our Tumblemania family

Happy {belated} Saint Patrick's Day!

ordinary days

The boys usually play with "tiny legos" these days, but a friend brought them this bin of duplos and they got right to work constructing.  I love seeing the looks of concentration on their faces as they engineer new structures.  Simple, creative fun!

C and I go to chapel

One of the things I love about sending my kids to and working in a Christian preschool is the weekly chapel service.  Pastor Tyler does a great job of making chapel a place kids want to be.  This year, during Lent, everyone pretended to travel in a time machine so they could imagine experiencing the events leading up to Jesus' death and resurrection in "real time".  Pastor Tyler grabbed a snapshot of everyone "traveling" in our "time machine", and it just makes me laugh.  Enjoy!

P turns six!

What better way to celebrate your birthday than with a giant red tornado leading the charge?  I kid.  That's the mascot for P's cheerleading team, and we started off the day with - you guessed it - a cheer competition!

Our Tumblemania family swept the competiton, placing first in every division for which we had a team perform!  We ended P's special day with dinner at "Gracias", P's nickname for one of his favorite restaurants in town.  They sang to him and brought him some fried ice cream, which he graciously shared with his brother.

Happy birthday, P!  We love you!

Titanic!

P studied the Titanic in school this fall, and he quickly became really interested in the historic shipwreck.  He's read - and practically memorized - several books about it, and he can tell you a litany of interesting facts.  For example, did you know that part of the reason the Titanic sank was because they used cheap iron rivets?  Or that the lookout was fired just before the ship left the dock and he accidentally took his locker key with him, so the binoculars were locked up with no key and the lookouts on the ship didn't have any binoculars?  Well, now you do.  You're welcome.

Since P had a cheerleading competition in Tennessee on his actual sixth birthday, we decided to go halfway on Friday night and stop at the Titanic museum in Pigeon Forge as one of P's birthday presents.

The entire visit is an experience.  You receive a "boarding pass" when you enter, and it contains the name and information of someone of your gender and roughly your age who traveled on the Titanic.  At the end of the museum there is a wall documenting what happened to each person on board, so you can discover your fate.

I suspect, without children, that it would have taken us a little over two hours to travel through the museum.  With P and C, we lasted about an hour and a half {which I still thought was impressive}; although we did stop at each exhibit, we moved more quickly than we might have alone. Both of the boys enjoyed the experience.  There were lots of hands-on activities, such as touching the cold water and an iceberg, shoveling coal, and trying to walk on a slanted deck.  Plenty of knowledgeable "crew members" were available to answer questions.

P and C {and Daddy A and I} all learned new things, and we had a blast doing so.  P has already requested a return trip.  If you're anywhere near that area, I suggest you check it out.  While you're there, you can find out how many dogs were on board the Titanic.  {I won't give that one away!}

ordinary days

C had a friend over before preschool one Friday so her mom could make it to work on time.  I dropped P off at school and went on in to work, and Daddy A snapped some photos of the princess play - a regular occurence around our house - before he brought C and Piper to school.  Playing princesses with a friend - what a great way to kick off a Friday!

P's 6th birthday party: the Ninjago edition

Since he's our resident lego lover, it came as no surprise when P was bitten by the Ninjago bug.  So when it was time to plan his sixth birthday party, I wasn't surprised when P asked for a Ninjago-themed celebration.

I printed off some Ninja eyes to make the balloons look like Lloyd and his comrades.

Then I decided those eyes were so cute I needed another place to use them.  Since we were serving water at the party, I "ninja-ed" the water bottles, too.

P asked for tae kwon do lessons as his birthday present this year, and he wanted to have his party at the TKD school.  I was so excited to see his location tie in with the party theme!  {P, ahem, MAY have inherited a "coordinating" gene.}  P really enjoyed his party, especially the tae kwon do class, and I was pleasantly reassured that his requested gift was going to be a hit.

Of course, after that workout, everyone was ready for some Ninjago cake.  I had planned to try to make a Ninjago cake, but then my mom found an Etsy shop that was selling these cake decorating sheets, and P decided he liked this design better than my prelimiary ideas.  It was a bit of a hassle getting it to our house on time, but we did receive it and our local Ingles added it to a sheet cake.  {You can just lay these sheets right on top of an iced cake, if you're looking to replicate it yourself.  I also found that some bakeries, particularly in places like grocery stores, have a special printer that can copy an image you bring them onto one of these sheets.}

P enjoyed some cake and ice cream with his friends.

I couldn't resist putting this photo of C into the post - he is such an expressive kid!  He's always making silly faces like this, and I want reminders like this one on the blog so I'll never forget them... as if I could!

P got to break a board at his party, and I still suspect that this is one of his favorite parts of tae kwon do.  He used a hammer fist {his favorite break} and smashed right through the board.

I found some "Ninja Bread Men" cookie cutters at Target around Christmastime, so we sent each of P's party guests home with a Ninjago cookie and a lego minifigure.

I enjoyed celebrating P's special day with the birthday boy and our family and friends!

