THE Birthday Party

Ben requested a "firetruck birthday party" this year, and he insisted that we have it at our house. Thinking that this would be a great way to save some money, I wholeheartedly agreed.

But then, I started seeing all these blog and facebook posts about moms going all-out for these theme birthday parties, and I started to get a little worried. Gone are the days of just inviting your friends over for cake and ice cream or having your birthday at McDonald's (my 6 year surprise birthday party at McDonald's totally rocked, man.)


But, I decided to give it a try anyway, and while I'm not at all creative when it comes to this kind of stuff, I am VERY good at stealing ideas from the Internet. :-)


So, here are some shots from Ben's firetruck fiesta!



Assistant fire marshal's. These two were BIG helpers during the party.







Lots of games set up in the backyard to keep little ones busy.

Decorate your own fire hat with foam stickers and markers! I found the fire hats at Michael's and the badge stickers came from the local fire house.

The Four-Year-Old Fireman!

Good friends!

Good fun in the backyard! The weather was perfect, thank the Lord. I don't know what we would have done if we had to be indoors.

The only structured game we played was called Rescue the Kitty. The bell would ring with a call that a poor kitty was stuck in a tree and needed to be rescued. Being the kind-hearted firefighters they are, the kids would put on their rescue gear . . .

Hop on the rescue truck . . .

and drive to the end of the road.

Then they would run to put out a "fire" with their super-powered "water hose."

Then, they would race to the tree . . . and rescue the poor stuck kitten.

and then bring him back to his owner.

The game was a HUGE hit. The kids loved it, and several asked to play it again.

After the game, we had lunch - "hot"dogs, Doritos (because they are shaped like flames), grapes and carrots (because we have to have some healthful food) and finally cupcakes!

After making the firetruck cake for his actual birth day, I decided cupcakes would be easier for the party.

The "big" kid's table.

The little kid's table.

All done, mom. Can I go play now?

Me and the birthday boy.


Guests got treat bags stuffed with crayons shaped like firetrucks and badges, a firetruck coloring sheet, bouncy ball AND . . .

These! Sugar cookies!

And, of course, there were presents!


All in all, this whole theme birthday at home was WAY more work than I thought it would be, but it was also much more enjoyable than following your kid around at the house of the cheesy mouse.

But, maybe the best part of all, was that we also had 2 very special guests at the party.

Papa Bill and SueAnne were able to be there.

And that made everyone's day special!

BBB is 4!

Our little man turned 4 this month, and it was a week full of celebrating this all-out-crazy-love you with my whole heart little guy. It's hard to believe he's been in our lives 4 whole years, but I cannot imagine life without him. He makes us laugh every single day, and is the most loving and thoughtful little kid I know.

Biased? Who me?

So the week of fun started with a party at Ben's new preschool. He just started here this year twice a week, and was totally psyched to share his special day with his new buddies.

See what I mean? TOTALLY PSYCHED!


We celebrated with a Cheezits, juice boxes, and a giant cookie cake decorated with a firetruck, ambulance, and fire helicopter.

How fast can I empty this juice box?



I'm, like totally chilled on my juice box and giant cookie sugar rush, man.



Napkin? I don't need a napkin!


No, there aren't only boys in Ben's class . . .

The girls just choose not to associate with them at snack time.

Pretty sure I don't blame them.

Anyway, after daddy got home from work, it was time to open his presents from the family.

Reading cards.

His new Lego firetruck set.

New Thomas the Train DVD.

See, they really do love each other!


Ben's doctor suggested getting him smaller Lego sets to help with his fine motor skills. So we did, thinking the firetruck set would be perfect for the boy who begged for a firetruck birthday.

After emptying the box and opening all the bags, we quickly realized just who would be getting the fine motor skills practice.

It wasn't Ben.

Oh well.

After presents, we ate dinner and had birthday cake. A birthday cake made by mom with the hopes that it somehow resembled the firetruck cake he wanted.

It's not perfect, but I was pleased.

