Charlotte's Web Party

Well with Daddy gone we are going to try to do some school themed family nights.  In fact we had one today to celebrate Charlotte's Web.  We just finished our 4th week of school and the book on the same day.  This is part of the Read Aloud section of our home-schooling and we all love it.  Nati comes running from whatever he is doing to join Yared and I on the couch for reading.  I really thought the book would be too much for him but both the boys loved it.  Yared shed a few tears for Charlotte when she died and wasn't sure he liked all the dying talk but other than that he loved the book.

We invited our neighbors/home-school buddies/ friends to come join us for the day.  I was Charlotte, Nati was Wilbur, Yared was Templeton and our friends came as Lurvy, Fern and the Goose.  I got a few cute ideas from the Internet and with the help of the boys we created a fun morning in the Leppard Elementary School.

We started with pictures as I knew Nati would not last with his nose and ears. Then we played some games and had a Charlotte's Web feast.  We actually ate hot dogs which felt a bit wrong considering we  read about saving a pig's life so to even it out we ate spider cupcakes.

Lurvy, Goose and Fern

The four kids and in the background our Pin the Word in the Web game and bean bag game. 

I hid farm animals all over the yard and the kids had to run find them.  

Notice the horse on the fence that he is running by:). 

The cutest Fern ever!!

They all kept going around the side of the house where I hadn't hidden any animals.  

We tried to get rice bags in the barn door.  So easy to make but so much fun.   

Yared loves to dress up and kept his outfit on the WHOLE time.  I had to make him take it off to finish up the rest of school. 

Mom was really a good aim.  

Templeton's tail. 

Our lunch.  

 I forgot to get pictures of our Pig's in the Blanket that the boys made with me.  They were gobbled up. You stuffed cheese in a hot-dog and wrapped them in a Pillsbury Crescent roll and baked.  Delicious.  I did make a Wilbur Fruit Salad and a farm field of vegetables.

The silicon spider cupcake holders were from Target. You would think the boys decorated these but actually it was me:).  The eyes were sugar cookie icing but I didn't realize it until late last night when they started melting off the spider's faces.  It made me laugh and I was too bothered to fix it.

My costume is panty hose over my head with googily eyes.  I added 8 legs, made my face gray and dressed in gray.  I realized wearing panty hose on your head is very itchy.  I was not meant to be a bank robber. 

It was a fun day and I hope to have a few more of these days during this school year.

The Fair

The State Fair is something that holds so many things I hate, crowds, heat, twirly throw-up rides, rip off price food, country music and animal poop.  However, in reality I love a good State Fair.  It seems to capture so many good things about childhood and blend them all together into a wonderful panorama of sights, smells, tastes and memories.  My parents live in Mariposa and we have been going to their Fair as much as we can over the years. Ben and I had been talking up the Fair and the Demolition Derby for awhile now.  It happened to coincide with Nati's Birthday and I am pretty sure he thought all the hoopla was for him.  It was such a treat to take the boys to the Fair and watch them experience it for the first time.

I seriously felt my inner child bubble up and want to be free to enjoy the fair for the first time again too.  The rides, the sticky food, the noise, the crowds, and the heat became a beautiful thing and I smile just remembering it.  I can't really explain why I like it so much, I just do.  The boys of course absorbed it all and loved it.  They were fascinated by the Derby.  What little boy isn't going to like watching cars crash?  They loved going on the dance floor and showing off their moves.  They wanted to try every ride I would let them.  They begged for an Icee for three days and I finally gave in.  Now we are back in the swing of things and the Fair seems a lifetime ago, so I post these pictures to recapture the feelings of warm summer nights, music drifting on a cool breeze and tired little boys holding my hand as we walk away from a fabulous day at the Fair. 

My sister was wearing a shirt claiming to be Mom's favorite.  I had to make my own to declare the truth.

Who doesn't want a brain sucking alien balloon on their head? 

 

Mom and just a few of the prizes she won for her amazing art. 

My sister and niece in the cow barn. I love the silhouette. 

With Daddy in Afghanistan I had to brave at least one twirlly ride.  It looks tame but this thing goes pretty fast and I really thought I was going to see my lunch. I did smile for the camera. 

