Our Big Birthday Boy

Who is this big boy?!

Wow. I can't decide what I'm noticing more in this picture:  how big he is, or how cute he is!  Our Grant Michael turned 3 yesterday and he had quite a fun birthday.  The first part of the day was pretty mundane.  I was scheduled to work for a half day at doing some training for a client.  I didn't get there until 10:00, so I stayed until about 3:00.  Had to stop and get gas on the way home, so I didn't get home until around 4:00.  The girls did a pretty good job of getting things cleaned up, but there were some hot spots that we needed to hit.  While they did that, I worked on the meal.  Cheeseburgers, macaroni and cheese, french fries and tropical fruit salad.  I made the Mocha Layer Cake Sunday evening.  Rachel astutely pointed out that in the Worley family, the birthday cakes are Mocha Layer until the birthday child is old enough to request something they want.  ;-)

Mom & Dad ended up getting here around 5:30 and we ate around 6:30, then took a walk down to the Edens' to see the horses.  Had a nice chat with Ros, then came back for cake, ice cream and presents. 



Grant absolutely loves his Grandpa.  :-)

Gift highlights:  his first gun(!), a helicopter, airplane, several books, including the clssic "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" and "Red Hat, Green Hat" by Sandra Boynton, bubble lawn mower, roller skates, and most loved of all ... drum roll please ... this $2 fire truck from Once Upon a Child, complete with lights and siren (thanks Grandma and Grandpa!).  He was so taken with that thing!  Whenever one of the girls turned it on, he would suddenly freeze, then walk almost trance-like to the ambulance and start playing with it again!  Soooo funny!!



Weekend Wrap-up

It's wayyyyy too late to be doing this, but I have to blog about this weekend before tomorrow's entry takes precedence (psst ... tomorrow is Grant's birthday!). 

Saturday was our annual Calvin Family Mother/Daughter Brunch held at Kelly's.  We had a pretty sparse crowd this year, due to illness and busy schedules, but the few of us who did make it had lots of fun and good food!

Florence and Kathryn made the drive from Daleville, Mona and Marla drove up and Jennifer and her kids were also there.  We had chicken noodle soup, homemade bread, taco salad, lime green jello salad, tropical fruit salad, and many desserts. 

Mona, Alix and Courtney spent some time together beading.



Alyssa had just stopped crying because she got an owie.  Beautiful even with her tears.  :-)





Trent, getting cuter by the minute. 

  We spent much time at the table chatting, laughing, and watching the kids and babies.  Later, we sang some hymns, accompanied by Florence, then took pictures. 

Marla and Mona, thick as thieves. 

Happy mothers and daughters (and one unhapy son  :-).

The "mature" bunch. 

Today we went to the graduation open house for a homeschooling friend, Adam.  There were many families from our former church there, so it was good to catch up with them.  It was a blustery afternoon, but the sun was shining and it was warm.  The kids played on the swingsets, and Grant spotted a basketball and goal that he was fascinated by.  I think that's the first time he's ever "shot" a basketball through a hoop (thanks to Daddy's assistance.  ;-)  Poor Trent had the least fun.  After having 2 interrupted naps today, he was shot, so we kept it to a short visit (difficult for me, but possible).  Sophia went with us, so the Orrs stopped by after we got back to pick her up.

We spent the rest of the evening eating dinner, then giving some much-needed attention to our messy house.  We do have a birthday party to prepare for, after all.  ;-)

Keepin' It Real

5:19. Typical school day. Stacks everywhere. Dinner started. Laundry to

be folded. Dirty children. <sigh> This doesn't look like Ann Voskamp's house!! :-D

Hungry Boy?

Last night, Trent, in an act of desperation, begins eating our dining room
table.

A Royal Weekend

This post is outdated, but I am still struggling to find a way to work with Blogger's picture-displaying capabilities. I'll get there ...

What a busy, but fun week and weekend we had! We ended up spending all of Thursday and most of Friday with the Ramseys at Mom & Dad's. The Mozingos, Bruces and Griffins came over on Thursday. Thursday night ended up being a late one, so I wasn't able to get up quite as early as I would have liked on Friday morning. The wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton was broadcast, starting at 4:00 am. I still remember getting up early to watch Prince Charles & Princess Di's wedding back in 1981, and I didn't want to miss this one either. I woke up around 6:30 and turned on the TV. It was about halfway through the ceremony, so I woke up Rachel, Courtney & Erica. It was amazing how quickly the girls got up, considering how slowly they get up on school mornings. :-) Then I woke Sarah up around 7:00 and Brooke around 7:30. We all agreed it was an absolutely beautiful wedding and a great way to start the day.

