I know you have all been up losing sleep at night wondering what Elliott did for his 7th birthday. Well, now that he’s near turning 8, I figured I’d put a post up about it so you could all get some sleep. 😉
We had a soccer birthday party for him with a little soccer program that the kids had attended the last couple of years. It’s super FUN and this coach was their absolute favorite. He’s like a cartoon character. So when we heard he did birthday parties, we were all in!!
It started off with a hilarious circle time and some stretches…
And then some super fun games…
A much needed water break… (The kids and I personalized these water bottles for the guests!)
And, of course…cake time! We bought Elliott a new soccer ball and each of his friends got to sign it!
Some of you have had the blessed opportunity to partake in the Moberg family birthday cake tradition of…MUD PIE. Oh my, this is probably my all-time favorite dessert and all the secrets of the trade have been passed down to me from my father-in-law. I decided to tweak the recipe a bit to turn the mud pie into mini mud pie cupcakes and, of course, turn them into soccer balls. YUMMMMM.
It was a super fun time surrounded by friends and family!
Happy 7th birthday, biggest man!!! (Okay, is it me or did this kid grow up SO MUCH this year?!!! He’s practically a MAN!!)
As you all know, we moved into our new home just a couple of days before Christmas last year. We are so unbelievably blessed and grateful for this home; I love it more than any home we have ever lived in! But even so, I still have this teensy weensy little passion for making things beautiful and I couldn’t wait to make it ours. And it was Christmas! So while most may have thoughts of Sugar Plum Fairies dancing through their heads, my brain was singing a different tune. Despite the boxes and stuff literally wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling in some rooms (did I mention we downsized??), the thought that kept floating its way around the back of my head was…
“These cabinets would look so beautiful painted white with fresh garland across the tops…”
Sung to the tune of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas!” Do you agree?? Here was our home last year on Christmas day :).
Merry Christmas to all and to all a…need to fit all of this stuff somewhere!!!!
You guys. I am such a sucker for a good “Before and After” photo. My Pinterest feed is filled with them, but I have never had the chance to do my very own before and after because we’ve always rented and Brian has–rightly so–not let me spend a dime or a minute putting effort into a home that wasn’t ours. (He may have been right, but all you have to do is mention the “bathroom wallpaper” from our last home and I may or may not shed a tear or two.) Anyhow, I regress. Here’s another day in our new home, after a tiny bit more unpacking progress:
So, after several months of creative storage solutions, new appliances, a dab of paint here and there (shout out to Jillian who helped me paint the kitchen/living room!), my very first furniture make-over, a lot of elbow grease and some fresh garland…I present to you our kitchen this year on Christmas day 2018:
*Squeal!*
Did you see that I even turned a counter-height square table into a normal height oval table?? 🙂 Just kidding. We had to get a new table that actually fit in our new kitchen. A craigslist steal with a little paint and stain turned into my most favorite table ever!
Isn’t it amazing what can happen in just one year?!! I pray that as we enter this new year, that you would be able to look back and remember what the Lord has done in your life, and look forward to 2019 with great expectancy about what He will do in your heart in the year to come!!
One more great before and after for you…check out how these two kids have grown up in the last six years!! #christmasjammies
Once upon a time, the lord of a not-so-faraway land came home after work and, as was the habit, asked his young son if he’d like to take a quick four-wheeler ride. The prince jumped into his cowboy boots and buckled his helmet on while the lady of the land got the princess ready for bed.
But this didn’t turn out to be an ordinary four-wheeler ride. It seemed their Good Shepherd had planned an extraordinary surprise for them along the way: a Western Painted Turtle Mama, digging a hole in the dirt near the lake.
Of course the son couldn’t wait to share this news with the female half of his family, so he and his daddy quickly drove back to the house to get the ladies to share in the joy. All four drove back to the lake to see this amazing phenomenon.
The neighbors gathered round and called upon the all-knowing Google to tell us why this turtle was digging a hole. It was beautiful to watch this mama turtle s-l-o-w-l-y and painstakingly use her hind claws, one at a time, to dig through this dirt that was so hard I couldn’t poke through it with my finger. Shortly after, one neighbor announced, “I think she’s about to lay eggs!” the mama turtle stopped digging and silently dropped an egg into the hole. The children all gasped in amazement as they all watched this laboring mama lay not one, not two, but fourteen eggs into this hole. After each egg, she would tuck her claws in and pack the egg into the dirt hole before laying another one. It was a truly miraculous sight. As we discussed how to mark the nest, the daddy happened upon a piece of trash clearly left over from a shower…one man’s trash is the decor for another turtle’s baby shower.
The dirt was SO HARD that the lord of the land had to use a hammer to get it into the dirt. The daddy also placed a large rock in front of the nest so the family wouldn’t accidentally drive a four-wheeler over it.
After the mama turtle had finished laying eggs and started to cover up her nest, every little lad and lady went home to their respective houses. The lady of the land, however, couldn’t resist going back out there to see what this mama turtle would do next. And this is what she found:
Can you find the turtle nest in the picture on the left?? She was amazed to see how that mama turtle camouflaged her babies’ hiding place, down to putting dried grass over the spot. (The nest is just above the big rock.) When she turned around, she found that mama turtle slowly making her way home to the lake…can you spot her in the picture on the right?
