Back to School Parties

 Back to school festivities begin, as we celebrate the fact that the kids are excited about school.  Last year was our first year to go to Red Robin with the Hunsberger side of the family as Reece and Ava started Kindergarten.  Then we decided to make it an annual event.  Now this year, Christian starts Kindergarten and he is so excited.  We had to go and get his book bag and lunch box and of course Ava had to get new ones too.  Sofia wants so badly to be a big kid going to school too.  I love the one group picture on the bench as the kids are each showing their own little personalities in true form.  :)

Margaret and Harry usually have a back to school party every year, but this year has been a bit busy and crazy, so we couldn't get it together.  However, Grandma did manage to take a few of the kids shopping to pick out the items they wanted for back to school.  Ava got her lunch box and Christian got many tissues, so he won't have to pick his nose. ;)  We will see if it helps. :)  Then we had a small pizza party and lured all the grand kids to Grandma and Pappy's house for our annual picture on Pappy's Bus. 

Pizza Hut With Pappy

We decided one day, to take a trip to Pizza Hut with Pappy.  The kids had book-its and we had coupons for money off on the Pizza Hut Buffet, so off we went.  The boys occupied themselves with the table leaves and of course Reece called them 'guard rails' or his trains or cars.  Sofia was mainly interested in kissing pappy so he would share his mac'n'cheese please.  She is getting really good at getting Pappy to accommodate her. ;)  I will say she KNOWS how to work it. :)  Love that girl. 

Some things take you back in time and this day did. I remember a lot of fun times at Pizza Hut.  As kids we didn't go out to eat a ton as a family, but I do remember our trips to Pizza Hut because we read so we could get our free Book-it Personal Pan Pizzas.  These were fun times and we really enjoyed them as a family.  Also, for some reason, I remember a time when I was a teen and or some reason my dad took Ryan and I out to Pizza Hut.  We were acting up, like we did only every ONCE in awhile.  The problem was this. .  . we were sitting by a window in the restaurant and I didn't realize it was a window through the wall to see the table on the other side of the wall.  I thought it was a mirror for some reason.  Ryan and I were playing a game to see who could let a few pieces of red peppers on our tongue the longest. I remember, my tongue burning so badly that I was certain I there was a hole in my tongue.  I couldn't stand it any longer, so I stood up and stuck my tongue out to see it in the mirror.  .. which wasn't a mirror but in fact a window.  I was almost as mortified as the couple on the other side was scared.  Dad and Ryan were laughing so hard and I was crunched down in the booth embarrassed. :)  Fun memories for sure.  So, needless to say, I enjoy Pizza Hut and the memories that come with it.

Hershey Park Happy with Nana & Pappy

Years ago, five to be exact, we started a tradition of taking our kids up to Hershey Park for the Sweet Lights and the rides. The first year was just Ava, Reece, Mom, Brianna and Myself.  They kids had fun and we have sort of been doing it ever since.  Granted, it is always a cold experience, but a great one too.  This year, mom and dad were in for a visit, so Ryan, Myself, the four older kiddos, went along with mom and dad and headed for a fun road trip.  The kids were a tad hyper but it was well worth the night of fun.  Sofia had never been to Hershey Park before, so this was her first time.  She loved it, as we were certain she would.  The kids rode rides all night but were disappointed that the BIG pirate ship was not open.  Well, dad took a walk and came back to tell us that he had found that the big ship was open indeed.  The kids rode on that the rest of the night.  Reece and Ava were fearless and went time and time again.  We played cat and mouse, while standing in line, in order to occupy their minds.  The lines were not long at all though. On the way home we stopped at McDonald's and filled our tummies so the kids would sleep on the way home.  Good times, good memories.

Ginger Bread House With Nana

We got a kit to make a ginger bread house with the kids while Nana and Pappy were in.  Brianna was in charge of the icing type glue that held the house together, which she was good at it cause she is good at that artsy stuff.  I love how the kids were so interested in EATING the icing.  Reece wanted the icing, Ava and Christian wanted the candy, but Sofia thought she needed the candy.  She was sneaking pieces left and right, little stinker.  Every time we would look over, she was sneaking another piece.  She had us all laughing. 

