Sunday, June 30, 2013

Father's Day 2013

Father's Day was fairly low key around here because we had just gotten back from an 8 day vacation.  I had already pre-purchased several things for the greatest daddy I know, but I didn't feel as prepared and thought out as I would have liked to have been.  Luckily, Darren doesn't have high expectations, so I think I kept him happy with small gifts, filling his tummy, and a few other unmentioned things :)
We have taken so many beautiful family shots lately, that I thought this shot would definitely be MORE enjoyed and certainly describes the kids relationship with their daddy. 
I started off Darren's morning with a delicious breakfast.  Notice his toast is branded with a "VT"?  It was a 4 egg omelet, branded toast, hash browns, bacon, and a freshly brewed Starbucks.  Everyone knows the key to a man's heart includes FOOD.  For dinner, I made one of his favorites... homemade meatballs, rigatoni, and homemade marinara sauce.
I got this sweet keychain from ETSY.  It reads, "Dad, to the world you are one person, but to us, you are the world. " Now he just needs his new vehicle and keys to use it.  We are on week 4 without a replacement vehicle.
Just a few trinkets to show our love, 1. Muscle Milk, 2. A "Scrub Daddy", 3. A Virginia Tech Toaster, 4. A Back Scratcher, 5. The Keychain.
Darren empties the dishwasher for me every morning before work, so when I saw this at Bed Bath and Beyond and I saw that it had the word "Daddy" on it, I had to grab it as an extra for Father's Day.  
Check out the spoon feature.
I interviewed the kids and had them fill in these questionnaires for daddy.  Tyson and I got a ton of laughs at Lilah and Jaxon's answers.  We also framed the sweetest picture I took of the trio at Myrtle Beach.
Our children's director at church always makes special gifts for Mother's Day and Father's Day.  After the service, the kids get to present their parents with something special.  The gifts are always so creative.  This is a "belt holder".  We chose to use it for keys or maybe others could use it for hats or ties.  The passage reads,

"Be strong in the Lord and in His might power. Put on the full armor of God... Stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waste."  ~Ephesians 6

I am beyond blessed to have such an amazing earthly father for my children. Darren does it with joy and loves spending time with his children.  I think our neighborhood pool guests think he's a single parent, lol! I tend to stay home when they do the pool because I like to get caught up on house work.  If he had to do this alone, I'd say he'd come as close to successfully doing it as possible (minus Lilah's hair, hehe, but Tyson could do that.).  

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Vivian Turns 5!

 Inside the invite, was a small package of fairy dust to 
"Sprinkle on your cheeks" on party day!!
One of Lilah's friends, Vivian, turned 5 last week.  Her birthday was held at "Our Little Cherubs Boutique".  The theme was all about Fairies! Lisa, Vivian's mommy, hired a really neat "fairy" face painter too.  The party provided dress up fairy clothing and a special Melissa and Doug craft.  It was a very girly party!!  It's hard to believe I met Vivian when she was 6 months old and now she is 5 years old.  She is a very smart, well mannered little girl.  I am happy that Lilah has these types of friends to spend her days with.  

Enjoy the ONLY pictures of the party I took.  I left my camera in the car, on accident, so the photos are not as good quality because I had to use my phone.
 Fairies are invisible girls with wings.
Opening gifts!
Making lipgloss.
Each girl got to make their own personalized flavored lipstick.
 It took Lilah over 1 hour to warm up to finally agree to a face painting.
Notice she is NOT in fairy clothing.
She NEVER warmed up enough to partake in the dress up fun!
I also had to do my arm FIRST before Lilah would consider getting hers done.
 She started with an arm painting actually.
 Afterwards, the girls got to paint and decorate their own jewelry box.
This was Lilah's FAVORITE part of the party.
The birthday girl paints her box!

Kate and Julia paint their boxes TOO!
Yuri and Liley decorate their boxes.
Princess glam glitters!

Swim Lessons With Miss Maddie!

Lilah and Jax started their swim lessons this week with Maddie.  Our family knows Maddie because she attends the same church as us!  The twins sometimes have "Miss Maddie" as a teacher on Sunday, so they are familiar with her.  They were anticipating their first lesson and spending time with Maddie.  She is so bubbly and extremely sweet, not to mention very experienced in the swimming pool.  I think Lilah thinks she has an older girlfriend.  She LOVES her.  
"OKAY Jax, ready?!?!? 1, 2, 3!!!
"That wasn't so bad!", Exclaimed Jax.
"SWIM!!! Push through!"
"Ready Lilah?!?!"
"I did it mommy!"
"Kick those feet!"
"SWIM, SWIM, SWIM!"
 h2- OHHHHH!
"Come on Lilah, you can do this!"
Lilah's facial expressions were not showing her excitement or confidence.
 Cool like a fool in a swimming pool
Relaxing in the pool.
Lilah likes to swim UNDER the water.
Jax likes to swim OVER the water.
Floating on our back (swim lesson 2) 
Kick those feet (swim lesson 2)

Both Lilah and Jax are really making progress.  Jax enjoys/prefers swimming above the water.  Lilah prefers to swim under the water.  It's funny how TWINS have different desires. We are so thankful to have Miss Maddie's help.  Hopefully their will be swimming on their own and WITH confidence VERY soon!

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Minute To Win It "Hanky Panky" Tissue Game

The second challenge the boys entered into was called "Hanky Panky". Fortunately, the title of the game flew right over their head.  "Hanky" referred to tissues.  Here's what the boys had to do...

Using only 1 hand, pull all of the tissues out of the tissue box.  The first boy to complete this task in 60 seconds or less is the WINNER!  


Hanky Panky Tissue Challenge

The boys started with one of their hands behind their backs!
 We made this a group challenge.  
 It was a tad frustrating for them because they were so tempted to use BOTH hands.
Each tissue box contained 160 tissues in it.  
That means I had over 960 tissues all over my home. 
 Being the practical person that my mother is, 
She garbage bagged them up, and brought them home with her.  
 I would have thrown them out. LOL!
 JAKE WAS THE WINNER OF THIS CHALLENGE!
 After the challenge was over, the boys did what boys do.  
They wasted NO time fighting/wrestling/throwing tissues all over the place.  

This was certainly a fun challenge, but it just didn't compare to the "Face The Cookie" challenge.  It didn't last very long and created a paper mess!!! But, it was funny to watch all of the tissues fly all over the place.  I'm thankful the tissues were clean!!! Hehe.