birthday party

okay, so i know it's taking me forever to get all this birthday stuff done.  one day i will have a system for blogging, and stay up to date with everything.  unfortunately, that day has yet to come!  so, i will continue with my catching up, and hope that you all understand.  

i forgot about the camera, until katie mentioned it (thanks, katie!).  so, the first half of the party is unfortunately undocumented.  there were about 14 kids in total, and they all ran out to the backyard to play while everyone arrived.  it was pretty crazy - a bunch of 4 year old boys (there were some girls too, but they arrived later) running around the yard in a pack, yelling.  pretty fun to watch, actually.  we were just glad they were letting their energy out in a constructive way.

after they got some of their energy out, we started our super-hero training.  (we had a spiderman theme, as requested by the birthday boy.  i made the invites like a comic book, and spiderman invited each kid to the birthday.)  for our training, everyone took turns climbing up a wall (the rope ladder on our swing set), to rescue the person (one of naomi's dolls) who was stuck.  the kids had a blast doing this - we all cheered for them, and called them spiderman _fill in the name___ (like christopher was spiderman christopher).   next we used their spidey senses.  i had a plate of different kinds of fruit.  they memorized what was there, and then i would take something away.  they would have to remember and tell me what was missing.  after that, we kicked a ball into a target to practice our aim.  

the craziest part of the course was the web-slinging.  i had a can of silly string for each kid, and they all tried to hit a target i had set up.  thanks to dave, it turned into a silly string war, which was a blast, of course.  we also practiced our strength with some of those blow up balloons you can punch.  the final course of our super-hero training was a strength test on a pinata. :)  this is where the camera was finally remembered (thanks for taking the pictures katie! if it wasn't for you, there wouldn't be any pictures at all!).

candy, candy, candy!

(actually, i do have to say that the kids were surprisingly good about the candy.  no fighting or anything.  we actually had candy left over)

the final product

the happy helper :) 

(dave is the guy to have at a party - he did all the outside clean up while we were doing pizza.  he even cleaned up all the silly string from the yard.  that wasn't a small job :)

the girls in the kitchen.  thanks for staying and helping melissa and holly!

naomi enjoyed the fun, but was glad for a quiet house after everyone left

after the pinata, i had pizza dough shaped into individual sized pizzas for each kid.  they got to choose their toppings, and make their own pizza.

while the pizza was cooking, they watched The Incredibles, since they're a super-hero family and everything.

christopher had a great time at his party, and i actually had a fun time too.  usually i'm running around like a crazy person, and don't get to enjoy much.  i did a bunch of prep work this time, and it payed off.  

until next year!

birthday pictures

christopher's birthday was quite a while ago, but i haven't gotten around to posting the pictures yet.  better late than never!  he is still loving his sweet ride, and always wants to go for rides on the walking paths by our house.  naomi is desperately wanting a bike of her very own (or maybe it's just the helmet and pads - not too sure on that one), and unfortunately, scout has destroyed the tricycle.  her stroller will have to do for now. :)  she won't be big enough to even reach the peddles for a while yet.  she loves her big brother, and wants to be just like him. 

isn't he handsome?

i'm 4!

i don't know why these two won't turn.  sorry :)

An Award!

As you might, or might not, have noticed - I haven't been blogging a whole lot lately.  I haven't been posting, and I haven't been commenting on friends' blogs, and I haven't been great about even checking friends' blogs.  Sorry guys!  I still love you!  I'm coming back slowly, and just going to kind of see how much time I've got to invest in this crazy blogging world.  I really want to post regularly - it's a good way for me to journal, and I'll have to see how much else I can keep up with.  

That said, if I had been better about blogging, I would have known sooner that I've received an award!  Yay!  My first award!  Thanks, Holly!  I hope there isn't a time limit on it, since it's taken me so long. :)  I will assume there's not, and proudly proclaim that I'm the winner of the Brillante Weblog Premio - 2008 Award!

Here are the rules: I have to answer the following questions with one word answers and one word only! Then I must pass it on to seven others.

