Paintballing--Lance's 11th Birthday Party!

On September 14th, Lance turned 11! I can't believe my son is so grown up!

This year he got to paintball for his Birthday party. Scott and Abbey had purchased a paintball voucher for up to 15 people from a family at the church's silent auction back in December, so we figured no better time than now to redeem it!

On the 17th. the Johnsons hosted us at their beautiful house and let us use all their equipment. Troy has quite the arsenal and regularly hosts paintball groups on his property.

Lance received his very own paintball gun and mask to use. He was pretty excited.

For his piñata, he requested Umbreon (a Pokemon).

His cake! One of the easiest yet. The paintballs are gumballs and I simply cut out the silhouette from some black fondant and placed it on top.  

When the boys arrived, they each got a nerf gun, some safety goggles, and lots of darts to shoot at each other, or the targets I placed in around the area.

We had about 7 boys come, a fair number less than we invited, but that's what happens when your birthday falls during fall sports season. Oh well. 

Troy giving them the run-down and safety lesson.

These two boys played together the entire time!

Ready for their first round! Aunt Amy drove all the way from Hampton to join in!

Jude was thrilled he got to try it out!

Practice shot to get the feel of the guns.

Lily taking off with the decorations.

And their off! George led one team and Amy lead another.

Tagged out.

Jude got tagged on the face! Thank goodness for masks!

New round! The Elmers came a bit late and joined in.

George getting his bearings.

Kendall 

Scott, Abbey, Madison, and Lance all drove down from Northern Virginia that morning to make it to the party. 

Abbey was amazing for being there at 9 months pregnant!

Little Madison is still as cute as can be and thought Lexi was fun to play with.

Lunch break.

While the big kids were shooting at each other, Cole played on the playground close by.

He recently discovered Dumbo and has insisted on carrying around our stuffed elephant everywhere he goes.

Killian and Lance checking out the guns.

Poor Kendall was taking a turn on a small zip line in the yard and somehow managed to run head-first into a tree, splitting her forehead open.

She was very brave. 

How many doctors does it take to butterfly-bandage a head wound?

Apparently at least two.

The Elmers ran to the ER where the doctors decided George and Aric did such a good job lining up the edges of the cut that there was no need to re-bandage it or put in stitches. Good job, guys! Unfortunately, that was the end of paintballing for Killian and Kendall that day.

Adults taking a break while the kids played.

Piñata time!

George was the muscle on the other end of the rope, making it difficult for the kids to get a good hit.

Poor Umbreon took quite a beating!

Cake time!

After cake, the boys played one last round. I joined in, but quickly got tagged out, so grabbed my camera and took some pictures.

Jude finding a safe place to hide.

Some of the boys found a fort to hide inside. It was nearly impossible to tag them when they were inside.

Most of the boys that came:

Madison still hanging out. She fits so well on that shelf.

Maybe next time, Madison!

Jude found a chicken! The Johnsons have several chickens that roam the property.

Lance opened his gift from Aunt Amy before she had to leave. I can't believe she made this for him! It's a Pokemon from the newest game that she made out of perler beads!!

I can't even begin to imagine how long that must have taken!

Lance LOVES his Aunt Amy. They share several common interests and anytime we're with family, his first question is always, "Is Aunt Amy going to be there?"

I love this sweet boy of mine!

Happiest of Birthdays, Lance! I can't believe how big you've grown and how much you're changing. You constantly amaze me with the depth of your thoughts and ideas. I love the man you're growing into--kind, compassionate, and helpful. I have had to rely on you time and time again since Lexi's been born and each time you've pulled more than your weight. I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you for your goodness, your energy, and your fun personality. You make our family complete.

Whew! After a great day paintballing, there was no time to rest! It was up to Ashburn that evening so we could have Lexi's Baby Blessing at Grandma's house the next day.

Guess who flew in just for the occasion?

Grandma Brewer!

September Shenanigans

August 25th, I had the privilege of throwing a baby shower for my friend Kathleen. We had a great turn-out and lots of fun. Kathleen didn't want any games, so we kept it simple with food and decorating onesies.

I cut several different pictures out of vinyl and we used those to do bleach designs.

George was working, so I had to bring the kiddos. They got to play with a guinea pig named Brownie, so they weren't too upset about being at a "grown-up party".

This is a great group of girls!

Since the kids were so good, we made a Toys R Us trip afterwards. Lucky us, they were doing a free Lego demonstration! They each got to build a Captain America design to keep.

This peanut is a stinker.

Lily is still interested in bugs (although a bit more reserved in her enthusiasm to hold them). She found this dead cicada and carried it around with her for the better portion of an hour.

Since Lance turned 11 in September, he was supposed to have his Crossing Over Ceremony at the September pack meeting, but it got postponed until November.

The 11-year-old scouts still came to welcome him to the pack.

This little one has become the most pleasant baby! She started out as my fussiest (except maybe Jude), but around 2 months something switched and she is all smiles all the time. We can't possibly love her more!

Scott, Abbey, and Madison came down for the pack meeting from Vienna. Lily thinks Madison is the best thing ever and couldn't stop touching her.

Madison wasn't too sure what to make of that.

Silly girl! Aunt Amy got the kids all stuffed animals the last time she came down and Lily loves her horse.

We drove up to Northern Virginia to celebrate Grant's 3rd Birthday. Of course I didn't take pictures of the birthday boy OR the kids swimming in the pool, OR the coolest Batman cake ever that Laura made, but we had a really fun time being with our family.

Cole thought this little dog was cute.

Lexi and Grandma!

This boy is a character! He loves to dress up and play pretend and one of his favorite things to pretend to be is a chef. He made me this "cake" and proudly brought it to me, oven mitts and all.

I love this sweet boy!

After starting out beautifully in the Spring, our grass started looking less-than-stellar. So, George decided to kill it all and start fresh. He sprayed Round-up on the entire lawn and after about a week we had brown grass. We thought we could just rake it all up, but that turned out more difficult than we originally thought. George started pulling it up by hand and stopped shortly after this picture was taken.

I think we'll call in some professionals. I'm tired of looking at a brown lawn.


We can't get enough of this snuggle bug. She is so sweet and squishy and usually all smiles. 

The kids all still think our bed is the best and more often than not, we'll get an early-morning visitor ready to snuggle until it's time to get up.

These silly boys love their sister!

As does this little girl. Lexi is a good sport and is already a tough little peanut.

Date night with Daddy while mommy ran errands for Lance's Birthday party! 

All that ice cream must have tired them out, because when I came home I found them like this:

I love my family!