Lance's Party Prep and Emily Jones!

A few weeks ago, I asked Lance what kind of cake he wanted for his Birthday. He immediately answered, "Angry Birds". He then showed me exactly what cake he wanted--the amazing cake we've had saved on our computer desktop for over a year. This one:

Really? This one? "Lance, I will try my hardest, but it won't look this good." "That's okay, Mom. Just as long as you try."

For those of you who don't know what "Angry Birds" is, it's a game you can play on your iPod Touch that is extremely popular and incredibly addicting. Basically, the pigs stole the birds' eggs to eat and now you are trying to destroy the pigs by launching the birds via a slingshot at the pig's buildings which they attempt to demolish. It's really fun and Lance has loved playing the game. Thus Lance's Angry Birds Party was born.

I spent a while researching fondant and a week before we were going to celebrate, I enlisted Amy's help in making the birds and pigs for the cake. We spent over four hours carefully shaping each figure and adding detail. I used store-bought fondant for the figures and because it is expensive, we came up with a way to cut down on how much we used--we shaped the fondant around lollipops. It was perfect!

 Sisters. Amy was awesome!

King Pig. I think he was one of my favorites we made.

Amy working on the old grandpa pig.

Finished products. Amy even worked on the rocks and the TNT box the next day. What a good Aunt Lance has!

The rest of the week was spent doing lots of prep. Jude and I went to several stores several times trying to get all the supplies. Lance mentioned he wanted an Angry Birds pinata, but when I looked them up online, the one place that made them were selling them for $70!! So, we made our own.

We started out with a large balloon about like this one:

The one I used was a bit bigger.

George had the week "off" to study for his Step 2 and spent a lot of time entertaining Jude while I worked on the party prep.

The pinata came together really well! We started Tuesday night doing layers of paper mache and allowed them to dry before applying new ones. I think we did 6 layers all together.

George lent his had Thursday night and was the mastermind behind reinforcing the pinata and figure out a way to hang it so it wouldn't fall at the first hit.

We put the final touches on the "skeleton" to turn the balloon into a pig.

Next came the paint.

And then the decorations. We got crepe paper from the dollar store, cut it into probably a million little squares and attached it to the pinata with elmers glue. How did we get it to be so fluffy?

We wrapped each individual square of crepe paper around the eraser end of a pencil and pushed them onto the pinata.

It was super tedious, but the effect was awesome!

I stayed up until 4 a.m. trying to get as much done as possible. George had helped until around 1 and had to go to bed to stay on a decent schedule for his test. 

Friday morning rolled around and there we were, still working on the pinata.

Emily Jones came into town Friday to spend some time with us and to take our family pictures! Friday afternoon she took the Elmer's family pictures while I watched Lizzy and John.

Mac and cheese! Doesn't get much better than that!

George had worked all day long on a fantastic meal to feed Emily that night. So after the Elmer's pictures. we invited the Elmers and the Baileys over and had a feast of pork tenderloin cooked sous vide, pumpkin "stuffed with everything good", candied carrots, and garlic bread. It was so good! 

Emily spent the night with us and Melissa stayed until late helping with the Birthday prep.

While I was making fondant to cover the cake...

...George, Melissa, and Emily tackled the rest of the pinata.

 Even Lance and Kendall got into the action.

Covering the cake with fondant was an adventure to say the least. I wish I had pictures because it was hilarious. It kept sticking to everything--so there I was trying to roll it out with George giving advice and Aric and the rest of the Elmers looking on and laughing at the huge mess I was making. After several attempts of rolling, adding more powdered sugar and kneading the heck out of it (not to mention covering the kitchen and dining area with sugar and fondant), we finally got the cake covered. Kendall, Britton and Jayden had a good time messing with the leftover fondant while I smoothed out the cake and got it ready for the figures we would add right before the party.

I think we all made it to bed that night around 1 a.m. Saturday (September 17th) was going to be a busy day with family pictures in the morning, setting up for the party, and then friends and family coming into town for the party that night. We were really excited!

