Eclipse

Saw Eclipse the other night and it was sooooo good. The funny thing is, the third book of the series is probably my least favorite of all of them- but the movie- well- it had something for everyone. Comedy, action and of course...romance!

Bridger's Harry Potter Birthday!

I am not quite the blogging fool I used to be (now just a fool-lol) Bridger has his birthday party 2 saturdays ago and I am just now adding text to the pictures I uploaded last week. One day I will get it together. (It used to be any fleeing thought I had went on my blog- now I am lucky to get semi- major events in the Jacobs' lives typed out.)

As by the title- you can tell that Bridger had a Harry Potter birthday. (He wanted a Chuck E Cheese birthday- but lately the idea of eating crappy pizza in a germ infested room with 500,000 other kids doesn't apeal to me that much- I have no idea why- so I talked him into a HP party instead)

Bridger loves HP so we did some things from the stories.
We made wands. They were chocolate liquorice (cuz not everyone loves black like I do) dipped in white chocolate and sprinkled with magic (no- just fun sprinkles)

We had a dragon egg hunt.

But the most favorite thing that they did was make their own potions.

We had jars with dragon tears, pond slime unicorn urine, moon dew, extract of eel eye and a sleeping potion (don't be worried- it was really just kool-aid)
and then things to add to their brew to make a true potion Mandrake root- candy orange slices

bloodworms- gummy worms

frog brain- gummy octopus

Spider silk- cotton candy

Chinese grubs- gummy grubs

Exploding fleas- pop rocks (which really sizzled when added to liquid)

They added their mixtures by using medicine droppers (that I seem to have 10 million of) The boys couldn't get a whole lot out with the droppers- so my smart husband came out with a turkey baster. (Then we were cookin'-lol)

Of course they had to test out their own potions.

Since cupcakes are all the rage these days (and much easier to work with) we made Wizard hat (sugar cones dipped in chocolate and added the famous HP lightening bolt!

Bridger unwrapped his gifts.....

Then we sent the kiddos home with a Cauldron of goodies (yes- it is a sand-pail. You try finding cauldrons in June) Some things that went in the cauldrons were........ Some Honey Dukes candy floss

Dumbledore's bubbles

Potter's Potions


and the Sorcerer's Stone. (Yes- I'm sure all the parent's loved that I sent their child home with slime)

It was a fun Birthday party to participate in and put on. I still can't believe my little guy is 6!

The Last Year of Cub Scout Camp for Nolan.

This year the theme of day camp was the amazing race. Nolan wasn't too sure about it the first 2 days, but the last 2 days, his attitude was a lot better and he had fun. I went up with him on the last day. Each station had a theme of a state on it. They learned about the U.S. as well as the info in the stations.

One of the states we went to was Wisconson to play a Fear Factor type game. THe boys got points for the things that they ate. Small points were given for things like gummy bears, lettuce and seasame candy. then, there were the harder levels with higher points for things like dried anchovies, dried larve and dried grasshoppers. The last 2 items were live grasshoppers and mealworms. (at 1000 points each)

Here Nolan is eating a dried larve. It was cheese flavored and told the boys that they tasted like a cheeto. Nolan agreed.

Here he is feasting upon a dried grasshopper. (It had sour cream and onion flavoring on it. They told Nolan that it tasted like popcorn, but he wasn't so sure about that)

Here is the mealworm that Nolan was given. Tried as he might, he just couldn't do it. Nolan was the only one that didn't eat a live bug- but he was okay with that. They had chocolate sauce to dipp the live bugs in. What made me laugh was that Conner (Nolan's friend and our neighbor) said, "Wow, nature tastes good in chocolate."

Then they went to Wyoming (I think it was) to practice bb gun shooting. They let me sit by my son and shoot too. I was all over the place until Nolan showed me what to line up in order to aim better.- (duh)

I was amazed at my son's shooting skills.Here he is in Alaska. He got to go fishing for trout. (I think the fish and game helped with the big bins with the fish in them. Nolan was looking forward to this station for 2 days and when he finally got to do it- he wasn't able to catch a fish. Some boys got lucky- but mostly the fish were done being caught and released by then. Then we went to the state of Indiana. They had soap box race cars there and one station was so that the boys could push leaders. Even though I had already been pushed, Nolan didn't get a turn at pushing his mom and kept asking me until finally another woman there said, "Your son really wants to push you." (I just felt bad cuz I knew it wears the boys out) I agreed and let him treat me to a fun ride.
Nolan is in the white helmet.

