Emily's 14th Birthday

We usually have birthday parties on Sunday after church so the majority of the time they don't fall on their actual birthday. This year, Emily's birthday was on a Sunday so I was thinking it would be nice for her to be able to celebrate on her actual birthday (we always do something smaller on their actual birthday if the party isn't on the actual day). And then, COVID-19 happened and everything shut down and we were restricted to not gathering with people who don't live with you, so the party was out. I still made the meal Emily wanted (slow cooker mac-n-cheese) and we did a cake and presents. We just didn't have the grandparents and other family members that are usually present. I did a Facebook Live (my first one ever) while we lit the candles on the cake, sang 'Happy Birthday', and Emily blew out the candles. That way at least everyone could participate virtually even if they couldn't be present physically.

Costume Party 2019

This year, the annual costume party was at my brother's house. I had gathered several things that I thought would work for the costumes we were planning. The week before the costume party, there was a craft sale that I wanted to make some things for, so that took me away from working on the costumes, then the beginning of this week, our church had special meetings Sunday through Thursday. So Thursday night, we went through what we had and what would work. Sarah, Andy, and I all had something from those things that would work and Will had dyed his costume from last year to repurpose it into a different thing. Friday, I set to work making capes out of blankets and Emily's costume. It ended up too big. I could fit it and the neck was too big for me even. That left only one choice, make a new outfit for Emi. Then I thought it wouldn't take much to finish and fix the first one for me. And if I was going to do that, I should make one for Sarah so we'd all be the same. I set to work doing the gauntlets and quivers that were needed. I ended up getting to sleep at 1 in the morning! This morning, I had to alter the necklines of both of the girls' costumes, plus sew the tail back on Will's plus several other things. We didn't get the "ears" made that we were planning, but still looked good.

What I had done by 1 in the morning

My family (minus my husband)

my elves

My brother's family (minus one son and my sister-in-law)

my sister's family (minus 1 son)

My brother's dog was a crocodile

My nieces were trying to pull Dan off the couch

Random leaf that got tracked in. I thought it looked cool

Halloween Costume Party 2017

Because of conflicts on the other weekends in October, we had our annual family costume party today. It was my turn to host and I had a scavenger/treasure hunt planned and the weather was calling for rain! I was praying that the rain would hold off until after the party or let up when it was time for the game. It ended up being rainy, but it wasn't too bad so we went ahead with the game.

My brother's family minus his oldest

My sister's family.
My nephew was a pumpkin and the hat was his stem!

 Time for the treasure hunt:

My youngest niece

School Christmas Parties

I helped with the 3 oldest kids' class Christmas parties (Andy's class watched a movie and didn't want helpers).

Will:

Sarah:

Emily: