Jada's first day of ppcd

Monday was Jada's first day of PPCD (preschool program for children with disabilities) - for those of you who may not know already Jada qualified for this program through testing in the school district due to some developmental delays. So Jace and I took Jada on monday morning for her first day. There were tears all around and it was super hard for me to leave her but I am happy to report that today (fourth day of school) there were no tears and Jada seemed totally comfortable. Her teacher seems really great and there are only 6 kids in the class. Jada is by far the smallest even though the other kids are all around the same age! =) She is only there at the school for 3 hours everyday so if you think of it please pray that the therapies she receives really help her and that her time there would be enjoyable.

This pic is a little blurry because Jace took it and let me go ahead and translate that look on her face "Um what is going on? This is not where I thought we were going this morning"! LOL It was very sad that day but I can laugh now.

Our day in the city

Grandma Pat and Grandpa Fred took us to the Museum in Chicago on this day and we had SO much fun. It was a nice break from all the house hopping. It was so special for me because I have such great memories of visiting this museum when I was a kid. I never imagined I would be there with my own children looking at some of the same exhibits.The coolest part of the museum trip was the weather exhibit - my family sometimes calls me the weather lady because I check it all the time especially if there are storm predictions. The pic above is of how a tsunami happens and below a 3 story vortex. Jace got to control the airflow of the vortex which was pretty cool! Im a fascinated by tornados and also scared to death of them so we spent a lot of time at this exhibit.
This is Jace controlling an avalanche.
Ok so this is my favorite exhibit of all time!! These next 2 pics are of the Fairy Castle Doll House. What girl wouldn't love this!! It was really hard to photograph because its in a dark room surrounded by glass so this was all I got. Notice the details!! AMAZING!!

WHAT?????

There was also a circus exhibit that was pretty cool.
And a future of farming exhibit that I actually found to be kind of scary!!! Thats just me tho!!

More Indiana

We got to go to a cookout at Keith's cousin Nicole's house and we had SO much fun! They were so gracious and the kids played a lot! Aunt Penny and Uncle Roger
Baby Caleb
Nicole and Steve LOL
Precious Brenden!
The next few are of visiting different family!Visiting Grandma Jean
Grandma Renate
My sis Jackie
My godmother and godsister at their house.

Dad's Birthday and Fathers Day (late)

Here are some pics from Indiana FINALLY!!

This was the day we went to visit my sisters, brother and Neices. We had such a nice time and it was a reminder of how much we miss them. Hopefully they will come visit soon!

Jada and Piper got along SO well! Too cute!
Dad is always fun to watch open gifts!
Here is the family all together and below is dad with Melissa's cat - can you tell he love's cats heehee!!

Surprise Chris!!

We had a surprise 30th birthday Luau for our friend Chris last weekend. It was so fun!! He thought he was just coming over with his family to swim and cookout but his wonderful wife had a great surprise in store for him. Laura's mom set up all the food and made an amazing punch!

What Luau is complete without a pig roast - well in this case a roast pig cake! The coolest cake I have ever seen!!
We were all waiting on the deck when the arrived - notice the boys with the water guns hee hee!
Nice shirt Chris - this is for the kfed and clay aiken appearances in my 30th bday movie!!hahahahaha!!!!



Hey Katie!!=)

We played volleyball when it got dark and the kids found a really interesting way to keep themselves entertained - our backyard slopes downhill so one kid would stand at the top of the hill and let go of the hula hoop. Then the kids would try to jump through it as it rolled by. Who needs expensive toys!!!=)

The cupcake party part 2

So part 2 of the cupcake party is pics of the details and a really funny game we played! Each family got a box of cupcake mix with a thank you note on a recipe card. I wish I could say that I thought of this myself but I didnt! The initial's and ribbon accent were my idea tho! =)These cupcake stands came from the dollar tree! I couldnt believe it! The chocolate cupcakes are the gluten free ones and I think I actually prefer the taste of those now!
Our first game was pass the cupcake - it was cute but a reminder of why games where everyone is not a winner are not the best idea for a kids birthday party. lol
This game was way more fun and everyone was a winner - the kids were divided into 2 lines and they had to relay race to the center of the cul de sac where a basket was. They had to put all the items on in the basket -apron, chef hat, potholder and hold up the pan and utensil for a picture and then take it all off and race back to tag the next person in line! The boys were such good sports to put on the pink apron!



The cutest little chef of all!! =)

The cupcake party

We had Jada's 4th birthday party at our house a couple of weeks ago so here are the pics.

Jada finished her cupcake so fast I was only able to get a pic of the crumbs on her mouth!!
The kids all got to decorate their own cupcakes and it was so cool to see how creative they all got and how proud they were to show me the finished product.



Isaiah told me his was a volcano!
Isaiah's little brother Aden also made a volcano!=)



When I asked Tom if I could take a pic of him with his cupcake he said to me "It is perfectoooo"

lol
We even had a cupcake pinata
and when the string broke off Keith was brave enough to hold it so that every kid got a turn!
This is my favorite pic because Jada would not leave these cupcakes until I finally let her have one!! Lol