Friday, May 13, 2011

The Birthday Extravaganza

Well first we have to say Happy Birthday, Joshua!! I can hardly believe he is 11. He had a great morning that he wanted to start at 5:30am. All 4 boys were up then and we had to send them back to their room until at least 6am. He had Enteman's Cheese Crumb Coffee Cake with scrambled eggs and sausage for breakfast. Then he opened his presents and a mom knows when she's done well when the birthday boy says he got everything he ever wanted and more. Since he really didn't get all that much I think that speaks volumes about his personality. Joshua was a good sport about going to school and having to take the state MCAS exams today. I traditionally bring lunch of their choice to school when it falls on a weekday, Joshua chose Subway. I think he had a great day.
Something else that speaks volumes about Joshua's personality was his complete willingness to let Andrew and Sam have their birthday parties on his birthday. Sam's birthday is next week and we usually do a half birthday for Andrew in June. However, since we're moving we thought it would be fun to have one last big hurrah! So, welcome to Jedi training. We had 15 children for a birthday party today. They ranged in age from 3 to 11. While it was truly chaotic it couldn't have gone any better. The older children helped out a lot. Everyone made a light saber out of PVC and swim noodles and then we did a bunch of Jedi "training" exercises.
We used the force to pin the light saber on Yoda, we went through an obstacle course that included fighting the Sith (the older children) and practiced our aim by swatting balls with the light sabers on the trampoline.
Then came pizza.
After dinner they all "graduated" from Jedi training and they received their Jedi uniform. We paid a young woman in our ward who has a Silhouette printer to make t-shirts with Master Yoda on it. The light sabers and t-shirts were our goody bag and I'm terribly pleased to not have invested in the usual goody bag fare.
We then went to open presents and discovered the evil Sith had stolen them. We went on a treasure hunt to find the presents and then had a massive "battle" to retrieve the presents. I have to say it was one of the most successful parties we've done.
Of course we had cake and ice cream. If you use your imagination you can even see the red and yellow light sabers in this "cake." Our final activity was battling the poisonous bubbles (ie. whacking bubbles with the light sabers - it was a good distraction from whacking each other).
Finally, I can't have a post without Eliza. She spent the party with a friend, which is the only way this whole thing worked.




Sunday, May 8, 2011

Happy Mother's Day

This post really will have nothing to do with Mother's Day, although I've had a wonderful day and hope the best to each of you. I'm mostly going to play catch up.

Joshua had an Invention Convention at school and really did a fabulous job. His mind amazes me sometimes. He invented a blind that blocks the light that comes in from the sides of traditional window blinds. When the assignment first came home I was so overwhelmed I almost cried (of course, that probably had something to do with also having a 2 day old baby and just getting home from the hospital). In the end it was okay and Joshua felt good about his project.

These next two pictures remind me once again how much I'm going to miss this preschool. Friday was Mother's Day at Small Steps Preschool. All the mothers were invited to school for a "night out" with their preschooler. We walked the red carpet and spent the day at preschool. We made some crafts together, played games and then had a snack. All the children dressed up as waiters and came out to take their mom's order. Then they returned with our order and we had snack together. There was a program where they sang some adorable songs and then we had the "Mom Awards." Each child got on stage and presented their mom an award for what they are best at. You'll all be pleased to know I'm the best cleaner :-).
Today, May 8, we blessed Eliza. I never tire of taking her picture. A friend of ours with a great camera took some family pictures today so hopefully you'll be seeing those soon.

I never stop trying to get her smile.




Here are the mom awards.