Alex’s 6th Birthday Party

Alex’s birthday was on December 26th, and we FINALLY had his party on January 26th.  He counted down the days for WEEKS!

HE wanted a Phineas & Ferb theme this year, and Grandma P and Jessica made him this fun cake.  We’re so thankful for their talents!  If I made the cake, it would look awful!  Thank you, Grandma and Jessica!

Party day was pretty snowy, so we thought we might have a low turnout.  I tried to prepare Alex for that possibility, knowing he would be disappointed if not many people could come.  All of our wonderful relatives braved the icy roads, though, and we ended up with a full home!

You’ll notice from the pictures below that my new great nephew was the hit of the party.  He definitely had more pictures taken than the birthday boy!  He is just too sweet!  (Jensyn can’t get enough of him, either, so you’ll see her in most picture that include the baby!)

Jensyn wanted to help Alex open his presents, but Alex was kind of annoyed by that.  Jensyn DID open one of his presents for Alex while he was up giving a ‘thank you’ hug,  and he wasn’t too happy about that!



Jensyn pouting after being gently scolded for opening Alex’s present


Our birthday boy received Spiderman Walkie Talkies, a Phineas & Ferb Leap Pad game, a Buzz Lightyear costume, a Woody costume, Woody pajamas, and monster trucks and a monster truck set.  (If I forgot something, family, I apologize!  I am trying to remember it all!) 

Alex giving a thank you hug


still playing with that sweet baby…


Max found a new friend


look – brightly colored paper!


Ahhh, these two cuties…and the baby’s ADORABLE grins…melt my heart!



Cake Time!

We’re so glad that cousin Cailin could make it to the party!
She will be a big sister the next time we see her!

more party pics…

Fun with “The Snowy Day”

This week Wednesday was another great Fun Day at our house.  We had a house full of kiddos, and we enjoyed a morning of reading, play dough, and painting.  The mess is unbelievable at the end of the morning, but it’s SO MUCH FUN!

We started our morning by reading The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.  It’s such a sweet, classic children’s book, one that all children seem to enjoy.  I’ve been reading this to my children since Alex was two, and all three of my kids have enjoyed this book every winter since then.


A  little boy named Peter wakes up to discover that it snowed heavily over night.  He bundles up, heads out into the cold, and explores the snow.  Before heading into the house, he forms a snowball to save for later, puts it in his pocket, and heads inside.  So cute!  (It reminds me of the Shel Silverstein poem about the snowball that wet the bed!) 

First, we made two double-batches of white, sparkly play dough.  The first was a traditional flour-based play dough with a sprinkle of rainbow glitter added to the water.  One child commented that this play dough is not a TRUE white, so we also made a double batch of corn starch play dough.  We hoped it would be WHITER, which it was, but the texture was crumbly and not nearly as moldable as the flour play dough.  We’ll stick with the flour dough from now on!

   

I showed the littler ones how to roll balls from the play dough, and I set out some toothpicks so they could stack the balls to make a snowman.  They had such fun!  After that, they used snowman cookie cutters and just had some free play with the dough.  I think the play dough fun lasted for over an hour!

   

After this, we had marshmallows for a snack.  (Snowballs!)  I thought about making hot cocoa to go along with it, but I figured the marshmallows were sugary enough.  With a house full of kiddos, I really don’t need sugar to add to the crazy!

Our other activity for the day was marshmallow painting.  I’ve never done this with kids before, and it was LOADS of fun!  We had white paint on paper plates, and I gave each child one large marshmallow and a few small marshmallows.  I showed them how to use the marshmallows to make snowmen, snowflakes, and snow on the ground. 

Once they completed their paintings, I sprinkled silver glitter over the top.  (Oh, the glitter!  My kitchen may never recover!)  We let these dry for about an hour before drawing faces and decorating with scrapbook paper hats and scarves.

(I drew the faces and hands for younger kiddos…)

If we’d had the time, I would have made nut free snowball cookies instead of eating marshmallows for our snack.   It just wouldn’t fit into our busy morning, though, so we’ll have to save that for next year’s reading of The Snowy Day!

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