Seth's Birthday(s)

Happy 5th Birthday Seth!

Our sweet son has turned 5, and we had his party last week.  His actual birthday was June 11, but we were on vacation at the time and had to wait until we got back to have his party.

This was his invitation:

We had the party at our house, and Seth said he wanted a cake with blue water on it. So we had a beach party theme!

For the cake, I made the sand out of crushed Nilla Wafers, and then just dyed some icing blue for the water.  I made the dock out of pretzel sticks, and the palm trees were actually drink stirrers that I found at a party store.  All of the ocean creatures came in a little set from the toy store.

I poured real sand on the center of the table and added some seashells.  I thought I might regret this later if the kids started playing and got sand everywhere, but they were busy enough that they never even touched it!

Sand on the smaller table:

Playing with party favors!

About to sing Happy Birthday!

Opening presents...

Then we headed outside.  My brother owns a cool new franchise called Games2U. It is a mobile game theater truck that they take to birthday parties, community or corporate events, church functions, etc.  They also have portable Laser Tag and a human Hamster Ball!

How fun is that???

Here is what the Game truck looks like inside:

Some of the "older" boys playing Guitar Hero on the outside of the truck...

Thanks, Neal, for bringing the truck and the ball for the party!!

Then the boys headed over to the pool:

Thomas and Seth

Cousin Austin and Seth

Seth and one of his three girlfriend's, Maggie.  Maggie was such a trooper to come and bring her 3 week old baby Eve!

Seth's other two girlfriend's, Mindie and Molly.  Thanks so much for coming girls!  Seth was so happy, as you can see :-)

Christian...

Jack...

Leah and Mark, parents to 5 adopted boys! (including Christian, Thomas & Jack)

Steve's artsy picture of Seth with Janessa and Mike.  Guess whose birthday it was the day of Seth's party and yet he STILL came?  Yes, that is right.  The man with the new guitar.

They brought Seth some shakers for his birthday!

Thanks to everyone for making Seth feel so special!  (And thank you to my Mom and Dad for watching Caleb during the whole party so I didn't have to worry about him!)

2009 Horvath Family Pool

So we went big time this year.  

This was our 2008 Horvath Family Pool:

It was great! The boys had lot's of good times in that little pool with the slide.

When it started getting hot this year, Seth asked for his yellow pool.  Unfortunately, it didn't make it through the winter.  It had cracks in it, so it would no longer hold water.

We went to look for a pool, and this same pool at Wal-Mart costs $30.  Not bad for a summer of use and helping to keep cool in the hot, humid Texas summers.

But then, I started thinking.  What if we got a bit *bigger* pool, one that we could all occasionally get in together?  Like this...

(Oh my gosh.  Someone get me a bag.  I am hyper-ventilating just looking at this picture.)

So I went to Academy, and found this little gem for $48.99.  

We did have to buy a tarp to put the pool on ($14), and also some chlorine ($5) and a little frog holder ($7) that floats and holds the chlorine tabs.  Still, overall, a great deal!

If you consider this pool, however, I would warn you that you have to position it close to an outlet because it has a pump with a filter that you plug in.  And the cord to the pump is black, so it sort of blends in with the ground.

So when you mow, you have to remember to unplug the pump and pull the cord out of the grass.  Or you MIGHT just run over the cord and rip it to shreds.  I'm not saying this from experience...I am just saying that I could see how it could very easily happen to a totally competent person.

(And if this did happen to you, wouldn't it be amazing if a friend had just recently come over and given you a brand new pump that they never got around to using last summer with the pool that they no longer have?)

See?  You could fit like 14 more people in there!

Seth practicing his mad swimming skills for swim lessons in two weeks.  The only problem is he won't take his feet off the ground.  He is pretty much walking in this picture :-)  But his head is under water!!

Seth + Daddy + Pool = Serious Happy Place

Daddy Rocks

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, STEVE!!

Arizona: Sunset

These were all taken out the window of our car, during our road trip back home, within about a 5 minute span of time.

Arizona: Goldfield Ghost Town

After we left Canyon Lake, we stopped at Goldfield Ghost Town. 

 

This was our attempt at a family picture.  From afar, it doesn't look too bad.

(And there is some sweet Arizona landscape in the back, too!)

But under closer scrutiny, you might notice someone doesn't look too happy about doing a family picture.  Can you find him?

Oh....there he is.

And one more...

Julia, I've got you covered in case you ever want to put out a CD. (I seem to have a bit too much time on my hands this morning.  Please forgive me :-)