Life has been fast-paced and busy at our house lately, but we still managed to enjoy Austin's birthday. He really wanted a Transformers party. I couldn't find Transformers invitations, so I got Ninja Turtles instead and went with that theme, which was a much easier theme for me to come up with party ideas. I so wanted to just have the party at the park like last year, but the forecast said it would rain all day, so I opted for a home party, hoping we would get lucky and have no rain during his party (I really didn't want 6 boys + my four kids in the house the whole time!)
The party was from 12-2. The weather was looking good. The storms weren't on schedule, so I started the set-up outside. Well, exactly at 12, the rains came! I was tempted to keep them outside anyhow since I told parents we would be doing some water games and to have them prepared, but decided against it. We played some music games, Pin the Weapon on the Ninja Turtle that the girls made, and ate pizza (a Ninja Turtle favorite). Just in time, the first storm was over and the sun was shining again! We went our for ninja training, trampoline jumping, squirt guns, and the pinata. We got to sing and eat brownies and ice cream outside (remember Austin is the boy who doesn't like cake). Just as we were about to open presents outside, I realized the clouds were coming back, and fast! We ran back in with the presents. After gift opening, the boys played in the basement with the air hockey table. It turned out okay after all! The only hiccup, besides some rain, was that Erik was not liking the noise, the fact that the presents weren't for him, the music, or that Mommy was busy entertaining. Jason had to keep giving Erik a break in his room so he'd stop screaming. The whole rest of the day was with crazy weather, though. Rain, sun, rain, sun....
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| Freeze dance (notice the Ninja Turtle bandannas) |
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| Pizza! |
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| Ninjas being trained by sensai Victoria |
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| It turns out this was the only picture I have of the pinata Karissa and I made. Oh well, the kids enjoyed it. |
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| I think Austin enjoyed his candy from the pinata more than the brownies, even. |
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| My friend Rosie came with her sons later. |
Austin is very loving, cuddly, and fast at making friends. He loves to play games, especially Fireboy and Watergirl on the computer. He loves to read and I am amazed every day at how fast he picked up reading! He has been reading an
I Survived chapter book on his own. His teacher saw me at the school the other day and had just tested his reading. She was raving at how well he had done. He loves things that light up and glow. He also likes to "break dance", jump on the trampoline, ride his bike, and play with Lego's. Being that he is the third, he is much more independent than the girls were at this age. He usually does his jobs well and like to do things on his own without help. That being said, he is the most stubborn kid! He wants things done his way, or the highway and will not budge most of the time! It can be exasperating! If we ever come to visit, make sure you have plenty of eggs. He eats at least 2 for breakfast most days, many times with other breakfast foods, like waffles, pancakes, or oatmeal. Breakfast is his most favorite. The rest of the meals are hard to get into this stubborn kid, especially dinner.
I got to volunteer in his class on his birthday to help with the petting zoo. It was so fun watching him in class before we went out to see the animals. He really loves school and learning new things.
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| You can't see his face very well, but his smile was as far as it could go! |
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| Here is an action picture of when he was in ice hockey, which he loved and will probably do again. |