Lowe's Build and Grow clinic

If you have a Lowe's nearby, you might want to check out their Build and Grow clinics.  They seem to happen just about every other Saturday, and provide a place for kiddos of all ages to create 3-D masterpieces.  The morning before P's sixth birthday party, Daddy A and Poppa Fred took the boys to our Lowe's to build some monster trucks.  It was a great way to keep some excited boys occupied until it was almost party time!

a birthday celebration for P

This year P's birthday party was scheduled for the weekend before his actual birthday.  Grandma Paige and Poppa Fred came to attend the festivities, and the night before his "tae kwon do birthday" we had a family celebration.

Grandma Paige ordered this Pirates of the Caribbean cake for the occasion.

As you can see, P didn't mind celebrating his sixth {sixth!!} birthday a little early.

After some yummy cake, we adjourned to the basement, where P opened his gifts.  He was especially fond of the Chima Speedorz set Aunt Tiffany and Uncle John sent.  He exclaimed, "I've been wantin' one of these!" as soon as the wrapping paper came off.

It was a special evening, and a wonderful kickoff to P's birthday!

in which P sports a red mohawk for his team's cheer competition

NDS Valentine's Day dance

P's school had a Valentine's Day dance this year.  At first, I wasn't thrilled that an elementary school was even having a dance, but it was a family dance and P wanted to attend and he wanted C to attend as well, so the four of us and Grandma Paige and Poppa Fred, who were visiting for the weekend, all attended the dance.

I wanted the boys to wear their blue polo shirts with a small dump truck full of hearts appliqued on them, but P wouldn't hear of it.  When I explained that it was a dressy occasion, he expressed, ahem, a strong desire to wear "his special clothes from Aunt Tiffany's wedding".  He agreed to wear his heart bow tie and squeezed into his tuxedo, and we were off!

The boys made lego heart necklaces for their valentines this year, but P wanted to give his friend Layne hers at the dance.  Layne is shy, so she was a little overwhelmed when P gave her the gift.

She ran off after a quick hug.  C and I headed out to the dance floor.  I'm so glad he still likes to dance with his mommy.  I'll have to pull out this picture as photographic evidence that I was once a coveted dance partner when he gets to middle school.  :)

P was happy to show off his dance moves.

He danced with his cute teacher.  We were so blessed to have such a sweet and caring teacher this year.  I just cannot say enough good things about Mrs. Handley!

Layne did return to the party.  P was so cute - he brought her and her friend some punch and cookies while they were resting, and he spoke to Layne's mother.  I hope he can remember those manners in ten years!

At the end of the dance, P said, "My favorite part of the dance was giving Layne the necklace, because I like to make girls happy".  He's a thoughtful guy.

I hope you got to celebrate Valentine's Day with some fun festivities, too!

Winterfest

Every winter, our preschool has a spaghetti dinner and program.  The three year old classes perform, and then the four year old classes perform.  It was hard to get lots of shots of the kids when they were on stage but Daddy A did get this picture of C and his friends.  They sang a couple of songs about winter, and then did "Tooty Ta", which the four year olds perform every year, and all of the kids love to sing.  C enjoyed his time in the spotlight, although it is hard to tell in this picture.  :)

Let's go, Storm!

Happy birthday, Colby!

After we celebrated C's birthday at Pizza Hut, our family of four headed to our local aquatics center to help the boys' friend Colby celebrate his 8th birthday.  As you can see, they had a blast!

Chase's 4th birthday party

For his fourth birthday party, C chose a Disney theme.  {Like father, like son.  :) }  I was expecting a princess request, but he ended up asking for a Peter Pan party with a "Tinker" {Tinkerbell} cake.  He really, really, really wanted to have his party at Pizza Hut.  {Also like father, like son.  :) }  We invited his whole class, but he ended up with a few of his closest friends - it was perfect!

C got this personalized shirt from us for his birthday, and he got his Peter Pan hat when we were in Disney World the week before his birthday.  I'm five months late posting these pictures, and already when I look at C and compare him to these pictures I can't believe how much he has grown!

We decorated our section of the restaurant, and C posed with Peter while we waited for his friends to arrive.

C is getting ready to blow out the candles on his Tinker cake.  His sweet friend Lily is beside him.  She is going to kindergarten in the fall, and he is going to miss seeing her at school every day!  She and her family are such nice people.

This is C's hilarious friend Garrett.  C and Garrett were both in my class the 2011 - 2012 school year.  C and I were both glad to see Garrett in his class on the first day of school this year.

This cute fairy is C's friend "Fancy Carol".  {He refuses to call her Nancy Carol; C claims she likes Fancy Carol best.}  Her mom was apologetic about the Tinkerbell costume, but C was thrilled with Fancy Carol's apparel!

P was dressed to match the party theme {per my request, of course}.  C wanted a picture of P beside Peter, and P is usually happy to oblige C's requests.  He is such a great big brother!

We managed to snag a photo of all the partygoers before we disbanded.  C's friends Piper and Brianna were also at the party and helped to add some joy to our celebration.

We are so happy to have such great friends, and we're glad they could celebrate C's special day with us!

pilots-in-training

Disney in photos, day five