Big girl party

(notice on many of our posed pictures, AJ is always accessorizing with bunny ears.
Who knew our obnoxiousness from the 80s would get passed on to the next generation.)

Miss Avery was invited to a big girl party! Her nursery friend, Camilla was turning 3 and the party theme was near and dear to Av's heart, DORA! She carried the invitation around for days! The day of the party, she said, "I go see 'milla dora party!" She loved picking out a fun gift and wouldn't let me carry it into the party. I can't believe my BABY is getting so independent. I thank my Heavenly Father CONSTANTLY for allowing me this time I have with her on Earth. Little things like a friend party are so much fun to experience with her.

"Cheese!!!"Props to Tori for throwing the perfect 3 year old party! Bean bag toss, pinata, parachute, cupcakes, and tons of candy. Voila, the perfect party! Avery was in heaven!!! Birthday girl was having tons of fun too.

Projects

If we didn't have school projects my kids would never do crafts at home. I'm just not that kind of person to enjoy making things that we end up throwing away. In fact, I have never allowed them to play with play-doh either. Man, I am a horrible mom, huh? Good thing Edmond Public Schools plots against moms like me. Here is Aidan working on his Abraham Lincoln project. He had to research Abe's history, write a paragraph about him, draw a picture, and create either a poster, costume, or a mold art model of the famous president. Since, as previously stated I am anti-play doh or crayola model mold, we opted for the costume. He made a beard and a hat. We helped a bit with the gluing and stapling but otherwise it was his masterpiece.

Here's Honest Abe/K.D. When I picked him up for school the day he presented his project, he was still wearing the beard & hat. Haha, he must have been proud of his work!Ethan didn't feel left out because he luckily had a project of his own due the same week. Ethan was the Star of the Week last week. It's fun to look back and seen what my boy is like and all his fun interests. Ethan loved helping me put this together. Here's a few of the pics up close.
I've been helping him with his reading the past few months. The way to get him interested was plain and simple...bribery! Every day after lunch I promised him that if he read 5 (easy) books, I'd give him an ice cream cone. It worked, now he loves reading time and doesn't expect ice cream when he does it! It's crazy how different siblings can be. Aidan doesn't like sweets so dessert bribery wasn't an option. Getting Aidan to read is like pulling teeth even now! Thank goodness they are polar opposites.

His favorite pup, Hondo. This sweet girl is eight years young and still going strong!Proud boy!

Valentine's Day 2012

February started with shopping at Walmart for the standard Valentines for school. It's all the same superhero or cartoon characters as last year. So I ventured online to see if there were any simple ideas. I was in a trance! SO many cute ideas. So I gave the boys a few options and they opted for S'mores. This idea was completely stolen from a creative mom out in cyberspace.

Super fun to make!
They took about 2 hours but totally worth the time and effort.
The boys loved them!

Ethan's School Valentine PartyMy sweet Ethan LOVES his school. I love it too, I'm sad that he will have to move on to a new school next year. Peace Lutheran Preschool is AMAZING! They have Science Monday, Spanish class & Music with awesome teachers, Show & Tell Wednesday, Chapel Thursday, they have themes of the week that end in huge celebrations (such as Dinosaur Week or Bear Week), they are learning Kindergarten skills, and Ethan comes home with a new creative craft every single day. I can't say enough about this school and we will miss it next year! Anyway, they had a super fun Valentine party. They opened all their Valentines from their classmates (Ethan personally thanked each of them after he opened every one, without being prompted) then they headed to the snack room and had yummy heart shaped marshmallows and heart shaped cheese on ritz crackers, and (E's fav) oreos. I had to work last year on Valentine's day so
I was glad I was able to be there with him this year!

Aidan's Valentine's Party
Ethan, Avery & I were able to join AJ for his school party too!
The class moms always come up with the cutest crafts and activities.
Ethan was so intrigued by the crafts. Aidan was so excited that we were there but was playing it cool. He made his heart framed hanging picture and his heart glasses, went on the scavenger hunt then checked out his Valentine goodies.
Check out them shades!


Avery's Turn
We continued the sugar high at home with a little party with Avery's involvement. The kids helped roll out sugar cookie dough and cut them into heart shapes. Then they got to decorate them with frosting and sprinkles. I had all the kids pose with their cookies.
Avery is such a ham. As I was taking pics of the boys she was saying,
"Ook at me, Mommy! Ook at me! Cheese!!!"Cheese!!!Then we spent time playing basketball outside before my sweetie took me on a date! We even saw my Aunt Carol at the restaurant who sings with a women's group. They were serenading a cute elderly couple that was eating at the restaurant. It was awesome. I can't remember the last time James and I actually went OUT on Valentine's day. Thanks to G-ma T-sa & PapaDan!
It was a fantastic day.

Runnin' with Santa

High-five, Santa!

Saturday, Dec. 10th, we were fortunate to be able to spend the morning with Santa! Let me tell you, Santa has slimmed down! But I guess it's hard not to shed extra pounds when you're training for a 1 mile fun run! This was Chesapeake's 1st Annual Santa Run. Of course, we jumped right on board! It was a frigid morning, but nothing a little bundling and hot chocolate wouldn't cure. The kids each got their very own Santa hat and had an amazing time running with Mr. Clause.

Ethan is at such a fun age. He ran right up to Santa and gave him a huge hug! He was so excited to see him. Ethan was the first to notice Santa's vanishing cookie belly. He leaned over to James when we first got there and said, "Where did Santa's belly go?" Don't worry, E, I'm sure he has many a cookie to eat come Christmas Eve.

Here's AJ leading the pack of runners, yes he has left everyone in the dust. It may be a fun run to all of the other kids, but to this competitor, it's a race! Not quite sure who he gets that from :)

Ethan and I had so much fun running together. He even got to take a piggyback lap which was a great leg workout for me. He was such a great sport and never complained about being cold. This is definitely a fun, active, wonderful tradition that we were able to be a part of.