Jaxen’s Birthday-Day

Jaxen's actual birthday was Wednesday.

I took the day off work to celebrate with him and I'm so glad I did!

It was a good day.

Tuesday night, I wrapped his presents and decorated a little with balloons.

Wednesday morning I took Jaxen and Zane to our public library 

and Jaxen received his own personal library card - which he thought was sooo cool!

The librarians were really helpful and nice -

they gave Jaxen a tour of the kids area and then taught him how to do the self-check out!

Both the boys had a great time at the library

(now we just have to remember to return the books and check out more!)

After the library we came home, read for a bit and played outside.

We also walked 2 houses down and met new neighbors!

They have 3 kids and the minute the mom opened the door and we started talking,

Zane took his shoes off and ran upstairs to play!

I was a tad embarrased...but she embraced it and Zane probably played upstairs

for 10 minutes with 2 of her kiddos while we chatted in the foyer.

Jaxen opened his presents outside the minute Nik got home from a dentist appointment.

I think Zane was more excited for Jaxen to open them than he was -

he kept bringing them out to us while we were playing Ladder Ball - ha! 

Jaxen was so excited over the new watch, some tank tops, 

water balloons and a frisbee golf set he received!

We all enjoyed lunch at our favorite pizza place, Mod.

Jaxen requested a regular size (instead of mini) and he received a free shake for his birthday!

We all stayed pretty low-key that afternoon and laid on the couch for awhile while it rained.

That evening I took the boys to a new (to us) park to meet up with some families from our church.

The boys had a blast! 

Water guns, water balloons, playground, and even an electric car they could drive :)

It was such a beautiful area!

These boys were worn out after a few hours!

Zane was crying and walking towards me (pic below) - and I decided it was time for us to go!

It was after 8:30pm and I wanted to avoid a total meltdown.

Please notice his shoes and socks off - I found the shoes, but never the socks!

 

Jaxen said he had a great day celebrating his birthday!

After I tucked the boys in bed, I walked by thier room and heard Jaxen singing

"Happy Birthday" to himself :) 

I walked in and asked if I could sing too -

What a great ending to celebrating my first born, my 7 year old!

Jaxen’s 7th Birthday Party!

When we started talking about Jaxen's birthday, 

he said he wanted friends to come over and play frisbees outside...so that is what we did!

Jaxen had 5 friends over on Saturday to play in our backyard. 

We setup Ladder Ball, Can Jam, Frisbee Golf and Frisbee Tic-Tac-Toe.

He requested pizza and Gatorade for dinner; an Oreo cake; and a campfire with marshmellows.

Easy-peasy :)

I baked a cake, mowed the lawn, set up balloons and called it good!

It was hot that day. 

I think it was the highest temps we have seen yet (89 - don't laugh at me!) / 

but we had great shade in our backyard and it was a beautiful evening!

I took pictures of the cake process, the setup before his friends arrived, and blowing out candles. That was it. I was too busy playing games myself and keeping up with these kiddos!

I made the Oreo cake using a regular chocolate cake mix and added crushed Oreo's.

Then, I placed whole Oreo's in the bottom of the pan; poured the cake mix on top; and baked!

The icing was made as normal, with chopped Oreo's.

I layered the two cakes with icing in between and covered the top and sides with icing!

(pic below of finished cake)

Don't mind our patchy-grass - but here is the backyard setup….

I decorated with balloons as much as could with the wind/sun popping some of them.

It’s hard to see, but there is also a spray-painted Tic-Tac-Toe board in the grass. 

Oh, and Jaxen waiting out front for his friends to arrive :)

My first born celebrating his 7th birthday!!!! 

P.S. Zane only came outside naked once. Winning! 

(Zane does not like to put his undies and pants back on after going potty).

Haha!

Summer Update 1

I mentioned in a earlier post that we have some great things on our "Summer List”.

I also mentioned that we “summered” hard this past week.

So here is an update of what we have done so far:

Deanna Rose Farmstead
Nik took the boys one day last week when a group from our church was going.

When it came time to take the group picture, guess where Zane was?
Playing with the "tail".

Farmer's Market
We tried out a new Farmer's Market close to our house this past weekend, and it was a bust!
Thankfully, there was a playground nearby - but I don't know that we will be going back to that one.
We will hopefully try out others.
NY had great Farmer's Markets and now we're ruined! Ha!

Swimming
This summer we purchased a pool pass and I am so glad we did!

We are having so much fun at the pool!

I love going in the evenings after work.
It's relaxing and it wears the boys out before bed!
Win-win.


So here's what's left on our summer list...

Deanna Rose Farmstead

Picnics at the park
Fishing update coming later

Movies at the Theater
Swimming

Backyard Camp Out
Library

Water Balloons
Zoo

Painting

Farmers Market

Bookstores

Bike rides

Berry picking

Flying Kites

Campfires

Slumber Parties update coming later

House Updates

It has been a long time since I shared a Home Update.

I haven't shared much the last few months...because there has not been much to share.

Updating our home takes time and money - enough said! Ha!

But today's the day you get a few updates....

FYI - my pics are mostly taken at night and I did not have the best light!

First, our floor.

It is finally finished! 

We had a few hiccups while laying the floor - but this past week Nik finished!

Now onto baseboards and quarter round. Still lots to do...but it's coming along!

Next, the Dining Room.

It is close to finished...

I would like to eventually hang blinds, paint the ceiling and purchase a buffet.

But I can live without those for awhile :)

I don't have a good "before picture" - 

but here is a picture after we pulled up the carpet and laid new flooring:

The next step was to paint all the trim and walls. 

I painted the trim white and the walls the same gray as the living room.

Fresh and clean!

Next, I needed to do something about the glass in this very random cabinet on our wall.

I love the storage of the cabinet (deep) but it just seems random to me.

What I didn't love is that you could see inside...and my "storage" was not pretty.

So I decided to frost the glass.

For my first time ever frosting anything, I think it turned out good!

I finally found some curtains I liked (after a few tries) and hung them to finish off the space.

And here is the picture of the back wall (where I want the buffet to go).

That’s all for now.

Our next project will be to trim out the living room windows and hang blinds.

Stay tuned!

Summer Is Here!

Well, summer is here...
And we "summered" hard this weekend - more on that later!

Jaxen and I had a discussion last week whether it was really summer or not.
I said yes, because school is out.
He said no - not until June 1.

Eh...details.... :)

I am hoping (like always) this summer is full of fun!
We have some great things on our "Summer List"

Deanna Rose Farmstead

Picnics at the park
Fishing

Movies at the Theater
Swimming

Backyard Camp Out
Library

Water Balloons
Zoo

Painting

Farmers Market
Bookstores
Bike rides
Berry picking
Flying Kites
Campfires
Slumber Parties

(Pics from last summer)

Even though I am striving to make summer fun - there will also be work.
I have to work, Nik has to work...and the boys will have to work!

I have made a daily chore list for Zane and Jaxen.
Simple items - but things they need to do everyday.

I have also made a weekly chore list for Jaxen.
One larger chore, everyday, that will help Nik and I.

Once the daily and weekly chores are done -
Jaxen can earn money by doing "Paid Chores".

We will see how this system goes.
I hope it will pan out well.
The first couple of days have been a bit rough,
trying to make sure everyone understands the "system".


Hope you have a great summer!!!!