Things that Happened in May that WERE Jake's Birthday

You see what I did there! ;)

I know we did something for Jake's birthday. And I remember ice cream sandwiches and basketball in the back yard, but I don't think that was the main event...I better check my trusty phone!

Oh yeah, Minute to Win It. This is the only documentation I have. No other pictures or video. But let me assure you fun was had by all. (And yes, I do always nag like an impatient hag in the background on all of my videos...geez!)

All you need for a Minute to Win It party is lots of those red plastic cups and a box of ping pong balls! You can have games for hours with those and a few random things that you will have around your house

I don't know why, but Jake's parties always seem to grow the largest and the most out of control. Maybe it is a boy thing (or a mom who doesn't set limits thing.) But I have learned to be very organized and this party was actually very easy to pull off. Courtney and Tiffany were a huge help.

Jake is a great kid. He is a very deep thinker. He loves to laugh. He adores having the attention on him. He seems to be headed in the right direction most of the time. We are so lucky to have him as an important part of our family.

Happy 10th Jake!!

The Things That Happened in May That Weren't Jake's Birthday

I have been getting all my information from Facebook - but only the photos. I have way too many status updates to sort through to find out what was really going on. But these events were significant enough to inspire me to post pictures, so you now get to enjoy them (probably a second time) for your viewing pleasure: First up, Courtney got her braces off!!! Yay - it actually didn't seem like that long, and in all honesty I have some questions and I think we may end up putting them back on, but YAY they are off for now. I didn't think to take a before picture until she was already lying in the chair, so this one is really flattering: And this one is in the car after. Isn't she so pretty? (So pretty I am going to go out and learn how to use some of these weird looking assault rifles Jeff left behind...) The other "not birthday" May event that I felt was significant enough to merit a post was when the awesome Evan and family invited us to come along on the annual Sand Dunes trip. The date for the large group was up in the air, and no one really knew for sure if it was even going to happen, but Evan said "come with us" even though he had to know that it would be WAY more work for him! What a good sport (and loving, caring friend). We didn't want to be all excess baggage so we did what we could to get ourselves ready. Courtney felt pretty confident she could put the paddle tires on the little bikes. I was kind of pleasantly surprised (until some rudey pointed out that they were on backward.) Details - she knows the mechanics behind doing it, and for me, for this year, that is good enough. I have made it a point on our previous trips over the last 10 years to the sand dunes to never ride. And to be completely truthful I kind of had a secret goal to never leave the trailer except to shower and to make at least one trip in to town. Well, Patty and Evan decided that this kind of behavior wasn't going to cut it this year. They said "You have to ride out to the lake with us". WHAT?!?!?! There is a lake? Who knew? Is it new? No? Awesome! So we loaded up. Most of my family in the Rhino because the 90's just don't have the power for this kind of ride. Courtney and Jake fought over the 400. I can honestly say - I did not enjoy it. I get my adrenaline by waiting until the last minute to complete a project. Nearly falling off 20 foot drop offs is a bit of an overkill in the adrenaline department for me. On the way back from the lake Patty offered to come in the Rhino so one of my kids could take her quad. I don't know if she really wanted to, or if she just wanted them to shut up. But it was very nice.

(Our Family at the Lake)

So I asked her if she wanted to drive and she was like "Really, you would let me." As if that would take some of the enjoyment out of it for me. I was thinking "At least then closing my eyes will be less dangerous."

We all made it back to the campsite safely, and not much worse for wear.

And we do want to say THANK YOU to the awesome Wiggins family for being so wonderful to us on this trip, and really for the whole last year. What amazing friends we have. (Evan even said he was up for it again next year. I would like a prescription for a double dose of whatever he takes!) ;)