Christmas 2012 - Z

Since there was snow on the ground while we were at my parents my brothers decided to take the kids sledding.  They went over to a neighbors house where they had some great hills.  After the "normal" sledding they got out a big box, of sorts.  It was a big plastic bin that had holes in it so they could climb into it.  There was a peek hole at the front and a place to attach it to the 4-wheeler.  Much fun ensued.  The big kids loved it as much as the little kids.

Neighbor, Greg, with my nephews Logan and Thomas

While one 4-wheeler pulled the box, another pulled this big sled.  It was chilly so my brother Jeff helped his daughter, Lenley, wrap a scarf around her head.  (Don't worry, she could still see.)

The box was big enough to fit Jeff and a few kids.

My uncle gave Ajay some sage advice for his BB gun.

Who cares about a little snow when there's a target to be hit!

Greg on the 4-wheeler getting ready to go home - but first he had to give Ajay's BB gun a try.  Despite having the headlights shining on the target, I'm not sure he hit it.

The family playing a card game called 9-Hole Golf on New Years Day.  Much fun!!

The next morning - Aunt Theresa teaching Ajay a card game.  Rummy, I believe.

And I do believe that will be a wrap on my Christmas/New Year postings.  Now we can move on to January...and maybe even February!

Christmas 2012 - D? E? I'm not sure anymore.

I'll try to wrap it up today.  Or maybe tomorrow.  We had so much fun over Christmas I didn't want to just not post about it.
Since our van was acting up and we didn't go to my parents for Christmas we decided to go for New Years instead (once we were assured the van was fine to drive). 
I was excited to give Christmas presents to the young folk in the family.  I had spent some time working on them trying to match color and design to each child.   Here is a group shot of a few of them.  If you'd like to see each one individually head over to our crafty blog. 

The boys got to open their presents from the family, too.  Here they are with their harmonicas.

It snowed while we were at my folks but Ajay didn't mind.  His parents had bought him a BB gun for Christmas and he was too excited to shoot it to worry about the cold. 

Aren went out, too.  He ended up doing a face plant.  He only cried for a few seconds. 

Ajay also let Alex get a couple of shots in with the BB gun.  Then Alex started making snow angels.  That is Jenna's foot on Alex's chest.

More snow fun to be posted about in another day or two.

A big party!

We don't typically have huge birthday parties but five stands out as a pretty big birthday to me.  You're moving on from "little" kid to "little-big" kid.  I've already started seeing so many changes in Alex's face, just about the same age I saw the changes in Ajay. 
Ajay had a big pirate themed 5th birthday party and since we still had all the set up for it (thanks to a previous neighbor gifting us a whole box full of goodies years ago) we asked Alex if he would like a big pirate themed party, too.
Alex knows a lot of kids and I would've loved to invite so many more to help us celebrate.  However, we kept it to inviting the new neighbors and a few others.  We still ended up with 20 children and their parents. 
I usually try to make the cakes for the boys but this year I gave the responsibility to a professional.

The inside was marble flavored.  Alex's choice :)

Biju set up the outside decorations while I worked on the inside.  We had 4 "stations" for the kids to rotate around.  A sand table, a pirate ship ring toss game, checkers and an "arts and crafts" area.  I went to a parent/teacher resource center and used their die press to cut out paper ships and let the kids use their imaginations as to how to use them.  We threw in some chips, pop and a cake and called it a party!

PHOTO BOMB!

Sand Station:

Kyleigh with her sand castle, a flag standing up in the center, and a shield to guard it.

Alex with some party goers.

Aren wearing the sand.

Ring Toss Station:

Okay, this looks more like the pop station, but all of those people - except the little kid eating chips - were gathered around the ring toss game.

Checkers Station:

This is actually a combination checkers station plus the ship craft.

Arts and Crafts Station:

A few of the finished projects.

Then cake, gifts and more playing - this time with the opened presents!  (Alex got a lot of sports themed/outside toys - perfect for him!)

Did I mention we surprised Alex by inviting his favorite friend from his old pre-school class??

Aren chatting up the neighbors.

I crocheted (20) pirate eye patches as part of Alex's thank-you-for-coming gift bags.  They also all got a Tootsie Pop and some pirate tattoos.

All that was left of the cake after the party. 

Alex and cousin Logan conked out solid that night!  Ajay had gone across the street to enjoy his first sleepover.

This one slept pretty good, too! Notice he's got one sock on, one sock off?  That seems like it's becoming a habit of his.

Bright eyed and bushy tailed the next day!

Happy 5th Birthday, Alex!

(This post was supposed to go up yesterday, on Jan. 31st, but it didn't.) 
I'm going out of sequence with the Christmas posts so I can wish Alex a BIG Happy Birthday! 
This little guy has so much spunk, spirit and energy I wish he could share some with me!  He is so sweet and thoughtful.  If he sees something needs done with a screwdriver he's on top of it.  Something needs batteries changed out?  Not a problem for this kid!
If Aren is upset, he fixes it.  Sometimes it doesn't always need fixing, in my opinion, but he doesn't like seeing his little brother upset.  For example, Aren is blocked out of the kitchen by a couple of gates and he does not like this set up.  So he stands at the gate and cries and Alex comes and puts him over.  Then, of course, Aren climbs onto the table, stands on it, starts to swing the light fixture and spills any water cups that may be up there. 
Alex has made up a couple of words in the last couple of weeks.  Darned if I can remember the second one (I should've written it down immediately) but for the first word I do remember he was telling a story and used the word "Sun-cicle" - like an icicle but made of sun, I guess.
Our lives would certainly be a bit more boring without our Alex!
A little flashback:

And now to present time: