It's A Rocket Birthday Party

That's what he wanted. I cant tell you how long Luke has been talking about having a Rocket Party. If I knew how hard it was going to be to do one I probably would have tried to convince him to do something else. But I made the invitations and sent them out before I went looking around for decorations.

Here are the invitations I sent out. Seriously there was no decorations out there for a rocket, space or even an astronaut party. So I opted to go with a color scheme and made my own decorations. I know it looks kinda fourth of July-ish but hey my brain couldn't think of anything else.

I forgot to get a picture of the the whole area but here is a picture of the banner I made him. I think this has become a tradition now. Each one of my kids loves personal banners.The table setting.

Luke wanted a Rocket cake. So here is what I ended up making. I thought it kinda looked like a wedding cake but he was convinced it was a rocket. Luke inside the rocket

When the Astronauts arrived at the party they were greeted with this sign.

I asked my friend Christi who drinks bubbly water (like there's no tomorrow) to start saving her bottles a couple of months ago. With a little bit of tape, cups and tissue paper I was able to make these Astronaut Jet Packs that I had found on the internet a few months back.

Every Astronaut also got a personalized name tag.

After being suited up the astronauts took a trip into the "GALAXY."

I thought it would be a great idea to turn the garage into the "galaxy" since we didn't really have much else planned for the party. After all it was going to be for a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds and I knew I probably could keep their attention with games.

The Entrance to the "GALAXY." I found these wall stickers at the dollar store. I didn't know what I was going to use them for but this ended up being a fun thing the kids got to do.

My hubby was in charge of this part of the party. Didn't he do an amazing job!! Billy put up visqueen and attached stars from the dollar store everywhere. Since I couldn't find any planet stuff I bought some cheap bouncy balls from Walmart which Billy hung from the ceiling. We also had "space galaxy" type music from the internet playing. It was perfect! It sounded like you were in space when you walked inside.

My hubby made this Rocket for Luke too. It was made out of refrigerator boxes that he had gotten at an appliance store. After making the rocket he wrapped it with left over Christmas wrapping paper. I loved the way it turned out.My birthday boy with his birthday boy shirt. He absolutely loved this shirt. Of course his favorite part was him inside the rocket.Now for the actual party.

The kids couldn't wait for everyone to arrive.Loriella was in charge of handing out the jet packs and tags.

Luke blasting off in his jet pack in no time at all.The Galaxy and Rocket were a huge hits.

Cake Time!After cake we did play one little game we had planned. Once again I looked all over for a "pin the astronaut on rocket" game of some sort and couldn't find anything. So we made our own. Loriella made this rocket for me on poster board. Didn't she do a great job. The kids really wanted to help as much as possible. So giving them little jobs was fun. I then just printed out a bunch of Luke Astronauts to put on the rocket.

Luke playing the game.

After the game Luke waited patiently to open his presentsWith Luke, present time was over in about 5 minutes. Of there wasn't a ton of kids but he also would just rip a present open and then say "Can someone get me another present?" He wouldn't even look at what he got. I think he enjoyed the unwrapping process more then the actual gifts at first.

Luke and Isaac playing his new Sound Bingo game. Luke walks around the house now with this little game and calls it his boom box.

Luke of course enjoyed all his presents but there were 2 in particular that got alot of action. He got 2 Stomp Rockets. I had never heard of these before but apparently my kids were missing out...... until now. Its a foam rocket that goes on the end of this stick and when you stomp on it it shoots up about 200ft. This was probably the highlight of the party!

Did anyone actually think that Billy could just sit back and watch? Guess again.

When it was time to go home each person got a this favor. Moon Sand with a little candy bag attached. The candy bag had Star burst, Milky way and an Earth chocolate ball in it.

I know Luke had to wait a little while for his party to happen but I think he thought it was worth the wait. Happy Birthday Lukey!

Luke Turn's 4!

Alright I know....his birthday was a over a month ago but I never got around to blogging about it and we just had his birthday party this past weekend. So before blogging about the party I thought I would first blog about his actual birthday. Here goes....

Luke woke up the morning of his birthday to make sure he announced that it was his birthday today. He wanted everyone to know about it. We started the day off with birthday boy pancakes. Yummy chocolate chips in them.Since the kids were at school that day we had to wait till the evening to really celebrate. On the kids birthdays the birthday boy or girl always gets to choose his or her favorite dinner. Luke chose green tortellini's, french bread and cold carrots with ranch dressing. Do you think he liked his dinner?After dinner Lola and Peyton decorated his birthday cake. This is also a tradition in our family.The cake.After the cake was decorated Luke had to go in our room so that the kids could hide his presents. This year Luke was getting a bike for his birthday. So he couldn't hide out in the garage since that's where the bike was hidden.

