End of the School Year Field Trip - Potter Park Zoo

Sophia's last day of preschool was on May 19th and the teacher planned for us to meet at the zoo in Lansing that morning.  It turned out to be a beautiful morning and a wonderful way to spend with Sophia's friends before they all go their separate ways for kindergarten (or another year of preschool) in the Fall.

I took the boys with us and was pretty sure that James would sleep for most of the event in his stroller/car seat, while Jack and Sophia walked around until their legs became tired enough that they were ready to head home.  James fussed a couple of times (mainly when I stopped pushing the stroller) and Jack was more disinterested in the animals than I thought that he would be.  Sure, he took the time to look at them briefly, but he seemed more engrossed in all of the pieces of equipment that were zipping around the zoo, spreading mulch and cleaning animal cages.  Maybe it's his age?  Maybe it's just his love of mechanical things?  I'm not sure.  Either way, after about two hours, we were ready to pack up and head out. 

It was a little cool in the morning, so I made the kids wear their jackets.  Eventually, it warmed up and they shed those and threw them in the stroller.

Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for the start of the field trip:

Posing by the bald eagles:

I waited a sweet forever for that peacock to turn around with its beautiful tail.  It was almost as if it was a little 'camera shy' or something!

Jack must have stuck his head in every single one of these wooden cut-outs scattered throughout the zoo:

Monkeys!

There were three lions down in this exhibit:

Checking out the rhino:

A lot of the peacocks were out roaming about.  Jack was excited to see one up close and personal.

Over all, these two had a great time ...  And what made it even better?  After we left, we surprised Grammy (my mom) and brought lunch to her while she was babysitting for my sister, just a couple miles away.

Jack's 3rd Birthday Party

It's no secret around these parts that Jack loves his plastic chainsaw that he received from Grandpa for Christmas.  And he loves cutting logs/wood/trees -- anything that is outdoors and considered rough and tough.  He is all boy ...

My inspiration for this party all began with a picture that Steve took of Jack last fall when they were cutting logs out at the orchard.  Really, it was quick photo taken with Steve's phone, but it turned out to be the perfect picture to use on the invitation for Jack's Lumberjack Party.  (I couldn't resist the extra play-on-words with Jack's name in the theme either!).

I like to stick with a main color scheme for each of my parties because it allows me to mix in colors at an inexpensive price, and to potentially pull from other decorations used in the past.  For this party, I used red and black (lumberjack buffalo plaid print) with some burlap brown for a real rustic feel.

The banner was made with a $1.00 burlap flag decoration.  I cut the letters out myself and glued them on and then hung the banner from the fireplace mantle. 

 

 

 

The cake table is always a focal point for me.  I seem to invariably cover this canvas print that usually hangs on the wall with some sort of decoration that fits with the theme and makes for a nice backdrop.  The tree print paper on the left was wrapping paper that I already had (part of a grouping of camo wrapping paper left over from Steve's Christmas/birthday/Father's Day gifts) and I stumbled upon the buffalo plaid tissue paper and couldn't resist it.  Jack's name was cut out of scrapbook paper that I found that looked like wood grain.  I attached a copy of the invitation in the upper left corner and set it back up on the wall ...  Perfect.

 



 

The weekend before, we went out into the woods for a quick photo shoot with my little lumberjack, and while we were there I asked Steve to cut a few sections of logs for me to use on my dessert table. 

I used three of them to make the cupcake stand (the wooden candlestick holders were on a clearance end cap at Hobby Lobby -- which is why they don't completely match one another) and another to hold the cake (after I covered it with scrapbook paper to provide a sterile layer).  I used another log to hold the campfire decoration .

The cake and cupcakes are always my favorite part of every party!  My kids LOVE to see how their cake turns out every time and then to think back and decide what their favorite ones have been over the years.  It's always a true labor of love (I'm usually up quite late the night before), but I wouldn't have it any other way.

The cupcakes were designed to look like little campfires: chocolate frosting, chocolate-covered raisins for the stones, a kit-kat bar cut in half for the log and multi-colored frosting for the fire flames.  For the frosting, I simply made a bowl of red frosting and a bowl of yellow frosting.  Then, I added the red to one half of my piping bag and yellow to the other.  Once I piped the frosting out the tip, it blended to make a beautiful flame!

The cake was a three-tier chocolate cake with brown buttercream frosting.  Then, I made the "bark" along the outside using chocolate shavings.  I poured a thin layer of chocolate onto wax paper and rolled it into a tube and stuck it in the fridge.  After it hardened, I unwrapped the wax paper and let the chocolate break into pieces.  Then I painstakingly placed them all around the outside of the cake.  Finally, I used a toothpick to make the wood grain on the top.

 

 

One of the tables, set up with some camping lanterns that I borrowed from my mom, some trail mix and nuts for snacks and a faux birch tree log vase.  That's right -- I just wrapped a piece of scrapbook paper around the vase to make it look like a log.

 

 

 

And how perfect were these flowers to go with the red and black theme?  $7.99, and enough to fill two vases.

 

 

 

The other table.  More snacks, including twix and kit-kats, both of which resemble logs.

 

We served hamburgers and hot dogs with all of the fixings, broccoli salad, watermelon, veggies and dip, chips and some apple harvest punch.

And one of the best parts???  We answered the door and saw Grandpa dressed up like a lumberjack.  I loved it!  The beard colored on, the shirt, the suspenders, the boots, the hat and the axe! 

Jack ran to get his chainsaw for the photo.  Of course.

(Fun fact: Jack's middle name, Stanley, is his Grandpa's name.  Yes, he was named after Steve's dad).  How fitting to take a picture by the banner!

The girls wrote a Happy Birthday message to Jack on the dry erase board.

