Coop Party

 Today was our last day of coop! 4 of the 5 moms are expecting so the Mom that was in charge decided to do a surprise baby shower she asked me to help out and do the games and a few things of course at the time she didn't know I was pregnant but I am always happy to help so it worked out great, even though she was kind of bummed when I told her the news. We started the morning with a waffle bar complete with sausage and juice, it was great, then the kids had some play time while the Mom's chatted and cleaned, then on to the games, I don't have pictures of all of them that is the hard thing about being in charge, and getting pictures I have not mastered that yet....

 We started with swaddlededottle  I should note the baby shower was for the kids which is not really all that common so I was getting kind of creative with my games, anyways we split up into family teams competing for heart beads, the family with the most beads got to pick their baby shower gift first, There were some great swaddles on four year olds, so fun

 After swaddling we moved on to Big Belly race, we put balloons in their tummys and they had to waddle to their shoes, put them on and waddle back without falling over, losing their baby or injuring anyone else, I should have video taped this one it was so stinkin funny!

 We learned pregnant women should wear slip on shoes, After that we did chug the bottle, in which someone  from each team had to chug three ounces of apple juice out of a bottle with a slow nipple, that takes some muscle and some gumption to use a bottle, We did a baby food taste testing next, in which they got one taste of 6 different baby foods and they had to identify the ingredients, some were easy some not so much

 I made a diaper cake and we did guess the number of diapers, this was the only activity that had an actual immediate prize to win, they were competing for the cake, I had my kiddos team up with the family that isn't expecting and to my surprise they won, so the cake came home with us, LOL

And our last activity was Diapering Mom, they all got a roll of toilet paper and two pieces of tape to make a diaper on Mom. After we of course talked about how these were silly activities we were doing for our party and not things we would actually do any other time, then we talked about families and how important Big brothers and Big Sisters are, the kids decorated slap bracelets that said big brother or big sister and then they got to pick their baby shower gift, which was really more family oriented then just baby. It was a lot of fun, The Mom that hosted did a great job and everyone participated so well which always makes things more fun. It was not the traditional cap and graduation ceremony but it was a Good time! And with that I will probably only have one more coop post for a season......

We are just about ready for summer!

 I know Summer proper is still a month out but, we just finished up all of our spring commitments and we are ready to enjoy the break. For summer I with the help of Doug made the kids summer learning boxes, more to come on those, they were part of a preschool I did for all the kids, the boxes were on sale at hobby lobby and I let the kiddo's decorate them however they wanted then I filled them with learning fun for the summer. Last week was Addy's last week at zoo school and I learned the hard way that I should not send her to school on a holiday or big day without something to give to her friends, I can't remember if it was St. Patricks day or Easter but I didn't think to send anything and she came home with a backpack full of fun thoughtful things from her classmates and was sobbing at me that she hadn't given anything to them,  We did random treats one day to make up for that, and then for the last day Addy and I made these popsicle gifts, that say have a krazy kool  summer, we gave them to her zoo school class and then to the kiddo's in coop as well, the gift next to it is what I gave all the Mom's that stuck it out and were so AWESOME for coop, it is really hard to find Mom's that are consistent and dedicated, so I just love these ladies for all their hard work and dedication to making coop so good for our kiddos

 Doug and I have also been hard at work in the garage making a some new additions to the play area outside, I wanted to get one item, but Doug and I don't see eye to eye on that item so I put together a list of other fun things to fill our summer days and the compromise Doug got to work on the list, which really worked out better for the kids they are getting a whole list of fun rather then one item, I will wear him down on the one item for next year maybe....I found this teeter totter and complete with specs to cut the board, not that Doug needs them but we were working with a limited amount of time so I just had everything printed out and how to make it, then we went to the home repair store with our 25% off coupon, we scored the most random assortment of items and then managed to run into our Manager friend who not only took care of us but then used the coupon as well, he always does that for us, I guess it pays to know people, anyways Doug and I a midst other projects made this teeter totter that the kids LOVE

 We are planning to spend our summer improving our hand eye coordination really all over coordination, but part of that is baseball, I got a stand, balls and bats for the kids, they have had so much fun with it already, even though in this picture of Addy it looks a lot like golf? I did pull out the kids golf game and some other summer toys I scored on clearance last year after summer

 These two are hilarious about baseball and soccer, which are the two we are really working on Doug nor I are really into Baseball but you wouldn't know that to meet our kids. Jimmy is getting really close to just hitting the ball and not the whole thing, but it will be a work in progress for both of them

 Another of Doug's projects, unfortunately he followed my specs and it is a little smaller then I wanted, so this is the picnic table for now but it may be gifted to a family with children who are actually small in size for their age not ridiculously tall, so far the kids have not complained

 My Garden has been in for 3 weeks now , I took the time to do a number of plants from seed this year I had 6 different plants to put out that I had grown and then well we are just going to see what else will grow here so the kids picked a random assortment,  should be interesting, right after I planted we had rain for four days straight and the nights got a little colder then I thought they would but no snow so that is something, I completely lost all of the cucumber plants I had seeded inside, and a couple of others thinned so we got a few at the nursery. The kids have loved helping me with the plants and can't wait for the garden to produce things they can eat. Doug did the majority of the prep work, he tilled After calling locates, got the manure and mixed it all in, then made my rows and put up my fence, all I did was acclimate the plants, plant them and water them until Doug got the drip up and running which it is now, so Grow garden Grow!!!

 It looks very similar to the gardens we had growing up when I asked my parents if they did anything I didn't know about with our gardens growing up (we the kids were rather involved) they both said the same thing, We prayed for it, so we have been good to add that to our prayers, the kids really enjoy praying for the garden and the baby, that both will grow, it is adorable I am so proud of both of them an all the help they have been, Jimmy helped me dig over fourty holes to work on finishing our landscaping, such a trouper and every time I go for my shovel he just drops what he is doing and goes for him, Such good helpers I have.  We planted wild flowers in the beds between the rocks in our rock wall in the back, and I put the kids bird houses they made this summer in them they look so cute, I can't wait to see them bloom, they are sure growing I think, at this point it is hard to tell a weed, as wild flowers and weeds have similar leaves....

 If you look close you can see some more additions, we added a balance beam, a chalk board we made for the outdoors using outdoor paint, the kind you put on your house that is ridiculously thick and weather resistant and added grout, it works really well, we were not very creative in our color choosing but one could be we just wanted them to be creative with their color choices, and lastly the teatherball, which right now all you can see is the pole, we had to order the ball, I looked all over for one in town, finally broke down and ordered one, then walked into costco with Doug and found one right there, oh well, we did a much cheaper version then costco was offering, the kids and I have been going to a local park to play teatherball so we are excited for our ball to arrive so we can play here. We have three more projects underway for the backyard fun, I will hopefully post those done pictures sooner then later....LOL

We lost two trees this winter, which grass and trees were all we had in landscaping wise, the drip was run in the rock so we could just add as we have time and desire, I wanted to get it all done before bending is an issue, we took the two trees back and got our money back which I love about home depot they are so good about that with their plants and hassle free although we have been using their trees for years now for the smaller guys we plant our selves and this is the first time we have actually lost one, but aside from those two holes and a few minor other things we are pretty much done with the planting, and major yard work, just maintenance now, man we have been busy and rather productive.....We are so ready to enjoy summer!