When I came in my room to get Luke this is how I found him. He apparently got a little bored and decided to put on my slippers and pretend he was a scary monster. I thought it was too funny. The hunt begins. Hot and Cold. The kids always love the birthday hunt.This is what he found in Lola's room. Wow Wow Wubzy! He started cuddling with him right away.Downstairs he found a bike helmet....Hmm what could that go to?Finally he found the big gift. A brand new bike! Okay so I know he doesn't look very happy in this picture but its just the flash. He really was excited. I wish I would have gotten another one.Cake Time. Do you love the unicorn hairdo. Luke loves to twirl the front of his hair.He had such a fun day. Before going to bed I went and did my final check on the kids and this is what I saw. Peyton and him cuddled together in Luke's bed with Wow Wow Wubzy as his pillow. Precious!

Happy Birthday to my Lukey!

Without "J" Being Here.....Well...You'll See

Since Loriella no longer has "J" to do dances with she has recruited someone else.

Luke is suppose to me "Frosty the Snowman."

Family Fish Time

A few weeks ago Billy and I took the kids to the Aquarium. It was so much fun. We had never been there with the kids before and thought they would LOVE it! And they did. It was so nice to spend the day as a family.

We didn't tell the kids what we were doing. We had them guessing the whole entire trip. Weirdly enough Peyton actually kind of guessed it. He had asked if we were going to look at fish. How random is that.....but correct.

Anyway when we got to the aquarium the kids were amazed at all the fish. So many colors shapes, etc.This was really neat. They had a few exhibits of jellyfish. This tank had especially huge jellyfish in it.

We got to walk through a 300 foot long clear tunnel that surrounded us with all different kinds of sea life. The kids were especially amazed by the sharks.

Luke was a little freaked out with the tunnel and the sharks. Billy pretty much held him the entire time. A family shot (why is there always have to be at least one person not looking at the camera?!?)This was really cool exhibit. It was a tank full of fish although seriously...where are they all at in this picture? But anyway under the tank they had this bubble where the kids got to stick their heads in and feel like they were in the tank too. Once again Luke was a little freaked out about this.

The aquarium also had a petting place. The kids got to touch stingrays and Leopard sharks. Peyt loved this. Next time I will remember to tell Billy to roll up the sleeves. He was soaked after this.

The kids loved this turtle.

Another place where we got to touch Starfish. Can you tell once again Luke was not into this. He had a great time but much of it was "at a distance."

We ended our day with a photo in front of this replica of an actual shark's mouth. How huge is this. If all the stuff in the Aquarium didn't scare Luke enough do you think this did?

Do You See The Difference

This is our "school wall". Its something I put together to keep my kids organized. Above is our family calender. This is mostly just things I need to remember but I call it our family calender. Above that is my days of the week bears that I use for preschool home school. Whatever day it is I put a little hat on that bear. Below our family calender is the kids school weekly calenders. This is something I put together so that the kids would know what was going on that week at school. Below the kids weekly school calenders is their wall pockets. This is where the kids put any and everything that comes home from school that I need to check or need to look at. I know this wall may seem somewhat ridiculous but I got so sick of papers all over the counter. This system seems to work us. But the other day I was looking at our "school wall" and noticed something. Peyton and Lola could not be more opposite. It shows even in the wall pockets. Look at Lola's wall pocket. Clean, organized and just plain beautiful in my eyes. Then lets take a look at Peyton's wall pocket. I guess I will say he is still learning. Yes that's what I will say.

100 Days of School...Very Exciting Stuff

So day 100 finally came. This was a very exciting day for Peyton. He had been telling me about it all week. He knew that it was going to be a special day and could not wait. 100 days of school. Its a big deal in Kindergarten.

Each student had to bring a ziplock bag of 100 "something". It could be anything they wanted. Peyton chose marshmallows. He counted them out all by himself.

The morning of the big day I made some pancakes and sausage. When I plated it up I made it look like 100. Peyt thought is was hilarious.When I picked Peyt up from school he was so excited to tell me about all the things he had done that day that had to do with 100. He made this fruit loop necklace that had ....you guessed it....100 fruit loops on it. He also got this 100 dollar bill. Fun day. Since then he has been so proud to count to 100. He constantly wants me to test him on numbers. It seems like just a few weeks ago I was getting a little concerned because he couldn't seem to recognize the numbers past 12. Time really flies by fast. This little guy's brain is like a sponge. He just absorbs everything and fast. In fact I said this to him a while back and and he said to me

"Mom, that's what my teacher said to me. Do I really have a sponge in my brain?"

I just started laughing.

Congratulations on 100 days Peyton!!

