Happy 70th, Dad!

 Our family came all together to celebrate my Dad's birthday, a little early.  All 7 kids were together, the last time that happened was 8 years ago!  We had a slide show on the TV with photos of my Dad and family, as well as a digital frame.  We had photos everywhere, and it was so neat to see it all!

 My home was transformed by a caterer (yep, caterer.  So we could all relax!) and I had no idea my home could be so full of people and not feel full.  I attempted some Pinterest ideas for centerpieces, and they looked pretty good for most of the party.

 The baby in the photo on the far right is me!  :)

 We had time before the guests came to just enjoy the family.  Dad wanted just a few of his friends and we were so happy to celebrate with them.

 Yep, that's my kitchen, totally transformed!

 Lovely toasts by my brother, and brother-in-law.

 We decided it was time to at least do a family photo of all 9 of us, because we were just missing one spouse and 5 grandkids.  I think our family is very good looking, but I'm not biased at all.  We hired a local young lady to come and help us with our family photo, and these are not hers, but we are super excited for hers!

James is 2!

 

Last Day of School

Last day of school!  Here is our first day of school.  Quite a year!  We began it at my parent's house, no idea where we would be going after that and here we are in a beautiful home and so happy!

 Last day as a 2nd grader!

 Patrick is off to 5th grade!

 My kids had an amazing year, and I am so proud of how well they did, and grew and changed.  Patrick gave his teacher a calligraphy saying made by my sister Jenn, which was the first thing his teacher told us this year.  I think she did a beautiful job, and is so talented!

This special day was also James' 2nd birthday!

It's Cicada Time!

I don't know if you are experiencing the same thing we are right now, but it is our 17-year cicada time!  We made a visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house and my boys were absolutely fascinated with the bugs.  William was eager to have one as a pet, yet was afraid to touch them.  James enjoyed picking them up, and then swatting them away.

 We discovered they like to stick to your shirts, and hitch a ride in open car windows, because we found one in our car after we picked up the big kids from school.  Patrick picked it up and put it right on his shirt, Emma started screaming "Eww!  That's so gross!" and William was jumping up and down saying "Yay!  We have our pet!  We have our pet!"

 We did made a trip where Grandpa helped him catch some in a bug holder, and he was excited to have "his pets" at home with him.

 Apparently the little buggers will be around for a few weeks.  I think the noise is absolutely amazing, and the one video just shows you the noise level at my in-laws.  They have an older home so you see all the holes in the ground and hear them well.  We can hear them, but they are more in the woods nearby since our home is about 12 years old.