Drew Turns 4! (2 1/2 months ago)

We had a wonderful birthday celebration with Drew this year. Months before his birthday he began to discuss his "theme" with me. We had a lot of good ideas this year....fighting, soldiers, pirates....but, he finally decided on super heroes. I'm not sure how he got into superheroes, since he doesn't really own many, or watch shows about them, but somehow he discovered them on his own. It's usually through books he sees at the library or book store. Anyway, once he came up with his theme I started "googling" ideas. On-line I found a cake idea, a fun game, and a way to make costumes. With this age, I realize you can't do too much or they get overwhelmed. Here's some pictures of our fun day! (FYI- I was 6 weeks pregnant, and this was the last weekend I felt good. So glad my nauseau waited until after Drew's big day) Here we are in the preparation stage. Drew was making sure he could run in his costume. The costumes were SO simple and inexpensive. The cape is made from a plastic tablecloth. 1 tablecloth= about 8 capes. I made the labels on the back myself, and just used the first initial of each child's name. The video for making the cape was on YouTube.

The masks and wrist bands were made out of foam sheets. I used elastic for around the head, and velcro to attach the wrist bands. Each band had a different shape drawn on them to add some interest.

The morning of the party was exciting because we had a bounce house being delivered. Here are the boys watching the set-up. I was pleasantly surprised that the cost of renting one was so reasonable.
Drew's superhero bounce house.
Here is Drew helping me to bake his cake and cupcakes. We had just gotten this hat in the mail and he needed to try it out.

Here is a close-up of the cake. It was definitely not perfect, but when I priced out cakes that I wanted, it made the decision to try making my own much easier. I always use box cake mixes, but I make my own buttercream icing and I think that helps it to taste pretty good. :)

Here's the final cake with the topper and cupcakes.

Knox hanging out at the party.

Using the stomp rocket with our friend Callie. It's a really fun and inexpensive toy for anyone interested. We even use it inside.

Brothers

Here's Drew openning a few toys. We got him a Leapster. I really debated about it, because I don't want a video game kid. But, Drew loves it and he respects our limits on it. He's usually allowed to play it every other night in his bed after we tuck him in, and then he can play until we say lights out. He's never whined about it during the day. I can't believe how quickly he picked it up. He's way better at it than I am.

This year he got a bike from Mimi and Papa. Now that it's hot he rides it a lot inside the house around the dining room table.

The one activity I found on-line had to do with a "bad man". This was how the kids would be earning their costumes. I gathered the kids and told them that today they would all get a chance to be a super hero and that I would need their help. Andy (I mean), the Bad Man rushed out and the first thing he did was drop a load of bombs (black balloons). The kids had to diffuse (pop) all of the bombs. Once the did this they all earned their cape.



Next, the bad man dropped kryptonite (green rocks from Michaels). The kids couldn't touch it, so they took turns with tongs putting them in a safe bucket. I didn't really get good pictures of this, but here's Knox playing in the bucket of rocks. The kids then earned their wrist bands.

The last thing that happened is that Bad Man stole a present. The kids grabbed water guns and had to chase him and spray him until he gave up. They all earned their masks.

Here is Drew once he earned everything. The kids seemed to really enjoy it. It wasn't much planning and it added just enough to the party to have something fun for them to all do together. Most importantly, Drew loved his party!! A happy boy=a happy mommy. :)

bowling

Our homegroup decided to go bowling one night and we had a great time. I hadn't bowled in years and I forgot how much fun it could be. The kids really enjoyed it, and couldn't wait for it to be their turn again.

Here's a picture of Drew and his buddy James. They have been friends for life. :)

I'm back!

So...I haven't posted in forever, but I have a good excuse. We found out we were pregnant!! I have been so sick, I haven't been doing much of anything. I'm finally feeling some relief from the nauseau, so I'm trying to get back to doing some of our normal activities. Hopefully, I can catch you up on some of the fun things that have happened over the past few months.

Here are pictures of when we told the boys we were having a baby. We waited until our first ultrasound. I'm about 10 weeks along in these pictures. The boys are excited, but honestly I think they forget most of the time. 9 months is a long time to wait!

Go Maroon and Yellow!

I figured if I put Maroon and Yellow instead of Garnet and Gold it won't seem like I'm cheering for FSU as much!! Yesterday our neighbor invited the boys and I to join her at an afternoon FSU game. It was a beautiful day, plus Andy was out of town, so I thought it would be a lot of fun. I let Drew skip his nap so that we could get there on time, and I put Knox down a little early. Other than some meltdowns (from Knox) as we were getting ready to leave, the boys did really well. Our neighbor's son plays on the team, so we wanted to go and show our support. Andy and Drew have gone to a few games and they really enjoy this "boy" time. It would probably be easier if I just had Drew, but I thought it was fun letting Knox experience the game.

When we first got there we were standing at the fence watching them warm up, when one of the pitchers came up to us and handed Knox a ball, then gave Drew a high five.Here is Knox showing off his treasure. He LOVES balls. At one point during the game he wanted to throw the ball back onto the field, because he saw that's where all of the other balls were.This is our neighbor coming over to say hi to the boys.There was a kid next to us getting autographs and he offered us his marker, so we asked Robbie to sign it for the boys. It was their first autograph!Knox did not like to sit down for long. I think the only time he sat was when I was feeding him a hot dog. It made for an interesting time. I wasn't sure what the "protocol" at a game is. I didn't know if he was a distraction, or if people are used to it, but there was no getting him to sit still. We stayed through the 7th inning.

