The Mitchell Family Blog

Butterflies...what a difference a few years makes!

So in September I posted about the Bugville Butterfly Treehouse.  I mentioned that the first time a butterfly landed on Gavin he was NOT happy!  So I have dug through my picture CD's and found the first time Gavin had a butterfly land on him.  But first here is the Butterfly on Gavin this summer...

  He stuck his hand in the house and let it land on him and then he pulled his hand out.  He loved every minute of it!!

It landed on his knee and he was not happy!!

Georgia turns 4!!!

I can't belive my baby is 4!  She is turning into a beautiful little girl...I mean big girl!  Where did my baby go? 

Her birthday festivities started Friday with a playgroup birthday pizza party at our house.  We shared the celebration with 2 other October Birthdays (Ethan & Cavan also turned 4 this month).  She enjoyed playing with her friends, opening presents, and eating cupcakes! 

 

 

 

 

Saturday, Georgia's Official Birthday!  She woke up BEAMING!!  She said she was going to be so happy today!  Gavin was scheduled for a haircut, so I asked Julie our hairdresser to give Georgia a princess do...she loved getting the special treatment!  We took her to lunch, she picked McDonald's.  Then we came home to get ready for her Birthday dinner.  We invited the Blaskovich's over for dinner and then we kicked out Tom & Gina.  We were ready to get the real party started!  A Jammie party with Isabel, Gavin, & Sean.  We laid out beds in the family room and settled in for a movie.  Everyone was very excited! In the morning it was the Mitchell special pancake breakfast and the kids played.  Georgia loved every minute of her birthday celebration!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEORGIA!!

Our Annual Halloween Playgroup Party

As always this is a fun kid event.  They love putting on their costumes and spending the evening with playgroup friends.  They especially love parading around in their costumes and collecting their halloween treats from each family.  Here are the pictures of their costumes. 

 

 

And the award goes too....

GAVIN MITCHELL!!  He received an award for being the "Super Cool Bus Rider" of the week! 

You always wonder when you send your kids off to school, friends houses, grandparents...anything without you present if they will behave or how they will behave.  I know how they behave when I am around...and everyone tells me they never act that way when I am not around.  I am thankful for that, because it makes me feel like I am doing something right!

So when Gavin's bus driver gave us his certificate, I couldn't be prouder! 

Rollerskating!!

We got invited to a Rollerskating Birthday Party...I was very excite - for ME!!  =]!  I haven't been rollerskating in a LONG time.  I wanted to take the kids.  Wasn't sure how I was going to handle myslef & 2 kids (5& 3) on rollerskates.  I tried to get Mitch to go with us...and he said..."whaaatt".  I was going no matter what, I figured how bad could it be.  When we got our skates they said they could tighten the wheels so they would hardly move.  I thought this will be great for training the kids.  After a few times around the rink, they both were ready for their wheels to be loosened to truely experince skating!  They had a lot of fun!  I think we will do this again. 

 

Tailgating & Football

 If you know us...you might think...why are they going to a football game.  We thought the same thing when we got up at 5:45 am, to leave our house at 6:45...we drove 30 minutes and went to our first Iowa State Football game.  Tom & Gina graduated from Iowa State and said that the tailgating is a must at least once! 

On October 4th, IA State was playing KU.  Our friend Jason is a KU grad so this was the perfect game for the 3 families to enjoy.  We arrived in th already half full parking lot at about 7:15.  Because it was so early it was still extremely cool so we drug out all blankets and wrapped up, while drinking bloody mary's and waiting for our breakfast egg skillet!  I brought coloring books for the kids and they hung out in the back of a mini van with the doors closed to keep warm.  Breakfast was yummy, the bloody's even yummier!  We cleaned up and headed to the game about 10:30 (it started at 11am).  We had Hill tickets...the kids ran up and down the hill.  IA State was leading the first half by 20 points!!  Tom was a happy camper!  Jason was not!  =]! 

At half time we headed back to the parking lot for lunch and listened to the rest of the game from there.  The kids ran around playing football, coloring, playing some game that you through a rope with a ball on each end at a rack (our parking lot neighbors shared).  It really was a fun day & and the people watching was exceptional!! 

In the end, IA handed the game to KU...KU closed the lead in (what seemed to be) the first 5 minutes of the second half and won!  Jason was a happy camper!  Tom was not!  =]! 

We headed home around 4pm.  At the end of the day, I thought how could we have been at a football game for almostt 10 hours...we had fun, but I am still wondering...=]!  Thank you's go to the Blaskovich's & the Wittmer's for showing us how much fun a football game can be! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our First Camping Adventure!

Call us crazy, but we decided on Monday the 22nd that we wanted to try camping starting on Friday the 26th until Sunday.  We went to Saylorville Lake which is about 30 minutes from us.  We wanted to be close to home so if we had to terminate the adventure we didn't have far to go.  =]!  The weather was forcasted to be perfect - highs in the 80's and lows in the 50's.  So we packed up the camping gear, kids, and the dogs (this was a family trip!) and we were off!  We were joined by the Blaskovich's so at least we would be miserable with people that we love!  =]!  We arrived and started to set up.  The kids were so excited about it!  Our camp site was next to the playgroud which was just 4 swings and a merry go round.  I thought to myself that is not going to keep them entertained for very long.  But to our amazement they played on that stuff for hours!  We let the kids roast their own hot dogs on the grill for dinner and for dessert we had s'mores which they got to roast their own marshmallows.  They beamed with excitment.  When it was time for bed, the kids got in their jammies, and crawled into a tent to tell ghost stories to each other.  When it was bed time, they laid down without a fuss and fell fast asleep. 

Saturday, we had plans to go fishing and go on a nature walk.  The kids were so excited to just hang around the camp site that it was 11am before we knew it!  So we had some lunch and then headed out on our nature walk.  The kids were collecting nature things to make a fairie house (nature items glued to paper for a fairie to live-Isabel did this as a Girl Scouts activity).  Isabel & Georgia were more into collecting things then Gavin & Sean.  We managed to take an hour walk around the camp ground.  It was fun.  Once back at the camp site, I pulled out the paper, glue, & coloring books and the kids jumped right into crafts and coloring.  After dinner, the kids got baths and put into their jammies (they were covered in dirt from the playground!).  We wanted to sit around the camp fire and tell ghost stories.  But our kids were so tired they could barely function so it was off to bed early.  Isabel and Sean got stories and then they were off to bed. 

Sunday we got up had a quick breakfast and started to back up.  We were all loaded by 8:45am and headed home. 

Mitch was not excited to be taking the dogs.  The last time we took them camping (over 7 years ago), they were so nervous - they wouldn't go to the bathroom, eat, or relax.  This time once they were tied to the tree, they just laid down and fell asleep.  When they were walked they pottied.  And once in the tent they laid down and went to sleep.  I think they enjoyed it! 

We were pleasantly surprised of how well it went.  The kids LOVED it!  They can't wait to do it again!  Here are some pictures of our adventure!