HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAILEY !!!!!!

One week later after Hayden's Birthday and now it is time for Hailey's! She turned 14 this year and I cannot believe how quickly time has passed!
Hailey LOVES birthday parties and would love to have HUGE ones every year but I had to limit her this year. I told her she could invite six friends. It was sad because several of them couldn't make it but I think the girls that could had a good time!

We usually have a theme type party but this year she didn't really pick a theme so we just went with "teenage girl stuff" theme. Anything with candy, friends and fun!


The first thing we did was get started on her Treasure Hunt. She really wanted to do this. I had so many ideas of things that I wanted to do for that but we had a lot going on the past week or so and I kept getting a writers block when it came to writing out the clues so I only ended up coming up with 6 destinations. The girls are reading clue #1 here.

I had them going around the neighborhood. Here the clue was taped underneath the park bench. They have already been to the neighborhood park and clear up to the subdivision entrance. I let them go alone. I didn't think they would want me following them with the camera. In hindsight I wish I would have, it would have been a more interesting blog.

This was the clue they found in the clothes dryer. This was the final clue that helped them to find the actual "treasure"!

Here was the treasure . . . a pinata! Hailey had wanted one so I figured I would go with it! Hey, where did that monkey come from???? I think it needs to go back to the Bakers house, it is getting way to comfortable here!

Now to head back outside for the pinata fun. In this picture Tyler is letting Alayna know that he doesn't want to be blindfolded. He just wanted to watch. But honestly it looks like Alayna is trying to suffocate him. Just in case you are worried, he survives!

The problem we ran into here was trying to get the rope up on the hoop! It was a lightweight rope and there was a significant breeze. It took many tries, lots of perseverance and girls who desperately wanted the candy inside!

We finally got it hooked up! Now for all the fun!

This was really sad! Hailey got a good whack in but only the top cone came off (why they had the hanging loop hooked to that I will never know) so the pinata just fell to the ground while one of the cones was hanging from the rope . . .

Hailey and Alayna entertained the troops while I took the rope down and wound it all around the center of the pinata so we could try again. Mind you, we had to go through the whole process of getting the rope back up over the hoop!

If you ask me, I think Alayna is having a little too much fun "pretending" to hit Hailey! Hmmmm, hidden aggressions?

Quick picture op! You can plainly see the brilliant retying job I did on the pinata! Aren't mom's creative?

Oh, you can't believe how much excitement a cone that is shaped like a birthday hat can bring to a group of girls. Throughout the rest of the pictures you will see that they ALL had to have their picture taken with one on their head!

Kayla looks mighty fancy!

Hannah's turn to get the pinata! I think I frustrated her because I would move it up and down so they couldn't easily hit it. I wanted to make this last a while. I knew, one solid hit and it was over! Hannah meant business!

Alayna's turn! I think she laughed the whole time!

Tyler had fun too! Even though he was the only boy! I will hide this picture when he is going through his teen years!

Kayla's turn!

Now it is Hailey's turn!

For anyone who thinks that girls are sweet and gentle has never been around them when there is a pinata full of chocolate and they have a bat! It never had a chance!

Going for the spoils! Girls can also been pretty aggressive when picking up chocolate too! They found all that candy in a matter of minutes! Even mud didn't hinder them!

Sorry Tyler! You have to be fast! Girls and chocolate . . . poor little guy didn't have a chance!

Back inside for the present part! Hailey got a lot of neat things. Lots of things with smells!

On to the cake! Instead of putting all fourteen candles on her cake we opted to put one next to four! Kept the fire alarms from going off!

Rebecca was here to help! She is a very close friend of mine and Hailey loves to spend time with her too! She was helping with taking pictures and stuff. I let her know that I really could have used her last week when I was dealing with all ten people at Hayden's party. She laughed!

The punch she is putting together was the sweetest stuff I have ever had in my LIFE! I was pretty sure when I was drinking it that I could feel my teeth disintergrating as it passed over them! Yeah, it was THAT sweet! Of course, the girls loved it!

Well, now I am free for a little while for the birthdays. Tyler's and Kurt's comes up in July but I am not going to think about it. I am just going to put my feet up, close my eyes and rest! Wow, who ever thought that a mere birthday can take so much out of you!

Happy Birthday Hailey!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAYDEN !

Friday was a big day at our house. It was Hayden's 11Th Birthday Party and it was busy! I had ten kids varying in age from six to fourteen! I was hoping I would have another adults help but it didn't quite work out that way! Kurt had to work, my little sister Debra was having some trouble with a shoulder of hers and was laid up with it and Chris wasn't feeling good so I was on my own! If you feel shivers down your spine - you know what I am talking about!

Here is a neat sign that Hailey and her friend Kaycee had made for Hayden. I thought it turned out really cute!




This is Hailey and Kaycee. They didn't want me to bother them with taking pictures but I made them deal with it anyway! Kaycee is a great girl! She is about six feet tall though and makes me feel quite dwarfed. . .

