Caeden's 7th birthday

Our Caeden turned 7 years old today!  We celebrated with a LEGO themed party.  He loved it!  And, it was really fun to see how excited he was when he noticed each little detail...

Here is the kitchen table, all set up for the party...

I found the yellow cups with Krazy Straws at [my new favorite store] Dollar Tree. The kids loved them, and Caeden's friends liked that they got to take theirs home.  

I have zero talent for baking and decorating cakes, but this idea for LEGO brick cakes was so cute it didn't have to be perfect (or anywhere close) for the kids to enjoy it.  (Here is the video I watched to see how to make it.)

I invited 3 of Caeden's friends from school.  I had the card table set up in the front room so they could build with Legos when they arrived.  

Once everyone was here, we played games.  In the first game, each person was given a cupful of Legos.  They had to build a tower with those pieces as fast as they could, and it had to be able to stand on its own.

Then we played Lego Memory card game, which I printed out on cardstock and cut into cards.

(templates found here)

As always, Jeremy was most helpful with running the games and coming up with on-the-spot ideas to make them more fun.  The kids seemed to enjoy the many kinds of Lego minifigures on the cards.

Then, it was cake time!

We told Caeden he was supposed to blow out all the candles in one breath, but there were a lot more than 7.  He was pretty glad once he got them all out!

Along with Lego cake, we had some other Lego treats!  

I bought a Lego Ice Bricks Tray and made gummy candies using gelatin. (Recipe here.)  They were a big hit with all of us! 

I used generic Crystal Light to make ice cubes, and the kids got to have as many as they wanted in their cool yellow cups.

Then there were candy Legos I made with Wilton Candy Melts (which I'm pretty sure are just almond bark and food coloring).  I didn't really care for them, but some of the kids really liked them--and they did look super Lego-cool!  

(clockwise from top Left: Lego Cakes, gummy candies, almond candies, ice cubes)

We must have had a few minutes too much of "down time," because Jeremy got attacked!

I'm not sure who started it, but no one was hurt!

Krampa was on his Fall Break, but still had lots of papers to grade while he was here.  He even stayed on task during the party!

Kyle gave Caeden a nice card and a big hug.  What a sweet buddy.

Owen gave Caeden a Star Wars Lego set and received a big hug too.  

These two guys are alike in many ways.

Reece drew a really cool Lego castle card for Caeden!  They always have such fun together!

In fact, all of them have fun together!  What an awesome group of little guys!

They practiced their "fiya-powa" pose...

Caeden received the Lego Star Wars Padawan Menace dvd, and everyone watched that at the end of the party.  It's pretty funny!  

The boys got to take home their treats in little Lego boxes I made from this template.  It was super easy; I just printed it on colored cardstock, cut out, and folded them, but forgot to take a picture of mine.

Once Caeden's friends had all gone home, he got to open his presents.  Boy, he received a lot of really cool gifts!

Lego Creator 3-in-1 set with a semi, a helicopter, and a car
Razor scooter
Lego Star Wars pajamas
Hot Wheels RC, jeans, and from Gram & Krampa
5 Skippyjon Jones books
Phineas & Ferb water toy and an outfit from Uncle Travis, Aunt Erin, and Tessa
winter coat with jacket/lining
Pirate Plank Lego game (which is pretty fun!)
$20 from his sisters to buy a Webkinz
Plus, lots of really nice cards from family and friends

Caeden was pretty surprised and excited when he opened this gift from Uncle Travis, Aunt Erin, and Tessa!

He was equally shocked when he opened the Hot Wheels RC from Gram and Krampa!

Gram wins!

The line of the day, "You're not serious!!!!!!"

Gram and Krampa made the day extra special!

They brought presents for Annah too, since her birthday is coming up in a couple weeks!

We love our Caeden von Chasington Schnickelfritz Poppleton Picklepants Lopshire!

All in all, it was a great day!

Cinderella?

Our multi-activity girl...

Here is Annah leaving violin lessons with Daddy to get to her basketball game.  The girls got these shirts last night to wear to their games over their uniforms...

(It says, "Face it, Princess, not even Cinderella is gonna get to this ball!")  Haha...get it? ;)

Harvest Time!

Today is Columbus Day, and the kids were home from school all day (plus half of last Friday.)  We decided to make several batches of pancakes for breakfast--blueberry, banana, and apple--each separate, not mixed!  I was in the middle of the first batch, when I heard a loud, repetitive beeping sound.  The kids thought maybe it was a truck down by the grain elevator and train tracks, but it sounded like it was in our backyard!  I looked out the kitchen window and saw a semi in the neighbors' barnyard...then looked and saw that there was a huge combine in their backyard by the field.  It was harvest day!

