October Binge- Part 2

Crazy hair and a Boy and his bin

It was crazy hair day at school- M really loved his hair and wanted me to show everyone this picture.
We started an allowance for each boy this month- they get their age in dollars each month. E has been emptying bins around the house to play with and it drives me nuts! Today he suggested we go get him a new bin and I told him okay he could use his allowance. He is super proud of the new bin. So far he just pushes it around on the floor but maybe someday he'll use it to put things in?

October Binge- part 1

I feel like the month of October has more activities, treats, parties, etc. than Christmas and Thanksgiving put together! There is SO much for kids to do- I feel like we end up opting out of about half of it but still end up doing a TON! We have done a lot already and have about 4 more activities before the month is over- so I'm splitting this into 2 parts.

First activity was the Enchanted Woods at the Treehouse Museum with some good friends. The kids loved King Arthur sending them on a quest, meeting different storybook characters along the way, and collecting prizes or treats at each place. It was a "non-scary" party and very well organized- we were impressed!

Luke, Superman, Obi-Wan, and Harvest Princess all ready to go in!

Waiting to begin their "quest"

Cutest sock monkey Ever!

One day we went with my mom to Gardner Village to see the witches. It was insanely crowded, but fun. They've come to expect candy from Grandma every time we go- and she didn't disappoint this time!

We've been doing a bunch of Halloween crafts- here is one we did for FHE. We did a few before that and still have sugar cookies in ghost shapes on the list for this Monday.

This is just a funny picture of E. He told me about a month or two ago that he wanted to have "Luke hair" to go with his costume- I have agreed and have only trimmed the front when it grows into his eyes. In this picture, he looks kind of like the Lego guy that I painted on his shirt and we thought it was funny.

I wish I had remembered to take a picture of M before his field trip, but I forgot. Here is E before his. They visited a farm, so he insisted on his "overolls." M went to a pumpkin farm for his too and they both brought home nice big pumpkins.

E had a Halloween program today for his preschool. It was in a barn and the kids sang a whole bunch of halloween songs and rhymes. It was, of course, adorable!

The best part was- he actually sang and participated! After the primary program, I was worried because all he did during that one was pick his nose and sang not one word. This time- no picking at all, and I could actually HEAR him singing.

E with his teacher after the program

A very spoiled newly 6 year old

I don't know how this gets so out of control. First you tell them they can only have a party where they invite friends every other year. So on the off years it's family only. But you still want to celebrate with family on the "party" years. More and more celebrations and it turns the kid's head into a hot-air balloon. It's crazy but a ton of fun- we all want to spoil our kids, right?

So we had a party with family a bit before the real birthday and it was a surprise theme for M. He LOVES anything to do with ancient Egypt, so DH and I made him a pyramid cake and put some of his Playmobil guys on it to jazz it up. He got Egypt-themed books, a pith helmet, and an awesome Playmobil pyramid and accessories that (shhh!) we found for a tiny fraction of the regular price because they were display items at one of our favorite toy stores. Score! Now we can discuss the details of mummification even more (yay!)


For the morning of his real birthday- I made a fishbowl cake out of leftover batter from cupcakes and we had a little breakfast and he opened his watch from Daddy which he proudly wears every day. I can't say he was AS excited about the homemade PJ's I gave him, but who can compete with a LEGO Star Wars watch?


Later on the day of his birthday- it was time for the backwards party he had prepared for and anticipated for a LONG time. He had a blast coloring the invitations that guests had to read in the mirror. He made an exit sign for the front door and we hung balloons upside down from the ceiling. He greeted them with a "goodbye, thanks for coming" as he handed them their goody bag. We played pin the donkey on the tail (the "winner" being the person farthest from the tail) then opened gifts, some of which were written on backwards or wrapped in inside-out wrapping paper. He was now super-spoiled and rich in Legos, dress-ups, and other awesome toys 6 year olds love. We ate dessert first- which was cake in ice-cream cones, after singing "you to birthday happy" and watching M light the candle. Dinner was upside-down pizza eaten backwards and under the table, followed by "green-light, red-light," a backwards dress-up relay, cold potato, goose-goose-duck, and an over-the-shoulder beanbag toss. Awards were given for the best backwards-dressed boy and girl and he welcomed them as they left. It was fun and totally the type of cheesy humor that kids that age enjoy so much.



Anyway, it was quite the several days of celebrating and the boys have had a great time talking about the party and playing together with the new toys.

Thank you

A big thanks to all who helped with Nolan's birthday project. We collected over 100 pairs of PJ's for Primary Children's NICU and the boys loved getting to make a card and deliver them. We felt the kind of love from people that we felt last year after his passing and it was a good reminder of the peace and comfort that we had during that time.

Delivering to PCMC

The boys made a birthday bear for Nolan at Build-A-Bear

Nolan's trees- they are doing very well!

Nolan's 1st birthday project

For Nolan's birthday, we wanted to do something that can help other babies who are sick. The Primary Children's NICU posted today that they had a need for new boy's snap-up infant pajamas, size 0/3 months. So we decided we would collect as many as we could in this next week.

We will be going as a family to deliver them on Nolan's birthday (Saturday the 9th) If you would like to help, drop them off at our house or ship them to us any time before 10:30am on the 9th. (I'm sure we'll go again soon so if you're after this day, bring them anyway)

Thanks for your help!

Reminder: they are friends (most of the time) and other ramblings

It makes me feel better to see these pictures when they are fighting and sitting on each others' heads.




Not a ton to blog about- I am busy preparing for M's 6th birthday and getting caught up on some crafts. I finally made a tree skirt out of fabric I've had sitting there forever waiting to be made into one. I made a halloween picture board thingy to put a picture of each halloween on, that I think turned out cute. I have been enjoying errands by myself while the boys are at school, and have gotten a bit of rest- though not much. Both DH and I woke up at 4am today and couldn't sleep because we had songs from Sunday's primary program stuck in our heads. AHhhhh! I canned salsa with my mom and DH on Saturday, and we've canned pears and are thinking about doing a bit more canning, but maybe not. I did NONE last year because I couldn't bear the thought of doing it in my last month, but this year I still have another trimester to go so not so much of an excuse.

The pregnancy is going well (on paper) but has been really hard on me. I guess since it's my fourth, it would probably be the hardest no matter my circumstances. I really don't want/need the epidural when I'm in labor, but could I get one periodically right NOW?! Seriously, contractions are not nearly so annoying as carpul tunnel, sciatica, killer migraines, and other joys I get to experience before labor even begins. But really, I am grateful that all my tests and ultrasounds have shown us a healthy baby. Of course, they did last time too, so I'm not exactly entirely trustful.

We have pretty much decided on a name, so I have started to make his Christmas stocking. And I'm to the quilting part of his quilt, so progress is being made despite my desire to hold off and pretend I'm not pregnant. I am forcing myself to do these things and it's probably good. At least he won't feel like a neglected 4th child as much as if I did nothing. We have a lot prepared from Nolan, but I took most of his stuff back, so we're starting over with some stuff. We never had a "theme" for Nolan's things like we did for M (monkeys) and E (elephants). I just never felt anything and really felt different about preparing for him. With this one, he's "C" so his theme is cars and we've bought a few outfits with cars and I've made a car quilt and some burp cloths and shoes with cars. It is kind of fun and WAY more "boyish" than my usually almost-gender-neutral themes and designs. I guess at this point, embrace the testosterone, right?
I'll try to remember to get some pictures of these things sometime if anyone wants to see.