Jack's 12th Birthday Party with Friends

I am so happy that we waited until early June to have Jack's party with friends at our house.  The weather was beautiful and all of the guests that were invited were able to attend.

We set up in the garage and I kept the decor relatively simple with a hand-made sign, some red streamers left over from Jimmy's 'magic' birthday party and some blow-up balloons.  

On the morning of the party, I surprised Jack with this classic shirt ...

... and these socks.  Sidenote: both of my boys LOVE fun sock and these were a hit.

In lieu of a cake (since we had cake for his actual birthday), Jack asked for brownies and ice cream cups.  I added a little chocolate frosting to the top and a miniature coke bottle for decoration.

Speaking of coke bottles, I had these labels made to replace the regular label on several bottles that I put on ice and on display.  They made a great party favor!

The boys hung out, played football and baseball, made a few trips down to the park and even did a little fishing.  At one point, they came back to the garage to open gifts and have pizza.

I did plan one small event where I wrapped a bunch of boxes of candy and placed them on the table.

The boys were asked to draw two cards from my hand and scratch off the sticker on each to reveal a number.  Whoever scratched #1 got to go first, etc. and pick out a package.  Everyone patiently watched as the box of candy was unwrapped and revealed.  In the end, they could trade if they wanted.  It was such a blast as they cheered each other on!  They also got a $10 gift card to the gas station to use for merchandise (pop, slushie, candy, chips) -- a perfect gift for tween boys.

Singing 'happy birthday' to the birthday boy:

I would say that this simple party was a success and we are officially ready to kick off summer!

Jack's 12th Birthday

In talking about Jack's upcoming 12th birthday, I suggested a Coca-Cola theme for the event.  That is Jack's vice: a nice, cold coke every once in a while in the afternoon after a day of work or while watching a football game.  He's aged beyond his years.

We celebrated with our annual cinnamon rolls in the morning:

And then I wrapped the gifts from us and set them up on a table with the sign that I made in honor of his upcoming party with friends.

All smiles in anticipation of what might be in those gifts!

Sam jumped in for a quick photo and I can't help but notice that Jack is starting to gain on her height.

He requested a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and I was happy to accommodate.  

His birthday party with friends will take place in early June at our house -- continuing with this chosen theme -- since we all agreed that there is SO much happening at the end of the school year and it would be nice to wait until all of the invitees are able to party with us.

Beginning of the Month Randoms

Jack had friends over to work on his 6th Grade Science Fair Project.  The premise involved using different solutions to see which ones were the most effective in cleaning copper pennies.

I was more than a bit excited to whip out some rubber gloves and chemistry equipment to aid in their experimentation.

One of Jack's friends shared in my excitement, obviously.

Proper technique:

Jack was in charge of adding his special vice, a cold Coca-Cola.

Adding to scientific petri dishes that I secured from the biology department on campus:

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Early-season fishing has commenced:

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Sophia's dance recital was a success!  I love being able to see the kids doing things that they love and that includes dance for Sophia.  She participated in ballet, hip hop and tap this year and just wrapped up her first season as an assistance dance teacher.

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Sam's Junior Prom:

Down at the park before the dance:

Some beautiful sunshine:

She picked out the dress six months ago and I think that it was a beautiful color for her!

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Jimmy did a research project on a famous person and chose Thomas Edison.  Afterwards, we worked together on a poster to present to his class.  

A blast from the past: Sam's poster was Johnny Appleseed; Sophia's was Helen Keller and Jack's poster was George Washington.

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More Springtime sunshine = painting outside.

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Easter - 2025

On the night before Easter, Jimmy, fresh from his shower, set to work setting out a plate of veggies for the Easter Bunny and making sure that each of the kids' baskets were placed on a table to (hopefully) be filled by morning.

When the kids awoke, they found a letter with directions instructing them to begin their outside easter egg hunt first.  

Ready and anxious to begin:

A little chilly but given the later date of this year's holiday (April 20th), it was not as cold as it has been in the past:

The grass is starting to show a little bit of green.

And boots were definitely recommended.

After gathering all of their respectively-colored eggs (green for Sam, pink for Sophia, yellow for Jack and blue for Jimmy), they headed inside to reveal details for the scavenger hunt.

Back inside to open their eggs.  Some of the eggs contained words that needed to be put together to collectively reveal the location of Clue #1.  

Solving Clue #1, led the kids to Clue #2.  

And this continued on for a total of 24 clues ...

Eventually, they found that their baskets -- no longer on the table where Jimmy had left them the night before -- were hidden in the back of my van in the driveway.

In the end, it was a LONG scavenger hunt but well worth the drawn-out suspense.  As the kids get older, I am always looking for ways to keep the holidays exciting and this definitely worked!

Easter Egg Coloring - 2025

We decided to color eggs the day before Easter this year.  We had a limited window of time to do so because Sam was scheduled to work and we wanted to help at the annual Easter Egg Hunt down at our subdivision park.  (Jimmy was still planning to do the hunt but the older kids were scheduled to simply assist).

Jack did the honors of helping to set up the colors while I set out four dozen hard-boiled eggs: 1 dozen for each one of the kids.

This is a yet another tradition that I hope we continue as long as possible; even when Sam heads off to college next year.

The creative juices were flowing the whole time.

Sophia is very intentional with her designs and opted for some rubber gloves to protect her hands (and beautiful nails) from the dye.

Sam was dressed and ready to head to her job at the local winery once she finished with her eggs.

The obligatory group shot:

So many colors!

Sophia continued working on her intricate designs ...

... and Sam finished in just enough time to make it to work down the road for her shift!

St. Patrick's Day - 2025

The day before St. Patrick's Day, the boys announced that, yet again, they were planning to set up a leprechaun trap in attempts to capture one of those pesky guys.  They brainstormed, gathered supplies and did everything ON THEIR OWN.  

As I watched them from a distance, I realized that I needed to (quickly) plan for the escape.  I spent a bit of time in my office, made a quick trip to the store, and then pulled everything together after they headed to bed.

The trap, set up to lure the leprechauns with the promise of gold coins inside, was originally propped up:

With no success, but instead, there was a note left behind and coveted rainbow-colored, fruit-flavored jellybeans left behind for their efforts.

I think that they boys were just as pleased with the 'reward' left behind.

It was too much of a challenge to get a collective picture of the kids before school, so we settled on one afterwards.  Being big Michigan State fans in our household comes in handy when looking for green shirts.  Ha!