Happy FIFTH Birthday Week: Secret Agent Magician Party

This years party theme revoloved around a magician that incorporated a secret agent identity theme. John was all about it. Since it was the big 5.0 and he kept changing his mind on which classmates he wanted to invite, we settled on all of them. And then of course his neighborhood friends and a few from the soccer team.... I only got 2 "no" rsvps. As such, we had 20 children at a drop off party at our house. Thank the good Lord for grandparents, aunts and great friends and a couple of parents that ended up staying at the party. It has been 5 days since the party and I think I am still recovering.

Carl and I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning turning the hallway and living room into a tunnel and spy headquarters. The kids got invitations that told them a password ("dragons") that they had to use to get in the agency. Granddaddy greeted the families at the door and sure enough, they all remembered. Carl sat in the HQ and handed out badges and branded their agent numbers on their arms and fingerprinted them. They were supposed to then go to their first mission. This became a huge bottleneck, so we improvised.

The Magician arrived 30 minutes into the party and put on a great show. The kids were entertained and John was taking part (I was afraid he would shy up) and being the volunteer. The kids seemed to really enjoy it.

Then we went upstairs for the 2nd two training missions. 1) Get through the laser field and 2) target practice with nerf guns. Both activities seemed to go well. Their were adults running around even more than the kids trying to set up for dinner and cake downstairs as well as man the two mission stations. It was crazy to say the very least.

Finally it was pizza and cake time. I over estimated how long I could keep them entertained, so we did have about 10-15 minutes of free time after cake before parents came to pick up. Which, in kid world where they were not allowed back upstairs to just free play, was a REALLY long time.

I failed one mission that I will never forget. One of the mom's was trying to figure out if her son was having adverse reaction to a certain dye. So she emailed me ahead of time and asked about the menu as well as to tell me she was sending him his own cupcake.... which sat on my counter unopened until she got there. In the mean time, he not only had our cupcakes, but he also had a cookie. awesome.

Here are several pictures from the event. I have to say thank you to Ashlea and Abbey for helping me to capture this fleeting moment in time as I did not pick up my camera one time. It means the world to me! I can not figure out how to do the slideshow show anymore from picasa (if someone wants to help me out there, that would be great), so in the mean time, here is a long string of pictures.

Happy FIFTH Birthday Week: Yearly Interview

How old are you? "five"

What is your favorite thing to do? "play with legos"

What is your favorite food? "chicken"

What makes you happy? "silly things"

What makes you sad? "boo boo"

Who is your best friend? "Sadie"

What is your favorite book? "my bible. Wait. it is the zoo magazines"

What do you like to learn at school? "math"

What do you like to do with your family? "group hug"

What do you want to be when you grow up? "vet"

What kind of birthday party are you having? "spy"

What makes you mad? "someone hitting me"

What do you like to do with Mommy? "play"

What do you like to do with Daddy? "play"
 

What is your favorite show? "How to Train your Dragons"

What is your favorite song? "One of the Laurie songs"

What do you like about Matthew? "He is cute"

What is your favorite movie? "Actually I do not have a favorite"

Where do you like to go when we leave the house? "Chuckie Cheese" (weird, been there once a year)

What do Mommy and Daddy do for fun? "go on a date"

What is your favorite animal? "Zebra"

What does Daddy do for work? "makes money"

What does Mommy do for work? "make money" (Pretty sure he has tuned me out)

What do you think about before you go to bed? "I have never done that before"

What do you pray about at night? "Jesus" What else? "God. That's all"
 

Happy Fifth birthday week: facts and feelings

Facts:
*Weight: 39 pounds (37%)
*Height: 43 inches (52%)
*sucks his thumb when tired, nervous and sleeping
*plays soccer and in swim school
*his body doesn't make a certain hormone yet that allows him to hold his pee at night. Still in diapers. (Fun fact, right?)
*Is a busy bee at Stonebridge United Methodist Church.
*a lot of new moles on his body
*falls asleep within 1 minute of turning the lights out at night.
* knows a lot of sight words, but doesn't show that much interest in reading on his own yet.
* will announce EVERY TIME there is a speed limit sign and ask to make sure you are not going over or under.