We rushed outside to watch!  The past few years, we haven't been home went they harvested the field behind our house.  When the girls were really little, they each got to have a ride in the combine, but Caeden had never had a chance.

While we were watching, Caeden waved at the farmer in the combine.  After a few minutes, he had to stop to clear stalks of corn from the picker, and he came over to us then.  He asked what the kids were doing home today, and then asked if any of us wanted a ride!  Caeden sure did!  He said he needed to get the ends off the rows, but in about half an hour he would stop and get Caeden to ride with him.  So, we went back inside to finish making our pancakes, and then came back out for Caeden's ride! 

He had wondered aloud how the farmer got up into the combine, and I told him there were ladder stairs on the side that he could climb right up.  Caeden asked me to help him up, but when he saw them he realized he didn't need my help.  He climbed right up in and sat down and waved to me!

While Caeden had his ride, the girls played in their favorite spot in our sideyard--under the pine trees.

I love watching during harvest time!

the beauty of God's earth

Caeden got to ride for 4 rows--down and back, down and back.

Such a huge machine!  Caeden stood up for a good view...

The farmer explained some things about what he was doing and how the combine worked, and Caeden told me he learned some things. 

He thought it was pretty cool to learn that the combine cuts the kernels right off the cob too!

Caeden even got to drive for a little bit!  ;)

When they finished the 4 rows, they pulled up next to the semi at the edge of the field and unloaded the corn!  Caeden said he got to push the button to dump the corn, and the button was flat like the ones on our stove and air conditioners.

He mentioned a few times later in the day how much he liked riding in the combine and how cool it was!

“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, 

 day and night will never cease.” 

 -Genesis 8:22

Giraffes Can't Dance

Caeden climbed in bed with me this morning with a few of his favorite books and asked if he could read them to me! "Yes, please!" I said! And he did. 

This is just a little bit of Giraffes Can't Dance...

Friday night, laundry night

 This evening we were all home together with nowhere to be, and just enjoyed a quiet evening.  I had done a lot of laundry, but was in the process of folding it.  So, the couch was covered with our 5 piles of folded laundry and the living room floor was cluttered with laundry baskets.  Annah couldn't find a comfy spot to sit on the couch and read her book, so she plopped down into one of the baskets.  She may be growing up, but some things never change...

Year of the Spiders!!

For some reason, we have seen dozens of huge spiders around (and in) our house this year!  I don't really like having them inside, and usually squish them and brush down their webs when I find them in the house.  But if I see them outside, I think they are pretty fascinating--especially their webs.

This evening when I was leaving with Annah to take her to basketball practice, the sun was setting behind our garage and we noticed about 6 big spiders tearing out the centers of their webs and re-spinning them.  (I didn't know until very recently that apparently a lot of them do that every night!)  The sun was shining right through their webs and it was quite an amazing sight!

I didn't have time to go back inside and get my good camera,   so just snapped this shot with my phone.

"Such is the destiny of all who forget God; 
 so perishes the hope of the godless. 
What they trust in is fragile; 
 what they rely on is a spider’s web. 
 They lean on the web, but it gives way; 
 they cling to it, but it does not hold." 
 - Job 8:13-15 (NIV)

Invitations

I sent these out today...!

Expander Check-up

Sylvia had a quick expander check-up today.  As you can see, she was much more relaxed this time!  Everything is going well and just as it should.  She has a big space between her two front teeth now, like Dr. B. said she would.  He says it will get really huge now, and we should not "freak out."  She goes back in another 2 weeks, and he will decide then if she needs to have any more key-turns, or what will come next.

Crochet projects

A friend from church recently had a new baby, and I had the Autumn itch to crochet some things for her and her 3 little guys.  

For baby Joshua, I made this double shell stitch afghan.

 I made each of the two older little boys one of these cutie amigurumi elephants.  The blue was for Jon and the yellow for Jonah.

And, I made Momma scarf too.  Hoping they'll bring some comfort and warmth.

Clarinet Player

Annah has looked forward to 5th grade and the option to join band for a while now. For probably about 6 months she talked about maybe wanting to play the saxophone.  

Then, once school started and Mr. M. demonstrated instruments in music class, she came home one day and said she really liked the sound of the clarinet and thought she might want to play that.

And that's what she chose.

She can already make a pretty good sound on it.

Brings back a few memories for her momma too...

She will be using my old clarinet.