And Little Man was over the moon excited about it.

And that's all that matters.

Just like Shakespeare

Several weeks ago, I began to notice how often I heard my children yell out, or mutter "Dang IT!" when they encountered a situation not to their liking or when they were upset about something.

Knowing full well where they must have picked up that particular phrase (don't judge me. It SO could have been something worse!), I decided that it really wasn't appropriate for a 6 and 3 year old to be saying those words. No matter which way you slice it, hearing "dang it" from the mouth of your baby is a bit awkward.

So, I encouraged the kids to come up with some other innocuous phrase they could use when they felt so inclined due to the frustrations of their little lives.

And the phrase they settled on?


"Oh, Tartar sauce!"

I'm totally serious. I can only assume this is somehow inspired by Spongebob, but it was Ben's idea, and boy, have the two of them ever taken to it.

Have to take a nap when you don't want to?

"Oh, Tartar sauce!"

Get in trouble for hitting your sister?

"Oh, Tartar sauce!"

Get put in time-out?

"Oh, Tartar sauce!"

To get the full effect, you really need to say it putting a heavy accent on the first syllable: "oh, TARtar sauce." It's even better when said with a southern accent when "sauce" is pronounced more like "sawce."

One night, as I was putting Ben to bed, I smelled something foul. I asked Ben if he tooted, and after a moment of silence, I hear, very quietly, "Oh, tartar sauce." BUSTED!

And while it's really pretty hilarious to hear that phrase muttered at anytime, I'm totally on board with "tartar sauce" being used as a sentiment of disgust. Because, really, is there a more disgusting condiment? I don't think so.

So, anyway, my mom and Dave came to visit for a couple of days, and we were happy to see them and spend some time with them.

And while they were here, I shared the "tartar sauce" story with them. They, of course, thought it was quite hilarious.

In turn, we were discussing their long drive home, and my mom was sharing how Dave got a speeding ticket in West Virginia the last time they drove home from our house.

And what does that have to do with anything you ask?

About 3 hours after they left our house on Monday morning, I get a text from my mom.

"West Virginia got Dave again. Oh, tartar sauce!"

So, while Shakespeare is responsible for coining several common phrases in the English language, the Black family?

We claim, "Oh, tartar sauce!"

It's a proud day, indeed.

Some of us were more ready than others

So, my girl started first grade a few weeks ago.

She's been ready for this since school ended last year.

She has inherited my love of buying new school supplies. Nothing is more sacred than the perfect backpack and matching lunchbox.

The dress. The dress. It must be perfect.

She was so excited to learn that nearly all of her classmates from last year are in her class again this year. She is in another combo class of first and second graders, and this seems to be a perfect fit for her.

There's no doubt she is growing up though. No more kindergarten pictures with mom at her new desk. No sir.

I just barely managed this one from the doorway.

I walked away, and while the tears threatened to flow, I was able to keep it under control this year.

Guess mom's growing up too.

Or not.

Because my girl wasn't the only one going to school this year.

I'm sorry. But, there is just not a cuter "first day of preschool" picture in existence.

He was SO proud to be going to school like his big sister.

But, he was just a little concerned that he would miss me too much. In fact, some days leading up to it all, he told me he would rather just stay at home with me. I was very tempted to let him.

Ugh.

But never fear. When I picked him up after that first day, he came running out of the door.

Mommy! I had so much fun, and I didn't even care about you!

Sigh.

The Rest of the Summer

After our trip to Ohio, we spent the majority of our summer here:







Where the boy played.

And big sister took swimming lessons

Her backstroke is really pretty impressive for a 6 year old. And to think that last summer was the first time she willingly put her head under water! We are proud of our girl, for sure. There was talk of recruiting her for the swim team next year.

Seriously!

At the end of the summer we also had a visit from Grandma and Aunt Becky. They spent a week with us, and we had a great time with them.

Though it looks like Ben is trying to smack her in the face, the kids actually LOVE their Grandma!