Here he is, ready to go!

I am sure gonna miss cub scout camp for the next 2 years (until Bridger is ready)

Anything to Make My Life Yummy..er..uh...Easier!

Last year- I wanted grilled veggies without having to put each veggie on a skewer. So I went to Walmart and bought a grill basket. I cut all my veggies and put them in the basket, so excited to eat them from the grill. Then a horrible unexpected thing happened. I went to stir them and they all fell through the grill basket and through the grill and onto my feet. After many choice words, that I will not reveal in this post, I counted my loses and put away my grill basket for good as far as veggies are concerned. (Thinking that I may use it someday with something else).

A couple of weeks ago, I was at Ross. (Where I found some lovely sateen, high thread count, sheets for $30) While in the checkouts, my eyes fell upon this grill basket, just right there by the registers. It was an impulse buy (I came in for sheets- not a grill basket) but snatched it up and I am sooooo glad I did. With a little oil and some Johnny's seasoning our veggies were fabulous! And the best part- my feet are burn-free!

Lesson Learned: Shop at Ross for grill baskets.

Playing Catch-up!

Last Weekend....

Bridger graduated from preschool.
Miss Kori had a bounce house for the occasion...


and made vegan chocolate cake (so uber yummy)

I went to Seattle with this girl (and this girl and this girl) We played and shopped and played.
(What?- don't you post pics of yourself that looked like your stuck a fork in a light socket???)


And hung out with my cousin and her sweet family for a little bit.

Bbq'd at a lovely park with a bunch of families that we know for Memorial Day.

Carli had her first taste of dutch oven peach cobbler. I told her that she wouldn't like it. I think she took it as a challenge to try it. She thought it was good. I was surprised.

Hope you had a great weekend!

I Don't Get IT!

Picture taken at Disneyworld

I like my blog because I can edit out all the things that are "not as much fun" when it comes
to raising kids. (I can look like a wonderful mother (swoon) At the risk of sounding negative, I thought I would post an example of many of my conversations with my kids.....

I will set it up. Yesterday morning Nolan had appox. 3 mins before catching the bus. He was looking for his shoes.

Me: Nolan, If you are looking for your other tennis shoe, I know it is downstairs in your closet.

Nolan: Oh! Thanks, (and takes off downstairs.)

Nolan: (Coming back upstairs.) I couldn't find it.

ME: Seriously, I know it is down there. Did you look behind the curtain?

Nolan: Yep, I did.

ME: You are sure you didn't see it in your closet?

Nolan: No, it is not there.

Me: (running downstairs with 30 secs until bus comes) pushing back closet curtain to find shoe in the middle of the closet against the wall with no other obstructions. (In clear view)

Me: (Running back upstairs) Nolan, your shoe was in the middle of your closet. Why didn't you see it?

Nolan: oh. I don't know.

Me (Trying to teach my kids to pay attention and be observant) well, did you pull back the curtain?

Nolan:: Yeah. I didn't see it.

Me: (Wondering how on earth he could miss it) How could you not see it, it was right there on the floor.

Nolan: Well- I didn't really look on the floor.

Me: ...ar... th...eh....What???

Me: (making some snarky comment about not expecting objects you are looking for to float out in front of you- tells my son the bus is waiting for him)

It is days like this that I wonder why I have any hair left.

Have a great Weekend!

Happy 9th Birthday, Sis!

For Carli's 9th birthday- we kept it pretty low key. We let the girls shoot some hoops while listening to one of Carli's favorite cd. A mix that this girl made her.
\

She also made up her own game to play at her party. A hot potato game with a basketball. Except when you got "out" you got to take 2 shots. If you made a basket in those 2 shots, then you could still play- but if you missed- then you were out. The girls were super good sports and cheered each other on. It was super cute to watch

I think McKenna got "out" the most- but made the most baskets too. (She was on fire!!!)

Look at this perfect shot of Sydney's- Suh-weet!

Afterward- they came in for pizza from our favorite pizza place

Next, it was time for cupcakes. (Basketball ones of course!)

I like how Carli is holding Jack away from the candles in this picture. Even when it is her day- she is such a little mother!

We did an ice cream bar last year and had so much fun with it- that we decided to do it again.

Ice cream gives girls the "Sillies"

When tummies were full (okay, stuffed) we decided to unwrap the gifts.

And then we sent each girl home with a goodie bag to remember the festivities with.

Happy Birthday Beautiful Baby Girl of mine!

I hope all of your 9 year old Dreams come true!!!