Feelings:
* would rather be at home 97% of the time than anywhere else. I know this will change, trying to soak it up, but makes errands agony.
* loves Matthew with his whole heart and loves to teach him things, until he gets to a certain point and then wants me to just put him to bed.
* protects Matthew when we are in public ALL of the time. Will not let him out if his sight or tells me to pick him up.
* still pretty passionate most of the time. He can be hot or cold, not a lot if indifference in that boy.
* loves to play soccer, but the raw ability and/or competitive drive has yet to develop.
* animals still top his favorite list, but now Lego building is up there and art and drawing have fallen farther down.
* will not ride a bike or scooter. Don't try to talk him into it, he's heard it and is having nothing of it.
* playdates with Garrett are quite possible the best thing EVER
* changes what he likes in food on a daily basis
* Cars, and How to Train Your Dragon are still his favorite movies, but also likes to watch the baby Einstein videos with Matthew. Octonots, bubble guppies and Doc McStuffins are probably three of his favorite TV shows.
* Ipad time is a favorite activity and he has probably 50 games on there. He is really good at some of them. I am impressed at some problem solving type skills that some of those games teach him.
* Loves to pretend play. Dress up like super heros, act like animals, go on missions like spies, go hunting for things, etc. He has an incredible imagination.

Happy FIFTH Birthday Week: A year in pictures

From March 2012 to February 2013. Not near the changes as previous years, but still growing too fast!

Matthew's 'thing'

John has had this 'thing' since he was a tiny infant and could hind his arm up....he grabs and rubs your ear with his fingers when he is cuddling. He will be 5 next week and still does it.

Matthew's thing is my hair. He WILL NOT put his head on my shoulder unless my hair is no where to be felt. If even a strand was there he used to just stare and grunt like I was crazy. Now he still grunts, but then he will shuffle it off my shoulder the best he can. Once all clear, then he curls both arms into his chest and sinks into my chest.

Funny little boy!

Talks with John

Funny conversation tonight....

I asked john to help me think of something tonight and as he looked around for a bit he says:

" I am trying to think of that, but I cant't because my brain is thinking of something else....wait a minute....I am mixed up in the brain....it is like my brain is a broken TV and it has a lot of channels on at once and it can't choose what to watch"

Love a 5 year old brain....

Immunity

I am quickly figuring out that John's immune system is the exception. He was hardly ever sick as a baby; never had antibiotics until he was 3. This last two months one of the three of us, and the majority of the people we come in contact with have been pretty sick...not John, never caught it. There was one 8 day stomach thing a couple years back, but in almost 5 years, I can count the times on one hand.

Of course, being my first child, I assumed this was par for the course....enter Matthew. He has not been over the top I don't think, but easier to catch colds and seems to run a fever if you look at him wrong. (Apparently uncle Brent is the same way about fevers) My poor baby is such a trooper and you can't really tell when he is not feeling well though.

Guess having 2 babies with super immune is asking too much. Here's to all the parents that take care if sick babies!

MJ - new words every day

I think the flood gates are opening. MJ seems to have at least 2 or 3 new words every day. Thank goodness. I have been making a concerted effort to make him talk and have asked John to stop talking for him.... Low and behold... he speaks! Just in the last couple of days... "up", "eat", "stuck", "pickle" (random word thanks to Daddy), "yogurt" (Or some variaton of), "blanket" (well ... "bebe"), "sink", "pig", "elephant".

Christmas 2012

Christmas brings more and more joy to me each year as John gets older and he learns what Christmas is really about. He loves the season and of course Santa and the presents, but to hear him talk about Jesus birthday and giving, etc. it just warms my heart.

The quote of the season from John would have to be this.... he had heard on TV that a family tradition was to go around the table and say our favorite thing about Christmas. Here is our conversation:

John: Mommy we should do that.
Me: I think that is a great idea.
John: I already know what your favorite thing is.
Me: Oh ya, what?
John: Giving. (awwww)
Me: What is your favorite thing?
John: Getting.

