Minute To Win It...Birthday Style

Allan gave me the best compliment I could have hoped for when his party ended last night "This was one of the best parties I have ever had." Anyone who knows his family or has heard me talk about the celebrations they have for special occasions knows that is HUGE.

A few months ago Allan and I started talking about ideas for his 31st birthday party and he immediately jumped to wanting me to throw him a Minute To Win It birthday party. I was a little overwhelmed, but decided to take on the challenge especially once he got on the planning bandwagon with me. We weren't sure if our friends would really get into the games, but they exceeded our expectations. We all had a blast! Allan busted out his brand new Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker and got us all loosened up with margaritas and daiquiris, we ate burgers, then the games began.

With games like On the Nose, Dizzy Mummy, Stack Attack, Mega Bubble, This Blows, Sticky Situation, and Nut Stacker just to name a few there was not a shortage of laughs. The highlight of the night was watching my brother, Coby, and brother-in-law, Corey, battling against each other in Dizzy Mummy. I have not laughed that hard or been so nervous that I might pee my pants in front of a group of people in a really long time. I could just about shoot myself for not having the video camera rolling.

Our friends Bear and Hannah were the grand prize winners and I don't think that it is a coincidence that Hannah was the only person here that didn't have one drink ;) I think that they are looking forward to a getaway if standby travel smiles on them in the near future. Hannah, it was SO fun watching your intensity as you stacked nuts with a skewer for the big win.

My man and me with the cake he made for his birthday that Claire and I decorated. It was a great night and I am so glad that we could share it with some of our closest friends!!

This Guy...

...is one of my favorite people on the entire planet. He also is turning the big 3-1 today. Allan, I love who you are and I am so thankful that I have gotten to spend the last eight birthday with you and I can't wait to celebrate you for the next many many years to come. You are hands down the greatest husband and father I could have dreamed of sharing my life with. I am so blessed by you Sweet Man...HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

A Bunch of ONE Year Olds

Jenny and Brenner, Amanda and Brystol, Randi and Tate, Me and Jacob, Angela and Addison

Last year about this time my group of friends were finishing up the baby explosion. A few of us got together last weekend to celebrate all the little one year olds. It was such a great party with cute decorations, yummy cupcakes, and a fun craft. I was so thankful that my friend Jenny thought of it, it was really special. Jacob loved having his very own playtime with a bunch of other people his size and as usual I loved chatting with my mommy friends.

Play Day

This last week we got to have my nephew, Cooper, over to play all day long and it was so fun. We spent the somewhat cool morning playing at the park. I loved watching them play together. Claire and Cooper carried their toys, Buzz and Poodlena, around almost the entire time taking them on all kinds of adventures. Jacob tried his best to keep up with them. I was so glad that I thought to bring our digging toys which kept them occupied for about thirty minutes. Claire and Cooper are at such a fun age to be spending more and more time together, I love watching their friendship grow and it is so great that we get to live so close to part of our family. I hope that we can have a few more of these playdates this year while my sister is busy homeschooling her oldest two. We love you Coop!

Rascal ~ Date Night ~ BDay Week

Anyone who is my friend on Facebook knows that the last week or two my sweet little baby boy has turned a corner into SERIOUSLY RASCALLY BOYHOOD!!! I have been able to snap a few pictures of SOME of his antics this last week. Climbing has become a new favorite pastime of my little guy. He has even figured out how to push stools around to get to what he wants. The pantry is a treasure trove for Jacob. His sister left the door open the other day and while I was working on the laundry I heard a crash followed by a squeal of joy. He had gotten a bag of cereal out of the box and spilled it everywhere. When I walked in he said "ooooooo!" and then ran as fast as he could. It is a little hard to get upset with such a cute little guy, but there have definitely been moments that I have been pushed to my limits by the time the evening hits and in those moments I am so thankful that Allan is my partner in parenting and jumps in to help out.

