we were Brave...

We had Amelia's fifth birthday party at our house, because that's what she wanted.  Our house isn't as party-friendly, and we were worried about having so many kids/parents over.  But first, here is the picture we used for her invitation.  It was Amelia's idea, after we had made the "4" last year.  I downloaded a Celtic font and put all the party details on the back. 

 And of course after weeks and weeks of mild weather, it poured rain and was chilly in the days before the party.  So much for our outdoor ideas.  I swept out the garage, and we prepared for a houseful of people.  To our surprise, the parents dropped their kids off, and left!   So it ended up being me, Nathan, my parents, and ten kids, two of them being our own.  Totally manageable.  And they are great kids.  Here they are making goblets and coloring Brave pages.

 Amelia also really wanted a piñata (that is mostly why she wanted a party at our house.).  There is a mean bear in the movie...I tried to make ours look a little fierce:

 I found a great website with lots of free printables.  This poster-size pin-the-tail-on-Angus cost me $3 at Staples:

 Amelia and her BFF, Hannah:

 In the garage, we shot suction cup arrows at the freezer, played toss the haggis (beanbags), and did the piñata.

And Mommy was so BRAVE...this year I made homemade buttercream.  Every year I think I might, but I end up wussing out and using canned.  So easy!  So tasty! 

We finally succeeded in not opening presents until after the guests had left.  Amelia had a ball at her party. 

It was kind of weird, though, our first party in this house.  We had it down to a science in Clemmons.  And so weird having all the parents leave.  It wasn't bad, because all the kids are great, and it was near the end before there were any tears, but I guess before it seemed like parents stayed because they enjoyed our kids, and are kids really aren't connected to anyone in that way yet.  Amelia had fun, that's all that matters.  (And maybe next year we can talk her into going to the little girl spa or something like that instead!)

the girl knows her presidents

The preschool blew our minds again in February as they combined Presidents' Day with learning about the values of coins.  Amelia brought home some great stuff during the month of February.

I think Amelia learned more presidential facts this year than Seth learned up through first grade.  (Second grade is no joke, though, so he learned a lot of new facts this year.)

Super Bowl Staycation

For the second year in a row, we played a family game of squares during the Super Bowl.  Amelia is now 2-0 (and Seth is a very sore loser).  At stake:  the winner got to select a 1-2 day vacation.  Amelia picked the Great Wolf Lodge, and of course none of us were sad about that!  Seth is now tall enough to ride every waterslide, which means Sara and Nathan have to take turns going down the big one with him.  It's not too bad, but it did knock my contacts loose once, and I'm terrified during the wildest part that Seth is going to lose his grip and fall out of the raft!  Nathan let the kids play MagiQuest while I got our room organized.  One round was enough for Amelia, but Seth spent over two hours playing Sunday night.  Amelia and I hit the water park hard while the boys did magic:

The exhausted boys met us in the room right before storytime...Seth was too tired to go, so I took Amelia, and then she stayed for the dance party afterwards!

More MagiQuest in the morning, and then we played in the water park until after 2...we were tired kids when we got home Monday afternoon!

cracking out the snow gear...

We were home twenty minutes and it started to snow.  Thirty minutes later, our backyard looked like this:

Nathan and I bought snowpants a couple winters ago.  In the last year, we have both bought boots.  Every year I buy the kids boots and snowpants at consignment sales, just in case this happens.  By the time we got all bundled up, most of the kids on the street were out, and they had a blast playing in this perfect snow.

(As you can see, Colette liked it, too.)