The rest of the day was spent getting ready for Mom & Dad's. I made the famous Mocha Layer Cake for the May birthday party, then we headed down. Mick ended up meeting us there later. After such a soggy week, it was nice to see the sun come out late in the day and the kids made the most of it by playing out in the yard most of the evening, while we did adult things, like watch, talk and eat. :-D Here are few pictures taken during the Telephone Game.

Lining up for the start of Red Light Green Light

Aunt Heather gets hugs from Trent. Not to take anything away from Heather, but this is an unusual display of affection from Trent. We think he temporarily thought she was me. :-D

Saturday was another fun day. Our church held a Craft Fair to benefit the OPC church in Japan following their massive earthquake and tsunami back in March. It was a small affair, but still fun. Just being able to spend time with the other sweet families involved made it worthwhile.

How's this for a cutie pie?
The girls made crocheted hats, beaded jewelry, stationery, a chocolate bouquet and potted flowers. Unfortunately, it wasn't very well attended, so we ended up buying quite a bit of each others' things. :-D

On Sunday, we went down to celebrate Mom's birthday. The Orrs were there, too. We had chicken noodle soup, ham and cheese sandwiches, lots of fruit and crackers and some really wonderful chocolate cake Kelly picked up at Costco called "Great American Chocolate Cake" or something like that. Yes, we broke with tradition and bought a cake instead of making one. But the Orrs had just gotten back from their Boston trip the day before, and we had the been at Mom and Dad's on Thursday and Friday and had the Craft Fair on Saturday. The only downside to the weekend is that Trent picked up a nasty cold. It was so bad that the Orrs loaned us their nebulizer and we gave him several breathing treatments over the course of a few days.



How sad is this face??? :-(

Ahhhhh … asleep at last.

Grant, Claire and Sarah ended up getting sick, too, but I think we're all on the mend now. Just in time to head down to Grandma Worley's church tomorrow for Mother's Day. Then, it's back to Mom & Dad's. Here's hoping for some nice weather. It's supposed to be sunny and 74 deg. Most of next week shows at least a chance for rain each day, except Sunday.

Rain, rain, go away!

This radar image, captured a few moments ago from Intellicast.com, pretty much sums it up. We’re drowning! We’ve had a protracted period of rain, rain, rain for the past few … well, days? Weeks? Months? Seems like forever!! Also had a tornado warning for southwestern Boone County for awhile this evening (so glad we’re in NORTHEASTERN Boone County!). Despite all the yellow and orange on the radar, we have mainly just gotten a steady drizzle tonight. At times it has gotten heavy, and we’ve had some rumbles of thunder, but no strong storms … yet.

Looking ahead to happier times tomorrow, when we’re planning to go down to Mom and Dad’s to visit with Minda & Mario and the Ramsey cousins. They have been here since Monday night, but we haven’t been able to see them yet. Wah! On Tuesday a.m., Minda took Jordan to a Med-Check because he had had a fever and sore throat. The diagnosis turned out to be strep throat! They started him on antibiotics right away and he should be past the point of being contagious by now. The girls and I may take some of our craft projects down with us. We are having a craft fair this Saturday at church and have several more things to make. Don’t know if we’ll a) get everything organized and loaded up or b) actually work on those things at Mom and Dad’s if we do manage to get them hauled down there. It’s challenging enough getting all the kids and their gear out the door and in the car.

Hopefully, the 2 youngest Mozingo girls are on the mend. They started out the week with an RSV diagnosis. Poor little Alyssa also has a double ear infection. I’d like to sign up for a plastic bubble to put Trent in until these germs are gone! The Orr family is on the great New England tour. Glenn’s company sent him out to Boston for work, so they decided to make a family vacation. They started out seeing the Niagra Falls at the beginning of the week before they headed to Boston. They are heading back on Friday evening.

It has been nice to have a somewhat “quiet” week after working so much during the past month. I’ve completely lost steam and am hoping I am just recharging my batteries and will be able to jump back into things next week. Seeing some sun would certainly help!

************************************

Today's blessings:

1. A warm, dry house.
2. Healthy kids (despite a few coughs and sneezes – practically inescapable during the winter and spring months).
3. 8 sleeping children! (knocking on wood … quietly).
4. A hardworking husband.
5. High speed Internet.

Grant

This is one of my favorite Grant expressions. :-)