Here are the questions:
1. Where is your cell phone? purse

2. Where is your significant other? office
3. Your hair color? brown

4. Your mother? Louise
5. Your father? Brian
6. Your favorite thing? love
7. Your dream last night? none
8. Your dream/goal? improve
9. The room you're in? office
10. Your hobby? piano

11. Your fear? spiders
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? happy
13. Where were you last night? bed
14. What you're not? pessimistic
15. One of your wish-list items? travel

16. Where you grew up? Richland
17. The last thing you did? talked

18. What are you wearing? clothes

19. Your TV? off

20. Your pet? scout
21. Your computer? mac
22. Your mood? content
23. Missing someone? family
24. Your car? Explorer
25. Something you're not wearing? jewelry
26. Favorite store? outlets
27. Your summer? fun

28. Love someone? lots!
29. Your favorite color? green
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? today

I pass the award to....

Kirsten

Sharene

Leslie

Erica

Jessica

Charlynn

Oklahoma (Andrea:D)

Preschool and birthday fun!

Since it's been so long since I've posted, this post will include a few things all in one.  Christopher started preschool this year, and is loving it.  

this is christopher at school, next to his cubby

He goes Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 till 2, which is great, because most of his friends go (to a different school) Monday, Wednesday and Fridays.  Which means we can still have playdates.  (Hey guys!  We should have a playdate :D)  He has two great teachers, and nine kids in his class.  He get to do cooking, math, movement class, music class, chapel, circle time, quiet time, lunch, and a snack.  This last weekend he even got to bring home the class stuffed animal.  Each class's name is an animal, and his is the Tigers, so he brought home Tito the tiger.  Tito came to Oktoberfest with us, and had a good time.

tito checking out the animals

tito and christopher waiting for lunch

tito got tired and decided to take a nap

He come home singing the songs, and chatting about how his day went.  He is really excited about everything, but definitely a lot more tired than usual.  Life feels kind of crazy when I think my baby is old enough to be going to preschool.  I can't believe it's been four years since he was born!

Speaking of which, Tuesday was his 4th birthday!  He had a great day, and I had a lot of fun celebrating with him.  A tradition for Dave's family is to have the presents in the morning, which is a tradition I like. :)  So, we had all his presents in our room waiting for him when he came downstairs.  He was so excited when he saw the spiderman bike in the middle of it all!  The look on his face was priceless!  That was our present to him (along with a helmet and knee/elbow pads, of course.  I'll post a picture of him riding his bike soon.  He is super cute), and he had to run upstairs and get dressed so he could ride it around.  I'm not sure why he needed to get dressed, but as soon as he was ready, he was taking a practice spin around the kitchen.  

From his Ouma and Oupa he got a super cool car (which he hasn't stopped playing with, by the way.).  Thank you!  Grandpa and Grandma and Amy sent him Thomas books for his Storyreader, which he reads every time we go anywhere in the car.  Thanks!  You guys know him well.  He loves his presents!  We went to story time at the library, and then came back home for lunch.  His requested meal was grilled cheese sandwiches, carrots, and broccoli (that's my boy!).  After lunch we got to have cupcakes with his cousins and auntie and uncle.  They got him this awesome wooden fire station with fire fighters and a fire truck and everything.  This is my favorite toy, because he goes up to his room and plays with it, quietly, for quite a while. :)  We went for two bike rides after lunch (in between piano lessons - oh, yeah, I'm teaching piano lessons.  More on that later, too.), and he got going pretty good the second time.  I might have to plan on taking a jog the next time he wants to go, either that or restrict him to going back and forth in front of our house.

My family's birthday tradition is that the birthday person gets to choose what's for dinner.  Christopher chose homemade pizza (which is great, because I make it with half whole wheat flour, so it's at least a little good for us!), which we enjoyed outside, since it's been so GORGEOUS lately!  We, of course, had cake and ice cream.  So, a great day for a little four year old!

He even got to keep celebrating today when I brought cookies to preschool for his class.  I was going to try and do spiderman themed ones, but ran out of time.  So, the kids just got plain iced sugar cookies.  They're four - they don't care, right? :)  That's what I told myself, anyway.  Today was kind of a crazy day.  Actually, my whole week has been super crazy.  I'm looking forward to the last half of the week, since, hopefully, it will be less intense.   

puppets

this got me inspired,

so the kids and i made these:

christopher wanted his to have a mad face

naomi is loving the yarn hair and pink skirt on hers

another saturday

Lately, it seems, all I have been posting about is our Saturday adventures.  I guess we haven't been doing too much else to report on.  I keep having goals to blog more often, and to make this blog so much more than it is.  I want it to be more about protecting home, and family; about keeping a good perspective on that which is most important.  Also, as I have said before, I am absolutely horrible about keeping a journal, and have actually stopped altogether except for this blog.  So I feel like I should be doing a better job recording my life.  But, then again, I am doing a whole lot better than I was before I started blogging.  Once a week is a significant increase over once a year!  So, I might only be posting once a week, but I will try to make it more often.  Recording my life is a good habit to be in.  I think about the day, and have a chance to analyze.  Hopefully with the analysis, I become a better wife, mother, daughter, friend, and person.  One of my new favorite church hymns is "Have I Done Any Good?".  Some of the lyrics are:

Have I done any good in the world today?