HeeHee.

We started off December with this handy, pinterest inspired advent calendar. In which I put a slip of paper that included a special activity that we got to do for the day. Activities included, decorate cookies, dates with mom or dad, random acts of kindness, Christmas crafts, play dates, Christmas movies, look at Christmas lights, shop for Christmas presents, etc.

 

Then of course Jingles the elf showed up with breakfast and started flying around the house each night. Here are two days I happen to remember to get his picture. 

 

All John asked for on his list to Santa was a lego box and this dino shirt: 

I am super pleased with the lego box, as he has played with it every single day for quite sometime, the dino shirt on the other hand, I can do without. Other gifts he received included a toy story blanket, a remote control light up car, lots of dinosaur legos, a dragon shirt, books, an ATV, a bear sleeping bag, a razor scooter, a pop up soccer goal, an angry bird board game thing, and more wonderful things from very generous people.

 

Matthew obviously did not ask for anything, but some things he got it, balls, a tricycle, a lion sleeping bag, books, art supplies, a LOL elmo, a remote control robot, a dragon shirt, a ball pit, etc. He really did not care too much about the presents. He liked to watch other people open and then play with whatever John was playing with.

Best thing of all was that they had a white Christmas! I think I read this is only the 2nd time in 100 years that Dallas has seen a white Christmas day. It was awesome, although MJ did not want anything to do with it until the next day. Here are a few pictures:

We went to Oklahoma before Christmas and shared in the celebrations with a lot of family. Grammie had created an elf for each of the kids and decorated the tree with them. Matthew's had a sack of balls, John's had a fishing pole, Brendan had a soccer ball, Maggie had a tu-tu and baby Everett had a yellow baby blanket. She also incorporate elf-nog (lime sherbet and ginger ale) and an elf hunt with 36 different bags for the kids to find. Super fun.

Full of personality

Matthew is coming into his own little personality right now and he is FULL OF IT! I love this age so much. I remember saying that with John too. He is 22 months and I can not get enough of him!

He is so animated and can be a total ham when he wants to be. He hardly has any words, but he sure knows how to express himself and communicate very clearly.

Happy! Happy! Happy! That is the one word I would use to describe him right now, not much can get him hot and bothered, and even if it did, he bounces back pretty quickly. John being the main culprit of the "hot and bothered" moments.When he does hear no or does not get his way he simply, wipes the smile off of his face, drops his shoulders, tilts his head and looks so pitiful. It makes me smile every time! He does get the real tears every now and again and then you know it is for real, but without those tears.... you know it will be quick lived.

He points and grunts a lot or just goes and does it himself or pulls you to show you want he needs or wants. I just know the words are coming. :)

He is growing up so fast and almost everyday I say "go write that down" because I know I will forget these times. He is still sitting in a booster seat at meals so that I can make sure he stays still, but he can go without and he eats with utensils and from a real cup (sometimes). He can run really fast for his age and he jumps, both feet off the floor, pretty high. He can out shoot me in a plastic basketball game and probably out dribble John with the soccer ball. He tackles Daddy with some real force and loves to swing a bat (or anything else handy) at a ball like there is no tomorrow. He taught himself how to do a three wheel scooter a few months back. He amazes me everyday.

He has started to sleep with an animal and a blanket at nap and night night. It is so cute when he tries to grab them both and drag them upstairs. Sometimes he thinks he can do more than he can with his little pudgy legs.

Once he is warmed up in a situation he can be a real ham. He loves to dance to anything and thinks it weird if music is on and no one is dancing. He knows how to get someones attention to get what he wants.

The one thing above all is his overflowing love for his brother. If John is around, life is good. He mimics everything he does. They are playing together and really enjoying it. He literally will do whatever John is doing no matter how wacky. Watching them play together are my favorite moments throughout the day, by far. Admittedly, I get teary eyed several times a week at how sweet they are with each other and how I want to stop time. They are my angels!