So I really REALLY hated to get rid of the rooster I “stole” from our friend Allison but it just doesn’t go with our new decor…so spray paint to the rescue!
Now it will continue to live on and be a reminder of all the great times we had in Virginia! Stay tuned for the final reveal once everything is finished!
Katie’s birthday is obviously today and Owen’s was back in February, but both kids love a pool party so we decided to celebrate both birthdays together! (Owen also begged for another pool party!) So we had a 7th birthday and 10.5 birthday!!
The party officially started at 3:30 but we got to the park when it opened at noon so the kids could get in as much playing as possible (and to stake out the best shade seats, as is my usual). I didn’t take many pics because, well, I rarely take pics at the pool… And once people started arriving and the party started it was crazy busy—we had 15 adults and 27 kids!!!
But first, lunch. Of course the kids hadn’t eaten lunch before we left, so they were hungry pretty much as soon as we got there. We asked if we could have some of our party food early and that wasn’t a problem, so the kids had hot dogs and popcorn! (Our party package came with 20 cafe meals but we were bringing in pizza so technically didn’t need all the meals, so we snagged them for lunch! Brilliant!)
The arrival of the pizza!
Once we got it set up it was like a feeding frenzy. You’d think these kids hadn’t eaten in days. For a moment I wasn’t sure we’d bought enough pizza as the boxes were emptying at an alarming rate, but in the end it was perfect and we ended up with about 1.5 pizzas to take home.
Cupcake time came shortly after…
Of course we had way too many. I figured with 42 total guests, 60 would be just right because some kids would have two. But apparently most adults don’t eat cupcakes… So we literally had an entire tray left! I walked around handing out cupcakes to random people then took the rest to the manager’s office (they were happy to get them)!
We left just a little bit of garbage…
Sooo happy to see these guys together again!!
Tom and I went back to the water to cool off (it was still like 85°) and relax and two of our friends snapped pics of us. 😄
Katie was actually done before Owen so she went home with Daddy a little early.
All in all a great day… The weather was hot (I think it got to 94°) but it was perfect around the pool. Everyone had a great time. No one got hurt. Well, I take that back…Tom tweaked his back a bit but he powered through. And I lost my sunglasses on the waterslide—I had them tucked in my suit but they still came out…but they totally disappeared. They weren’t in the pool with me and we couldn’t see them in the pool anywhere. It’s a mystery.
Thanks to Allison for the pics as I was off getting stuff ready for the pool party!
And with her partner in crime, Sheila. (I made then take a break from playing Hide the Crowns!)
And I didn’t get one good pic in her birthday sash. This is the look I kept getting!!
If ever there was a reason to drink my first margarita in three weeks, this is it: a visit from Allison (and kids)…a good friend from Virginia we haven’t seen in two years!! Cheers!
So today we were cleaning out Owen’s baseball bag which hasn’t been touched since we moved. Lots of great memories… /sniff/ Here’s hoping a new city and new team ends up just as awesome as our last…
Our local fireworks were tonight, so we had our “F It Friday” group together for a “Suck It Saturday” instead! After some delicious drinks (and refills!) and dinner…
…the kids played in the water while we watched and tried to stay out of the spray zone. One dad (Eric) joined in the fray…
Then it was off on a caravan to the equestrian center (where we watched from last year, too). The kids ran around and played and did sparklers…and eventually watched some of the fireworks. I think Owen sat with me and Katie for about five minutes and then he was off with his friends.
Both kids had fun and were happy and I got to spend another night with our great friends…and that’s just about all I can ask for. (Well, if Tom would have been there it would have been even better!) 🙂
After watching the forecasts and worrying about the weather all week (the forecast varied from thunderstorms to 60% chance of rain to light rain all day)…we decided to go ahead with the party and it ended up absolutely perfect!! It was overcast at the start and gradually got sunnier and warmer throughout the party—enough so that I had Tom grab my suit when he went back to get the cake!