Have I helped anyone in need?

Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad?

If not, I have failed indeed.

Lately, I have been singing these lines to myself at night as I get ready for bed.  It is interesting to think about my day, and think about those whom I have been able to help or touch.  Sometimes I am proud of myself, and glad for the chance I had, and took, to serve someone in need.  Sometimes I look back on the day, and see the opportunities I missed.  I hope that as I think more often about the positive impact I can have on those around me, that I will take more of those opportunities presented to me.  

On to our Saturday...

We cleaned up the house, and Dave mowed the lawn, super fast this morning.  We optimistically got the house show-ready before leaving for our family fun.  It was unnecessary, but nice to come home to a clean house.  Christopher loves to help vacuum with his vacuum popper, and actually cleaned up the playroom pretty much by himself this morning.  Nice!  

He goes through phases of independence, and has been wanting me to do everything for him lately - carry him, dress him, put him on the potty.  All things he can do himself.  I usually feel frustrated when he won't do things for himself, but yesterday I was thinking about how fast he grows, and how he won't be my little boy for very long.  Sometimes it's hard to not get caught up in the daily annoyances.  It's hard to keep a good perspective.  He probably won't be asking me to help him go potty when he's nine (I sure hope not, anyway!), so I decided to just enjoy the stage he is in now, and enjoy the chance I have to be his mommy and help him out.  That mindset seemed to help the day out; we had a (pretty much) tantrum-free day, and enjoyed the time together.  

So, after cleaning, we packed a sippy cup for Naomi and some sandwiches in my purse, and took the kids to see Kung Fu Panda.  I know it's been out for a while, so we're kind of late, but the kids don't know any better! :)  We went all out and got them popcorn and even some candy.  Christopher was so excited he could barely sit still in his seat.  It was so cute to watch.  He enjoyed the movie, and Naomi even sat and enjoyed most of the show.  I had to get up and walk around with her for the last quarter of the show, but still got to see most of it.  My friend Melissa brings her toddler's car seat into the theater with them, which she says works like a charm.  I would have totally done that, except Naomi's car seat is so huge and heavy.  Too much work to get it in and out!  But I think she did pretty well for an almost 17 month old.

My favorite part of the movie was the old turtle

Later that afternoon, Christopher and I made some DELICIOUS cookies together.  I'll post the recipe on the sidebar, but make sure there are a lot of people around to help you eat them - especially if you like chocolate!  I'm restraining myself from going and getting another one right now.  *I tried to get a picture of them, to capture the chocolatey goodness, but I couldn't get one that wasn't blurry.  You'll just have to come over and try one!* Afterwards we played a little Wii, and I got totally whipped by a three year old at boxing.  He loves that he can beat me at that game, so we play it a lot :)  Dave showed us all how tennis is done.  All in all, a very nice day. 

stockyards

Saturday, we took a trip out to Fort Worth to get a little bit of authentic Texas experience.  We went to the Stockyards, and had a blast.  We saw the daily cattle drive, and then the parade afterwards.  Christopher was so excited to see all the cows in the parade, but then a little confused when we had to tell him that they were actually horses.  He apparently needs to get out of the city a little more often.

After the parade, we took a look around at all the fun shops.  I was so excited to find my very own cowgirl hat.  I don't wear hats very often, but this one might just make it out in public on my head every once in a while.  Dave also found one, but in a little more Indiana Jones style.  He looks pretty adventurous in it!  Christopher convinced us that he needed one too, and wore his all day long.  He wanted to wear it to the pool, but we convinced him that it might get ruined.  I really wanted to find something for Naomi, since she is the only one of us actually born in Texas, but didn't this trip.  I'm going to keep my eyes peeled, though.

We only made it to about half of what there was to do, but by about 3:00 we had all had enough of the heat!  There were also some museums and other attractions to look at that we didn't make it to, but we sure did have fun with what we made it to.

(courtesy of here)

Until next time, ya'll!