Seth's birthday and a little bit about mine

The drawback about sharing your birthday with your 5 year old son is the fact that your birthday is almost forgotten. The positives are now that I'm older, I don't really care about big celebrations for my birthday and it gives me an opportunity to forget about myself and focus on one of the things I love most: Seth.

Seth has never had a friends party and wanted one this year, so we indulged him. Maybe too much. Although he has never seen the movies, he wanted an Indiana Jones party. (He says he saw one at home, which I have not asked Brent about yet) Maybe he gets his inspiration from his older cousins who make their own movies. There's this one and this one. Either way, he chose a fun theme and we ran with it.

Young Indy showed up and gave each of the kids paper fedora hats that Brent made. (With the instructions to not stand near an open flame when wearing them)

Then he told them about some of his adventures and that his treasure he found was stolen and he needed their help to get it back. He handed out little bags that Brent's mom sewed for all the kids. She's an angel. More on her and her visit later...

Then he showed them how to use a whip. The kids were in awe as he popped each ballon.

They followed their maps to all the locations where they could gather treasure but first they had to pass off on mummification.

Then they had to search through the "Pit of Doom"

Then go through the Indian village

Then dig through monkey brains (jello) for treasure

Several friends from church and school came and of course lots of cousins!

Does this boy look thrilled or what?

Young Indy was actually a boy from our church's ranch nearby and he was so good to come and do this. Seth and some of the other kids thought he was the real thing!

The night before as we were sewing, baking, and finishing hats I asked my mother-in-law if we were crazy. It was all worth it though. There were a few things I would have added but just didn't have the time. It will probably be another five years before his next big birthday party.

Now I wish I had pictures of me blowing out my candles but alas, there was no cake for me this year. I just realized that as I was putting this together. Sad, huh? Not really. In defense of Brent he did a lot for this party and it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun as it was if it didn't have the touch of Brent's creativity too. Also, in defense of Brent, he does soooo much throughout the year to spoil me that I can overlook this slight mistake.

But the next time? I don't know...

Where to Begin

The lack of blogging is not due to nothing to blog about, but rather where to begin.

I'll start with our church's Christmas party. I am over activities at our church which includes an annual Christmas party. We had different soups for dinner with rolls and then everyone brought a dessert to share. Brent and my nephew Adam put together a conference call with Santa live via satellite from the North Pole and the primary children sang. We did a reenactment of the Nativity that turned out well for being VERY last minute. I hope nobody could tell. I was so grateful for the talented people around me that were willing to step in and help put it together. Overall I think it was a success and I already have thoughts churning in my head about what to do next year. (No pictures. I was counting on my lovely sister bringing her camera so I didn't bring mine and I don't think I saw her taking any pics)

The ladder slipped out from under Brent as he was cleaning up the wonderful light display he had strung across the ceiling. Luckily he sustained no major injuries and Ian had walked away from that area. Phew! What a blessing nobody got hurt. I think my heart stopped for a sec when I heard the crash and everyone gasp when I was out in the hallway. I'm grateful he's out in the living room playing with the Little People sets with our 2 boys.

More to come...

Super Saturday

Ian slept in until 10:30. My body won't let me sleep past 8:00 anymore. We got to spend 2 hours laughing and playing with Seth.

I got to hear him say, "Thatsh sho aweshome!" many times and he asked me if his feet smelled like roses.

Went to a birthday party for a girl in Seth's preschool class and got to see him take bowling very seriously. Got to meet some pretty cool moms too.

Dropped Seth off at my sisters and went to eat and visit at our neighbors. They have twin babies and they were baptized at their church today. I'm grateful for good, fun, normal neighbors.

Came home to discover that someone had cut the Christmas lights in our bushes...again. Yes, it is officially a crime in my book and the perpetrator will be caught. Oh yes. He/She/They will be caught.

FHE Idea

This is what we did for our activity for Family Home Evening last Monday. I got the idea from my friend Angela's blog, but since her blog is private, here's our pics.

It's a fun idea. We didn't really tie it into the lesson but you could easily. I would suggest leaving the marshmallows out for a little bit before you build it because ours were a little too soft at first. I did take the toothpick out of Ian's mouth right after I saw it but I thought he was funny how he acted like it was no big deal he put it there. Do we have a redneck on our hands? Not that there's anything wrong with that.

So big!

Ian is growing up too fast. He's already getting his own cereal in the morning. It's actually kind of nice because now I can sleep in. :)

Big Brother Tison

My brother and his wife just had baby number four! A boy!

Hopefully his older brother Tison goes a little easier on him then he did on Ian.

3-2-1 Liftoff!

I don't know if it's because I grew up here or not, but I love to watch the shuttle go up. I never get tired of seeing it and always get a little teary-eyed. All of the launches are cool, but the night launches can't be beat. It is as bright as dawn when it goes up.

Amy planned a bonfire on the beach so a bunch of us went and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and had the perfect view. The kids had a blast digging in the sand and running around.