lauryn turns 5, part deux

limbo!

game number one: pop balloons & get the prize inside (a ring or a coin). the person with the most rings when all balloons are popped wins! lauryn chose to sit this out & watch everyone else struggle with the popping of balloons.

game number 2: musical chairs...need i say more? lauryn decided to sit this one out as well & be the dj with her new hello kitty cd/karaoke machine. the 2 sisters, destiny & allison, in the left corner were the big winners for the 2 games.

here is the birthday cake i made for lauryn. i purchased one of those silicone giant cupcake molds. it worked like a charm...although it inadvertently resembled strawberry shortcake's house more than a giant cupcake. it was a yellow butter cake mix complete with cheesecake frosting...how can it not be good?

lauryn turns 5...

where did the last 5 years go??? all of a sudden, lauryn is 5! she has been looking forward to her birthday for over a month. her excitement has been infectious. we have all been happy for her, cheering her on her last few days of being 4. her birthday fell on a thursday so we got our day started early with her opening gifts from family.

boy, did she hit the strawberry shortcake and hello kitty jackpot! that evening, we went out to eat as a family to her second favorite restaurant, olive garden (her first being del taco...which she only orders chips & nacho cheese when there). yes, she goes all out at olive garden ordering buttered spaghetti with parmesan cheese.

about a month ago, lauryn decided against the chuck e. cheese party that she'd been planning since she turned 4 because she had a better idea....have a "strawberry shortcake limbo party" at the house instead. i liked the idea from an economic stand point but all the running around & cleaning to prepare is for the birds! but it was a success & lauryn had a blast. that's all that counts, right?

oh crap!

a few weeks ago when october rolled around, we got the few decorations that we have for halloween out so we could decorate the house. well, we got the indoor ones taken care of, then ran out of time to put up the lights outside. the outdoor items were sitting inside the house, just in front of the front door. lauryn walks by, picks up an item and says, "well, i guess we'll have to take care of this crap tomorrow!" oh, the things she says...

dancing queen

lauryn fell in love with "mamma mia" when my brother nate was traveling with the north american tour of the show. we received the video for christmas one year and my kids watched it over and over. it takes place in greece, a place that we would love to visit someday. lauryn has now had a year of dance classes at a few rec centers. so what do you get when you combine all of this? take a look!

we spent an evening at the greek fest last weekend and had a great time. the food & drinks were awesome, and it was a beautiful evening. we bought lauryn the little skirt she is wearing in the video. it has gold coins dangling from it so it makes a lot of noise with every little movement.

isaac ~ fall soccer 2010

so as you can see, i have pretty much fallen off the blog wagon. i have not looked at anyone else's blogs for the past year and haven't posted since last fall's soccer season. let's see if i can get back in the swing of things...even if just a bit here and there.

isaac had his second game of the season today. it was a hot one folks! the game was in the middle of the afternoon in 100 degree heat. i'm so ready for the weather to start changing. this should be the hottest game of the season.

yesterday we received in the mail our new FLIPvideo camera that we finally got around to ordering. that made me happy since dennis was going to miss isaac's game because he had to leave town for a fight. even better, lauryn got to play with her friend ellie while the game was going on so i was free to shoot without any interruption.

isaac scored 2 goals today ~ one with his left foot! i managed to only record 1 of the goals (sorry) and here it is...

soccer guy

it's that time of year...my favorite! it's fall ~ well almost...i love september, october, & november. i love that the weather starts to get cooler, school is in full swing, the nfl is just underway, & isaac is back in soccer. this year we are trying out a new league. love that he'll get more playing time as the rosters are smaller. also, he gets a full uniform w/o having to pay extra for each piece (well, it really is worked into the price of the league). the uniforms are much better looking than the other league too, although the shorts on the kids almost look like skirts since they are huge & billowing. isaac's little leauge coach really wanted him to play fall baseball & has been campaigning all summer for it. but isaac likes to switch it up & i'm just fine with it.

so the first game of the season was yesterday. isaac scored within the first 2 minutes of the game. now, let me share with you that the mountain lions' (team name) game time was at 1:30 in the afternoon & it was ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT degrees outside. the poor guy played himself out in the first 5 minutes or so. when there was finally a chance to sub in the other players, isaac came over crying he was so thirsty. i felt so bad! i had brought water, but it wasn't enough. dennis went to buy more at the snack stand so we could poor some over the kids in addition to drinking it. that should be the hottest day for the season, but even so, i will be bringing more water & ice packs with to each game.

he is playing soccer again with his buddy michael. they started together as 3 year olds 3 1/2 years ago ~ that's how they actually met. they have become the best of friends & love playing sports together. so here they are in their "minot high" colors that dennis was very excited to see!

i'm back!!!

after a long hiatus...i'm back!!! while going back to work & taking 2 classes last spring, i did my best to keep up with posting. then my final projects were due the end of april & beginning of may & took up my time. somehow time just got away from me & facebook interfered. i could pretty much share what was on my mind there & share pictures too. i'm going to try blogging again but will most likely not post as much as i did before.

so here is a picture from our summer...we haven't been able to use the pool as often as we have in the past. dennis has been very busy ~ he started working for state farm in a new office. his days are long and he usually works saturday mornings if he's not working a fight. i was also working through the summer. now summer has somehow disappeared & labor day is here! we are looking forward to a day of rest, swimming, and grilling. i love short work weeks!