The two lumberjacks ate their dinner together.

 

Time for presents.  Jack received a REAL tool set from Uncle Z.

 



And he proudly carried that all around ...

And he got a new bike from Grandpa and us:

 

 

 

Getting ready to sing happy birthday:

 



 

Blowing out the candles:

Happy birthday, Jack!  Here's to another great year!

Sophia's First Hair "Trim"

It's been more than five years; more than five years and Sophia had never had her hair trimmed.  That page in her baby book remains blank still, you know, the one for "Baby's First Haircut."  In fact, it has only been in the last six months or so that her hair has really starting filling in and getting fuller on the top. 

The thing is, her hair is just really curly.  Much like mine was when I was little.  The ringlets simply bounce back up after her shower and are finally beginning to have some volume and length to them.  With that, I started noticing that the ends were dry and almost "straw-like" lately, just begging for a little trim. 

So, one night after her shower, I asked her if she wanted me to trim her hair.  Oh did she ever.  She's been waiting for this day for ... well, her whole life now.  I grabbed the scissors, she grabbed her 1st Curl Box, and Steve grabbed the camera.  And just like that, Sophia received her first official trim. 

These pictures WILL be going in her baby book.

Notice the small pile of curls on the counter, waiting to go in her curl box.

All in all, I didn't take off much; just enough to round it out a bit and smooth the ends.

 

 

Everywhere we go, people always comment on her hair -- how beautiful the curls are.  She has never been self-conscious of it all (even though both Samantha and I have much longer curls than her) because she has always had extra embellishments in it, like headbands, bows and barrettes. 

 

My little blue-eyed, curly-haired girl ...

My Littles and Me

For Mother's Day this year, I only made two requests: I wanted to go as a family out to lunch -- a simple place in DeWitt, and have a picture taken of me with my little ones.  Anything else was just a bonus ... including the new wallet/clutch that I received and my new sequined Detroit Tigers flip-flops.  (Never mind that the Tigers' season is off to a very rocky start this year).

It took no less than about 10 attempts to get this picture simply because the photographer (ahem, Steve!) doesn't prefer to give any warning when snapping a picture.  That meant that there was literally, at least one individual, in each picture that had their eyes closed.  Even James.

The best of the best:

A little drool coming out of James' mouth?  Yup, that is the norm these days.  But everyone is somewhat looking at the camera!

And do you know what?!  Those colors were not necessarily planned at all.  Everyone was dressed and the only person that didn't really match was Sophia (her shirt was pink, of course), so I simply asked her to change.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.

Now, I need to get that picture printed and framed.  After all, it just might possibly be one of my very favorite ones.

James is Three Months Old

James is three months old today and has already grown and developed so much since his birth.  I like to think that we are settling into a nice groove here, but in a blink of an eye, things will begin to change.  The month of May is a busy one, as the girls have finished up dance classes but have many end-of-the-school-year activities in place.  We also have a certain little boy in our house who will be turning 3 years old in a couple of weeks!  Birthday plans are underway!

To be honest, James spent the first couple of months mostly in his sleeper pajamas due to the comfort and warmth of them; a perk of having a winter baby.  We have since started dressing him a little more regularly with onesies and pants, and I don't think that he could possibly be any more adorable!

He even donned a little sweater for one of our outings.  A little big for him, yes.  But, he was definitely warm and cozy, if the peaceful look on his face didn't already give that away.  In fact, most rides in his car seat result in a nap.

Speaking of the car seat, we discovered that he is able to ride without it in the stroller if we so choose.  This picture was taken on his first ride in the stroller without the car seat. 

The only drawback of that little milestone is that he isn't as likely to drift off to sleep in this new position if we go for a walk.  And let's face it, most of our walks go a little more smoothly if the little man is quiet and content!  Especially if we are planning a trip down to the park and the older kids want to play for a bit.

The last two weeks have begun the "drooling phase."  Some kids seem to bypass this stage all together, but not mine.  All of my babies have been big droolers and require multiple bib changes throughout the day.  It also means that most pictures show them with a bib on.  And this will continue for a couple of months, even when they don't cut their first tooth for quite some time.

James is just a naturally happy baby and will smile for anyone.

A little smirk for his momma:

Look at those blue eyes!  I am pretty sure that we are going to have another blue-eyed child for our family (to join Sophia).  And wouldn't that be something?  Especially since his papa (and the man that he is named after) has the brightest blue eyes.

The best news of all for this month is that James transitioned perfectly to his crib and is consistently sleeping in it from about 9 pm to anywhere from 3 am to 6 am.  Yes, 6-9 hours at a time.  And when he wakes up, he gets changed, nurses and then goes back down again for another couple of hours.  Eventually, I plan to move his bedtime up a little bit, but for right now, it works better for us to get the three older kids down for bed at 8 pm before we begin his bedtime routine.

His bedtime routine remains the same: he gets a bath, fresh pajamas, usually a bottle of pumped milk (about 4 oz.) and then nurses until he is full.  Then I rock him to sleep before transferring him to his crib upstairs.  Right now, I have a comforter folded in his crib, like a soft pillow.  He seems to do so much better when he is propped on that initially.  Eventually, he moves down and is laying flat. 

If he isn't awake by the time the other kids are up, they beg to be able to go into his room with me to get him.  He never seems to startle and loves seeing them looking into his crib.

Anytime that James is on the ground and within reach, they are never far from him.  And I love that.

Overall, I couldn't be any happier as a mom these days.  The kids all just love their little brother so much and never miss an opportunity to hold him, play with him, ride behind him in the van (the girls actually had to start a 'sign-up sheet' so that they could keep track of who got to ride behind him in the van last) or cuddle with him.  He is such a good baby -- I can't say it enough -- and has made the last three months a joy for us.