We had 60 guests (kids and adults!!) and the pool was probably the busiest it will be all season (aside from the days they have cookouts with free food or night swims with free ice cream). But it all went smoothly, everyone had a blast, and there was plenty of pizza and cake for multiple helpings (once I started cutting the serves 48 cake and realized my small pieces were still not small enough to get me close to 60 pieces, I started halving those…and then ended up having half the cake left so kids got seconds and thirds).
The gaggle of dads. They didn’t move from this spot the whole time. 😂
Us moms:
;
The kids were fairly patient about opening gifts once we got home…and they LOVED everything. They got Bop It (thank heavens I found the volume control!) and Owen picked up on it right away, Katie dug right into the glitter glue and construction paper, Owen picked out his favorite baseball cards from a new pack, Katie put together her Disney Lego, we’ve been shot multiple times by Owen’s new nerf gun, and both kids were OVER THE MOON about all the gift cards and getting to go shopping once we move! They both said it was a great birthday!
Father and son before Owen’s last at-bat (where he got a slamming base hit—watch in the video below)!! We joked that we should have taken him to a big league game earlier because it obviously affected his game play!
Sidenote: just look at his face! OMG, I didn’t even see it when I took it because their faces were in shadow. I finally saw it when I edited the photo! He is such a hoot!
During the game, the kids signed frames for all four coaches:
The coach got each player a holder for their game ball:
Swarming the food table like ants!
Tom getting his thank you:
And we got the team and player photos:
Of course we had to pick a position early in the season…had it been later, we would definitely have picked first base.
Tonight was one of our last monthly get togethers before we move. I’m not sure what I will do without these women. /cry
The kids all play together so well… And isn’t this so adorable?!
So, I just had my first in-home party (my business launch!)…and while I thought it was a total hot mess, they told me everything was fine and they had fun. (There were only six ladies and they are all good friends so I could be honest with them and ask for their honest opinions.) I dislike selling and feel like I stink at it so really just felt like I was pretty much out of control the whole time and consequently I felt totally off my game and I felt like I looked like an idiot (I know we are always hardest on ourselves). But they all seemed happy and bought stuff so it’s all good. And I know it will get easier with practice…
We didn’t take any official selfies but I did snap a few quick shots so I could remember who bought what (I was still figuring out how to use my credit card system!)
Another awesome Friday night gathering where all the kids get along (tonight there were 15!), the adults get along and have an amazingly fun time (tonight included shots of fireball whiskey, cigars, and stories about tattoos and piercings), and reluctantly leaving just before 11pm. I can cry just thinking about leaving…
Katie and I stayed home while the boys went for team pictures.
A friend sent this. We are really going to miss these people.
A bunch of baseball parents went out tonight for Cinco de Mayo. This is our obligatory date night selfie:
And my obligatory lipstick photo (these are how I post them in my Facebook group):
And the obligatory margarita photo with my Mommy needs a margarita shirt in the background. (This was the most appropriately-themed piece of clothing I had for the holiday.)
What was funny is that as we were sitting down, all the girls gravitated towards one end so the table was split into boys and girls.
It was chilly and rainy again so Katie and I stayed home while Tom and Owen went to the ceremony. I felt guilty because I should have been taking pictures… But you’ve seen one opening ceremony you’ve seen them all…right?!
And another parent sent this pic so I’m happy.
We had our monthly get-together with friends, and had the girls all stand together. From left to right, it’s Sheila (3), Katie (4), and Reilly (5). They all have July birthdays (so it’s not like one is 4y11m and the next is 5y1m). Yes there is a bit of difference between age 3 and 5, but really, it’s all pretty even.
Tonight we combined our Saturday Night Dinner with our first Cards Against Humanity game night!
The game-winning combo. Phil won, beating Tom by one card! What a fun night…
Friends invited us over for dinner tonight along with four other families we’re close to (for a total of 10 adults and 13 kids). There was lots of good food, wine, and stories (and all the kids get along) and it was all so much fun that one friend suggested we do this once a month at different houses (they’re also helping me get my friend fixes in before we leave this summer). So, we all decided then and there to do every third Friday…but we needed a fun name. They were suggesting tame things like FUN FRIDAYS or FUN FRIENDS FRIDAYS but I just went straight for F%@# IT FRIDAYS and they all loved it. (It also kind of fit our mood for the upcoming inauguration.)
