The Big 3-0!

Tom turned the big 3-0 this week - a big milestone of course. One he would like to waltz on by I'm sure, but the kids were so excited to celebrate their daddy's birthday. They didn't understand why he had to go to work on his birthday. Wouldn't it be fun for everything to stop on your birthday??

We got Tom 30 presents for his birthday. Here the kids are helping their dad open his presents.

(Please ignore the laundry in the background :) We hid Tom's presents around the house so here Elizabeth is showing him where all the presents are. We're not much for secrets in this house!

Ben is in awe over all those candles. That's a lot of candles!!

Happy Birthday Tom!

A Bad Day

So, we had a bad day today. Elizabeth was at zoo school and the boys and I were at a friend's house. The boys were taking turns jumping on a trampoline and off falls Cooper, banging his head against the wall. Thank goodness he was very brave and quit crying very quickly. He ended up with 5 staples in his head. Needless to say I was very shaken and it was definitely not the best day of my life :) I have no pictures of it all (thank goodness) so I just added some from last night.

Elizabeth came and said, "I know how to put my own hair clips in!" She has about 7 in her hair. Gorgeous I have to say!
Tom and Ben were having a spin from Elizabeth (she's behind Tom pushing them). It was funny when they were all done Tom let go of Ben and he couldn't walk at all, he was so dizzy. He was walking sideways, pretty cute.
So, the day ended alright, but I'll be happy if I never see a drop of blood again! Poor Cooper!!

Playing at Cooper's House and Dance Party!

We went to play at Cooper's over the weekend. He got a new playhouse that our kids wanted to play in, and Tom had to work so we had a free morning to go play.

Playing in the new house.

E loves the school side of the house.

Dance Party!! We stick on some music and both the kids go crazy dancing.

Rock out guys!

Valentines Day

When the kids woke up they discovered just a couple of decorations and some presents on the table. (Mostly just stuff from the dollar section at Target)

Tom and I then decided it would be fun to take the kids to Build a Bear Workshop at a local mall. A first for them. (I decided to try to link to a page...I had never done that before!) You get to pick your own "shell" of an animal and then stuff it. When we first walked into the store Elizabeth picked out the bear she wanted and then put it back. I asked her what was wrong with that one and she said, "That one was flat. I need one that's not flat." So I had to explain that she got to fill her own animal. I don't think she really understood until she did it. Here is Ben putting the heart into his bear. Now Elizabeth is putting the heart into her bear. Giving their bears a bath.
Then we went to the Rainforest Cafe (did it again!! :) I wanted to show how the fish tank went above our heads. The kids thought that was very cool.
Ben and I at lunch.


Tom and Elizabeth at lunch. Isn't she our little lady?

What is up with his face?! That's his "cheese". I wanted to show that we sat right next to the fish tank. Ben was in heaven.

Back at home the kids were showing off their finished bears.

Last but not least our "hearts desire" dinner. We each picked part of the meal.

Elizabeth chose the main course - pizza

Ben chose the side dish - strawberries

I chose the drink - chocolate shakes (yum!)

Tom chose dessert - cookies with ice cream

It was a great Valentines Day and we all went to bed nice and early {{yipee!}}

Cousin Josh's Birthday

Our cousin, Josh, had his third birthday party today at Chuck-E-Cheese. All the kids had so much fun. Here's Josh, getting ready to blow out his candle.
It's so weird because this is Elizabeth's favorite thing at Chuck-E-Cheese (i dont' even know if I am spelling this right!) It's just a telephone! You put your coin in and someone talks to her, this prerecorded message. She used at least 10 tokens in that thing. She remembered from the last time we were there and went straight to it.

Here's Cooper, Ben, and Drew in the monster truck ride. I think Ben and Cooper were a little in awe of the huge truck they were sitting in.

Elizabeth and Drew in the truck. It was a very fun party. I can't believe Josh is already 3! The time has flown by. On another note, Happy (early) Valentines Day! (It will be midnight in about half an hour...so not even that early!)

Valentines Day at Grandma's House

My mom wanted to have us all over for Valentines Day, but the day itself wasn't going to work out - so we went over this Wednesday for a Valentines lunch. The boys got shirts (they say Wild for Mommy) and all the kids got balloons and other presents from Grandma.

All the kids - trying to get them all to cooperate at the same time, impossible!

My cute kiddos. They had a great day at their Grandma's house. Thanks, mom, for the fun day!

Playgroup Monday

We have playgroup every Monday, and this Monday we had it at a friends house in the neighborhood. It's pretty much mass chaos with 12 or so kids and their mothers crammed into one house. The kids always have fun though. We have been with this group since Elizabeth was 4 months old so they have really grown up together.

Drew, Luke and Elizabeth

Elliott and Elizabeth in their matching dresses. Ben and Baylee - what a pretty princess!

I had to have a picture of this. After playgroup we went home and were outside enjoying a sucker. (most of the kids brought Valentines to playgroup with candy and all that good stuff) Ben was enjoying a sucker and all the sudden I noticed he had part of his sucker stuck to his ear! That's what Elizabeth is pointing out. Saving it for later I guess!

Princess Tea Party

Elizabeth was lucky enough to go to a princess tea party this weekend with our family. The girls dress up like their favorite princess and get to do activities related to princesses. There was, of course, lots of shopping for the mommies to do as well! Here she is thoroughly engrossed in the Belle magic show. (the kids were engrossed - not so much the parents if you get my drift :)
Elizabeth with Belle.

What's with that face? She just finished getting her hair done. They even sprayed it with glitter.

Our little Cinderella getting her nails done. Definitely a girly day.

E with the crown she made. What a pretty princess!

Elizabeth's friend Elliott was also there. Here they are in front of the princess carriage.

At least Ben got something he would like too, food! A "princess wand" -aka -pretzel. It was a fun and girly day!

Playing at Home

Today Elizabeth had a friend over to play - and I remembered to take out my camera! They were outside, braving the wind, playing with playdough.
Here's Elizabeth and her friend, Maci. Unfortunately I was taking the picture into the window so it doesn't look so great, but the girls were so cute I wanted to add the pic!

The boys wanted stickers on their faces...

unfortunately I didn't think about how it would feel taking them off. That will be the last time we put really sticky stickers on our face again :)

A picture from our Valentine photo shoot...they were having fun, huh?!

Making Valentines

We have had playdates these last 2 days but I keep forgetting to get out my camera! But I did manage to get Elizabeth making her Valentines. She decided she wanted to make all the Valentines (except I am hoping to be able to talk her into buying them for her school) so she was busy all afternoon cutting and gluing. She loves art projects!

Here's an art project for all you mommies out there! I have had some people ask me about these, so I thought I would tell you how I made them. You take a photo of the profile of your child. Develop the photo - I did ours 5x7. You cut them out carefully and paint them with black acrylic paint. (about .75 at a craft store) Let them dry and put them in frames. So easy! I saw this on a blog (of course) and the mom redoes them every year to see the change in the kids. I think we'll try that too because it was so easy!