can get kind of long.  I like having a plan and getting things accomplished.  So, last week we dove in and ...for the most part it was good.  In our Story of the World curriculum, we constructed a couple Pharos lighthouses from Alexander the Great's time.  That went well. 



        
      We also scraped part of our cheek skin to study under a microscope.  That was painful. 

In between all the other subjects, Jonah entertained himself by climbing in his Morton building.  It came with a set of John Deere tractors and farm animals that I bought for his "school."  He lasts about 8 minutes with an activity and then needs something.  To be honest, the first day of school was part success, part disaster.  It didn't help that I had to leave the house 3 times before 1:00 p.m. for unexpected errands. It was a trying day.  But...good news...everyday after that got better!!  Thank you Lord.  Landon even said this was his best year as far as him liking all his subjects.  Yay.  Even Emma, the sophomore, said her school wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be.  That's a big positive coming from her!  

 Better close.  Husband is calling for me from the kitchen. I found the game Mille Bornes at our local Goodwill a couple of days ago and the family is beginning to play.  I love to play board games and don't want to miss this opportunity!  Check back soon for a blog about Kate's Goodwill birthday party.  I can't wait to put that one up!

Slenderman shows up at Emma's Party!

 

 

This year for my birthday I couldn't think of anything I wanted to do, so Ally came up with the idea of playing a life-sized version of video game Slenderman. It would be fun and we could cross it off our bucket list all in one. So that's what we did!

 

 

Before the party, Mom, Ally, and I went to get our hair cut, and I got bangs for

 the first time since I was like three. Exciting, I know!!

After that Mom took me to take the written exam for my learner's permit,

which, thankfully, I passed.  For lunch, Mom and we three older girls went to Pizza Hunt for some girl time.

 

 

Then, finally, it was time for the party. 

We ate, had dessert, took turns playing Slenderman (the video game)

 on Glynne's computer, then I explained how we were going to play the

 life-sized version of the game.



 

 

The point of the game is to collect eight notes hidden in a dark forest with a flashlight. But while you're hunting for the notes, Slenderman is somewhere in the trees, and if he catches you; you are dead.  The way we played, there were four teams of two, and one of three, if you or your teammate/s died, you had to go back to the house, and after you touched the porch you could continue to look for the notes.  Whoever had the least amount of deaths and the most notes at the end were the winners.

 

 

This is the map of our land I drew to show the boundaries.  We played on about twelve acres, which seems like a lot when you're walking around with only one other person and you are constantly aware that a masked person might suddenly pop out of the trees in front of you. 

Yeah, I really wasn't that scared.

 



 

Before we headed out, we had to get in the spirit by putting on blue tape

and bug-proofing ourselves.

 





 

Mom sent Dad out ahead of us to give him some time to hide. 

I think he embodied Slenderman perfectly.

 



 

...creepy

 



 

Ally copied the real notes from the video game,

and Mom did a great job hiding them.

 

Jonah was absolutely terrified of Dad.

 

 Overall, it was a huge success and I think everyone had a great time.

This is a birthday I will never forget!

The Messy Day

If you haven't noticed, we are committed to finishing this bucket list! We may not finish before I go to college... but it will be done before Ally and Emma start school. I PROMISE. 

There were a couple bucket list things that I personally wanted on the list. They were the messy things like paint twister and a water balloon fight with pudding or jello. So, we dedicated a Saturday evening to completing all the messy stuff on the list!  

First off, we tried making pudding balloons because we ran out of time for jello to set... Whoops! 

It started off... not so great. We didn't have enough milk. I ended up substituting with water but it must have been a sign that this wasn't really gonna work out well. 

We didn't really consider the problem of pudding pressure when we added this idea to the list. In case you don't know, it's REALLY HARD to get pudding into balloons! 

Unless you have a pudding faucet, it's just never gonna happen. 

We didn't want to... but we had to abandon the idea of pudding balloons. We did end up pushing as much pudding as possible into a balloon, then filling the rest up with water.

 It must count as something, right? 

After that disappointment, we got to move on to something that had a much happier ending! 

PAINT TWISTER! 

It's safe to say this was the bucket list item I was the most excited about crossing off. 

Landon agreed to be our spinner and the game began! 

We had such an awesome time! Definitely a highlight of the summer. 

I loooooved it! 

After getting all paint-y, we figured it was the perfect opportunity to complete #32 - body painting! 

We didn't have a large canvas... But we did have some long strips of paper from IKEA. 

We all decided painting with our faces would be the best course of action. 

Look at that! I think it could totally fit in a museum. 

I mean, have you seen some of those "modern art" pieces? 

 I made "pieces" like that when I was 3. 

We'd been significantly covered in paint, so it was time to clean off. 

With semi-pudding balloons! 

Generously, we agreed to let Jackson and Isaac pummel us with the balloons. 

They have some good arms! Not great aim... we told them NOT to hit our heads - they did anyway. 

Emma got the last balloon to throw at the kids! I'd be scared to be on the receiving end of that. 

Overall, we had a great time finishing all the messy stuff! Seriously, one of the best days yet. 

We rinsed off (in the cold water!) and were done for the day! 

We've officially completed 13 out of 39 bucket list things. 

That means we have 26 left to go! 

Don't forget to follow our progress - Bucket List 2013!