Cute kids stuff

Tanner found a double long piece of macaroni at lunch and proudly said, "Mom, look!  Can I put it in a museum?"

Lily: "I lub your gut-ths!"

I love warm days when Luke can hang out in a onesie.  I just want to cuddle him to death and nibble those little elbow dimples.  He is a little darling.

Tanner's 6th Birthday

We decided to let Tanner have his first "friend" party this year.  He ended up having 4 school friends, 4 church friends, 4 cousins, and of course 4 siblings come.  The party was on his actual birthday! After consulting the internet, we came up with quite a Superhero adventure. They were invited to wear their own superhero gear and when they got there, we had pizza and cool aid. We started the activities by having them do an obstacle course to practice their super powers.  They had to climb up the slide like Spider-man and come down the ladder in the playhouse, then they had to practice flying like Superman on the swings on their bellies.  Then they jumped through hoops on the grass to prepare to jump over a building in a single bound(a stack of wood blocks).    Then we gave them each a cape and explained that there was an evil villain in the neighborhood out to steal all birthday cakes!  Just about the same time, the villain showed up(sounding a lot like Peter's dad) and dropped "bombs" all over the lawn.  These were balloons that the kids had to pop to diffuse.   Then we gave them masks and explained that they had better protect their true identity in case the villain came back.  Well, he did of course, and this time he threw "Kryptonite" all over and ran away laughing.  These were large green floral marbles.  The kids took turns picking them up with tongs, so that they would not loose their super powers and put them in a cooler so that it could be disposed of.  

  
Then we gave them all bands for their wrists to help give them strength.  We also gave them silly string and called them web slingers.  By this time, the kids were just waiting for the villain to come back.  Sure enough:

Once he was defeated, Peter arrested him and took him away.



I hung red and blue balloons on the playhouse and hung blue streamers on the overhang of the back porch to look like webs. I printed up signs that said "Pow", "Pop" etc. and put them around as well. I also found various lanterns and pinwheel type things at the dollar store that matched(but were for the 4th of July).  I was so busy this day, that pictures were more of an afterthought.  But here is is Superhero cake. It was Ice cream sandwich cake and the superheros are from the plastic bags that the party favor candy came in.



Tanner received lots of Spiderman stuff.  His voice got more excited and high pitched with each one.




SUPER Lily!!!!






  On Sunday we had a family dinner/party, which was also tons of fun.  We did Tanner trivia, which was fun because half the answers were Spiderman.  Everyone would shout it out every time.

   About a week before his birthday, Tanner decided to start decorating.  He and Peter found a bunch of his Spider-man works of art to start, and Tanner diligently made more every day up to the party and added it to the walls.  This was the wall with the most, but it was everywhere! 



Tanner was over the top excited about his cake.  He had begged for these figurines at the store recently to no avail.  I thought they would make great cake toppers though.

My video camera ran out of battery when we sang to him, but he was being so cute.  I have several pictures instead.

















This was when he accidentally coughed instead of blowing.  Funny, but ewe.

Spiderman projector from Grandma.

Peter and I decided to get Tanner Avenger costumes which worked out well since he got Spiderman everything from others.  He loves to wear costumes, so this worked out great.





This was convenient for the activity we had planned.  I charged the video camera and the kids all wore the costumes and we told them to go outside and make a movie.  That's it.  Peter took the video and they had a blast acting silly.  Then we all went in the playhouse and watched the footage and laughed.















Aren't they cute little superheros?

It was a great end to all the Birthday-palooza that we have had going on.  Then I took a 2 day nap.  Well, I wanted to anyway.

Photos Lately

We made a large order to Scholastic to fill up on our summer reading. There was a lot of excitement when it finally came. I decided not to tell the kids about it, so they were surprised by the whole thing.

Drawing Captain Underpants

The kids love their "Jack and Annie" books.  We have borrowed them so much that I thought it was about time to own the set.  Tanner has eagerly been working on reading his phonics books.



We have hundreds of strawberries this year! I have been getting about a bowl every day, plus what the kids eat while they are outside.  Eden is keeping them pretty well harvested.

Dallin got this Lego set from Peter's parents for his birthday.

Finished Nanoblocks

More Jenga.  They have also been lining them up like dominos a lot.

