Family Night Fun

Monday night we also had a rockin' game of Freeze Tag going on inside to go along with our FHE lesson on gratitude. It was hard to get any clear action shots, but here are a few of the "frozen" shots.

 

Labor Day Fun

On Labor Day we grilled and had Don's parents and cousins over.  It was great to catch up with everyone.  Ashley was such a great sport playing and dragging the kids around, all screaming with joy.

We all loved the yummy cupcakes Tracy made, especially Luke!

Tracy brought the card game Monopoly Deal to play and we were hooked. She was so sweet and left it here for the kids to play and it has been so fun. It is a great incentive to get homework done fast so we can get in a game or two before dinner.

 

The Big Freeze

February has brought some cold days to us here, including a get out of school ice day.  While it was projected to snow, we only got ice, much to the disappointment of everyone.  Ice just isn't nearly as much fun to play in as snow! 

Jake dressed for the weather
...no shorts today!

Hayley checking out the icicles

But we made the most of our no school day and played games, snuggled and watched movies and ate great food...even if we couldn't make snow pudding.  It was a fun day filled with games like Monopoly, Scrabble, Apples to Apples, Zingo and Wii. 


Movie Time!




Luke loved having everyone
home to play with!



Trevor ruling the real estate world

Michael schooling us in scrabble

Michael and his apples

Luke helping me with Zingo



Apples to Apples always makes us laugh!



NBA Jam on the Wii

We ended the day toasting marshmallows and making smores.

Toasty marshmallows

Luke loving his first smore!

Jake Having S'more Fun!

It was fun while it lasted.  By the next afternoon, all the ice had melted and it was back to 60 degrees!

New Year's Eve Fun

To wrap up 2008, we kicked off our New Year's Eve celebration going to a fun fiesta with friends, complete with a pinata and delicious Tex-Mex food. It was so fun!


TREVOR TAKING A SWING AT THE PINATA

JAKE AND HIS FRIEND EMMY EATING THEIR PINATA TREATS



We came home about 11 and had fun playing games and watching the ball drop in Times Square together. Jake found a perfect spot in the middle of all the action and crashed. At midnight we had our toast and went outside and yelled "Happy New Year!!!" for all our neighbors to hear. It was a fun night!

















HAPPY 2009 TO YOU!

Powerless Activities

Things I don't recommend doing when you don't have power or water pressure...

PLAYING WITH MOON SAND. It's lots of fun until it is time to clean up the warm, sticky bodies and floor. Running water really is a fabulous invention. Thank goodness for wipes and the Swiffer mop!

Other fun Activities to do without power...

PLAYING GAMES LIKE UNO TOGETHER

FLASHLIGHT TAG WITH JAKE

PLAYING BATTERY CHARGED VIDEO GAMES

MAKE-OVERS WITH FRIENDS...DON'TCHA JUST LOVE THE NEW 'DO. IT WAS BETTER THAN UNWASHED HAIR LOOK :)

The Bad Apple...

So today we were playing Apples to Apples Jr. with some friends. For those of you who haven't played the game, you have a green apple card in the middle with a word on it, and each player has 5 red apple cards. One person is the judge and everyone else puts a red card in the middle that would best go with the green card. For instance, the word lumpy could produce cards that say gravy, rocks, etc. This game is one of my kids favorites (thanks to Aunt Rachel!). Playing with a range of ages can be especially funny.

So in this particular round, I was the judge and the green apple card was TOUGH. So everyone puts their cards in & I start reading the 5 answers. Well one of the cards was "School Dance", so I say, "Oh, that's not tough". Trevor replies, "Yes it is, tough to find somebody to go with." And I say, "It wasn't tough for me". So then my sweet, innocent Trevor replies, "That's because all you had to do was ask your BROTHER!!!"

Ouch..the ultimate diss!! How do you like them apples now?! We were all laughing so hard, I was tearing up (and no, not because it was true!). Good times.

Happy New Year!

On New Year's Eve, we have the tradition of making a pinnapple man centerpiece for the party table. This year, Hayley took control and our pinnapple man became a beautiful pinnapple woman, complete with a gorgeous edible necklace! The night was a little quieter without any visiting family over New Years, combined with Michael and Trevor getting over a stomach bug. But we all managed to stay up and toast in the New Year, playing fun games like Apples to Apples, Scene It, Harry Potter version, and of course, bowling on the Wii!

Happy 2008!