The event was a tiny bit LOUD and maybe even a bit of stress thrown in there, but that was only for the adults. The kids had a blast!!! They were all very excited about decorating the house too.

My favorite picture is the above pictures with all of their faces.  Reece and Ava were over the top excited, like, "hurry up and take the picture so we can get back to what we were doing!!!" and Christian was making sure to say cheese. Sofia is sneaking a piece again. :)  Love that girl.  and Nana just looks really proud!!!  Below is the finished project.  What fun memories and times.

Smurftastic Party Hosted by Crowdtap!!!

Well, I won a digital Smurf party from my favorite website Crowdtap.  However, I missed the digital part in the directions so I was waiting for a kit in the mail.  I had a deadline that I was supposed to have the party by and before I knew it, I had two days left. I then found the kit in my email. .  . . OOPS.  So, I was rushing around sending out the facebook invites to some of my friends hoping they could make it.  A few of them did and we ended up have a pretty Smurftastic Time!!

I didn't actually have time to do all I had wanted to but I did manage to make some blue cupcakes with blue icing and blue juice.  I also got some blue yogurt gogurts.  I had to through something healthy in there.  Then I reminded everyone to come dressed in their best blue to help celebrate the Smurfs.  I decorated the table with Christian's blue Christmas Tree.  Then I printed out the digital smurf party hats for the kids along with a few pair of glasses and got them all ready for when the kids arrived.

When the other kids showed up, Christian went running around handing them their smurf hats but they didn't quite fit on the kids heads.  However, they were cute.  Then he was showing them the blue table decor.  We ate first and then started in on the coloring pages.  They definitely all had blue tongues from the blue dye and a sugar high to boot.

The kids wanted their faces painted so we started with Christian.  Then we realized the paint didn't come off well, so we decided not to do it on the other children.  The funny part was that when I finally washed his off, he looked BLUE and SMURF like for a day or two after. ;)  He didn't mind so much though.

Here he is . . Papa Smurf?!?

Here they are playing with play dough and showing off their blue tongues.  :)

Over all, we had a great time. The best part was that since none of us had watched the Smurfs as kids, we didn't know a ton about them, and then the kids had never really seen them either.  As they were leaving, Cami asked, "mommy, when do we start the smurf party?"  Guess they missed the boat. :)  It was hysterical. 

Pumpkin Patch with the Hunsbergers!!!!

We decided one morning, to take our families over to the local pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins and let the kids run off some extra energy.  Micah was off hunting, so I took our two and headed over to meet Pap and Bleppies.  I attempted to get a picture or two of the beautiful Hunsberger family of 5, but as you know, with three kiddos in one picture, it is a hard job.  They did really good actually, so I just wanted to throw one of the pics in to show you my brother and his wifies gorgeous family. I loved Sofia in this one and so I had to use it.  Poor Reecey was probably covering his nose because it was cold but even with his face half covered he is so handsome.  Roman, looking at the camera while clinging to his mama, what a sweetie and of course my favorite Bleppies and Pap smiling away. 
We did have so much fun.  The kids loved all that there was to do including but not limited to hay mazes, corn mazes, slides built into hay bales, Indian Corn and Indian Scarecrows to sit with at the camp fire, and of course spiders made out of huge hay bales and piping.  One funny event of the day was that Christian hates to walk and anytime there is a stroller involved, he wants to ride.  He makes sure he gets the opportunity before anyone else.  Sometimes, he won't get out of his seat in fear that he won't be the first one back and then he will lose his seat in the stroller.  So, the seat in the double stroller that was for Sofia, ended up being occupied by Christian most of the day, which I am not sure that she minded too much. :)  She got to run around and play freely.  Below are some fun pics and I love the one of the kids sitting around on the hay bales looking at Pap and I talking to the Indian Chief Scarecrow.  They thought it was funny too.  I think Pap kissed the cheek at one point and that is why they are laughing. Who knows with him.  :)

There was plenty of room to run around and hide and play.  The kids really liked stomping through the corn field and it was difficult to keep them all together.  However, they had a blast.  It was also not easy to capture shots of them, so we just had to get some candid shots as they were running around.

