Santa's Village/Cloey's 4th Birthday!!!

Busy Fun Week

Tuesday Morning:

Father's Day

Father's day is tomorrow. My dad doesn't like when we spend money on him. He also isn't the easy person to buy for. This year for Father's day, I made my dad cards on my computer using HP Photo Creations.
I made a card to him from his kitty that he got from my step sister. My step sister and I talked him into taking her. He didn't want to have anymore animals because he really loved the ones he had but they died, both lived a long life. I think he didn't want to get attached again, but every animal needs a home. He loves his kitty. Her name is Nala and he spoils her. Anyways back to the card I made, I put a picture on the front and under the picture said "Worlds Best Kitty Daddy!" the inside read "Thanks for all the treats, you spoil me!" Then I signed it, Love Nala.
I made one from my kids saying "We Love You Papa, Happy Father's day! Love Cloey and Carter" I had a picture of Cloey and Carter on the swing together for a picture and printed it out on 4x6 photo paper.
The last card I made was to my dad from me. I put a few pictures of my kids on it and wrote a personal message saying how much I appreciate him. I printed that out on a 5x7 photo sheet. He loved all his cards, I almost made him cry. We got together this past Wednesday night for dinner at my house and that is when we gave him the cards I made.
I also made my dad chocolate fudge, his favorite. I went to his house yesterday and shampooed his living room carpet and his area rug. Last year, for his and my mom's anniversary, my husband and I didn't have any extra money to buy my parents an anniversary gift so, I used Microsoft Word and made them a coupon that they could use for one free shampooing. Where I would go to their house and shampoo their rug with my shampooer for them. I gave it an expiration date of 12/12/12 just to give the coupon the whole look, not that I really was going to have the offer expire, and they didn't use it. They would mention that they wanted me to come over and shampoo their carpet but never would say what worked for them. I wanted to do something else for my dad before Father's Day because I just didn't feel like it was enough. I called my mom Thursday night and asked what she was up to Friday because I was finally going to go over and shampoo their carpet! Then Friday morning came and I got their carpet shampooed and their area rug!
I know with my dad that thoughtfulness goes a long way. Through out the year my dad and mom do favors for me, my kids and my husband, and we do favors for them, but my parents do so much for other people all year that I feel like I need to show them just how much they mean to us on Mother's and Father's Day.
Tomorrow my family, my parents, my brother, my steps sisters and their families, are all getting together for a pool party and barbecue.

Hope everyone has a Happy Father's Day!

~I was not paid in anyway to mention HP Photo Creations or Microsoft Word, those are the programs I use, and like.~

Xbox 360 Kinect / Playstation3 Eye Move Camera

Terry got a Kinect for our Xbox 360 last year for his birthday. Since then, I have download demo games which can only be played with the Kinect. We have our Xbox connected to the internet to get updates and be able to download free demo games. This way we can play the game a little before we decide we want to buy it. There have been a few demo games I have downloaded I was glad we didn't purchase them, they just weren't what I was expecting them to be. 

Thankful!

Thanksgiving is that one time of year you are supposed to stop and think about everything, and everyone, you are grateful for. 

Here are a few reasons I am thankful:

My Birthday

For my birthday I wanted to get my family together and have a turkey because we have all been craving it. My mom, step dad (been like my real dad), brother, sister, niece, step sister, her mom (like another mom to me), her husband, her three kids and my husband and two kids all were at my house.
My step sister and her mother were very helpful to me while trying to get all the food prepared an cooked. Terry had to work and showed up just as everything was done.
Everyone said it kind of felt more like Thanksgiving then it did my birthday because we had almost everything we have for Thanksgiving dinner. I felt like it was much more relaxing then at Thanksgiving, even though I don't cook at Thanksgiving time. When it came to clean up my dad, mom, step sister and her mother all helped me get my kitchen cleaned up and put back to normal while all the kids and everyone else were outside playing and hanging out.

My step sister, her husband and three kids got me Golf Toss, also known as Ladder Ball. After we were all done cleaning up and putting the food away it was time for us all played together and have fun! Picture below of what it the game looks like. You have them 25 feet apart and then you toss the balls (two balls linked together with a rope) top bar you get 3 points, middle bar is 2 points and bottom bar is only 1 point. You play 9 rounds or until some one get 21 points, which ever one comes first. Pretty fun to play and fun to watch.


I had a very, happy, relaxing Birthday! I always love spending time with my family and it is very important to me that we always stay close.