Tave's Christmas Party

I had a big, HUGE mommy mess-up. 

Weston gets invited to a lot of Birthday parties (due to school and sports, he just knows more kids right now). Tave was finally invited to a party. and not just any party- his best friend, Michael's. He was SO thrilled and couldn't wait and talked about it the whole week before the party. It was a BIG deal to him.  

But... I was actually out of town on the day of the party and completely FORGOT to tell Jeff (who wasn't around for all the pre-birthday talk) about it.

I realized that night that Tave had missed it and I cried. Really, truly.  I felt like such a bad mom.  

I hoped that he would forget about it and just didn't bring it up. But he knew it was on a Saturday and when the next Saturday rolled around he was so excited  "Mom! Today's Saturday and Michael's party is on a Saturday, is it today?!!!"  

Um, no....I had to tell him.  And he cried and I cried again. Boo. Bad moment all around.

Here comes the good news.  Since he's been missing his friends and we missed the party they all went to,  we decided to throw our own special Christmas party for Tave.  

It was a hit and we had so much fun:

When they arrived, we colored gingerbread people pictures:

Then we played  "Jingle, Jingle, Bell" (duck, duck, goose)

the kids came up with all sorts of Christmas things to say.  Like "Reindeer, Reindeer, Santa" and "Christmas, Christmas, Present"  It was hilarious:

After the game, we had a gift exchange. Everyone brought a gift and we played Christmas music while they passed the gifts around the circle. When the music stopped they got to open the gift they were holding. They loved it!

Then, the yummiest part - Cookie decorating! Everyone took it very seriously and worked so hard on their gingerbread people:

We had a great time, and most of all, it made Tave feel special to have his own little party with his friends. 

Definitely a win for this mama!

Family Photos Fall 2012

We decided to try out Fotoflyaway this year for family pictures. They did not disappoint!  The photographers who worked with us were absolutely amazing. They were so much fun and were able to get our kids laughing and smiling naturally. It was wonderful. 

We sure love our boys and think these photos captured them perfectly!!

Our sweet Weston...looking so old!  

Funny funny Tave always making us laugh!

 Mischievous Ryder, melt my heart!

Adorable Callen giving us his serious look!

 These boys have my heart.

 Our family of six. 6!  Love them.

I adore this family of mine.

So in love with this man.

We saved our favorite family photo for Christmas cards....so you'll have to wait until then to see it! ;)

Happy 4th Birthday Tave!

Our Tave is 4 years old!!!  

I let him pick all of his favorite things to do on his birthday (within reason, I was hugely pregnant!) 

We started off with getting out his new remote control jeep and going crazy with it in the house. SO FUN:

I asked him if he wanted to go anywhere or do anything and he chose to have his best buddy, Michael, over for a playdate. These two LOVE playing together and get along so well. Tave had a blast:

We skipped quiet time to play games and hang out and then he got to choose his favorite show to watch.

Once daddy got home, we headed out to eat at the boys favorite restaurant, Red Robin. Shawn & Abby joined us for the celebration dinner:

 They brought the birthday boy a gift, which he LOVED:

The boys did a little racing:

Family Photo - Love my guys:

We headed home for Tave's birthday dessert:

 Make a wish:

Then Tave opened his gifts from us & his bros - superheros and a bike!! (Bike is coming soon...)

 Oh how we love this boy.
Happy Birthday our adorable Tave!!!

Tave's 4th Birthday Party!

Our Tave-man turned 4!!  He absolutely insisted on having a Pokemon Party. 

(because that is the birthday party Weston wants!)  

So this mama had to brush up on her Pokemon skills (I knew NOTHING about them) and figure out how to make a fun party out of these crazy characters. Good thing we have the internet and pinterest!

It turned out pretty darn successful and Tave was THRILLED.

Happy Tave = Happy Mama!

The fabulous b-day cake:

 Tave was BEYOND excited to get these cool figures on his cake! They were from his cousins Kapria & Mila!!

The Decorations:

He LOVED coming downstairs in the morning to a fancy shmancy house:

The kids started by coloring some Pokemon characters while we waited for everyone to show up. They were pretty serious about it:

Tave's friends:

After coloring, the kiddos got to make Pikachu hats.  

 Then we did Pin the Scalchop on Oshowatt. (Oshowatt is the pokemon that Tave loves and really wanted!)

Next, opening gifts:

Santa had brought Weston a Pikachu backpack for Christmas. It has been Weston's all-time favorite toy.  Tave has been asking for his own and he decided he wanted an Oshowatt backpack. LUCKY for me, there are only a few pokemon actually made into backpacks, and Oshowatt is one of them! YAY!!  He was one happy kiddo:

 Happy Birthday to YOU:

Making a wish:

Thanks, friends, for celebrating with us! The take-home loot:

And here is my cute 4 year old!!!!

 We had to get a shot with the boys and their backpacks!!

Happy Birthday Tavester!! We LOVE you so much buddy, and can't imagine our family without you!!!

Superhero Week!

Tave has been requesting a super hero week at school. Typically we try to stick to educational themes...but I couldn't say no, he was just too excited. Aaaand, he's only three, so no biggie.

It was a hit (since there are 3 boys and 1 girl in the class, Hailey was a trooper and played along)!!

Each child got to pick the super hero they wanted to create and then I drew them on our rolls and the kiddos colored them.  Tave still has his batman!

I might have had to help a little...these kids LOVE their play time together. Spiderman is completely colored by Noah, though. Impressive, huh!

During part of our super hero training we had to save the good guys from Mr. Freeze:

It was definitely the favorite activity of the week!

Then we had to knock over the villians with a ball (like bowling):

We also did some super hero packets and talked about being super heroes every day by serving others and doing something kind.  

The kiddos earned their masks at the end of the week:

It was a SUPER week!!!