Saturday, September 26, 2015

Horsin' Around

each year around roman's birthday, we try to do something with his bff, mady. as they are getting older, it is harder and harder to do a party that both boys and girls both love....ack....they are getting older! this year, they each had their own sleepovers...no boys at the girl party, no girls at the boy party! so, we decided to sign them up for a horseback riding lesson together.

on a very nice sunday afternoon, we headed to a stable right down the road and they each got to try their hand at riding.

but first, they had to do all the prep work. this is cherry...short for cherokee! they had to brush him.

and pick stones out of his feet...

they put his saddle on and roman got to lead him out of the barn!

this is the only picture i have of roman out in the arena with him...but there are a couple of videos on my youtube page...check them out!

https://youtu.be/HPhu1RClIb8

https://youtu.be/W3dFsqLYaFM

https://youtu.be/h2FfeNsruYQ

https://youtu.be/g-iZS3n6TTk

https://youtu.be/ycNBGRxAQPA

he got to give cherry a treat back at the barn too!

and bridget was a great teacher. what a fun time we all had!

 

 

Horsin' Around

each year around roman's birthday, we try to do something with his bff, mady. as they are getting older, it is harder and harder to do a party that both boys and girls both love....ack....they are getting older! this year, they each had their own sleepovers...no boys at the girl party, no girls at the boy party! so, we decided to sign them up for a horseback riding lesson together.

on a very nice sunday afternoon, we headed to a stable right down the road and they each got to try their hand at riding.

but first, they had to do all the prep work. this is cherry...short for cherokee! they had to brush him.

and pick stones out of his feet...

they put his saddle on and roman got to lead him out of the barn!

this is the only picture i have of roman out in the arena with him...but there are a couple of videos on my youtube page...check them out!

In the Saddle

Starting Out

Trotting

No Hands!

Backwards Rider

he got to give cherry a treat back at the barn too!

and bridget was a great teacher. what a fun time we all had!

 

 

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

This Party was In-Tents

this year, roman wanted his party to be a camping party. since we don't really camp, we decided to do an indoor camping party. that's still camping, right?

while roman was napping the day of his party, we tented the playroom (totally toby's idea).

once all of the boys got here, we fed them some pizza and then sent them outside to play.

they each got their own gun and played capture the flag (again, toby's idea).

 

look at this bad buncha dudes...

okay, maybe they aren't so bad, after all!

time for some cake. their rendition of happy birthday sure was entertaining!

and of course, he ate NO cake. licked the icing off the top and grabbed the hershey bar "sleeping bag".

then, it was time for an outdoor movie. since we had been fighting the rain all day, toby set up the movie theater in the garage and roman chose yogi bear as the feature presentation.

popcorn all around!

after the movie, the boys played a little freeze tag with their glow sticks in the back yard.

present time for the birthday king!

and then it was time for bed. 5 of the boys slept in the tent and 3 outside the tent. slowly but surely, they all fell asleep and for the most part, it was an uneventful night. poor toby slept on the couch to make sure if they needed anything, he was right there. i can't say everyone got a good nights' sleep, but sleepovers aren't really about sleep, right?

they ate some donuts breakfast (toby's idea too) and then it was time to send them right back outside!

they got their guns out again and tried to shoot down toby's quadcopter drone.

they each got to leave with a happy camper t-shirt and i hope that their experience lived up to what the shirt says. we had so much fun having this group of boys over to celebrate roman's birthday.

 

i wonder what he'll choose next year?

 

Saturday, September 19, 2015

8 is Great!

it's hard to believe that my little boy is 8 years old. every year on his birthday eve, i think about the night that my water broke and we headed to the hospital as a family of two and then left as three. gosh, how he has changed our lives for the better.

roman is one of my most favorite people to be with in the whole world. he is such a loving soul. he cares deeply about others, he is extremely generous, and his snuggles are the best around. he is hilarious and athletic, sensitive and smart. i love who he is and who he is becoming as he grows up before my very eyes.

a couple of days before his birthday, he started to ask what surprise i was going to do for his birthday. he knows that he gets some sort of balloon surprise and i love that he looks forward to it!

this year, it was balloons with money in them floating around his room!

happy birthday to my favorite son!

he didn't want to put on clothes, so he wrapped up in a blanket!

 

loving his superhero socks from mommom!

roman's big present was a real tent! as soon as we could get it set up, he and his sister were in it, hanging out.

 

these silly faces...oh man...he's got lots of them!

his birthday was on labor day, so he was off of school. so, the next day, when he went back to school, poppa brought cookies in for all his friends to share. they sure are silly!

happy birthday roman! 8 is great, just like you!

 

Saturday, September 5, 2015

My Beauty

our bathtub beauty

dancing bffs

 

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Beach and Bonfire

we spent the afternoon at the beach with the crapps girls a little while ago. we don't go often, so when we do, the kids have a blast!

roman and mady built themselves a hot tub. we are in so much trouble with these two, for sure!

 

after we headed home and cleaned up, they came over for pizza and s'mores!

 

this crew makes me so happy, i hope they stay friends forever!