whew! what a week!!

all i can say is...i'm pooped. what a fun week, but man i could use a vacation. i definitely will think twice before i throw another bash again. and i didn't even do all the work!! so let me first say thanks to "the aunts" for bringing food for me....kudos, once again girls!! and to my mom and dad for your help, hardwork, and moolah!! :)

i learned a lot about party planning. for me, smaller is better. and don't rely on yourself to take pictures. give the camera to someone else. i had over 100 pics from ava's bash--great pics....but from connor's..... a whopping 30. and they are mostly of him (or rather, me) opening presents. i should've handed the camera over much earlier with instructions to get pics of people with connor. that way i could have more for his baby book. oh, well. live and learn. at least this little mistake wasn't life altering or character shaping, ya know?

but it was a great time. i thought. connor and i started the day wicked early. my mom came to the house at about 7:30....yes, getting up and ready with connor makes 7:30 wicked early!! so we dropped her off at school and that meant we had the car for the day. i had to decorate connor's cake, cut the fruit and make the kabobs, make the pb&j's, get the treasure maps ready, sort the candy and just get everything set to go. i thought it wouldn't take me too long. WRONG!! i was busy all day!! i couldn't believe it. i left connor in the living room and headed into the kitchen. every once in a while i would go peek on him to make sure he wasn't playing in the fireplace. my parents have some of those super long matches in a tin next to the fireplace. well, that's one of the things connor isn't allowed to play with...obviously. during one of my "check up times" i didn't hear anything, so i knew he was into something. he was sitting in front of the fireplace waving two matchsticks like batons, cheesing at his reflection in the glass doors. i almost didn't want to go stop him b/c it was so funny.

the rest of the day is pretty much a blur. i was just trying to keep food out on the tables and keep the festivities moving. i think the kids liked the treasure hunt. but here's a tip, if kids are hunting for chocolate coins, give them a basket to hold the found coins. otherwise, you'll have a couple chocolate hands from the coins being squeezed in their over excited little fists. poor hope had some serious chocolate issues to wash up. a somewhat successful first birthday attempt. and i've learned never to try and do two parties in one week.

here are some of the pics i got....i'll have to get my mom's camera to see if she has better shots than me.

here's the cake i made for the big fam bash........


yeah, right!! this is connor's "edna" cake. edna is our cake lady. she seems to make most of the cakes for our large family gatherings.

the spread......my personal fave was the pb&j platter that you can't see. that even earned me a high five from uncle david.

cyclops papa

i saw av today and she was still wearing this necklace. :) what a doll baby!

what in the world???

madi and mckenna loved the dress up stuff....and they loved being in pictures. i have more pics of madi than i have of connor. :)

boys being crazy....probably b/c i pumped them full of candy!

yes, uncle arnie...you have to smile. you're in the picture. here's a little factoid for ya: my mom and uncle arnie have the same birthday exactly one year apart. my dad and aunt annette (arnie's wife) have the same b/day. my dad and aunt annette's families both have cabins near oscoda. does anyone else hear the twilight zone theme? ps- that's jen and sara's boyfriend mike with them in the pic

just hanging out at the river

mom, this is great, but can i get down and play with the paper?

now that's more like it!

seriously guys, how many cakes do i have to eat? btw, i don't really like to be chocolate covered.

**nostalgic moment** every grandkid gets a name stool from gramma and papa. i still have my original. though it looks much more sad than connor's. i painted it to match my room when i was in high school.

this thing is SO COOL!!

in closing, let me say thanks everyone for making it out. i know friday nights during the school year can be crazy. the h.s. cousins even had games that night, and then had to go back to the school for an activity (sorry guys, i totally forgot about that.)....so thanks for coming out to celebrate with us.