Spoiled with {Planes}.

G decided that this year for his 10th birthday he wanted a party with friends.  We offered him several options and he chose to have a movie party.  Originally I was thinking we'd just invite a few friends over and do it at our house but the work of having to clean my house, decorate, make the food myself etc... was more than I cared to take on so we asked G if he'd like to do his party at iPic luxury theater and of course he said, "YES!!".  The only 2 kids movies out at the time were Smurfs 2 and Disney's Planes.  G chose Planes:)

G and a buddy from church that happens to be in the same grade at the same school but have yet to be in the same class yet.

Mr. D and our brown haired beauty Little R getting all snuggled in for the movie. 

My dinner date, Baby R:)  This was her first time getting spoiled in the nicer chairs:) 

G's best bud, Logan on the left and another friend that has been in G's same class since 2nd grade, she and Baby R are BFF's:) 

More of G's classmates.  The boy on the right, I didn't know he had Celiac, his mom had never mentioned it so you can imagine their shock and awe when I told her G's cake would be allergy friendly which included gluten free!  That never happens at parties, his mom and me had a good chuckle over our sad looking homemade "cupcakes" we bring to birthday parties so our kids don't get left out:) 

And these two knuckleheads, definitely having fun:) 

And one of my favorite kiddos, this is Reed.  Reed rarely gets to go to birthday parties because he is wheelchair bound.  When G invited Reed his mom expressed such gratitude for having a party that he can feel a part of.  I told her it was G who handpicked Reed to be there, I didn't tell G who to invite:)  Reed's dad came (missed the photo op though) to assist Reed should he need it.  It makes my heart so full knowing Reed got to be just like all the other kids because I know how I feel when G gets left out.  We just found out Reed will be in the same class as G this year, YAY!!!!  

Hanging out after the movie waiting for cake:)

G's custom allergen friendly cake we had made.  His request was a "Minecraft grass block".  Well, that is exactly what he got, a Minecraft grass block:)

Want to know what he told me he wished for?  He said he wished he didn't have to go to therapy anymore:)  His wish came partly true, his SLP is leaving (so sad, she's been with G ever since we moved to TX) so we decided that it would be a good time to take a break for the first time in over 8 years.  He is currently on a Leave of Absence till mid-November but if his ABA therapist is doing wonders, we may go ahead and just discharge him from Speech altogether.  Time will tell:)

To end the party, I made all the kids a Minecraft Creeper goody bag:)  There are ZERO Minecraft party supplies on the market and I would like to place a bet now, that within the next couple of weeks Minecraft party supplies will be EVERYWHERE!  I say that, because that is what happened with Angry Birds, grr...

Happy Birthday buddy!  We love you madly and we know you have it harder than other kids your age but we are trying to turn that around for you:)  Your love for Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory is awesome, your brilliance when it comes to video games is astonishing and your laughter is so infectious I don't know anyone who can't laugh when you laugh:)  You're a good kid with a good heart and don't let ANYONE ever steal your worth (or this mama bear will come out for a hunt)!

Dance is {back}.

Guess who started back in dance after the long summer break?  She can hardly contain herself I finally had to grab her to sit her down to get her tap shoes on;)  I hope she finds dance as her passion and sticks with it because I absolutely love watching her energy:)

HELP {ME}!

Every session of swimming they have "dingy" day.  I've posted on G and Little R doing this before.  This was Baby R's first time doing "dingy" day.  Needless to say, she thought it was awesome:)

Her age group doesn't get dumped out like G's they learn about the safety part of it all. 

All the kids yelling, "HELP, HELP!".  She's moving along in swim lessons, she still struggles with trying to do two things at once (i.e., putting her face in the water while kicking her legs) but she enjoys lessons and being a pool owner, my kids MUST learn to be great swimmers, no average, no "ok", GREAT!!  

My {date}.

