Sunday Snapshot~ uncharted waters

yeah, i know it's not Sunday anymore, but better late than never, right?

recently we've hosted a few teen parties, which is why i titled this post the way i did. i'm used to planning the birthday parties and basically hosting the 11 and under crowd but this is different.

having up to 20, or in one case over 20, 13 and and 14 year olds over to your house for a few hours of mingling and fun is a whole new adventure. i mean, i assumed all they'd want to do is mingle but i found after the first get together that we still needed a few planned games activities. and of course feed them. boy can they munch... and put back quite a few sodas too. anyhow, we wanted to do it in order to get to know the friends and the plan is to try to have one every month.

 

this was the second, the Halloween party.

post mortem photography. morbid...i know, but they really got into this and learned something at the same time.

mental note, serving black punch with 6 cups of sugar was way too sticky. our kitchen floor sounded like the movie theater floor. but they practically drained it.

the First Lady was allowed to have a few friends over from her class, even though it was her brothers party. they danced to the xbox for most of the time.

it was a costume party but only a few dressed up. guess they're too old for that now.

they had four rooms to room about in, but we always kept watch. mental note, words that are not allowed at the next party- "hey Chase, show us your MMA moves!"

the Lil' Lady hung out for the entire party, guzzled way to much punch and stole a few cupcakes off the table. yeah...she was sugared up.

it really was a good group of kids

the murder scene game. they had to recreate a murder scene with random objects in a bag. i have to say, great use of the bag. glad the Lil Lady didn't see this!

and then this was our September party around the fire ring, mostly the same group but a few more girls.

nice to be able to roam around the back yard.

some did take the polar bear plunge into the pool, but they were pretty quick to get back out!

brave girls to come hang out with a bunch of guys... or maybe it wasn't such a chore??:)

and of course, the guys trying to impress i think.

and then here they are eatin' again!

we're going to try to keep going with these parties as long as we can. it makes us feel better to know that we can put names with faces now when the boys talk about their friends and we're even getting to know some of the parents too at drop off and pick up. as our boys get older, i'm sure their friends will change but at least we'll have another party to meet them...and maybe parents will begin to feel like our home is a safe place for them to congregate!

Favorite Photo Friday ~ helping hand

for the past few years our trip to the pumpkin patch has turned into a trip to the pumpkin patch(es). we might go to one for the apples, one for the pumpkins, another for the corn maze and another for the apple struedel... all in a weekend! this year the Lil' Lady was really into it. She would jump around and put her hand on several pumpkins as if she was actually contemplating it's worthiness.

this one!

 no, this is the one!

 or maybe can i have two?

i have to mention our oldest who had his student led teacher conference last night.   

his enrichment teacher told us what a blessing he was in her classroom. she told us he'd really made a difference with a few autistic students who had previously been picked on by the popular kids last year.

she said they wouldn't talk in class or interact at all with the other students until our oldest partnered up with them. he sits with them and they laugh together and talk and she said the other day one of them even got up to participate in a class activity which totally surprised her.  

wow. this mama's proud. that's way better than any A, let me tell ya.  

i worry so much about their character. there may be a time when one of them struggles with math or can't read as many minutes as their reading log says they should but that's okay to me. i mean, if the good Samaritan had his nose in a book, maybe he would've passed the traveller on the road!! 

i would much rather hear a teacher say how they help without being asked or how kind they are to the other students as we even heard about Our Second last night at his teacher conference (the First Lady's is next week:) that makes me happy.

so as much as they pick at each other at home{because oh yes, they do} at least we know they have character.  

and at least one is a character:)

God is Good:)

{the way the Lil' Lady was lookin' sideways it reminded me of the Brady Bunch intro!}

  {on the way home}

Favorite Photo Friday~ saturday morning

i'm an early riser on saturday mornings. i like to get a head start on everyone else so i'm typically up by 6:30.

this one decided to join me that morning so i thought i wasn't going to get done what i'd planned but she kept herself busy. she lined up chairs to make a train and grabbed a book and read for a while.