Lord of the Rings Marathon

Update: The comment about our family not liking Star Wars very much was supposed to be a joke! I thought it was obvious, with the kids all having Star Wars nicknames, that we loved the movies!!!

A few weekends ago, while Padme and Yoda had colds and everyone else was healthy, Han Solo and Obi hosted a Lord of the Rings Movie Marathon day at our house. They invited 7 other LOTR fans, and watched the 3 movies back to back. Two of the movies were the extended version. Between each movie, they took a break to eat, and go outside and beat on each other. Boys are strange creatures. The trampoline became the wrestling grounds for some kind of Ultimate Wrestling contest. The Mashoongas (the padded clubs) were out for some good whacking of friends. I watched from the window hoping that no one got hurt, or hurt bad enough to require medical attention! They watched movies, ate, fought, and went home 13 1/2 hours later. And all the moms reported that their boys had a great time. Go figure. One of the boys is now planning a Star Wars Marathon. I am not sure if our guys will want to attend. We don't like Star Wars very well at our house!

I am sure they all slept well that night!

Weekend Fun

This past weekend we had two different park events we went to. The first was the conclusion of a week of VBS at church. They had a fun night at the park with bouncy castles, hot dogs, cotton candy, snow cones and fun. The kids all had a great time. Here are a few pictures of the girls from the night. The older two boys were working, one supervising a bouncy house, and the other making snow cones, and Luke was going too fast to take any pictures.

Hubby's work had a picnic for the employees on Saturday. It was at the local zoo, where we had not been. They had games set up, face painting, free rides, and food. Everyone had lots of fun. Padme and Leia both got their faces painted. They were both so pretty I hated to wash them off that night.

Here are a few pictures from the rides the three younger kids and Hubby went on.

Here is most of the gang at the zoo. The baby was sleeping in the stroller so he is missing from the picture.

Awana Games for Teens

A few months after we had moved here, we met a family who was crazy about the Awana Olympics for the teens. Back home, the Awana program ended after 5th grade, so we had no idea about the Teen program. The older two boys hadn't been involved in Awana for some time, so they were a bit leery about the whole thing, but they agreed to go and they started after the New Year. Well, they have had a lot of fun going to the club meetings, and game time is one of the highlights. About 6 weeks ago they started having extra practices getting ready for the Olympic games. Still, we couldn't quite understand what all the fuss was about.

Well, this past Saturday we finally figured it all out! We went to Colorado Springs for the Games and we all had a great time. In the Journey group, (high school and Han's group) there were 12 teams total, and in the Trek group (7th and 8th grade and Obi's group) there were 10 teams. They did a first and second round and then the winners from those progressed on. There are 10 different events in the games, and our guys each did several. At first they were split between the Journey groups in the gym on two different circles, and the Trek group was down the hall in the cafeteria. So, Hubby and I were going back and forth trying to see as much as possible. After the first 2 rounds, they moved everyone to the gym, and the Trek was on one side and the Journey on the other, so we could see both boys.

For some reason, the event that I was the most excited and nervous about was the three way tug-of-war. Both our boys were the anchor for their 3 man team. It was so exciting that we took terrible pictures and the video isn't the best either. It is hard to video and cheer and jump up and down at the same time. Anyways, Han's Journey team made it to the top 6 and then were out, and Obi's Trek team took first place! We were so excited!!! This team also took first last year, so they were excited to repeat first place.

The boys have never been in any type of tournament setting, with crowds cheering and the team cheering others on. They had so much fun. We can't wait for next year!

Here is Obi and his team in the tug-a-war.

Here is Obi holding the team trophy that the church gets to display. He is wearing his first place medal around his neck. He was so excited and had so much fun!

Awana Games, Trees, Padme sayings and Yoda pics

Luke and Leia were in the Awana Olympic Games on Sat. They had lots of fun and each took second place. We had fun watching them. Here are a few pictures of them with their ribbons.

The past two weekends, Hubby, Han and Obi have been out digging holes for 10 trees we bought from a traveling tree salesman. The ground here is incredibly hard, and they have worked hard to get them planted. But, we now have 10 evergreens on our acre. We still have lots to do, but it is nice to look out and see some green. Next week the salesman is bringing some Aspens, so the guys will have more holes to dig. Hubby is starting to plan the fence. We will have a privacy fence along the road, and then chain link for the play yard part. That way we will be able to fence the little kids and the dogs in, but still see out into the next section where we may have some goats or chickens, and then further out where the boys are digging a huge fire pit. Good thing those boys have so much digging energy!

Padme is such a funny kid. The other day I took her grocery shopping with me and she was riding in one of the carts that has a front car for little people to ride in. They are very loud, so it is hard to talk to her. She asked me a question, and I answered, and she said, "I can't hear you mommy because you are shopping!"
The other night she was in the bath tub and she asked about eating out. We are on a strict budget, since the Christmas extravaganza, and then she said, "Oh, I forgot we are poor. Mommy, are we a little bit poor, a little bit rich and a little bit Indian?" Hmm, not sure where that all came from! She keeps us laughing!

And a few more pictures of Yoda.

He doesn't like the Bumbo seat too much.

And here he is crashed after a bath


And check out those thighs! If only chubby was cute when you were an adult!