Overall, we had a great time, as per usual.  I am so grateful for these five in my life. . . and the two children that belong to me make me so happy.  Love you all so much.

Back to School Family Parties

Margaret and Harry always have a party for the end of the summer / BACK TO SCHOOL events.  They have food of course, and then they always get the grand kids a card and some school supplies or money to buy some school supplies.  The kids all look forward to this and this year I actually had a kid going to school, so I was even more excited.  :) We had a buffet of delicious food, some socializing outside, jumping on the trampoline, and then Kelsey, Ava and Christian decided it was too hot so Grandma set up the water hose and they ran and danced through the showering hose. 

Here is a picture of all of the grand kids, minus our Sharon Rose, hanging out the windows of Pappy's school bus.  Grandma got one of these pics last year, so we decided to make it our annual tradition. :)

Below are some pics from the water shower thrown by Grandma too.

The kids really enjoyed this and they were SOAKED. Of course Grandma had them covered.  Great memories. :)

We also had our FIRST ANNUAL BACK TO SCHOOL PARTY with the Hunsberger's too, which at the moment consisted of Ryan, Brianna and THREE and Micah, myself and TWO.  We missed you mom and dad!!!  :)  Reece was also starting school and so we figured we should start the annual tradition, but instead of making food, we decided to eat out.  Crazy, I know, with FIVE kiddos, but actually it wasn't too bad. :) 

We met at Red Robin because the kids all love the balloons and then, they didn't get a balloon anyway, because they were out. :( 

One side of the table.  I just have to say, the boys were pretty lucky, right BRI?  They got the baby. . we got the four toddlers. :) Well, Bri and Ry shared Sofi, a little.  Below is the other side of the table. . .minus Micah. :)

Then we went outside to take some pictures of our BIG KIDS before they venture out into the HUGE world.  I posted a few of my favorites.

I love how their back packs are totally showing off their personalities. I love that they are so excited too. WHERE does time go?

Notice the background, yeah, Micah and Ryan were taking turns making sure they were in the pictures.  This was the best of the three kiddos so I used it.  Notice Micah waving and Ava and Christian are waving at their crazy dad.  Reece is ignoring his crazy uncle. :)  Micah had surprised Christian with his TRANSFORMERS back pack that day when he got home from work, because Christian was struggling so much with feeling left out.  He was ecstatic, so we allowed him to join in the pictures and excitement too. :)

Here they are Nana and Pappy. . .this one was for you.  All five of your babies. :)  A little of their personalities shining out of each of them in this very picture. . .just by their facial expressions. :)

Day at Cluggy's with Nana

We are trying to fit tons of events in while Nana and Pappy are visiting from Missouri.  One of the fun days we packed into our schedule, the day before Roman Louis Ryan entered our family, was a full fun day at Cluggy's.  The kids had a blast and we had time to sit and talk while they ran off some energy.

The food was great and the fellowship with Brianna and My Mom was even better.  Love those two women.

Waiting to go in to Cluggys.  This was the LAST picture of Nana with All four of her grandchildren, before number five entered into our lives. :)

Nana and her princesses.  :)  They matched.

It only cost a few bucks to get the kids into the play area and because it was a weekday, we had the place tou ourselves.  They had a toddler area for little ones like Sofi but she wanted the other kids to come into that little area with her so of course they did.  They had fun on the slides and the area where they could climb around too.  Nana bought them some tokens and they played games for tickets and then each got some prizes to take home.  What a fun day.  They were so excited to have Nana there with them.  SO was I.

Christian in his tube. :) They also really liked the BIG high slide.  Once they figured out where it was.  The moon bounce was of course another big hit.