Here is our neighbor Kathy. She and her husband are so good to the boys. They are always giving them a special treat and they always remember to give them a present on special occasions. We're very blessed to have such great neighbors!On our way home! Drew had a great time....and you can see Knox (below) did as well!

Happy Birthday to......ME!!!

February 15th, I turned 32. It was a great birthday....thanks to my wonderful husband, family, and great friends! The Friday night before my b-day Andy took me out to dinner and a movie (which is my very, very favorite thing to do). We ate at Masa and then went and saw Valentine's Day, which I thorougly enjoyed. As soon as we got home Andy wanted me to open my presents. (He's not one for being patient. Sine he bought them that day he wanted me to open them.)

Here we are at Masa.

Here we are before going out. (with the boys)

Here is part of my present from Andy. Some new jeans from Buckle, which is my very favorite store for jeans. He also got me a top from there. Because he wanted me to have something to open on my actual birthday he went later that weekend and got me a few things from Ann Taylor Loft as well. Drew picked out a really cool necklace from there, and Andy picked out some great things, but they were PJ's and I wanted "real" clothing so I exchanged them for a really cute dress and skirt. On my b-day my good friend Tara brought her 2 kids over and watched my 2 while I went to the mall for 2 hours to do all of my exchanges. It was wonderful!!! Thank you Tara!

Fruit of the Spirit

At Bible study our teacher talked about the Fruit of the Spirit this past week. She has mentioned it other times, and I thought it would be such a great scripture to work on with Drew. I decided we would make a poster with the verse on it and a bowl for the fruit. Drew helped me to come up with what fruit to use, then I wrote on the back of each of them one of the "fruits" so that, for example, the grapes are "self-control". When I see Drew exhibit one of these fruits he gets to go and put the fruit in the bowl. At the end of the day we talk about what fruits he exhibited that day. He gets a little treat for each fruit. (this week it's 1 M&M/fruit) He thinks it's fun! We also came up with a little song with motions so he can learn the verse. We've been performing it each night for daddy, and practicing it in the car when we go places. If I could ever figure out how to upload a video I would show you, but for now, just close your eyes and picture it in your head. :) I wanted to share this because I LOVE getting ideas from other moms on sharing the Word with my children, so maybe this will spark some ideas for some of you other moms, or maybe you can share some of your ideas with me. I'm always eager to hear and learn....

January at a glance

It's been awhile since I have posted here, so I thought I would try and give you a quick overview of our month. It's been pretty cold here, so we've stayed home a lot more than we usually do, which has been a nice change of pace for us.

Knox has to do EVERYTHING he sees Drew doing, which is really cute, but also at times difficult, because he wants to take every toy Drew has. We're working on it (about 50 times a day!) Here is an example of what I am talking about. Drew was climbing up the outside of the stairs, and therefore Knox had to give it a try as well.

Knox found Drew's hat on the floor and put it on himself. I like how he decided to wear it a little to the side, and may have to try that on Drew next time.

My Mom and Dad were here for a visit, and while they were here we celebrated my dad's 54th birthday! I know I am in pajamas (which I always am when I'm not leaving the house), and the boys don't have shirts on (because we had lasagna), but at least my dad looks nice!

One afternoon we went to the Florida Natural History Museum, which has a lot of fun things for the boys to look at. Here are my parents and the boys at the top of the paddle boat.

Drew needed some new underwear, and since I won't let him wear "cartoon-ish" outfits, I let him pick out fun underwear. He loves transformers, so we found transformer boxer briefs. What else do you do with new underwear, but put it on your head??

Knox learning to read. (just kidding)

Most days I still have Drew take a nap (more for me, than for him probably). But, some afternoons I'll allow him to stay up and do "school" with mommy while Knox is napping. While I put Knox to sleep he'll go downstairs, get out his work book, put pillows on the floor for us to lay on while we work, and wait patiently. The other day, we were talking about helping in his workbook and they instructed us to make a "helping hand" for Drew to wear when he was a helper that day. By the time Andy got home, his hand looked like this. I didn't even notice....Andy did. He asked, "why is he wearing a hand like this?" (if you can't see clearly, the middle finger is the only one left up)

The circus was coming to town (which Drew and I ended up going to), and to promote it they had clowns come and do a show at the library. Both boys loved it! If you look closely, you may be able to see Drew's clown nose.

Drew has been teaching Knox how to pray with him before meals. Now if Drew doesn't start quickly enough, Knox will go "uh, uh, uh" and fold his hands, until Drew gets the picture.

With all of the cold, we've been enjoying many fires. Here is a picture of the boys enjoying a fire before bed time.

When Andy gets home from the gym he always allows Drew to listen to his music, but not to be left out here is Knox joining in.

I hope you all have had a wonderful winter, and with Valentine's Day coming up this weekend I thought I would leave you with a verse about love.

This is one of the first verses Drew ever learned, and this week we decided to work on it with Knox. (i think it will take awhile;))

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and soul, and strength." Deut. 6:5