I do not want to leave these people. 🙁
The kids are always so excited to go because we refuse to take them (they know why but they’re still kids so don’t really understand)…
With the birthday boy.
Cutting and counting thousands of box tops for the school—grunt work at its finest but we love Halley. ❤️ #pleasetrimyourboxtops
And the pic we couldn’t post on Facebook… 🍷
Our friends invited us to the Fort Belvoir Officer’s Club for Brunch with Santa! It was a bit of a disorganized hot mess in my opinion, but the kids got to see Santa and the food was pretty good. The best part was the company!
We went to the craft show again this year…and had cookies and crafts with Santa. Friends of ours were there so they did candy cane crafts together (that’s Keegan next to Owen, his younger brother Garrett and younger sister Shiela on either side of Katie).
Owen was okay with seeing Santa and talking to him…but he did NOT want to sit on his lap.
Katie was fine with Santa.
They were taking pictures, too…but none turned out that great.
The only picture where Owen was looking our way.
Katie: Mom, Owen answered the bonus question!
Me: Bonus question? What was it?
Owen: Santa asked what daddy wanted for Christmas.
Me: What did you tell him?
Owen: For Michigan State to be better!
Today was photo day! I honestly didn’t want to pay the outrageous prices for photos, so I planned to sneak some of Owen and his team and Tom snagged one of Katie’s session (it was at 8am and me and Owen didn’t make it for that). Also, I knew Katie would have half her team missing (due to pics being an hour before the game) and we never really got to know any of the kids (like we did with T-ball and baseball) outside the two kids we already knew.
Dancing across the field…
It really wasn’t until after the game when I was looking at all the pics I took that I realized Owen was really handling the ball well. He has improved SO much it’s unbelievable!
Today was Katie’s first game and she was SUPER excited…new jersey, new shorts, new shoes, new shin guards, and new headband!! Doesn’t she look the part?!
After a summer hiatus, we had a back-to-school/Tom’s birthday Saturday Night Dinner!
Waiting for guests to arrive:
Putting together the new picnic table at the last minute:
Our guests!
Putting away the table:
Putting the kids to bed:
When we came to pick up the kids, we got a good report…and then we stayed to talk to our friends for a bit and this is what the kids looked like:
Keegan & Owen on the left, the little sister Sheila in the pink, and Garrett & Katie in the back. 🙂
The entire first grade went to Mount Vernon today. They all had to wear their first grade tee.
A mom friend was a chaperone and sent me these pics:
New friends (Nate, a co-worker of Tom’s I’d never met—and his wife), newbies to dinner (friends from T-ball, mutual friends, and now Owen’s first grade class), good food (gumbo, rice, homemade white bread and spaghetti bread), amazing desserts (peanut butter bars and carrot cake by Nate!), and great kids equals gumbo dinner party success!
Through a small comedy of errors, Allison spilled red wine on herself a mere five minutes after arriving…so I loaned her a shirt (same shirt, different color) and we were twins!
Tonight was our fifth Saturday night dinner—and it happened to be Tom’s birthday as well! We had two new families (and one couple who’ve been to a couple dinners) join us—and it was fun (and crazy—with 8 kids!)!
Also as usual, I didn’t even think to take pictures because we were so busy visiting and doing food prep…so the first picture I took was a quick birthday shot of Tom with the dessert he picked (a caramel tres leches cake from Costco…with Owen’s birthday balloon!):
And then a panoramic of the table at dessert time…where it took me more than a few minutes to realize there’s a bunch of panoramic artifacts—like Tom’s hands reappearing on the other side of Katie and a friend’s squished face!
And Katie enjoying the blue frosting on the cupcakes a guest brought for the kids:
As a sidenote, I posted the invite for the next dinner in six weeks (Tom’s work schedule prevented a 4-week plan) and all RSVPs were filled within 24 hours! 🙂