Turning 8

On Saturday Chase turned 8!   It's always bitter sweet for me celebrating another birthday.  It's such a fun day but I always feel like time is going by to quickly and I want to slow it down.  The birthday boy was greeted with a doorway surprise,

followed by breakfast in bed.  Somehow these breakfasts in bed always end up being eaten in my bed.  He thought he wanted the same thing the girls had this year for their birthdays.   Chocolate milk, chocolate chip pancakes and bacon.  However he didn't finish any of it...in fact about one bite of each.  He did enjoy opening his cards that had arrived earlier in the week and watching cartoons waiting for someone else to wake up.

He had a really hard time picking anything he wanted this year.  He said he "had pretty much everything he wanted already".  Although so sweet to hear that, it makes it VERY difficult to find something to buy him.  A few days before his birthday he decided he wanted a Lego castle.  His face showed me he was excited when his first peek showed he got just what he wanted.

 He was excited to get building.

 And this is what most of the day looked like...building.  Ever wondered what over 1,000 Lego's looks like covering your floor?  I never have to wonder this again.  Sadi also added to the building (you can see her pink Lego's in the background).

We played a few games I made up which the kids always get excited about.  We played Lego memory using cups to make it appear like a large Lego block.

 We raced to roll an eight in eight minutes to build a Lego tower.

 We played Lego suck using the birthday boy's age.  We each had 8 minutes to move as many Lego's off our plate using only a straw.

 And we played Lego toss.

The idea was to stand eight feet away from the giant Lego's and toss them in to see who could make the most points (although I'm pretty sure my little cheaters inched closer and closer to win).

 Later we went out for dinner.  Chase chose Pizza factory and picked us a super spicy pizza...jalapeno and sausage.  Whew....it was spicy!  Can you tell this boy loved it?

Matt had to work so we did cake a bit earlier.  Chase is pretty simple when it comes to sweets.  To be honest I don't think he likes them very much.  He wanted white cake with white icing.  Simple.

 Making a wish...

 The cake was delicious, and even the birthday boy ate it all.

After cake we settled in and watched the movie Epic.  Another fun birthday, and hopefully a fun year to come being 8!

Guest Speaker

Last week Kelsey was one of the guest speakers at the induction of the National Junior Honor Society at the middle school.  She has been in Honor society for 4 years and held an officer position for 2 of those 4.  Her and her friend Taylor both gave great speeches.

I was really impressed with her speech (especially since she whipped it out about 2 hrs. before she gave it, so like her).  The theme was past, present, and future.  Here is an excerpt from her speech:

As a senior in high school my past had its ups and downs, my present has its ups and downs, and most likely my future will as well but everyone goes through this so don't feel alone.  As NJHS inductees and to the parents, if you wish to take something away from my speech I want you to each know that your past does not define you, so do not dwell on it.  Learn from your mistakes and grow, because that is what great leaders do.  We learn from not only our mistakes, but others too.  It is in your best interest if you have the ability to take what you've learned from the past and apply it to your present and future.  Strive to go above and beyond what is expected.  Learn to lend a hand and to love to lead.  To carry a passion of serving others in your schooling years and well beyond is a an incredible characteristic.  The feeling you get to help those around you is such and amazing reward. 

 

It was a great night, and rewarding to watch Kelsey speaking if front of a crowd with confidence.



Labor Day Weekend

We had a nice Labor Day Weekend, it felt somewhat like Memorial day for me anyway with the events we attended.  We were able to visit "The Wall" up in Virginia City.  The wall is a moving replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall.  It is 80 percent of the size of the actual memorial in Washington.

It was pretty cool, and a bit humbling to see all of those names up on the wall.  Chase thought maybe we knew one of the Smith's names that was among the names...one of many, many.  I did see a Chapman?

After visiting the wall we headed across the street where there was a civil war re-enactment going on for the weekend.  We visited both the union and confederate camps.  We met some reenactors who were REALLY into their parts including a mountain man with one tooth.

Matt was appalled at our lack of History knowledge.  I think he was a bit annoyed with all the people who thought the South should have won.  Kelsey did find one camp setup that she did know about...well kind of. 

Virgina City had a parade on Monday which included many veterans, but their focus this year was on all the men who were behind the scenes fighting.

 There were many generals, confederates, and lots of union workers.

Following the parade a gunfight broke out between the North and the South...it was a fight for Virginia City.  They used real black powder, and as you can imagine it was very loud.  Sadi is not a fan of loud noises and was huddled behind us on the verge of tears.

We assured her it was just pretend, but when the announcer started yelling about who was shot and the reenactors started falling the ground she was beside herself calling us liars.

It was kind of fun to watch (minus the terrified 6 year old) and a fun way to educate the kids a little bit.