Taelyn's 7th Minecraft Birthday Party!

I can't believe my baby is 7! It seems like just yesterday she was born. I'm so proud of the smart, kind, sensitive, and creative girl she has grown into. Tae decided she wanted to have a Minecraft birthday party this year. She really loves playing the game and it seems really popular with her age group. When looking online, I couldn't find ANY Minecraft party decorations! So I decided to take things into my own hands (literally) and come up with some things.

 I made this Enderman pinata out of grocery sacks. I paper mached and then hot glued on streamers. We filled it with organic gummy bears, organic jelly beans, stickers, and Chinese yoyos.

 I made this Pin the Tail on the Minecraft Pig out of construction paper. It was very easy since everything is straight lines.

 We spray painted a box green and cut holes for the Creeper bean bag toss.

 Here's my birthday girl on her birthday! We took her to the store and let her pick out her own birthday outfit. I think she did a good job!

 And sweet Hensley. We got her to wear a head band for about 5 minutes. We decorated with green and black balloons and black and purple streamers.

 My mom made a delicious chocolate cake with an Enderman theme.

 I bought this box of paper Minecraft characters for decorations. 

 Another party game, Minecraft Bingo. I used sundrops for the markers that the kids got to eat after the game. For game prized we had some things from the dollar store. A US puzzle, crystal science kit, a puzzle book, and an art set.

 The drink station. 

Chocolate party favors for the adults.

 Tae was so excited that Emma and Mara from her homeschool coop came to her party. Her cousins Bella, Jack, and Franki also came. We started the party with bean bag toss.

 Hensley had a great throwing stance, haha! Tae won this game with 450 points!

 Next we played pin the tail on the pig. Most of the kids ended up putting their tails on top of one another, so we ended up drawing a winner which was Mara.

 Minecraft Bingo time!

 Mara and Emma won on Bingo!

 Birthday cake time!

 Present time! Tae got so many great gifts. She's a very blessed little girl.

 Last, but not least was Pinata time! I made that thing super strong, so it took awhile to break through. It had a little help from the adults ;)

Taelyn had a great party. It turned out so well and all the kids had a blast. I'm so very thankful to have friends and family that love us and our kiddos. They mean the world to us!

Warm days, crisp nights, dating my husband, and life happenings.

We were BLESSED enough to get TWO overnight date nights this past month. The first one the girls stayed over with my folks and Aaron and I went to dinner at S&B burgers, spent two hours in Target, and then went grocery shopping the next day. 

 We've taken several trips to the park to get the nice warm sunshine. Tae's been rocking it at 1st grade and we have a good rhythm down.

 One night the girls were just playing around and all of a sudden Hensley was grasping her arm and screaming in pain like I've never heard before. I was trying to comfort her when Aaron got home from work. We decided to take her to Children's hospital to make sure it wasn't broke. She screamed like crazy when I was putting her into her car seat, but then all of a sudden she was perfectly fine. We got to the hospital and I took her into the ER. I told the lady at the front what had happened and she said that it was likely nursemaid elbow and that I had popped it back into place when putting her into her car seat. We decided to just head back home since she seemed perfectly fine at that point. It sure was one of the scarier moments in my life as a mother. I'm not sure if I have ever seen my child in so much pain. So thankful it wasn't anything serious and that she was 100% the next day.

 Here she is the next day. Sweet, sweet child. 

 I love these sisters! They recently have become addicted to the movie Frozen and love to sing and dance together. They still bicker and pick on each other sometimes, but they do love each other...alot!

 We have been LOVING our homeschool coop this year. We recently had our fall party and the girls had a great time playing all the carnival games. I love that Tae is building great relationships with kiddos her age. She has already made some sweet little friends this semester.

 We put up our Thankful tree the beginning of November. Every day we write down what we are each thankful for on a leaf and put it on our tree. I love hearing the girls responses, it is the highlight of my day.

 We went to the zoo with my dear friend Janean. She hadn't been since she was a little girl, so she had a great time.

 Tae was super excited that they were doing a procedure on a ringtail cat in their new animal hospital. We have been checking the hospital every time we have gone, but this was the first time an animal was in there. She wants to be a vet when she grows up, so this was a slice of heaven for her!

 Look at that little baby gorilla on the momma's back!

 Rex gave us a trunk high five when we were talking to him.

 The girls had their dentist check up recently and this was Hensley's first time! She did so good and did not cry one bit. Neither girl had any cavities and their teeth are just as healthy as can be, yay!

 Big girl!

 Our second overnight date night, my folks kept the girls and they were also keeping their cousins Bella and Jack. First stop for Aaron and I was to Vintage Coffee for some iced coffee. We sat and talked and enjoyed the adult conversation :) We then went and ate at Tucker's and went home to have some adult root beer floats and watch Mad Max. I really think it is so important to date your husband and keep him first in your life. After the kids are all grown, he will be the only one there and you want to make sure you nurture that relationship and keep it strong through the years. I can honestly say that we are doing that and I love him more now than ever <3

 We picked the girls up and then their cousins came and stayed the night with us. We ate enchiladas and watched Inside Out. The next morning we had pumpkin waffles and after lunch we walked to Braum's and had icecream. I love getting to spend lots of time with family, it's the best!

A picture of our Thankful tree halfway through. Looking pretty!