Oops

Yesterday Billy and I decided to take Loriella out for a "Me" day. She has been having a tough time with J leaving our family and then last week she found out that her "school" best friend was changing schools. Needless to say the last couple of weeks have been rough on her. So yesterday Billy and I showed up at her school and surprised her. The secretary called her up to the office. Lola looked pretty confused about us picking her up. I told her that daddy and I were kidnapping her for a "me" day. Apparently she only heard the word "kidnap". She thought that Peyton and Luke had been kidnapped! So sad. Maybe that wasn't the word I should have used. Oops!

For Your Information...

At dinner the other night Loriella decided she wanted to play a guessing game with the boys. They were trying to guess what kind of birthday party she was going to have. Yes I do realize this is 6 months away but the girl already knows what she wants. And No she never changes her mind. Anyway the boys guessed everything imaginable when they finally gave up.

Peyton: "Forget it Lola, I don't even care what party you are having. This game is so boring."

Lola: "Okay, I'll tell you. I'm going to have a SPA party!"

Peyton: "I don't even know what that is."

Lola: "You know that kind of thing you do when you put cucumbers on your eyes and guacamole all over your face."

I just started laughing. Guacamole. I guess that's pretty much what it looks like.

Goodbye To Our Little "J"

Its been almost a week now and I am just having time to sit at my computer and blog about our farewell to our little "J". Last Friday was her last day with our family. It has been a very bitter sweet goodbye.

The kids handled it very well except for Lola. She was absolutely devastated. I still see that she misses her quite a bit. It makes me sad to see her miss her so much. Poor Lola. She's been making Luke do dance routines with her. It kinda breaks my heart.

On the flip side of the sadness there is alot of happiness. It has been really nice having my family back. We loved having J here but fostering does take a MAJOR toll on your family.

I am just happy that we were blessed to have J be apart of our family for the short time that she was here. Before she came here she didn't even know who Jesus was but by the time she left she was praying at dinner time. She was able to go to church every Sunday and learn about who God is and that he loves her so very much. Just that alone makes it all worth it. I pray that J will be okay and that she will never forget that Jesus is always with her.

A Little Tribute To The Time We Had With "J"

Since I didn't have too much time to blog while J was with us I decided to write a couple of memories of her.......

One day we were driving in the car and Luke started singing the old classic "If your happy and you know it" song but it didn't quite come out the right way. Luke's version - "Are you happy and you know clap your hands. Are you happy and you know clap your hands."

All of a sudden "J" stops him and says, "That's not how you sing it Luke. This is how you sing it. If your happy in your nose clap your hands. If your happy in your nose clap your hands."

We all just started laughing. It was so funny. Both of them had their own little version of what they thought the song said. Both pretty cute.

Another cute memory I remember is about a couple of weeks ago I had the 80's station on. Material Girl by Madonna came on. Luke and J were playing in the front room when all of a sudden J stops and says to Luke, "Luke, listen....this song is saying that we live in a Cheerio world. Isn't that awesome." Luke just responded with, "Oh yea..we live in a Cheerio world." Too funny.

More Memories

Having some dessert with our friend WOW WOW WUBZY.

Dances and more dances. I cant tell you how many of these I had to sit through.Some special time reading with Luke.The night that J left we gave her a little gift. I had made a tote with her name on it and a pink heart (she loves pink hearts). Inside was pictures that the kids drew here, a few gifts the kids had picked out and a little photo albums with pictures of all the fun things we did and time and memories we shared together while J was with us. She loved it!The kids final goodbye to J before she left. We will always remember this little girl.

Note To Self....and to others

When helping your daughter clean her room and an argument starts that she has too many toys and she needs to get rid of some, never ever confess that you have secretly come into her room many times and "spring cleaned." And that she has NEVER noticed anything missing. Please take my advice. Never ever ever do this.

And He Rides

Yesterday the kids were having a blast playing with their cousins. They all were riding bikes and and having a blast. Peyton has tried riding without his training wheels before but has never been able to make it on his own. Yesterday he gave it yet another try.

And Wa-la! He did. He rode by himself for the first time and with in the first solo bike ride he also had his first crash. He fortunately didn't get hurt and seemed to laugh it off.

Apparently while teaching him to ride a bike Billy failed to teach him how to brake while riding.

Christmas Catch Up #3......Christmas Time

With everything going on in our lives right now we barely even had time to get a tree this year. We always go as a family and find the most perfect unperfect tree (aka.- we always have to figure out what side is the least horrible to face outward.) Well this year no time for chopping. While the rest of the kids were at school Billy and Luke headed to Home Depot and picked out a quite a perfect one this year. The kids were amazed that we actually didn't have to hide the backside.

They could not wait to decorate. Christmas Day!

Unfortunately I literally got a handful of pictures. We took alot of video but somehow I forgot to take pictures. Anyways here's what I got.

