Marshmallow Madness

A little disclaimer...the pictures in this post are not for those with weak stomachs!





So Chel, how many of those things do you think you can stuff in your mouth at once?








SIX...not bad!

Now, let's see what that big mouth brother of yours can do...





Oh no, I think he's gonna hurl!


On second thought, I think I'm gonna hurl!




Crowned the official winner, with EIGHT marshmallows!

At least until Matthew gets home...

Another Party Post!

It's official, Matthew is 10! Unfortunately, I forgot to get a group shot with all of the party guests until the morning after - so the non-sleepover guests aren't in this one. There were 5 girls and 2 boys not pictured here that joined us for most of the festivities.

Let's see...where to begin?? So, people started to arrive - and while Matthew was insistent that he wanted the 'sisters' in on the party, in the early stages there was definitely some boy/girl segregation going on.



Once we had the gang gathered, we headed over to Mom's backyard for swimming and a cookout.


Next on the agenda was a trip to the baseball field, now we get some real co-ed fun!

Can you spot Chelsea doing a cartwheel in the outfield in this one...




Okay, none of those were great pix, but I wanted to give a little feel for the action. Here are some better shots from the field.







We brought the cake and ice cream to the field too. Here's Jono giving Matthew his first taste...

YUM!


How about some sugar rush induced table dancing....


And, what were those concerns over the boys and girls not comingling enough? Hmmm...


This may be totally inappropriate and politically incorrect, but a friend of Chelsea's sent her this link just before the party, so she had to play it for everyone. They ended up going back to it over and over again throughout the afternoon/evening/night to the point that it became sort of the theme song of the party! Here they are listening..



They must have put everyone at the party's name in this thing at least 3 times, and it never failed to crack them up. Listen at your own risk...by the 6th or 7th time you hear it, it actually does become pretty hilarious - and I don't know why each time you hear it say a new name it gets funnier.

After we got home from the field and listened to Da Breakup Song a few thousand more times, we played 'Who Knows Matthew Best' and then Matthew opened presents.



Next we played flashlight tag for a while and soon after, the girls headed home (and took Chelsea with them) Everyone decided it must be time for what has become the traditional late night trip down to the elementary school for Capture the Flag. I stayed behind and cleaned up a bit - and enjoyed some time with one of the VERY understanding moms whose son wasn't spending the night, but who didn't want to miss out on the adventure. The boys finally headed home when the security guard who lives on campus came and shoed them away after close to 2 hours!

They started to wind down after that...





Matthew was standing guard in the kitchen.



And checking to see if it was bedtime yet.....ummmm...YEP!

I woke up on Mothers' Day morning to the sounds of 13 boys laughing and playing! While I was glad they'd all be going back to their own moms soon, and that I'd be getting Chelsea back for family time, in that moment, I was as happy as could be - hosting the boys and watching Matthew revel in the end of a great birthday party!!

Strange Children!

Okay, so I'm minding my own business at 11pm on Wednesday night, wrapping up a chat with my sister on the computer and trying to get to bed. Just realizing how late it is and wondering if the kids are still all up too, I wander into the playroom and find this...


Okay, a little odd, but at least they have their blankets and are ready for bed, right?

Wrong...



Are they supposed to be superheros, or what??



Turns out the costumes are all about being dressed appropriately for the wrestling match!




There's your slice of life for this time!

Couple of other quickies...

Andy spotted this guy in the backyard from the kitchen window and went out and got this shot. It was giant...about 6 inches across. cool!




And, Chelsea's class went to a minor league baseball game this week. Andy and Matthew tagged along. Here is C with friends. She's stunning, isn't she??

Hendricks Spring Carnival - Open Stage

The neighborhood elementary school that Chelsea attends has an annual spring carnival. All the standard booths - cake walk, ring toss, face painting, dunking booth (mental note...post picture of Andy in dunking booth!), etc. All the while, there is a stage set up and kids are entertaining the folks that want to sit still. The performances range from those who seem to wander on stage and decide what to do when they get there to the costumed and choreographed. It's a riot - kids on pogo sticks, with hula hoops, gymnasts, singers, dancers, air guitar players, knock knock joke tellers and so on. Here are Chelsea and her friends performing at the carnival last year


And here they are a couple of weeks ago at this year's carnival (minus one of the performers who is at another school this year)



Headed out to the ball field now - it's a beautiful day for it. Enjoy the journey...and the weekend!

Easter Weekend

Peep

We had lots of family here in Jax for Easter weekend. As I mentioned last time, my sister was already here. Next, my brother Ken and his family arrived (a.k.a. the Kens) from Baton Rouge, and then the Dans arrived for a shorter stay from the old homestead in Ormond Beach. We had a fun and relaxing cookout in my mom's back yard Friday night after the brothers and their families arrived.

here are the brothers

See Bob, told you you should have showed up. Now these two clowns are on my blog being called 'the brothers'. What does that make you??? (stay tuned)

As you can see, the one on the right likes to talk

and talk

and explain

which occasionally puts his wife, JoAnn, to sleep

Dan is probably wondering right now why I am making fun of my one and only blog fan right here on my blog! Good question....let me think on that!

Truth be told, the favorite mealtime pastime of the brothers (both pictured and not) is synchronized speaking.

Not as much wine on this table, but they're still managing to have fun! Okay, guess which guest isn't related to me.

So, besides Easter, we were also celebrating many March and April birthdays. Chelsea did a fabulous job with the cake decorating!

Stylish part hats, right?

Here's Dan, showing off his uncley-ness.

And, my sister and I showing off our twinishness.

The next night, we went out to dinner. And, guess who showed up?? Brother #3, now known to all far and wide as....

Grandpa Bob!

Seriously! We were just being seated at the restaurant, when Bob got a text from his daughter Amber telling him she is PREGNANT!! Yay!! I tried to take a picture of the phone screen with the text message on it, but that didn't work so well, so you'll just have to trust me on this one.

I was seated right across from my niece, Sophia when she got her dessert. So, obviously, I had to take these...







I got a family Easter present for us all. A game called Bananagrams that I had heard rave reviews of from some unschooling friends. It was a hit!




Sunday night Bob came back - this time with his family :-) My sister made some of her now famous cobbler and we played more Bananagrams. Here's Bob's daughter Rachel with Chelsea...



Thanks so much to all who traveled to see us. It was a blast. I'm still full!