Mandair kid weekend

We watched the Adair kids while Dave and Meredith had a weekend getaway for their upcoming anniversary. It was a full house with lots of kids, but we had a great time. Thankfully it was nice outside so the kids did a lot of playing outside.

Audrey and Joey have been learning the recorder at school. They can test on each song at their own pace, so you know these two are all about seeing how many songs they can do. So, you know, one recorder is hard enough to hear, but two records...that's a treat! :) (actually they are both good at playing the recorder so we don't hear that annoying squeak too often!!)

Andrew was my little sidekick. I love that boy!

We managed to all get up and dressed and fed and to church on time on Sunday. 

 And the silly picture (as you can tell Andrew wasn't really wanting to take a picture!!) 

They all did great all weekend!

Happy 6th Birthday Norah!

I really can't quite believe my BABY is 6 years old. Even when I threatened her with a big spanking if she turned 6, she still did! :)

I think she enjoyed her birthday this year. This was the year for a family birthday celebration (the kids get to choose something fun to do as a family that we wouldn't normally do instead of having a friend birthday party.) Norah's birthday fell on a Thursday, so she got to celebrate two days in a row!

Joe went to have lunch at school with the birthday girl.

Meredith picked our kids up after school and took the birthday girl for ice cream.

This is a fun video that Meredith took of Norah...

IMG 1007.MOV (1) from Michelle Manthe on Vimeo.

Joey and Kylah both had basketball practice, so Norah and I had a nice quiet dinner together. I took her to a fun Italian restaurant downtown. It was so fun and fancy! 

We had a little time to kill before Joe and the other kids got home, so Norah got to take a nice long bubble bath in my big bathtub (a big treat because I don't normally let them take baths!)

Norah got to facetime and open her present from Papa and Gramma also while she was waiting.

And she got a special present the weekend before from Nana and Grandpa...her very own REAL American Girl Doll! She loves her and named her Lily Grace.

Finally daddy and the other kids got home, and it was time for birthday cake (cookie cake) and presents.

She got some fun new presents!

The next night we went to a trampoline park as her birthday activity, and the Adairs joined us. Then it was burgers and shakes at Steak 'n Shake!

Happy Birthday sweet Norah Mae. We love you!!

Thankful

We have loved living so close to our best friends. The kids play, we can borrow things when we're out, and we can stop by just to chat. 

The other day it was beautiful outside, and the kids were all out on our land playing. It just made me so thankful for where we are right now.

And sometimes we have an impromptu dinner!

We had a few friends over for dinner the other night. The kids planned a basketball game with the dads. The dads were good sports, and I think they actually really enjoyed it! The dads barely won 20-18. :)

These girls were the cheerleaders. :)

 It's been fun to see Joe's dream of having a nice basketball goal and a flat driveway be used so much! I'll even catch Joe out there by himself shooting baskets sometimes! :)

On a completely different note...I had to include these pictures of the girls. They are so creative and come up with different games all the time. This night they were playing "wedding" and took turns being the bride, complete with blanket wedding gown and tissues for a bouquet!