Christmas Morning was so fun and relaxing. We stayed home all day again. I just have to say there is nothing better than staying home with my family, eating yummy breakfast and staying in our jammies all day while Billy and I snuggle together watching the kids play.Peyton loved playing with this new toy. It was a van that opened up into a skateboard ramp. His favorite thing to do is opening something up and figuring out how things are put together or work. He put this one together fast.Loriella informed us this year that she really wasn't "into" toys that much and really wanted clothes. She got lots of new trendy clothes. This one was one of her favorites. Out of all the toys we got Luke (which he ripped into in about 5 minutes) this one seem to intrigue him the most. He loved this little rubber jet and tugboat Santa left him in his stocking.Christmas Aftermath. Need I say more.

Christmas Catch Up #2........Christmas Performances

This year all the kids participated in Christmas Performances.

First Peyton, Luke and J all performed songs in front of the church. I love this time of year when we get to see the kids on stage preforming for their proud mommies and daddies. I didn't really get any good pics of the kids singing but I did get some "interesting video." Sorry if it makes you dizzy. I don't have a steady hand. My child is the one in the front row with the plaid shirt. Lets just say if you didn't know him you might think something was seriously wrong with that kid. See for yourself. I tell you, my kids make me so proud.

All the kids also participated in our churches annual Christmas Talent Show.

J was one of the "Pixie Chicks" and sang Jingle Bells. I got some video of it but for some reason it I cant upload it.

Billy and some of the other pastors in our church did a Christmas rap. This was a little embarrassing for me. Billy did not seem too embarrassed.

But the night did not end there with embarrassments. Noooo way. Peyton and Lola decided to do a little Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer duet. Unfortunately they forgot to practice who was going to start the song. So with an entire audience watching they began to argue (in their microphones) about who was going to start the song. All of a sudden Peyton screams at Lola. You can tell she is soooo mad at him by the way she is singing. I was mortified. You can hear me on the video. Remember me I'm a the proud parent. Hmm.....maybe I need to rethink that.

Loriella also got to participate in the Christmas Eve Program. She was Mary. The church had a live nativity scene and then on stage they had a "kid" version. She was a spectacular Mary. This is the best group shot I got and it doesn't even show any of the wise men. Bummer.

Mary and Joseph.

Lola as Mary.

I just have to say this. It falls into "performances" a little but not really. Anyway I was so proud of my hubby on Christmas Eve. He got a call that day from our pastor saying that he had gotten the flu and was unable to speak. Billy was going to have to fill in for him. With just a few hours to prepare to speak to over 1000 people he did amazing. Only by the grace of God did he pull through on that one. I was so proud of him that night. To see God use him that way was truly amazing.

Christmas Catch Up #1......Class Parties

I am soooo far behind. Alot went on in the month of December. Lets start with the class parties.

Peyton's Classroom Fun

Peyton couldn't wait for his class party to happen. The class had a pizza party. Peyton was being a silly boy and wouldn't give me a smile for the picture. What's new. Yes that is pizza coming out of his mouth. I'm so proud.After the pizza lunch they all sat around. Girls in one circle and boys in another. His teacher had them do a little hot potato gift exchange with the presents they had all brought in. Peyton ended up with a bouncy ball that he loved. It was so cute watching all the kids get so excited about the gifts. Peyton also handed out these little "Snowman Soup" packets that I made for each of the kids in his class. I think they were a big hit and yummy! Treat time. After the gift exchange it was time for the goodies. I had to bring in something sweet. I had been so busy and had no time to cook so this is what I brought in. I found this idea on the Internet. They were powdered donuts with chocolate chips and candy corn noses. Super fast and easy. Peyton loved them! Here he is with his treats. I got this picture just on a fluke of him looking up.Peyton and his teacher.

Lola's Classroom Fun

I guess since Lola is getting older she doesn't get to have as much "party" stuff happen. Her class didn't have a big party but they did do some fun stuff. First off they had a classroom play that the second grade classes and kids families were invited to. The play was called "Three Little Kittens' Christmas." Loriella had tried out for the part of Ginger (one of the main characters) and she got it! Go figure my shy little girl wanting to act. She did great! I was so proud of her. Later that week they had their Christmas flea market. Throughout the year the kids earn classroom cash which they can use at the flea markets that they put on. Each 3rd grader must make something to sell. Lola and I made candy cane mice. They turned out so cute. Here she is with one of her friends Arthur. Lola also got a pajama holiday party at school but unfortunately I didn't get any pictures. Bummer. Good times for the kids.

Dear Mrs. Substitution Teacher

Dear Mrs. Substitute Teacher, Please in the future will you use better judgement when you decide to tell my 8 year old daughters classroom about your scary dream when you were a little kid. At least next time leave out the part where there was a man with red eyes and black hair in your closet covered in blood. Could you please leave that part out next time. It will might give my daughter nightmares for a few nights. Sincerely, A Concerned Parent