Speaking of my partner in parenting...on Friday we were really needing a date and were short a babysitter so we decided to start one of our favorite at home activities that does not include any form of technology- a puzzle. I decided to get one that was a little more difficult than our usual therefore a week later it is still unfinished on our table.

Allan decided that the main thing he wanted for his birthday was the Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker and since we are having his birthday party this weekend we bought it last Saturday so we could make some trial drinks. Let me tell you, it does not disappoint. His Minute To Win It birthday party is tonight and I cannot wait to share the pictures and details once it is over.

Hawaii 2010- Sunset Sail

All eight adults got a night out on the open sea leaving the kids back at the hotel with sitters. It was so nice to have a few hours of total relaxation. The crew on the ship tossed out a few fishing lines while we were sailing and Allan got to reel in a Skipjack which was fun. The cliffs of Lana'i were like nothing I have ever seen, they were magnificent. The captain of the ship said they were almost 1,100 feet tall, the pictures do not do them justice. I love being out on the ocean, it is so relaxing. The sunset sail was such a special treat for all of the parents on our family vacation!

And this concludes the Hawaii 2010 posts...until next year (or the year after that).

Hawaii 2010- Koele

Lana'i is broken up into two halves, there is the beach (Manele Bay) and the mountain (Koele). We went up to Koele a couple of times to get a break from the heat and have a different view for awhile. It is amazing the difference between the two areas, you totally feel like you are in Colorado when you are at Koele.

We had so much fun at the Stables of Koele on this trip. We took the girls up one afternoon for pony rides and a carriage ride around the resort up on the mountain. For those of you that know anything about Claire you know that this was the best part of her entire trip. She could hardly speak she was so happy, it was cute to watch her. Jacob was thrilled when he got a chance to sit on the pony as well. I love the picture or his face full of unbridled joy in the top left corner of the collage.
Allan and I even got to go on a two hour horse back ride the morning before we headed back home. It was a beautiful ride with amazing views of Lana'i, Molaka'i, and Maui. The guy who guided our ride may be famous some day so I need to document that Jesse Taylor led our ride and sang one of his original songs afterwards. He is an amazing musician just for the record.

One afternoon we headed back up to Lodge at Koele and let the kids play on the miniature golf course. We had to literally pry the putter out of Jacob's hands. It was a fun, cool, beautiful outing. After mini golf all the women, Gig, Christie, Elizabeth, and I had tea and champagne and some much needed time away from the kiddos. It was such a great time, I don't feel like I ever get to just talk to my sisters-in-law without interruption so this was a nice change. We plan to make a Mama/Mimi outing a priority every family trip from here on out.

Hawaii 2010- Playing

Lana'i is a very remote island with not a ton to do which is actually really nice for a week. I loved the slower pace for a bit. We entertained the kids in the room with toys and videos, spent an afternoon at the Kid's Club at the hotel, there was a lot of time spent splashing in the pool, and a few hours at the beach. It was fun to get creative with all of the kids and play hard with no other distractions.

The hotel had an amazing Kid's Club that we spent one afternoon at. The kids started a craft that George and I had to finish (surprise, surprise). They had a comfy TV room that all the kids and some of the adults relaxed in for an hour. Jacob enjoyed the outdoor toys, especially the tubes and balls. It was a nice break from our hotel room. I think that all the parents are looking forward to the day we can drop the kids off for an hour two when they are a little older...can you say Mai Tai by the pool sans kids ;)

The pool was a crowd pleaser almost every day. Jacob has always been fearless around the water which is a little terrifying, but also pretty fun, we have to be on top of him the entire time. He started jumping from the side and would have done it for hours on end if the catchers had as much stamina as he did. One day he entertained the other hotel guests by climbing out of the pool doing a little dance then squealing at the top of his lungs as he belly flopped into the pool. He did this over and over and seemed to know that he was putting on a show, it was HILARIOUS! Claire gained more and more confidence everyday we were at the pool. It was so fun to watch her get comfortable with doing jumps off the side. She perfected her cannonball and even made up a few jumps of her own- the dolphin, doggie, and fairy jumps were a few of my favorites. She swam across the pool unassisted many times and had so much fun with the freedom of knowing how to swim. We all loved pool time!!

