Papa's Epic Birthday Party

On Thursday night the Groves family gathered at Kyle and Lisa's to celebrate my father-in-law's 70th birthday. Lisa came up with the anchor theme because Madison is the anchor of this family. She had pennants and pictures and anchor cookies and even made cookies shaped like cupcakes because she knows my kids are crazy about cupcakes at a birthday party. They loved the cookies just as much (I think they each ate four.) 

We ate an incredible meal, and actually I'm going to link to all of these recipes because you've got to try them. The food was sooo good. Lisa made this Greek Chicken. I made Pioneer Woman's Greek Salad. Sara made Brown Rice and Zucchini Casserole (links to come) and Lisa made Samoa Sheet Cake...a cake based on the girl scout cookie! 

For Papa's candles, she bound 70 candles together. Most hilarious was Elsie's lack of a reaction to the blazing inferno in front of her. 

Then we gathered around to open presents. And each person shared a story or told why they love Papa. I told about how when Rory and I were dating I wasn't sure I was going to stick around and marry him. And at some family gathering Lisa and Sara and I left the house and went out to Sara's car to sit and talk. I told them that I knew Rory and I worked now, but I just wasn't sure. Sara told me that at some point when she and Troy were dating she realized that if Madison was the man Troy aspired to be like, she was all in. And when she said that, I was too. Because I knew Rory respected no one more than he loved and looked up to his father. And if I was marrying someone who was going to grow up to be a guy as great and solid as Madison, then I was all in too. 

And that all turned out to be true. Madison was Rory's best man. He still is his greatest sounding board. And I am so, so glad I stuck around!

The night was filled with stories of servant giving, family loyalty, stories of thanksgiving and gratitude. When we drove home I thought about the fruits of a Christ-following family. The fruits are many. The fullness I felt in my heart and the gratitude I have for being in such a clan is such a sweet gift and a gift this good can only come from God alone. I would wish this deeply-full feeling, rooted in the solid foundation of faith and family, for every person on the planet.

I know not every one has this in their family, for lots of different reasons. But I left so inspired to run my own race and raise my own kids like Marlene and Madison have raised their three boys, so that one day when I'm 70, I might have some awesome descendants lip syncing gospel songs for me too.

Oh we laughed so hard.  Every lyric, solo line, and harmony was perfectly executed. Ruby covered the baritone notes, Toby was the announcer and it. was. incredible. It doesn't get much better than this. It was a sweet night. And so easy to celebrate such a quality guy. Happy Birthday, Madison!

weekend update

Well this has been quite the week. I began the week with a 24-hour flu that somehow didn't spread to the rest of my family. But it was awful. In the midst of the flu, we were potty training Elsie. More on this another time but the girl loves her potty chair and most of all her Princess Sophia underwear. All the while, Rory was watching his eggs, waiting for them to hatch. They were supposed to hatch on Tuesday and if you could have seen my sad husband on that day, your heart would have softened a bit. He was very sad and concerned something was wrong because they didn't hatch. But Wednesday morning came with the surprise and joy of a baby chick! And Thursday morning he woke me at five o'clock to watch the second chick hatch. We watched the whole thing: from little hole in the egg, to a floppy chick kicking off the rest of the egg. It was really special. After the chick excitement, we celebrated Rory's dad's 70th birthday, an epic celebration for one quality guy. Prepare for an awesome post about an awesome party.

The weather is brutally cold again and Ivar informed me this morning that, "all of my toys are just so boring." And as his mom, I sort of agree. How many times can you whip out the same puzzles and blocks and make them look fun and fresh. The boy needs to be outside, and it's just too cold. So I decided to step up my game and make sand boxes in the kitchen with trays and...corn flour. A decision I very much regretted pretty much right away.

We're hitting the part of winter that drags the most. Historically, I do fine with winter (even love it) right up until President's Day. And then I'm over it. Ready for the sound of melting snow. Ready for walks down our road. On the whole, I'm doing way better than I have the last few years, and for that I am grateful. But I'm still going to admit that this winter is getting long. (Even longer than the sticker train Ivar stuck to the plastic on our big window.)

I have a post in the works to tell all about Madison's Epic Party. It was such a sweet celebration. Hopefully that will go up tomorrow. Until then, keep an eye on The Grovestead. Rory has documented all of the egg to chick excitement this week and has much to share.

a one hour winter adventure

On Saturday Rory loaded his family up for a winter hike at a nearby county park. The temperature had risen to 21 degrees with more sub-zero temps in the forecast. It was time to seize the day. He started out with three less-than-thrilled family participants, but by the time we got out of the car at the park we had switched our attitudes. And it was a really great adventure. We found a hollow tree we could get in and a little hole in another tree that we imagined was an owl house. Ivar excitedly pointed out all of the "wooden rainbows!" in the woods...trees that were arched over so the tops were touching the ground. Elsie was a trooper, walking the whole way and everyone was kept nicely motivated by the gorp I brought along, complete with valentines m&m's. 

Ivar and Elsie lost steam for the very last hill back up to our car but thankfully their daddy is strong and loves them to pieces. Once out of the woods we made our way to the picnic shelter but Ivar was really done then. He wasn't exactly sad or mad. Just done. And licking the snow.

It was a good reminder for me to find the fun in this weather. I recently saw a blog post of someone who went camping over valentine's day on the Oregon coast and I was struck down with the whole "why is it so cold where I live?!!" thing. But Saturday turned that attitude on its head. I still wonder why it has to be so cold, but it also is beautiful and full of its own adventures too. 

a sledding hill

I remember visiting my childhood home a few years after we had moved. And the thing that weirded me out the most was that the sledding hill in our back yard  wasn't actually that great of an elevation change. It was a tiny slope, and yet somehow sufficed for a childhood of sledding memories.

On Monday my sister and her girls came over and found the only change of elevation on our property. How their sleds even continued forward was a bit of a mystery to me. But they made it work and I felt happy that we have a sledding hill.

Have a happy weekend, everyone. This morning we are starting the three-day potty training plan with Elsie. It worked like a charm with Ivar, but from the start I think Elsie has a bit more fight in her. Might take more than three days, but we'll see. I'll let you know on Monday. :)

cardboard creativity

For Valentines this year my sweetheart built me an Ikea dresser. I purchased the dresser on January 4th, but it took us a solid five weeks to muster up the will to open the boxes and follow the picture instructions. We've built enough dressers to know exactly what we were in for. It probably won't go down as the most romantic valentines days of my life, but it was awesome. We were in fun moods and we now have four hemnes dressers of all shapes and sizes organizing our clothes.

The very best part of the dresser delighted me all week long. It was the cardboard box it came in. It has given us five solid days of entertainment and is still going strong. Ivar made a pizza to fit in the pizza box that held all the small parts for the dresser. Below he made a robot and the bottom picture he proudly told me "is a statue!" The mileage from that big box is incredible and it is a joy to watch my kids create. I didn't do much guiding on this one...my kids found the tape and scissors and asked for the crayons. On the whole, they are just getting more self-sufficient.

I also am learning the art of letting Ivar take the lead. The first day he had me cutting up tiny squares to make "bricks for the roof!" I cut the bricks and helped decorate them and knew there was no way these things would end up making a roof. After all, I have 28 years of fort-building expertise on the kid. But I followed his plans, did what he said and in the end, after trying lots of failed options he happily decided that the bricks on the roof could be "decorations on the wall!" I was proud of him for course-correcting. And even more proud of myself for not taking over the role of project manager. :)