Happy Birthday, Lance!

Yesterday was Lance's 6th Birthday! We are actually celebrating this Saturday with family and our favorite families here in Charlottesville, but we tried to make his Birthday day a special one.

He actually got to bring cupcakes to school! I was surprised (I've heard rumors and horror stories about snacks and treats being banned due to allergies), but thankfully Lance's elementary school still allows it. He wanted chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting--surprise!--which I was happy to make for him. He helped me frost and decorate them the night before with him on the essential sprinkle duty.

He was excited to take them to school and share with everyone. When I picked him up that afternoon, he was beaming and said that everyone loved the cupcakes AND his teacher wanted the recipe. There is no better compliment than that! I was even stopped by one of the teachers helping herd the kids to the cars who told me they were great. I'm so glad they turned out!

We let Lance pick what he wanted for dinner since it was his special night. Originally he said China King Buffet, a favorite, but changed his mind to hot wings right before we left. We ate at Wild Wings Cafe off of Main Street. It was good and Lance was excited he got his wings. It was a good day and Lance went to bed that night saying he had fun.

I thought now would be a good time to write down a few things about Lance so I can remember this phase in his life.

Here we go:

- He LOVES the Transformers movies and watches them with his dad all the time. He has collected many of the toys and is very good at transforming even the difficult ones.

- Some of his favorite things to play with (besides his friends Killian and Kendall) are water guns, bouncy balls, and Nerf guns.

- His favorite food to eat is probably Chinese food--especially their noodles.

- He's not a big candy eater, but will devour a Hershey's chocolate bar in no time. Just don't put anything in his chocolate. He's a purist. He doesn't really like cake or ice cream or most desserts either, but will have bites if it's chocolate. He won't eat fruit snacks or most other kid snacks.

- He will, however, eat tons of Cheezits, Oreo's, and fishy crackers.

- The only veggies I can get him to eat are carrots (raw and dipped in ranch dressing) and broccoli (cooked). The only fruit he will eat is an apple, sliced with the skin removed and sometimes strawberries. We eat a lot of broccoli and apples at our house.

-  He is a bit of a picky eater, although he does have some crazy things he likes to eat, such as lamb, crab, shrimp, and crab. Did I mention crab? (Well, he used to like lamb until he found out it was baby sheep. Then he told us none of us should eat it because we were eating a baby.)

- Lance is obsessed with Legos and has a bucket here and at his dad's house that he is constantly using to build new things--usually cars and rockets and airplanes. I am always amazed at his creativity.

- He doesn't like to sing. I've been singing to him since he was a baby, but it is difficult to get any kind of song out of the kid. I don't know if it's because he feels like he can't sing or just doesn't want to. The two songs he will sing to himself are the Darth Vader theme from Star Wars and the Harry Potter theme. Interesting, huh? He has been singing a bit more lately--mostly narrating what he's doing at the time and I've really tried to encourage it and tell him I like to hear him sing. It's pretty funny!

- We have been working on reading for a while now and it's starting to stick. His enthusiasm for actually learning the skill isn't great, but now he's in school I've noticed a big difference his his willingness to try. I'm excited because I love to read and hope this love will rub off on him as well.

- Lance is 100% boy. He loves to get dirty, he loves to be wet, he loves to run and climb and jump off of anything and everything.

- He is constantly "on the go". There are few things that will hold his attention for much longer than a few minutes. Legos and TV are a couple of them.

- He loves to watch Phineas and Ferb on the Disney channel. I love to watch it with him. :)

- Lance is a passionate person and everything he does, he does at full power. When he laughs, he laughs hard. When he cries, he cries hard. When he plays, he plays hard. If he's upset, he's really really upset. If he's happy, he can't contain himself.

- One of my favorite things Lance and I do is lay down for a few minutes in his bed together before he falls asleep. He's asked me to do this with him every night for years and I love it! Yes, sometimes I only have time for a minute, but often we spend a while talking about things that are important to him, about his day, about a cool toy or something that happened at school. It's a neat time because it's quiet, there aren't any distractions and we can be together and just talk--something that doesn't usually happen during the rest of the day.

