Birthday Kick Off

Now heres something I can actually take credit for...the birth of our only son, and his corresponding 6th birthday party. I do have to admit I am getting birthday partied out. It would be so much easier to just be able to take him to a movie and dinner. But being a parent isnt about doing things the easy way...its about competing with all the other parents! Hahaha...but seriously, we wanna make our kids happy so I agreed to take on a bunch of hyperactive 5 and 6 year old boys running through the house plus all the work of a party planner...again.The theme of the year goes to the Green Bay Packers!

Stole this idea off Pinterest. Some lady wanted me to actually buy these from her, but I created my own for free.

 Conviently, Grandma sent Zack a cheesehead which went along nicely with his party choice, and his new Aaron Rogers Jersey.

 So funny story, all of Zacks party guests ended up being Bears fans. We are glad they came anyway. I also found out that boy parties are harder for me to plan and carry out than girl parties. For girls, you can do crafts, paint nails, whatever. And they are so calm and quiet. They listen and are easy to get along with. Zacks friends on the other hand, had a slighly smaller attention span. I had planned to paint their faces like a football player with their team mascot when they arrived, but other than Zack and Brylee, only one kid was interested. They would much rather go running all over the house. Every game turned into a yelling, screaming wrestling match! This was going to be a long 2 hours!

After chowing down some pizza, we played this little ring toss game. Of course, all the boys wanted to wear the goal post hat, but we didnt have long enough attention spans to last that long. 

 Then we emprovised and headed to the basement for a little obstacle course challenge. Of course it got physical at times...Bears vs. Packers style.

Then I found out, boys also arent good at remaining in a circle. Attempted Monkey in the Middle, but it became more like tackle the kid with the football. Glad we didnt have to send any party guests home with broken limbs or stitches. Guess this paranoid Mom just isnt used to boys. This picture doesnt do it justice.

 Finally, a sit down and relax activity...present time!

 Brylee was so excited to give Zack the gift she picked out at the dollar store. She wanted a hug, but I love that Zack is all like..."I sure hope my friends dont see this!"

 Im thinking I need to start buying my cakes. This was way too much work and Im just too picky about the outcome. Of course I wasnt happy with it, but I heard it tasted good.

 This cute face is why I put myself through all this stress!

 Packer cake...inside and out!

 And of course green ice cream to compliment it. Zacks favorite.

 After the screaming Banchi's left, Brylee had time to ask for a picture of her face painting. Not sure which football mascot this is, but shes a fan!

I think Zack should have been born in the summer. It would have been so much easier to let those boys run wild outside the house! Maybe by the time of his next party, the boys will be more calm? Right? Please?

Happy Birthday Little Man! Remember this is all because we love you!

A Lucky Generation of Kiddos

When I was little, all we did for St. Patricks day was make sure to wear green because if you didnt, you would get pinched. If you were really sneaky, you could hide your green so when someone mistakenly pinched you, you could pinch them 10 times back. That was it. Fun, Simple, Done.

Somewhere between then and now, St. Patricks day turned into something much more. I remember Madi coming home telling me about the leprechaun trap they set at school, and wanting to set one up at home. Why would you want to trap a leprechaun? Like hes actually going to tell you where his gold is hidden! Somehow the leprechauns have turned into tiny fairy like creatures that are attracted to chocolate and can fall into a paper cup and never get out due to being trapped by the piece of paper covering the top. Man, that is so way off from the way I always pictured them. Oh well, whats one little leprechaun trap? We can do that. 

But oh no...the next day the kids talk to their friends at school and find out the leprechauns actually visited their houses, played a bunch of tricks on them...and not only that...they left prizes behind! So now the leprechauns are generous trouble making thieves? Something isnt right here, but alas I must play along, because I dont want my kids to be disappointed that they were the only house on the block that the leprechauns didnt visit. I admit, it was fun the first year, when they werent sure what to expect. Now, the kids are watching intently to see if the leprechauns did their magic and turned their clover pancakes green! Dont they know, leprechauns cant work their magic when they are watching!? Its getting to be a real challenge. Especially when the head leprechaun is at church and the second in charge is working solo. But here they are...never taking their eyes off that bowl of pancake batter.

 Good thing the leprechaun in training can work some distraction techniques long enough to sneak the magic green food coloring into the bowl. Leprechaun in training #2 even pulled off some green eggs.

