handsful

Sometimes the best parties are those with no good reason…nothing to really celebrate, just spending time with friends doing fun stuff.  That was today for Abbey and her 8th grade friends from church.  Here’s what they did…

They played the Wii

They went swimming.  (Yes, Abbey graciously allowed her “non-8th grade” siblings to play, too.)

They played cards,

Guitar Hero,

and ping pong. 

Somewhere in the middle of all this, they had lunch and then…

Randy explained the rules for the day.  As you can see, he’s on rule #2 here.  No running with scissors. 

As the boys giggle behind Randy’s back about said rules, he’s having the rest of them draw colored discs out of a cup.  This was to split the kids up into two shifts for going out on the boat. 

Happy to be in the pink 1st shift!

So, while the 2nd shift kids went swimming and played even more Guitar Hero…

The 1st shift kids pretend to enjoy being trapped in a blown up tube…

or balancing on a knee board. 

There was a change of shift around 2ish and everyone was back at the house around 4pm…some thoroughly exhausted (well, maybe just Randy) and most wanting to stay on that boat just a little bit longer.  It was a great day. 

Ever try to get a group of teenagers to pose for a decent group picture?  Attempt to get them to all look your way AND not make funny faces?  Me too – it’s not possible.

In August, we made our annual trip home for Cousin’s Day…a full 24hrs worth of crazy fun for Randy’s dad and step-mom Kathy.  The very first CD had 5 in attendance, I think.  Kathy, correct me if I’m wrong.  With Abbey being the 3rd oldest, that would be maybe 9 or so years ago.  We’re now up to 17, with our Lainey being the youngest!  They were all there this year…

Out of the 6 or 7 pics I took, this was my best shot.  Hopefully, Kathy got a better one to use in her annual Christmas card :) 

It’s very unlike us, but we barely took any pictures during our trip to NC.  Not sure why, other than we were just so busy not being busy.  It was a nice trip (with the exception of bringing home the flu – amazingly 13 / 17 grandkids got this!)  Here are some shots I did get:

Granpa and Ethan having a jam session. 

Grinning with Granma

Lainey attacking Granpa with her black bear.  I’m not sure who was laughing harder. 

One of the highlights of our trip was visiting with my Grandmom.  I just love her! 

Have you ever seen a sweeter picture?!?

Now for the “comings”…

Randy’s mom and step-dad Paul came down to FL for a visit this past week.  We had no big plans…they relaxed, we went out to eat, we swam, etc.  It was a really nice visit for everyone…

Gram brought her crocheting and knitting bag and was instantly swarmed by Lainey and Marley.  She makes little caps and booties to give to her local hospital’s NICU and she taught Marley how to make them. 

She made 4!  (Today, I used my 50% coupon at Michael’s and bought her her own knitting looms)

Lainey spent a ton of time at her feet, cutting and winding yarn.  I guess I know how to keep her busy from now on. 

When she wasn’t “knitting”, she was sitting on Pa-Paul’s feet.  Weird kid. 

Everyone went swimming on Friday…Gram was really looking forward to that.  She looks pretty happy to me! 

Gram and Pa-Paul, with 5 of their 11 grandkids.  Thanks for coming to see us!

We’ll start with the Before pics…

Wallpaper with big fruit and leaves.  Lovely. 

I had finally had enough.

The During pictures…

adding a coat of Kilz on top of the wallpaper.  We learned the hard way a while back that the wallpaper in this house was put DIRECTLY on the sheetrock.  Taking it down wasn’t an option. 

Lainey painted the area behind our fridge.  She loved painting.

And, my favorite…the After!

Earthy Sage replaces hideous wallpaper.  Ignore the cabinet above the fridge without a door…we got that back on later. 

We’re beyond pleased with how it turned out…I never realized how much I disliked the wallpaper until I saw our kitchen without it!  The room is much more calming now, and so less BUSY!  Yea for us!  :)

The “ick” has hit our house, in the form of the flu.  Ethan is hardest hit, and his asthma makes it even worse.  Marley feels worse today than she did yesterday.  Payton dealt with some nausea and a headache today.  Abbey has some achiness, Lainey has had some digestive issues, and Randy and I have had a headache for two days.  We brought this home from NC, after our kids got together with their 12 cousins.  As of tonight (if I’m counting right), 13 of those 17 cousins have the flu.  Amazing :)

It is a rare Sunday when we come home from church with only the children we took TO church.  Sometimes one of ours goes to a friend’s house, but more often we’re piling extra kids into our truck.  This past Sunday, the boys hit the motherload.  THREE friends!  I just had to get Lainey to pose with them.  All the guys seem to love Lainey, especially the guy in the middle with her….he has her picture in his wallet.  Too cute.  Their favorite thing to do is “high five” or “fist bump” with her – she loves it.  Looks like Lainey has a bunch of big brothers!