I say perfect snow, because although it stuck around overnight, it didn't mess up the roads at all, and it all melted the next day before we left on our next adventure. 

snowy birthday

My mom got a nice birthday surprise this year...big, white, fluffy snowflakes that didn't mess up the roads!  The kids and I went to Cary on Friday night, and I got a text from Nathan, "Did you know it's supposed to snow tomorrow?"  Um, no.  Then in the morning, Nathan says it's snowing at home, by 10am, it was snowing in Cary.  This is what we encountered on our trip to the bird store:

We headed back home mid-afternoon, and half the drive was on wet roads with some sort of precipitation falling from the sky (it's wasn't rain, it wasn't snow, it wasn't sleet, it wasn't ice, just some sort of mist...).  The second half was on dry roads, and I even saw a bit of blue sky here and there.  We made it home at about 4:40.  Stay tuned for how we spent our evening!

how we valentine

Here is the aftermath of the kids going through their goodie bags after school:

 I think I made something as glamorous as Hamburger Helper for dinner that night, but I did make a pumpkin pie.  Because nothing says, "she loves me" like pumpkin pie to the guys in this house, even if it is February!

Amelia shows some love

Ahhhhh.  This is the first time Amelia has ever made anything recognizing only her awesome big brother:

What made it even sweeter was that as I walked down the hallway, her classmates' versions said, "I love my family because they love me" or "I love Emma because she shared her crayon". 

After Valentine's Day, she came home with these other cute crafts:

homemade valentines

We used a lot of card stock in February.  This year we made homemade, no candy valentines.  Amelia stuck to her owl theme.  She made the larger owls out of kits I found at craft stores for her teachers, and the smaller ones were a free printable I found online.  Instead of putting candy as the branch, we used bubbles.

Seth also wanted homemade valentines, and he chose ones that used glowsticks.  The boys received Lego Star Wars light sabers, and he picked out hearts for the girls.  Also free printables.

I also bought plain white candy boxes that the kids decorated with stickers for their teachers, and then I made brownie balls for them.  It was a big ol' mess, and I probably won't do it again, but I heard they were tasty!

from the ipad

A Saturday morning self-portrait by Amelia (check out Colette's cameo):

Seth channeling his inner Charlie Brown:

Blue & Gold Banquet

On the 9th, Seth's Pack had their Blue & Gold banquet, which celebrates the birthday of the Cub Scout organization and where the boys receive their rank advancements.  It was held at what is slated to be the kids' high school (which was very nice inside!), and we had NC BBQ and all the fixings.  Here we are after Seth received his Wolf badge (and I received my mommy pin):

 Here is some Amelia photography...the program was a little long, and a little boring...the boys entertained themselves by playing Pokémon cards:

last practice

On the night of Seth's last basketball practice, his coach invited the parents to play against the kids at the end of practice.  We found out the next day, that when the coach asked Seth if we were going to play, Seth said, "I don't know.  My dad might be too tired from counting money all day and my mom, well, she isn't good at basketball."  

 

Alas, the finance guy did have enough energy to play...that is Seth (in green), attempting a shot:

 And here is Nathan dunking on the 8-foot rim:

4th annual Jonah's EB Auction

Happy fourth birthday, Jonah!

As always, I write this post with his mom's permission.  Four years ago right now I was in the throes of admitting Jonah into the nursery. I never took care of him again, but he touched my heart, and I have joyfully (and sometimes tearfully) followed his mom's blog over the past four years.  To celebrate his first birthday, Jonah's EB Auction was created to help raise money for a cure for EB.  For the first three years I donated a diaper cake to the auction.  I wasn't able to do that this year, so I have donated my time by placing auction items on a board on pinterest.  When I sheepishly emailed volunteering to help, starting with a "you might not remember me, but...", I was told I am part of the auction "family".  So as family, it is my duty to tell you that Jonah's EB Auction begins tomorrow (the 28th) at 8pm.  If you aren't on pinterest, you can look at the auction blog to see what's up for grabs this year.  Lots of good stuff.  Make sure you check out the retro quilt!  I know it was made with love, and the quilt donated last year by the same person made a lot of money for the auction!

V is for:

Vampire Viking:

Duh!  



Cub Scout Legos

That night I took Seth to Cub Scouts.  They did a lot of Lego work that night.  First, they had to build their centerpiece for our table at Blue & Gold:

Then they had to decorate the Pack's spirit stick.  They chose to hot glue Legos on their portion of the stick.