- Lance is a good brother--reluctantly. Jude is a bit messy and drools (which Lance has a hard time with) and can be a bit of a pesky brother, but I'll often hear the boys playing together and Lance making Jude laugh. We're all still learning how to be kind and nice and we're getting better at it day by day. Lance and Jude love each other and I know they will grow into great friends as they get older.

Lance is a wonderful boy that brings so much energy and love into my life. He is constantly teaching me how to be patient and kind and how to love. In these six years, I've learned a lot about myself and what his really important in life through being his mother and trying to teach him what he needs to know to be happy. I love his smile, I love his enthusiasm for life, and I love how the little things make him happy. I can't believe my baby is 6 years old!

Lance, thank you for being part of our family and for sharing your fun spirit with us. You make life more fun and eventful. I thank Heavenly Father every day for the blessing that is you! Happy Birthday, Lance!

Dirt--you can do it, too!

While reading through the recent comments on my blog, I came across one from a good friend of George's expressing his simultaneous admiration and repulsion (it's all the same, right?) at how dirty George and I allow our kids to get. Well, Kevin, this post is for you.

I'll admit I haven't always been so adept at keeping the kids' filth level high, but with the practice of many years and two boys that are very good at the art, I am proud to say I probably have the dirtiest kids this side of the muddy Mississippi.

How did I achieve such a feat, you ask? It was difficult, but if you follow a few simple steps, you too can have dirty kids that will be the talk of the neighborhood.

First, every kid needs a good example. After all, how are children supposed to know what they are capable of if they've never had someone show them the ropes?

If you grew up squeaky-clean and have little to no experience getting dirty yourself, don't worry, there is still hope. You simply need a courageous spirit, strong stomach and a high tolerance for extra work.

I found the thing that helps the most is allowing children to take their nutrition into their own hands.

Literally.

Speaking of food, if you want to have a really big mess to clean up, try giving the kids something to eat that is cartoonish-ly too big for their little mouths. As always, something sticky is preferable.

Food that is simply out of their league as far as dexterity or ability goes will work in a pinch as well.

You need to start them young before proper hygiene is even a thought in their tiny minds.

Allow them to spend time with someone who has mastered the skill of becoming as dirty as possible in the smallest amount of time. Older siblings are usually the best for this. Learning at the hands of these experienced dirt-dwellers is an invaluable education for the up-and-coming mud monsters.

If your children are discouraging you with how clean they are, give them a hose and point them in the direction of the closest dirt pile. The results will astound you:

Keep that hose close...

Is your child a little squeamish about getting his or her hands messy? There are easy solutions for that  as well!

Ask them to help you while you cook:

Offer them tastes! Who can resist tasting that yummy batter?

Carving a pumpkin? Make sure your son or daughter has the honor of scooping out the "guts". It's fun and messy--a sure-fire way of getting rid of their aversion to slime.

 If all else fails, break out the paint.

Your children will be ready to compete in "Dirtiest Kids" after 5 minutes.

But let's be honest--being dirty isn't just about dirt. Have a dog? They are a perfect way of ensuring your kids have all kinds of germs on their face and hands as well.

 

Yum! Look at that immune system go!

Congratulations! Your kids are now dirty!

Do they feel lonely in their grime?

Always remember to share, share, share!

There are some trade-offs to the remarkable talent of accumulating as much dirt as possible.

One example: feet that won't come clean, even after long soaks and scrubs in the bath.

Oh, and get used to extra housework! 

You may be able to skip swimming lessons with all the water they'll see because they will be taking lots and LOTS of these:

A word of caution: because of the extra time spent outside doing physical activities, please be ready for the occasional

 

and

However, even with the obvious draw-backs, you get so much in return. Healthy, happy kids that almost never get sick and don't have allergies!

So, dive in! Let them have fun! Dirt? Hooray!

You'll do extra laundry

and extra work

but in the end, you'll have more of this!

And honestly, that's what it's all about.