A couple of weekends ago we were invited to a wedding reception.  Mr. D doesn't really care for weddings (it's a wonder he showed up to ours) so as my "plus 1" I brought Little R with me.  It was actually a lot of fun and some of the things the couple did makes me want to plan my own wedding all over again;)  Little R LOVED the champagne flutes with hot pink sugar dipped rims:)  Every time I looked over she was busy picking off the sugar and eating it:)  The only thing I think she was disappointed about her first wedding reception was that there was NO CAKE!  And, the bride chose to wear a cute, lacy tea length dress vs. a traditional mermaid or ball gown style.  I think if I hadn't mentioned there'd be cake she wouldn't have been bummed, I just assumed brides still do a wedding cake.  Instead, the couple opted for an ice-cream bar w/all the fixings which did make Little R happy but as we left she was still asking for cake;).  CHEERS!  To the happy couple and to my gorgeous date!

He's the BIG {1-0}!

My first born is officially double digits:(  He turned the BIG 1-0!  Where has the time gone??  Oh yea, I know, but let's not bring the 'A' word into this post.

We started off the day by eating out at The Cracker Barrel (I don't recommend this place for people w/gluten issues).  It was alright, you get used to eating 'real' food and eating out at places you once loved are now garbage, I really don't care to go back but that's my opinion.  The kids had fun though:) 

After we had lunch we went to a new indoor climbing place that just opened.  The kids ran and climbed and got super sweaty and stinky-the place did it's job:) 

There is an arcade at this indoor climbing place where Mr. D won 2 TIMES the 1000 ticket bonus on this stupid game!  

See?  Baby R played another game and got the 250 ticket bonus payout so we ended up with over 3000 tickets by the time we were done!  The kids brought home lots of cheap China crap but it was fun:) 

When we got home, it was present time! 

G's VERY much into Minecraft right now.  He received 2 Minecraft t-shirts, "Steve" (the big head) and the Minecraft sword which became the newest hit for anyone coming into our home:)  I believe both of G's reading tutors have pics of them wearing this head, I have a pic of me wearing this head and I believe a cousin got in on the action too:)  So take this as your warning that you won't leave this house without a photo if you choose to come over;)

Baby R, her head is too small to hold "Steve" up so Mr. D had to hold it for her photo op:) 

Little R being "Steve":)

And to top of the day, BIRTHDAY WISHES!!!!  

Happy Birthday G!  I hope we gave you a great 10th birthday with just us knuckleheads!  Stay tuned for G's party with friends:)

Me smell so {pretty}.

My eco-friendly dryer balls.

Remember when I did this post?

Well, I've been experimenting and I think I'm onto something......

For those who feel they would miss the scent of a chemical filled (and not to mention, expensive) dryer sheet, I have been testing different scents for my dryer balls and let me tell you my favorites so far:

1: Lavender & Peppermint (YES, mint!), I use 2 drops of each per dryer ball and allow them to sit for 30 minutes (or longer) before tossing into the dryer.

2: Lime, I wasn't sure about the lime, but it adds a nice sweet smell, 4 drops per dryer ball.

3: Ylang Ylang and Lavender, more of a girly smell, but very nice!  2 drops of each per dryer ball.

4: Lemon and Peppermint, after enjoying the Lavender and Peppermint so much, I tried it with Lemon and it was just as yummy! 2 drops of each per dryer ball.

You know, I was looking up online how much people sell their homemade dryer balls for and did you know the average price is $25 for 2??  Talk about a rip-off!

The scents I use only last 2-3 loads, I'm sure I could use even more drops of Essential Oils to get more loads with those smells, but I'm enjoying that whatever my mood wants I get to customize it a lot sooner rather than later:)

Also, I need to make about 4 more dryer balls (my hubby complains they get lost in the laundry and he has to go digging for them, he wants more so he doesn't have to sift through the clean laundry baskets).  So, this next round, I'm going to try pre-soaking all the wool yarn in the oils BEFORE I roll them, I wonder what that will do?  Maybe I can make $25 per 2 dryer balls too:)

Do you use dryer balls too?  Do you scent them?  Please share!!