My niece showing exactly how I felt to leave the fair behind:).  

Until next year.

Little Man turns Four

Wow how is it possible that the teeny tiny baby that I first held 2 1/2 years ago is already four?  How is it possible to love him this much? How is it possible that time continues to speed up no matter how much I try to just enjoy the moments that fly by? It just doesn't seem possible that he is this big, this old, this grown up, but he is.  And he is a blast.  This past weekend little, well not so little now, Nati turned four.  It was a great day for him.  He really seemed to get Birthdays this time and was so excited and happy about everything.  The number one thing on his wish list was a Buzz Lightyear, but he had very specific requirements.  It had to have a working face mask, working laser, working buttons and wings that came out and went back in.  Oh yeah he also wanted the karate chop action.  Basically he wanted a Buzz like Andy got on Toy Story.    My sister-in-law came to spend a few days with me before his Birthday.  She and the Grandparents had gotten the much requested Buzz.  He had a little party with his two little cousins and got Buzz.  I have it on video and I am so glad.  I do think he might have been the happiest little boy on planet earth when he saw Buzz.  The only downer was he loved Buzz so much he woke me up the next day at 5:30 and said,  "Mommy, me have deam that me pay with Buzz.  Me pay with Buzz pease?"  This happened two mornings in a row so Buzz was removed from the bedroom at nights on day three.  

Nati and his Buzz.  Sheer Happiness

Then we went up to my parents for the State Fair.  It worked out well as this was his Birthday too. He got to be around his Uncles, Aunts, cousins, Nana and Babu.  He was spoiled rotten getting literally everything he asked for.  Even big brother got in on the excitement and chose a candy bar to give Nati.  Yared did great at watching his brother get so many gifts.  He is catching on that presents for Nati eventually just mean more toys for both of them.  I made a Toy Story theme cake.  It was Andy's bedroom with chocolate bed posts.  I was excited with how it turned out.

The finished Birthday Cake. 

It is so great to be near family and let the boys feel the love.  The weekend at the Fair was great and I will post more pictures of that later.  Thanks to all the family for making one little boy feel very special. Here are a bunch of pictures in random order from his two Birthday celebrations.  Crazy enough I can't find the picture that I have of him on his Scooter he got from Daddy.  I'll have to take another picture and post that picture later.  It is an awesome Radio Flyer scooter.  

The Hero of the day. 

Playing with cousins. 

Waiting for the party to happen. 

A guitar from Nana and Babu has been a great hit.  He likes to climb on the highest thing he can find, call it his stage and rock out. 

Uncle Ian and Auntie Lori scored with this skateboard.  He loves it. 

Spider-man lunch box - check.  Skateboard - check.  Lightning McQueen helmet - check.  Yup ready for trouble. 

Cousin Cameron with the Birthday Boy.

He was pretty sure this was Buzz so it was a good thing it turned out to be Buzz and not something else. 

Cupcakes and cheesy smiles. 

Kind of sad but true, he already loves getting "nomey" $

I think it is love.

My final Birthday thoughts are a little m ore on the somber side.  I watched Nati a lot this week as he is the exact age that Yared was when we first met him and brought him home.  Our gottcha day was the day before his 4th Birthday.  But we didn't know this until later so he waited so long for his first  Birthday party.  I think of all that he had to adjust to and the transitions he faced at 4 and I am just in awe of how he handled it all.  I mean he didn't speak English. He spent four days with us in a hotel and then was loaded on a plane and seat belted in for the first time in his life.  He then arrives in another country where he is now a minority and no one understands him.  He has two people taking care of him but he is scared, 4 and overwhelmed.  Watching how happy and joyful Nati's 4th Birthday was made me ache for Yared that he can remember more of the fear, confusion and loneliness. I wish I could erase that and give him a fabulous 4th Birthday too.  But I can't.  The pain and his past is part of our beautiful story of becoming a family.  I have to accept the good and the bad of it.  But I can be left admiring my son for all that he adjusted too and how amazing it is that he is so full of love, joy and happiness.  Buzz Lightyear might be Nati's hero but my hero is Yared.