Brylee will demonstrate that they stay green even after they hit your mouth.

 Somehow during breakfast the miniature, almost invisible green fairy men moved everyones church clothes to silly places. They might not be strong enough to make it out of a paper covered cup, but they can lift your clothes up to the ceiling.

 That was the extent of the leprechauns mischief this year. At this rate, next year, he might not even show up at all! One can dream.

Onto our regular Sunday morning routine. Baths and...oh yeah, of course the girls want St. Patricks day hair styles. Lets see the leprechaun pull this one off.

 During church the leprechaun came back...or never left, or something; and left a trail of chocolate gold coins and glitter up to the bedrooms where...

 He left his little prize behind.

Seriously? First, Santa Clause steals our thunder, then we have the Easter bunny and tooth fairy to compete with...and now we have to deal with the stinking leprechauns getting all the credit!? Why not give credit where credit is due? The parents look like good for nothing bums after all these fairy tale creatures invade. When is enough enough? I vote for a fairy tale creature ban...whos with me!? I dont care if I sound selfish. I want the credit, because I did the work. Maybe the kids would appreciate me more knowing all the stuff I do to make their holidays magical. Would they love me as much as they love Santa and a big tall creep bunny man? Anyway, these shirts say it all...

Lucky, lucky kids.

ps. Thanks again for the shirts Grandma. At least you got the credit for those! :)

2013 so far

I realize I am guilty of posting things on Facebook and then forgetting all about my long lost blog. I also realize that it has been almost 3 month since my last post and that I have a birthday and a major holiday coming up that I cant ignore. So in light of my procrastination, here is a quick little catch up from the last 3 months of going on's.

First thing in January (after our new insurance kicked in to cover more of the expense), Madi got fitted with her new set of braces. She might kill me for posting these next picts, but since she doesnt check this blog, I'll take my chances.

Who (who's had braces) remembers the fabulousness of this experience!?

 Ahhh....the pleasantry of having your mouth pulled to degrees it should never be made to go (unless you want to join clown college). And then what do you end up with, but a set of  magnet attractors and a mouth full of cankers and bloody cheek flesh. All this and more for the low, low price of you left leg and your first born child! Madi gets to enjoy these babies for a good old 18-24 months. Dont miss it folks, dont miss it.

And now on to something I can actually afford...good old organic snow! Man, I love free entertainment. And here in Wisconsin it only takes until February to get some.  But enjoy it while it lasts, cuz it might not come around again until next year!

 No, we didnt have another child...this is on of Alissas friends. I just love this picture because if you look past those pretty girly faces, you will see our manly little guy trying his best to shovel the snow. I love that he wants to be a hard worker at such a young age...well, regarding the snow anyway.

 And this blur running past you would be someones hyper active dog. Apparently, she loves the snow!

 Gotta love our private backyard snow hill.

 And whats a snow storm without a few of these...

 And a really big one of these!

 In case you cant tell, this was really good quality snowman building snow. In fact, it was the quickest and biggest snowman we have ever constructed...see? Taller than me!

Up next, Valentines day!

The kids got a little something that Santa, the Easter Bunny, or little green leprechauns cant take credit for! Gotta love that! It was all us!

 

 And of course our traditional pink heart pancakes...

 And imagine right here, a picture of their cute heart hairdo's.

 I got a little preoccupied trying to talk someone off a cliff for getting some help they didnt want while getting ready for school. The Valentines morning took a turn for the worse, and a lot of tears and a newly purchased parenting book later...we come to dinner.

Blah blah blah...Heart shaped pizza. Im over it.

 And whats February without the school Daddy Daughter Dance? This will be Katelins last year. :(

Awwww.....

 Next!

The next best thing to free entertainment is cheap entertainment! Well, with 5 kids its about as cheap as you can get...the nosebleed section of the Milwaukee Bucks arena. It really is sad they dont have a bigger fan base, but its good news for us Jazz fans!

 Go Jazz!

Unfortunately, they lost by 2 in overtime. Those Bucks might be building a bigger fan base after all!

And lastly...whats this!? Another snow storm? Thats 2 school snow days in 2 weeks! Kids arent complaining. Our big snowman melted, so they built another one...all by themselves. Not too shabby!

And that about catches you up! For a week anyway.