Necklace

One of the few parts of Ali's birthday party Logan participated in was the necklace-making, and he was rather proud of his necklace that was almost as tall as him!

Bear

Eli and this bear were inseparable for about three days last week. Here Eli is reading to him:

And we had to make bear a crown when Eli got one:

I was kind of sad when bear got left behind after a few days; he was a cute side-kick and Eli was adorably sweet to him!

Ali's Princess Party

Ali chose a Princess Party and had three cute friends there to help celebrate: Leah, Cambrie, and Addison. We played a dress-up relay race where they decked themselves out in jewels, ran to check themselves out in the mirror, then ran back and took all the jewels off so the next teammate could do the same; pin the crown on the princess (both the princess and crowns drawn by Ali); a treasure hunt for Cinderella's shoe that she had left behind on an earlier visit (the girls were super disappointed when I fessed up that said Princess hadn't really been here earlier); charades where they pretended to be a certain princesses and the girls guessed which one (these little actresses loved this game and we had to go through the list a second time because they wanted to keep playing); musical chairs where the chairs were Cinderella's coach that was changing back into a pumpkin, which was why it was shrinking; Freeze tag where the girl wearing a mask was the Wicked Witch and froze anyone she touched who could then be unfrozen if a friend tagged them (they loved this game and played for a long time, taking turns being the witch about every minute, and had to have a water break when they finally called it quits). We also made and decorated crowns and strung fruit loops on string to make necklaces. 

Because these Princesses were so sweet and kind, Musical Chairs ended in a three-way tie (Ali chose to control the music rather than play).

The Pinata, cake, and presents rounded out the party.

Jason and I love our Princess Ali and feel amazingly blessed to have this fun, thoughtful, funny, friendly, helpful, smart, silly girl in our family.

Logan's Space Party

For the first time this year, Ali and Logan had separate birthday parties. We had them both on Monday, a day off from school, Logan's from 10-noon and Ali's from 1-3pm. I chose to have Logan's first because I thought Ali would be able to be patient about waiting for her party...I was wrong about that, but in the end she settled down and was able to enjoy participating in Logan's party while waiting for hers. I was still glad I did them in the order we did because the boys were super energetic and I'm not sure I would have enjoyed them as much if they were the second party of the day:)

Along with his siblings, Logan had David, Addison, Jared and Cade to help him celebrate his birthday. We had a moon-rock hunt (rocks painted neon green hidden in the front room); a moon-rock relay where they had to use space arms (aka serving tongs) to move the rocks from one place to another as teams; pin the antennae on the alien (both drawn by Logan, they loved this so we played twice); the kept the asteroids (aka balloons) from hitting their spaceship (aka the floor) using their space arms (aka serving tongs); musical chairs where the chairs were the spaceship and it was shrinking because spaceships loose pieces as they move further into space; we threw foil balls at the attacking aliens (or pictures of them strung on a rope); and attempted to remove nuts and blots from the bottom of bowls of water wearing astronaut gloves (aka medical gloves) using the ever-present space arms (serving tongs).

We also painted space pictures and made UFOs using CDs and bowls. The pinata (perfectly broken by Logan after everyone had taken their turn hitting it), presents, and cake finished off the fun party.

If you're wondering why we had the parties a month before the kids' birthdays, this cute boy is the reason: Cade and his family moved this week, and he was the first person Logan thought of when he was listing off friends he wanted to invite. So we had the parties early. Poor consolation to having a friend move away, but a sliver lining nonetheless.

Jason and I are so thankful to be the parents of such a creative, thoughtful, imaginative, funny, smart, helpful, amazing boy.

Cakes

I was super proud of the cakes I made for the kids' birthday parties; they turned out just the way they were in my head. It is amazing how much it helped that for the first time ever I actually made the frosting thick enough! Here again the kids helped, Ali by putting the star candy on both the cakes and Logan by building the Legos that went on his cake almost entirely by himself (Dad helped just a little).

Logan was very proud that he was able to build something that, according to the box, only kids 6-12 could make--and he's only five!

Party Prep

This year I had Ali and Logan help me do a lot of things to get ready for their birthday parties, including making pinatas. I thought they might get tired of it after the first layer, but no, they loved it and reminded me each day-repeatedly- that we needed to add more. 

I had no false expectations about my artistic ability and continually told myself that my goals for the pinatas were: 1) Do something different and fun with my kids and 2) that they would break when hit and not before. Done and done:)

Lap Time

Ali has started letting/wanting/asking Eli to sit on her lap or to try and carry him around, and of course he is happy for any positive attention and so loves to humor her. The only things Logan likes on his lap are his own creations:)

The Artist At It Again

When Logan finds a book at the library he loves, unfailingly he makes his own copy of it (duplicating on his own paper the illustrations on each page) so he "can still have it when we take it back to the library."

And here is another self-motivated art project (we have at least one daily). Have I mentioned how much this boy likes to create things?

Many Twins

I looked over and these two were sitting exactly the same, neither of them realizing they were. Ali and Logan are seldom the only twins in our home:)

Tech Junkies

Jason and I are always about ten years behind the rest of the country when it comes to gadgets and new technologies--if we catch up at all. So the Kindle I got for my birthday is the first tablet of any kind we've had, thus making Eli the youngest user of such a thing our family has ever had. For some reason I get the biggest kick out of watching them so effortlessly navigate it! They instinctively figure out how to do things on them that I couldn't even figure out!

Warrior

Logan doesn't dress up all that often anymore, but when he does he makes sure he has the whole ensemble!

Apple Smile

PB Face

Eli is trying to figure out the best way to eat sandwiches without getting the insides all over his face (he doesn't like to be sticky), and is not often very successful. But, boy is he cute!

Family Pictures

OK, so even though I didn't get the variety I was hoping for, I did find some I loved. And between JD and I both taking our time about it, they will finally be up on my wall in the next couple of days:) I am so glad to be a part of this family!

Photo Shoot

So, back in October my wonderful brother JD agreed to do a photo shoot for my family. I keep thinking, "They're old enough now to cooperate. They can handle the idea of sit and smile," but we clearly still aren't there yet. I just love looking at collages of family pictures in different groups--you know one of just the kids, just the girls or just the boys, some of everyone, etc. And I long for that. Maybe when they're teenagers. We're lucky we got anything. Seriously.

Writing

It has been fun to see Ali and Logan's writing improve this year both in skill and desire to write. Don't be surprised if you get a note from one of them!