I found a clearance sale on Easter clothing at a store called Crazy8, which is owned by Gymboree. I love it because I can get matches with this big of an age range.  I actually bought two whole sets of Sunday matches for an incredible price! It sure makes getting ready for church easy.  Poor Luke was napping, but we didn't want a picture without him.  He was NOT happy about being woken up.
Wigglys
   I got to teach a mini photography class to Dallin's scout group and then the boys practiced with their cameras.  These are 2 of his photos:

Journaling

Well, we did it.  We finished up our birthday season with Tanner.  We totally went big with birthdays this year.  I think it is because some years I just don't have the energy (depending on pregnancy and new babies). But this year I feel good, like myself!  I guess I am making up for lost time or something.  I have been busy planning and carrying out party after party and having a great time with it.  I must say I am glad it is done now though!  This last month has been nothing but projects and fun, but it has been stressful.  I think one of the most stressful things for me is getting my house ready for entertaining.  It is no secret that most of the time things are not presentable around here, so it takes about a day to get it that way.  It is all so worth it though, we have had a great time as a family. Talk about fun!

There is no way I could even capture all the cute things that have been happening around here.  So much changing, so much happening, 6 kids in 6 different phases. I feel truly blessed to have each little spirit in our home.  My cup runneth over.

We were all so ready for school to get out.  The kids had fun those last few days with parties and field days.  Now we are well into late night sibling slumber parties every night and sleeping in.  There is such a relaxed feeling in our home now.  Everyone is so happy and calm.  Kids are getting along better and enjoying the newness of change. 

I am not as ready for summer as far as planning goes, but now that the birthdays are over, I have made it a priority.  There are so many fun things to do, I can't wait.  So far I have been researching the vast array of free things for kids(there is tons), signing up for summer reading programs at the library, and signing up for swim lessons.  We are going to do 3 sessions of swim lessons this year and Carter is going to start as well so he is excited!  I just want them all to be good swimmers for their safety and my own sanity.  This is definitely a priority for me.

We started going to the park yesterday.  I LOVE the program there.  There are sponsored activities every single day and so much to do, including free lunch.  We leave the house at about 10:15 and get there at 10:30.  We always go straight to the craft pavilion.  It starts at 10:30 so we are usually the first ones there and not crowded.  Then we play at the field activities for an hour or so.  Yesterday there was a police car to look at and giant bubble among other things.  I love that we can do these things and I don't have to come up with it, we just show up and it is there (and free).  Then we have lunch at 12:00.  After lunch we go back over to the field for Superhero training.  The kids are really into it this year.  It is really a 30 minute PE class, but they make it fun with lots of games and activities.  The kids earn a new piece of a superhero uniform for attending every 5 times.  By the time we are done it is 1 or 1:30 and we are worn out. 

I love that we have somewhere to go everyday.  It helps keep us on a schedule, keeps the house from getting destroyed and keeps the boredom away.  Last summer we didn't go much because I was very pregnant and my toddlers were too hard to chase, but this is a good time for us to handle it.  I will probably have a sore throat all summer from yelling for kids to "come back!" though.  It is a big chore to keep track of 6 at a busy park. 

With this part of our day in place, it is necessary that we come home and have "quiet time".  Babies need naps and we all need some down time (especially momma).  In the past I have sent the kids down to the basement to watch a movie while the the rest of us nap.  I didn't want to do that this year because then it really isn't quite time for those who are in the basement.  I feel that it is important to have quiet time to yourself, and I don't want all that wasted screen time.  So I bought 5 little tubs with lids that perfectly fit a few books and quiet activities in them.  So when we got home from the park yesterday, each kid got their own little quiet tub and went to their chosen area of seclusion for a blessed silent hour.  It was heavenly!  Naps lasted longer, and kids got their reading in.  I really think it is really rejuvenating for everyone to have alone time.  Dallin went to the upper level of the playhouse, Eden went to the "Art room" which is the room by the kitchen, Tanner went to the living room(and fell asleep), Carter was in the basement, Lily in her room and Luke in his. I laid down in my room too.

So that is as far as we have gotten with our summer plans.  I have been using the Cozi calendar to plan out many other events which is such a useful tool, but am not close to done yet.  I have so much more that I want to add to our days/weeks so that we get the most out of summer.  It is going to be so fun.  Yay for summer!

Lily is talking like crazy lately and it is so cute I can't stand it.  I love her little voice and the way she expresses herself.  I wish I could just tape a video recorder to my hand permanently and follow her around all day. 

Man I love my job. I would go through every second of the last 9 years over again to be at this wonderful point in life right now.  The hard pregnancies and challenges of kids close in age are nothing compared to how amazing this is.  Difficulties are so easily forgotten when in the midst of the resulting great adventure that is upon us.  I just don't think life could be any better.  I'll take the chaos and all the laundry and mess without batting an eye.

Fun