They are a few in number, but they are mighty (LOUD). 

Sewing Basics

While the "old man" was at school, I tried to be at the preschool as soon as the doors opened, and then I hustled to Concord for a sewing basics class.  I had found a Living Social deal and it was $15 for a 2 1/2 hour class.  After we all got our sewing machines set up, the instructor handed us each a pack of tissues, and I got very scared:

It was a very informative class and corrected every mistake I had been making.  I practiced straight lines for a little bit, and allowing the machine to do the work:

 Then we worked on our project, tissue covers!

I was so proud of myself.  I didn't get frustrated, I didn't jam up the machine, I didn't cry or say bad words....I'd really like to take the Beyond the Basics class.  It is three sessions for $85, so I'm hoping for another groupon or Living Social deal, or I'm going to sign up as my birthday present!

I finished about ten minutes early, which gave me a couple minutes to stop at Concord Mills and hit a big sale at The Children's Place and grab lunch in the food court before it was time to pick Amelia up from preschool. 

100th day of second grade!

February 5th was the 100th day of school for Seth.  The entire second grade dressed up like they were 100 years old.  He went to school that day dressed like this:

at the circus!

Back in January, I bought tickets to see the circus.  I think I went in kindergarten, but Nathan and the kids had never been to one.  I tried hard to get the best deal possible, and spent over 45 minutes on the phone trying to use two coupon codes. (It worked.)  Flash forward to the end of the month; I won tickets to the circus from Charlotte Parent magazine!  So I sold my tickets and off we went. 

 

Our kids are awesome.  We didn't tell them what we were doing, and by the time we got to Charlotte, they thought we were going to a garden expo at the Bobcats area, and they were okay with that.  And they obviously don't have brand recognition, because they still didn't know where they were going when we took this picture: 

 Seth figured it out as we approached the entrance and a barker was selling programs (for $15!).  Amelia didn't figure it out until she saw the merchandise inside the building.  We were allowed to go on the floor before the show and watch the clowns get everyone warmed up:



Here is a picture of the big opening sequence:

 I did get a couple good pictures of the animals:

 We had a GREAT time.  It was longer than we expected; it even had an intermission!  I'm so glad that we waited until the kids were older to go.  The toddlers in the crowd were dropping like flies as the show went through lunch and naptime.  A Sprite, popcorn, and a pretzel to share, and we were good to go!

 

 

 

in his gullet

Last night, Seth came into our room at about 7:45 asking for dessert.  Our eyes about popped out of our heads, because how could the kid be hungry?  The three of us listed everything Seth had eaten (don't judge...it was a party weekend here...):

• TWO kid-sized cereal bowls full of monkey bread
• an ENTIRE can of Chef-boy-ardee whole grain beefaroni
• a large dish of pineapple chunks
• a bowl of cereal with milk
• half a bag of popcorn at the movie theater
• a whole grain pancake with blueberries on top, an order of scrambled eggs, and one slice of bacon at IHOP

and then the ice cream (which was about 1/4 cup Neapolitan.)

When we finished the list, I asked, "Can I have your metabolism?"  Seth replied, "You can have my autograph!"  Ha!

Scouting for Food

On Groundhog Day, Seth and I bundled up and went to collect bags for Scouting for Food. We had a great time, and Seth was disappointed that there were no streets left when we finished our first run.  

I found out this week that the Cub Scouts collected over 5000 pounds of food.  Wow!

