Happy Birthday Cole.. and first day of school

WHAT A CRAZY DAY!!!  Cole's birthday fell on the first day of school this year.  So it was a wild and crazy day from start to finish.  It started late last night when I decorated his room for this birthday.  I always decorate their room while they sleep so they can wake up ready to celebrate their birthday.  I made sure my camera was handy, so be prepared to see lots of photos from today!

Cole's favorite food is pancakes and he LOVES smily face pancakes the best.  Although the one I made isn't smiling very much.  I think he enjoyed his mildly content pancake.  

Cole opened his birthday present from Mia first.

She got him an awesome Buzz Lightyear gun that shoots green balls.  He loved it.

After he got ready for school, he opened the rest of his presents.  Of course it was a Wii game and a DS game.  And a holder for his DS.  

I love how expressive Cole is.

Then it was time to get photos of the new 1st and 3rd graders.

Mia and her friends at the bus stop

After we got the kids to school, it was time to make some birthday cupcakes.  Luke helped me with this. He did a great job.  When they were cool we frosted them to look like Super Mario mushrooms.

I ran lots of errands during the day, including getting cupcakes to the school for Cole's class.  When I got back, I made a fun after school snack.  It's kind of tradition to have a fun after school snack on the first day of school.  Because after the first day, it's boring stuff like crackers and apples.  I love making something exciting on the first day.   I made watermelon kabobs using cookie cutters.  

Drew got to pick the kids up from the bus.

They were exhausted but loved their first day!

I asked Cole what he wanted to eat for his birthday dinner.  He said he didn't want my cooking.  He wanted McDonalds.  So McDonalds it is. 

Luke was upset that he didn't get to say the blessing.  

Of course we had to make him the birthday crown.

Making a wish

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COLE!

6 has never looked so cute. 

And I had to get this adorable photo of Ella and Luke taking a bath.  A sweet finish to a fun day.

Baby Whitney

It was so fun having the Petersons here.  We love baby Whitney!

It's so funny to see these baby girls in the purple Bratz chairs.

Poor Eli didn't have as much fun as Whitney.  He and Luke got into a few fights... as you can see.  Luke fights dirty.  

The Heat

I've been meaning to post this awesome picture, but haven't had a chance.  Here's the story...

Drew took a can of Diet Pepsi to work with him one morning last month.  It was a busy morning and he had lots on his mind, so he accidentally left the can of soda in his truck.  When he got out of work at about 3pm he noticed the can and thought to himself, "Man, that soda must be really hot."  So he did the only logical thing he could think of.  He put it between his legs for the 15 minute drive home.  He didn't want the can bouncing around in the cup holder.

Just a few miles from home, while still on the freeway, Drew heard a huge explosion and he was covered in a warm liquid that he was convinced was blood.  He thought for sure he was shot, until the liquid dripped into his mouth and tasted like Diet Pepsi.  Luckily no one was around him because he couldn't see a thing and had to pull over to figure out what was going on.  Here's a photo of the can...

He called me right away to tell me to get the steam cleaner out.  There was Diet Pepsi all over the cab of his truck, including the ceiling.  I just wish I would have taken a picture of Drew.  He was totally wet.  It was hilarious. 

Man, it can get HOT here!

Mia's Birthday Party

I always let my kids choose the theme of their birthday parties (within reason) and Mia decided this year's theme would be "Arts & Crafts", since it's probably her favorite thing to do.  Thanks to my sister Jill, and all her help, the party was a success. 

Here was the invitation we gave out.  My address was on the back. 

I just removed the label (using Goo Gone) and mod podged a photoshop label to the glue bottle.  Added some ribbon and a tag... voila!

Here are the decorations...

Nothing fancy, but I loved the way it turned out.  Even though it was arts and crafts, Mia wanted a lot of pink.  So we did pink everything.  Here are the instructions for making these awesome pom poms.
pom pom instructions

You always need an activity as the kids arrive.  So we decided to have the girls decorate a "birthday crown" for Mia to wear.  It's just a big piece of poster board that they had to cut out and decorate.

Ruby was the first guest to arrive, so she got things started.  

Reagan is Mia's cousin and she came all the way down from Utah to help Mia have a fun day.  Sweet Reagan was a little shy during the party, but she had a good time.  

By the time all the girls arrived, Mia had an awesome crown to wear.  

The girls made glitter bracelets.  I got the instructions from family fun...

Glitter Bracelet Instructions

It was fun watching the girls pick the beads.  

I didn't realize the mess this craft would create.  I wish I would have done it outside.  But it was nice that we did it on a plastic table cloth.  Aunt Jill just folded it up at threw the mess away.

We also made an awesome necklace out of clear decorator stones and scrapbook paper.  Here's the tutorial.  Glass Bead Necklace Instructions

And I got this great game idea from the "Real Simple" magazine.  You just take a paper cup and cut off the bottom.  Then you take a balloon, tie the end in a knot (without blowing it up), then cut the top of the balloon off.  You stretch the balloon over the bottom of the paper cup.  It becomes a really awesome mini marshmallow launcher.  So I just bought the pastel colored mini marshmallows and separated them by color.  Then I put them in small plastic cups based on their color.  The girls separated into teams of 3 (each girl having a different color).  Then I placed three bowls at the other end of the room.  The big bowl was 1 point, the medium bowl was 5 points, and the small bowl was 10 points (although my sister Jill was in charge of this part and marked them opposite - with the large bowl worth 10 points.  What would she do without her big sis to fix things??? ;)  JK - Love you Jill!

The top three scores were the winners.  They each got to choose a candy bar!

The last craft we did was GOO  (kind of like slime).  Mia loves this stuff, so we made it even though it's a BIG mess.  The things we do for our kids.  This we did outside, even though it was about 100 degrees.  

Recipe: 

Solution # 1

1 8 oz bottle of school glue mixed with 1 cup of water and 7 drops of food coloring

Solution # 2

4 Tbsp Borax laundry booster with 1 1/3 cup warm water

Mix solution 1 in a cup until well blended.  Mix solution 2 in a LARGE bowl (see pics below on my inability to read the word "large").  Pour solution 1 into solution 2.  remove the gooey mess from the water.

Obviously I should have gotten bigger bowls.

Each batch was different.  We had some that worked and some... not so much.  It was fun though. 

Lunch time.  We had Dominoes Pizza delivered for lunch.  No brainer!

Mia decided she wanted to open presents before the cake.  She just couldn't wait!

She got some seriously awesome gifts and the most adorable cards attached.

Katelyn made Mia a beautiful scrapbook of their 5 year friendship.  It took a lot of work and Mia loves it so much.  It's hard to believe they've been friends for so long.

All the gifts were so thoughtful.

All the girls freaked out when they saw the American Girl snowboard set that Reagan got Mia.  Lots of squealing!

It's tradition to play "heavy heavy hang over thy poor head"

After the presents, the girls watched a 12 minute slide show of Mia's 8 years.  I made it on iMovie.  I was surprised by how much they enjoyed it.  

Mia picked out the cake and we ordered it from Wal-mart.  And I must say, It was SOOOO GOOD!  We ordered a half sheet chocolate cake with whipped cream icing.

Happy Birthday Mia!