The beach...I don't think that this little Kavalich family will ever be beach lovers. We went out there a couple of times and had a decent time, but our first choice was always the pool. Jacob ate an ungodly amount of sand and never seemed to figure out that he didn't HAVE to shovel it in at rapid speeds no matter how many times we told him no and washed his mouth out. The highlight of the few hours we spent at the beach was definitely paddle boarding. I LOVED it once I got the hang of it. It is actually incredibly hard to do. Allan took Claire and our niece, Anna, out on a paddle ride which they all really enjoyed too. I was bummed that I never got a chance to swim with the dolphins this trip, they only came in three of the days we were there and I was on nap duty every time so I couldn't leave the hotel. They were amazing to watch through the binoculars, there were hundreds of them.

Hawaii 2010- My Little Family

I love my little family. I love that Allan and I work together like a well oiled machine (most of the time) when it comes to parenting. We had some good foursome moments on our vacation- reading books, playing games, feeding fish, and swimming together.

It was not all roses the whole time we were there, but I know that a time will come when I have had all my children and they are all four and older and it will go much smoother. Until then, we will make the most of our sleep deprived time in paradise. I actually need to give a HUGE shout out to my husband who took the very early morning shift with Jacob every single morning. He was a total super hero and it made me fall a little more in love with him every day that we were there.

This shot is on the first flight, a puddle jumper from Lana'i to Honolulu. It is always a little scary for me to be in such a tiny bouncy plane over the Pacific. Claire, Allan , and Jacob love the adventure of it I think.

Hawaii 2010- Cousins

I think the highlight of our recent trip to Lana'i was watching the cousins play together and see their friendships grow. There were many memories made and laughs shared. They were always on some little adventure between all of our rooms. They played ring-around-the -rosie, hula danced, made sand castles at the beach, and splashed many hours in the pool. It was so fun watching them all together. Jacob and Catherine even started enjoying each other a bit too. She finally stopped crying every time he got to close to her (she isn't a huge fan of how loud he is). I can't wait to watch them all grow up together and I am so thankful for these Kavalich family trips where the kids can get some concentrated time together to get to know each other better since they live all over the country- Anna and Camille live in CA; Charlotte, Caroline, and Catherine live in VA; Claire and Jacob live in TX.

Random Fun Pictures

Claire was given skates for her birthday and she has loved using them around the house and a little bit outside. She is a regular roller derby queen on the carpet, but still needs a lot of help on the sidewalk. I think this picture of her in her ballet outfit and skater gear is hilarious and so perfectly her.

With the ungodly hot temperatures outside the only way to enjoy being outside is with a little water to splash in. Thankfully I have a baby that is absolutely enamored with the water. He could belly flop for hours and I never get tired of hearing his squeals of joy as he does it.

We were so excited when my friend Leanna stopped by the other day with her two month old, Owen. Claire was in love with him and would have held him the whole time if we would have let her. Jacob liked him too but showed his love a little more aggressively so we kept sweet Owen safely out of reach. In a few months they can wrestle around together and become the best of friends.

Jacob was just thrilled when he got his hands on a HUGE piece of cake at Claire's party. This picture just makes me laugh. There is one thing for sure about Jacob...he LOVES food.

Boxes

Gig gives very special Halcyon Day boxes for birthdays, anniversaries, and other special life events. Their last trip here she played a little catch up and gave Allan his box for winning the President's Award, Jacob his birthday box, and Claire her birthday box. The boxes are beautiful, but the hand written note she places in each box are the real treasures. I LOVE reading the notes inside and hearing how much she loves each and every one of us. These thoughtful gifts are just a small piece of the legacy she is passing down to her family. Thank you Gig for making each of us feel significant and loved in so many ways...we love you too!