it's in my genes

This is my Great Grandpa B.  My Grandpa B was a superintendent of schools, and my Grandma B was a teacher. My dad and his sister are both avid readers.  I don't remember seeing my mom reading until I was in high school (although I understand why...they are a lot of days I only read in the car rider line and at bedtime!).  I have always loved to read.  My parents said they used to have to read me the Sesame Street Dictionary, and that I could tell if they skipped words.  I was always one of the top in the summer reading contests, and I figured out why in later elementary school...I had become near sighted and it was easier to read in the car than see things out the windows!  There were very few assigned books in high school that I didn't enjoy (although I was a not a fan of the research papers that sometimes went along with it).  I didn't read a whole lot in college but would devour books over the holidays and on Spring Break.  In my adult life, I've read anywhere from 30-75 books a year.  Nathan's dad teased me over the holidays that I have turned everyone into readers.  Almost every time we see each other, books are exchanged.  I can't help it; it's in my genes!  As I mentioned before, Nathan reads every day during his commute (using public transportation), and he is flying through epic series.  I think I have passed the reading gene on to the kids.  They see Nathan and I reading, and I read to them every night, with rare exceptions.  If I am home, I do bedtime for boths kids, and I like the quiet time at the end of the day...I missed a whole lot of bedtime kisses working second shift for seven years.  Seth and I are five books into the Wizard of Oz series.  He has started reading the Lemony Snickets series on his own, in addition to his required reading from school.  Amelia's school recently started a reading coupon program that keeps track of the number of books the kids have read to them.  She gets a book (or two) of her own each night after Seth goes to bed.  I've had to replenish my coupon supply twice so far, and we're only three weeks into the program!  It's amazing how many parents don't read to their kids.  It's a way of life for us, but the preschool feels like it has to do this incentive program to have the kids heckle their parents into reading to them!  Amelia's class has also started learning sight words; we'll have another little reader on our hands soon enough!

just passing the time...

...while her brother does homework.

Amelia has been really silly lately (in case you couldn't tell).

no bento

When Seth started kindergarten, I made a conscientious effort to not use plastic bags with lunch/snack, and I bet I have used less than ten in the whole time he's been in elementary school.  Amelia eats lunch at school four days a week this year, and Seth usually buys lunch two or three days a week.  I bought them both bento boxes last summer.  Amelia will use hers if her lunch is something like boiled eggs, celery with peanut butter, ie no sandwich.  Seth doesn't like his, even after Nathan made the latch a little easier for a kid to open.  Oh, how I wish they liked their bento boxes.  This is one day's lunch and snack containers:



What?  Don't like my dirty dishes?  I really wanted to post the day-3 picture of my broken toe, but I realize not all of you are members of the medical community, and therefore don't really want to see the remarkable amount of color that a third of a foot can possess when a person has a low baseline platelet level.  It didn't even hurt that bad!  I'm going to try to run on it for the first time tomorrow (maybe)...wish me luck!

science field trip

Last Tuesday Amelia's class went on a field trip to see the Science Lady.  The church bus can hold 14 children, so the teachers asked if I could drive Amelia.  The day before she came home in a puddle of tears; she was so upset that everyone else was going to get to ride the bus.  Two children ended up being absent, so Amelia was able to ride the bus, but she still wanted me to go along.  The kids learned about mixing primary colors.  Here they are using pipettes to create new colors:

Then they layered this jelly-like stuff into a tube:

 When they took it to the window, they could see the beginnings of a rainbow as the colors blended together.

 By that evening she had a nice rainbow going on.  We're keeping it in the kitchen window.  It's slowly losing its magic properties and turning mostly green and blue.  We love science!

toothless

On Saturday the 26th at about 7:30, Seth lost his bottom tooth that has been loose since late November.  The next night, at 8:05, he lost the top tooth that has been loose since before Thanksgiving.  The tooth fairy didn't think it was a typo and came both nights.  The bottom tooth has already started to come in, but nothing on the top yet.  After over two years with the other top tooth missing, it looks so strange to see his mouth this way!  Last night we discovered that another top tooth is loose.  Maybe the tooth fairy will have to visit again before Easter!

"Lollipop"

My girl was born fifty years too late.  One day our kids' station on Pandora played 'Rockin' Robin' or something like that, and has subsequently added more and more oldies as Amelia has given them the 'thumbs up'.  One night after I put Seth to bed, I walked into my room to find Nathan asleep, and Amelia watching a silly Bob Hope/Bing Crosby movie cuddled up against him. Last week she watched an episode of "I Love Lucy'.  I bet she would love the Shirley Temple movies.