homemade ice cream par-tay

Love that he will pose with his ice cream and this synthetic smile just for me!

Yesterday we had our first ever homemade ice cream party and boy was it fun! Good friends (although a few were missing), good ice cream, good toppings, and good times. We made 3 different kinds of "scream" - honey, vanilla bean, and chocolate. Everyone brought toppings galore: gummy worms, oreos, m&m's, hot fudge, chocolate sauce, whipping cream, nerds, maraschino cherries, cones, etc.

We ended our evening playing bocce ball and taking the kids to the park. One of the dads, Owen, captured a beautiful yellow butterfly that wouldn't fly away but stayed right on his finger, even with the kids petting it.

dirty all around

Our Earth Day party was a success! The kids were so cute, and the best part of it for me was just having the kids play outside on the playground while talking to the other moms! We did a little "how to" recycle activity, read a book on pollen, then planted some seeds they could take home: pink and white flowers, peas, tomatoes, bell peppers, and thyme! We had some fresh vegetable snacks with organic fruit strips. Good times!

Outdoor fun is going on full force here. During the cold winter months I don't bathe my kids every day because they don't really get dirty. With these warm, beautiful days that we have long been waiting for, we have been spending most of our time outside and thus baths are not a questionable matter any more, they are necessary. No longer do the boys want to sit for hours and play in the bath water to pass the time, but now is just a quick routine of getting in, washing, and getting out. So much easier! Last night while Matthias was bathing the boys, he asked if our tub was just dirty, or if the boys were seriously that dirty. Having just cleaned the tub, I was surprised to see the nasty dirt ring around the edge of the tub - actually not surprised at all really because of all the dirt filled fun they had yesterday. At Wonderlab's Discovery Time they did an experiment with mud (what type of dirt makes the best mud). After we had a picnic in the Wonderlab garden, came home to get even dirtier at the playground, and then Matthias took them to a "Frogs and Dogs" activity in the evening at a nearby lake that Parks and Rec sponsored. They spotted some frogs and learned to identify their sound, and ate hotdogs. The boys came home filthy, and I loved it!

One of Ty's hidden talents: he is a hopscotch pro! I loved playing hopscotch growing up... so I couldn't help chalking one up and playing with Ty the other day. The only thing I didn't love was the jiggle with each jump. It was about enough to make me not want to play- seriously. Because Ty has mastered the sport, he feels the need to move on to other sports, as you can see from the video. Why does mom make you perform for the camera? I don't know either, but you sure are a cutie!

primary party

Our primary had a party Saturday called, "PJ's, Pancakes, and Places." Ty visited Poland, France, and Thailand. Ty told me he wants to go on his mission to Thailand because they have monkeys that will stand on your head. Beckham was discouraged by the long travel times so elected to run up and down the hallways as opposed to visiting distant lands. They also played with a parachute. Kids are so cute in their PJ's and bed head!

tradition

This is our second Thanksgiving away from home now, and this year will be my first time hosting my very own Thanksgiving dinner! I am so excited! I love throwing parties/get togethers... This is my thing! I really want to make it enjoyable and relaxing for my guests and super fun for the kids. (6 little boys!)

I have really good memories of Thanksgiving with family - the only tradition I remember besides the feast, was while we were driving to our Thanksgiving dinner destination, we would all tell each other what we were thankful for. I really loved hearing what everyone appreciated. On the Swenson side, there was ALWAYS a kid table in the kitchen- the grown-ups sat together in the dining room - away from annoying kids I assume. I loved the kid table because we usually had a little party favor or goodie at each plate and no body watched us to see if we ate all our food, we just ate what we wanted and then were off to play! It was so much fun to sit with all the cousins too and talk and joke. I also remember when us cousins were high school age complaining how unfair it was we had to sit at the kid table with all the youngsters. I don't think they got rid of the "kid table" until after I was married... and one of the last Thanksgivings I went to at Grandpa's house they had lots of little round tables set up with name tags at each seat, having us all mixed up sitting with different cousins & aunts and uncles. It was so fun. Good times.

Now that we have little kids and live away from family, I am looking to start our own Thanksgiving traditions. I need help! What do you do to make Thanksgiving day and the weekend of a special family holiday? You see, I only have 12 more days left to plan! And yes, I plan on having a kid table!

PS. Although I am excited for our very first Thanksgiving at our house, oh how we still miss our families in Utah!

Halloween Party

Our Halloween party was delayed until today because of our colds... but we still had a great turn out! I love having parties! I planned some fun games that the kids (three yr. olds) would enjoy and be able to follow: pin the wart on the witch's nose, feeling gross Halloween things in a box (like eyeballs, brains, maggots, and bugs), and a ghost piñata. The piñata was amazing and the kids loved it! Lindee filled the ghost with great surprises, bubbles, bracelets, candy (obviously), free "Frosty" coupons from Wendy's, & glow sticks. The kids were so cute trying to hit it with a plastic golf club. All the mom's brought a Halloween treat and we had Halloween music. The kids were so cute in their costumes... we had 2 vampires, a pirate, 2 monkeys, a ballerina, an elephant, and one costumeless. Here are a few pictures of our Halloween bash!

I wanted Ty and Becks to be pirates this year, but Ty wanted to be a vampire. He has been watching Scooby Doo for about the past month, an episode where Scooby and the gang are harassed by a vampire, so pirates were out and vampires were in. Darn that Shaggy!

Here is the painted witch with all her warts