Isaac's Birthday

The day started out with a present by his door from Grandmommy and Granddaddy: books, money, and a moon torch! This super-cool flashlight was the perfect item for a space-loving boy!

I was running around like crazy before, during, and after the party, so I only snapped a few pictures along the way. I wish I had gotten some closer-up shots, but here were the food tables decorated with neon-colored planets and glow-in-the-dark stars. (My mother-in-law was a great help getting these ready! They turned out much cuter in person than you can see in the picture.)

This pretend rocket ship was the biggest hit of the party! At least one child was in this pretty much the entire time!! It took me a few hours to construct, but it was worth all the time and effort to see the absolute DELIGHT it brought to all the kids, especially the Birthday Boy! Pretend play is the best!

A cute little astronaut.

Peek-a-boo!

As the children arrived, each one was given a glow stick necklace with a badge on it. Every time they completed a "mission" (a game or activity) as part of their "astronaut training", they earned a star sticker to go on their badge. During the party, the children made their own rockets and launched them with straws by blowing on them, raced to the moon, landed the lunar rover on the moon blindfolded, "repaired the space shuttle" (Lego towers) while wearing big disposable gloves, hunted for moon rocks, and did a science experiment by making "galaxies in a bottle".

We also had a lunch of hot rocket dogs, macaroni and cheese, fruit rocket kabobs, planets to munch (grapes and blueberries), space crunch (pretzels and raisins), and pickles.

The following pictures are compliments of my friend, Jessica, who was kind enough to snap some memories of the party for me!

Getting ready to blast off!

Lemon cake is his favorite!

Love that smile. :)

Time for presents!

He loves his super cool rocket launcher from Aunt Elizabeth!

Closing his eyes for the last present of the day...

(I love how Josiah is closing his eyes too!)

Getting help from a friend. :)

Seeing his BIKE for the first time!

It's sinking in...

So excited to try it out!

Off he goes! 

Vacation Videos and Summer Pics

This is a follow up post to my last one in which I shared pictures from our vacation to Branson, Missouri.  Here is a collection of short videos from that trip followed by pictures of the children and a video taken over the summer.  (I tried putting all these videos together in a montage through iMovie but then had trouble uploading it to YouTube. Oh well.)  This material is mostly for the benefit of the grandparents! ;) 

Silver Dollar City Video 1

Silver Dollar City Video 2

Silver Dollar City Video 3

Silver Dollar City Video 4

Silas Andrew

Happy Boy!

Learning to finally like tummy time!

Underpants Duo

His style cracks me up!

One cool dude.

For awhile, Silas had this thing about rolling himself up like a burrito in his blanket on the floor!

It was so cute to see!

Josiah showing me the house he built and could sit inside of!

Burrito Boy at it again!

So content.

These two. They make me smile!

Josiah loves to dress up!

Silas learned to roll over the summer. In this picture, he started out lying on Adoniah’s green blanket.

Pretty proud of himself!

Howdy, y’all!

The boys crowned him with this hat and he found something interesting to play with!

Mercies Anew

Yesterday, I stumbled across this video that was taken back in September when my friend, Rachel Horvath, was here for a visit.  The song is entitled, Mercies Anew, and I thought it contained a timely message for the new year.  Hope it brings joy to your heart today to realize that God's mercies are new every morning and every year!

In Which We Celebrate Josiah's Birthday

This is what our dining room looked like the night before Josiah's birthday.  He picked out all the decorations and paper goods for his special day.  I thought he did an impressive job color coordinating for a two-year-old!  I guess it helps that he likes blue. :)

Keeping with the Rebsch family tradition of decorating the birthday person's door while they sleep.

Birthday breakfast ~ yogurt and fruit! 

(Don't you just love his little ear sticking out?)

And a few presents to start the day out! JoJo ripped off the paper one small piece at a time...

The tell-tale grin. :)

A favorite book of nursery rhymes from Grandma and Grandpa!

Next, a handmade card from Isaac.

Big brother looks on.

And new cooking utensils for the pretend kitchen!

Little chefs busy at work.

Later, we went swimming for Josiah's birthday at the home of a sweet church friend.

Everyone had a blast!

Josiah especially enjoyed himself! :)

Forgive the off-key notes at the beginning of the song. :)  Nathan and I started out in different places. JoJo was so excited with the baby farm animals on his cake!  And just in case you are wondering, that frosting is supposed to be blue from the blueberries in it, but instead it looks kinda purple...

Digging in to his cake (a Trim Healthy Mama winner!).

Mmmm...

Time for more presents!  I love his expression in this picture. :)

A new shirt from Grandmommy and Granddaddy in addition to the Toob animals on the cake!

Thomas the Train is a hit in this household. :)

A happy birthday boy!

Playing with kinetic sand from Aunt Katelin and the family across the ocean.

So much sensory fun!

Nathan built this water/sand sensory table out of PVC pipes for Josiah (at my request), which several dear people contributed birthday money toward, and it has been a hit!

The boys have played with it constantly on these hot summer days!

Right down to the littlest member of the family!