Great Wolf Lodge

We were able to spend a weekend at Great Wolf Lodge to continue celebrating Claire's birthday and we had a great time. There was a lot of splashing, floating, swimming, squealing, laughing, and fun had by all of us. It was so nice to have this one on one time with Allan's parents. The kids soaked up their time with Mimi and Papa. Claire's highlight of the trip was making her very own wolf which she named Kelsey and Jacob LOVED all the animals. He said "oooooooohhh!!" the entire way down the hallway to our room every single time because every light fixture has a different animal on it. We took the kids to the arcade one afternoon which was a first for them and they loved it. They were thrilled when their daddy won them each a ball.

We had just as much fun in the room as we did at the waterpark. We played Pretty Pretty Princess which Claire won, although Allan was very close behind her...all he lacked was the crown. Gig, brought Claire a couple more gifts to open. She was so excited about the three matching outfits for her and Baby Santa.

Claire's Birthday

Claire's birthday fell on a Saturday this year which was so nice for our birthday morning celebrations. The house was all decorated with streamers, balloons, and banners when Claire woke up then we had a yummy birthday breakfast. I told Claire that we could have anything she wanted for her birthday breakfast and she requested cut up strawberries and bananas. One of the funny things about the morning is that we were all saying Happy Birthday when she woke up and she was adamant that it was NOT her birthday until she blew out a candle...we quickly added a candle to her breakfast plate so the celebrations could begin. We decided to let her open presents from our little family and some of the gifts from her Papa and Mimi. I think she was more excited about her Jesse and Woody dolls than her bike. It was such a fun morning! One of the other perks of her birthday falling on a weekend was sharing the morning with both sets of grandparents and my sister, Sara, and her kids.

Saturday afternoon we had her big party at a local gym. This was the first year that Claire was in charge of her guest list and it seemed to grow by the day. I think we ended up with about twenty kids there, mostly from her class at MDO last year and her cousins. I was so excited that my bestie, Sarah, and her kids were in town from AZ and could party with us too. Some of the highlights of the party were watching Claire in the big three person swing and run around with her friends...she seemed so grown up and so much like a kid all at the same time to me. Allan made her poodle cake that was so cute and so yummy. It was a fun party!!

I had to add this photo of Jacob playing in the mat tube thing...he was in heaven running wild and falling on mats. This picture just cracks me up, it captures his personality perfectly right now.

First Sleepover

Claire had her first real sleepover with her cousin Skyler a few weeks ago. She called and asked her to come spend the night so we met her half way between our house and Waco to pick her up one Thursday afternoon. They had so much fun dressing up, playing house and school, doing crafts (their favorite was decorating a random box). They even slept in the same bed all night and helped make pancakes Friday morning. I love that Claire has wonderful cousins that are also her friends. I hope that even as life gets busier for us all as our kids are growing up that there will be many more sleepover and playdates in their near future.
Sidenote...can you believe how much the girls look alike. They could totally be sisters. LOVE THEM!!

FOUR and Fabulous!!

My baby girl turned four at the end of July. She is amazing, a true gift from God. I am so thankful that I was chosen to be her mom, she makes my life better just by being a part of it. Claire really seems to have grown up this last year of her life. She is hilarious, but doesn't like to be called funny. She actually just told me last week to "please never say that she is funny again, she is only hilarious." She has become much easier to handle this last year, meaning she can reason a little better and is typically obedient (or at least not defiant). She is smart and has a fantastic memory. She memorizes songs after only hearing them a time or two. She is creative and dramatic and so full of joy. As you can see she is a true beauty a little tomboy princess.

Claire Bear, I LOVE you more than you will ever know. I continue to pray that you will be a woman full of joy, wisdom, and compassion for those around you. You are a dream come true in my life sweet girl!!

Catch Up

I have a lot to catch up on...

*Claire turned FOUR
*We spent a weekend at Great Wolf Lodge
*The kids were cute :)
*We went on a week long vacation to Lana'i

I will try to get all the posts finished in the next few days, so keep checking in for our latest life updates.