Here is Chris dropping off Jonathan - notice how she is smiling? It is because, even though she was feeling sick she was going to drive far away from ten rambunctious kids!

I have to admit when Brodie walked in the door I couldn't believe it! Wow! Has he changed! He was soooo much taller than the last time I saw him and he doesn't have a "little boy" face anymore! They grow so fast!

Jonathan had an interesting time. The boys were playing football out front while everyone was arriving. He tripped on the curb or something like that and hurt his foot. At the time I didn't know it but he had actually sprained his ankle! We didn't find out for sure until two days later.

Poor kid - he hobbled around a lot and was crawling too. I thought he was just acting goofy so I kept telling him to get up and stop acting so silly. In all actuality, his ankle was really hurting him and he couldn't walk on it. Boy, do I feel bad!

I tried really hard to get a "regular" picture out of Isaac but for some reason he kept pulling faces while I was taking pictures so . . . here is Isaac!

Hayden was loving having all his friends over! Emmett was very good at avoiding the camera most of the night. He was just about to put the pillow over his face but I was just a little too fast for him this time!

Here is Brodie and Dylan! They posed nicely!

Ryan was trying to avoid pictures too! Blogging is really hard - it is amazing how people don't really want you taking their picture! But, Ryan was patient with me. Thanks Ryan!

Tyler is synonymous for : hyper, excitable, action, energy, oh and exhausted mom!

This was our first game! You suck up smarties with straws and move them from one bowl to another. The first one to accomplish moving all of their smarties is the winner! The kids love this game because it is fun and you get to eat the candy when you are done. I like it because the kids get really quiet while they are playing it and then when they play it for a few times they are hyperventilated which makes them quieter and almost motionless!

On to the next game. This game can be really fun too! It was called "Name it- pass". The first person picks out a category and whoever they throw the ball to has to name something in that category as soon as they catch the ball or they are out. This game for some reason got completely out of hand! People were saying things like Yoda to the topic of Mammals . . . needless to say it got so loud that even with a raised voice I couldn't be heard. The kids were laughing and being so silly that I decided at this point to forgo the rest of the games planned and just go straight to the present opening! I needed to get control of the group!

Hayden took a minute to "eye" the candy I had put in the "thanks for coming" cups.

Hayden got everything he had hoped for and more! He was pretty thrilled!

Sometimes Jonathan scares me! Yes, he had this straw stuck on his tooth! I am not sure what he is doing to Emmett. Up until this time I didn't believe in Vampires . . . .

At times like this is when you take advantage of an opportunity. Hayden is so happy and disoriented by pure birthday joy that he actually let me hug him for a photo opportunity! Normally he is at that stage in life that you are not supposed to act like you are his mom. I think I will have this picture laminated!

In case you want to know, yes, you can fit eleven candles on a cupcake!

After presents and cupcakes and ice cream I decided that the best way to spend the last hour of the party was playing board games. This was an excellent idea! The kids really had a good time (plus they were in smaller, quieter groups)! Do I keep mentioning quieter? You would think I was obsessed with the idea of that or something?

I love this picture! This is Hayden. Football, friends and legos!

Dylan and Tyler enjoying a game of LIFE!

After everyone left and only Jonathan remained (he was spending the night) for some reason this weird monkey that belongs to the Baker family showed up. . . oh yeah, I sat it up on Hailey's bed earlier in the day to scare her half-to-death when she finally went into her room. Mission mostly accomplished. I didn't get as big of a scream out of her as I had hoped but, it did creep her out. I can live with that!

Hayden working on his X-Wing Lego - this thing was a pretty good size. He had also gotten a different set and had already put that together. Now, Ty wants one of his own!

Well, after all is said and done, Hayden said that it was the best birthday ever and willingly gave all of us hugs. He was excited and I was exhausted. There was still plenty to clean up and I will get to that later. The really scary thought is that Hailey's birthday is in a week and she wants to have a party with SIX girls her age . . . . . . . . help!

What, No Pictures?

I feel compelled to put up a new post. Maybe it is withdrawals from not writing one for so long or something like that! I was supposed to do a post on this hot air balloon project Hayden did at school but we were sidelined by the possibility that Hayden either caught a severe stomach flu or food poisoning - we are thinking the latter!
So, since Friday evening I have had a VERY SICK boy! We were hoping to send him to school tomorrow but stomach issues and his fever popped back up so, another day is needed to help him recuperate. He thinks he has lost 3 pounds through this ordeal! Also had Hailey home sick Monday and Tuesday - not as bad as Hayden but not too good for her.

Anyway . . . I will hopefully be posting on a bunch of things that were going on in our lives lately. A hot air balloon project, Hailey getting to go to a neat concert that her Dad was working at and was being filmed for PBS (go to links and hit the word "TANYA" and you can see a more in depth look into what that is all about - it's fascinating!) Also, Hayden will turn 11 on Friday - should have pictures of that too!
Just hang in there - there is more to come!