It was a super fun and educational summer researching all things turtles and learning all about them. The prince and princess even wrote and illustrated their very own fictional books about turtles. (And Mama Moberg Publishing was delighted to officially publish their books!) The children counted down every one of the 72 days of their incubation period, periodically checking on the babies to make sure no fire ants had found the nest. And on their “due date” the children awoke and shouted for joy, threw on their clothes and ran down to the lake to check on the babies. Their mama tried to explain to them that due dates are not always accurate, but nonetheless they couldn’t contain their wonder. To their dismay, there was no hole in the dirt where the babies should have dug themselves out. And almost every day the children checked on the babies…for fivelong weeks.
The lady of the house had lost sleep wondering spent the summer researching how these baby turtles would find their way home to the pond. She had come across several articles talking about how sometimes the dirt is just too hard for them to dig themselves out of. It had rained a ton over the summer but the ground was still hard as a rock. After waiting five long weeks for the babies to dig themselves out and after watching a video on the procedure…the family decided it was time to do an emergency c-section.
So they called on all the neighbors to come watch the delivery, poured a bucket of water over the nest, and began to gently dig into the dirt with their fingers. It wasn’t long before one cried out, “I feel one!!” And she pulled the world’s most adorable baby turtle out of the dirt!! Several mamas and Selah rotated reaching in and gently feeling around for them. Every time they pulled a baby turtle out, covered in mud, the little guy would take his hand and wipe his own little face off!! It was so adorable!! In the end, they found five baby turtles alive and well!! Five of them had died somewhere along the way. And they couldn’t find the remaining four egg shells, which was weird. Selah spent an hour continuing to dig once the delivery was long over because she was determined to find the last 4 babies.
The first few seconds of the following video are the most exciting. If you watch on, you’ll be able to see one of the empty shells (which at first we thought was a squished turtle!)…
After all of the kiddos got to “oooh” and “aaah” over the babies, everyone headed down to the pond to release them, which was always the plan.
Each sibling pair got to release a baby turtle into the pond. However, can you see the amount of algae in it? Unfortunately, the lord and lady of this land still don’t know how to take care of a little lake like this one (it’s on “The To-Do List…”). It was filled with algae and everyone was afraid the turtles would get entangled in it. But the lady of the land assured them all that the turtles would know what to do…
That is…until she watched one baby turtle tryingto swim and realized that he couldn’t! Gasp!
She cried out to the lord of the land who, to her surprise, said they could keep a couple turtles for a couple days to alleviate her fear. Overjoyed, she pulled three babies back out of the lake, two who were completely tangled up in the algae and the one who couldn’t swim.
They told the kids who, obviously, couldn’t contain their joy. They asked if they could go find the other two. After searching through heaps of algae, they found the last two baby turtles completely entangled in the algae. It seems pretty clear that they would have either died of starvation or been eaten alive by the next duck that came by since they couldn’t swim away!
The family’s neighbors fortunately had an extra tank so they made the baby turtles a little home within their home, safe from predators and strangling algae.
The next day princess Selah discovered that their marking on their bellies were unique–and so they were able to name the newest members of their family.
(From left to right) Princess Selah’s turtle: Cutie Pie; Prince Elliott’s turtle: Claw Patrol; the lord’s turtle: Shelly; The lady’s turtle: Tortuga; The family turtle: Symmy
The family is still trying to figure out when/how to release them back into their natural habitat. But for now, the family is living happily ever after, enjoying the world’s cutest baby turtles…who hold hands, snuggle and make totem poles all the day long!
OH MY…the kid whose first word was “ball,” the kid who was only motivated to start walking when his Aunt and Uncle gave him a soccer ball for his first birthday and he realized he had to walk to kick it, the kid who has now had TWO ball birthday parties…this child has always loved balls!!
If you’re in the mood for some throw-back videos, check these out. The first one just makes me laugh so hard!!
And this Fall, Elliott was FINALLY on his first official soccer team. Look at how big my baby boy is!!!
And not only that, Brian gained a title that is every dad’s rite of passage to becoming a REAL dad….”COACH BRIAN.”
God ordained an interesting order of events that landed Brian the title of “Coach” and our dear friend Trevor the title of “Assistant Coach.” (Kari and I mighthave had something to do with that…let me just say that some days I think we could take over the world if we wanted to…mwahahahaha….) Elliott was THRILLED beyond belief to have his daddy coach him and, although some might call me “bias,” I will say that Brian was the best soccer coach on the planet! He was so good with those boys–such an encouragement for their soccer skills as well as their attitudes and hearts. When Trevor wasn’t flying around the world and could be there to coach as well I can say with confidence that those two as a coaching team were unstoppable! We ended the season with two wins, two ties and five losses…but if we add things up the way I do math, we ended the season with 12 boys who had FUN, who were exhorted and encouraged by their coaches, who learned teamwork and sportsmanship, and improved on their soccer skills. It was a WIN all around in my book!!
Elliott loves playing defense and goalie and it was fun to watch him improve over the two months of playing. His trademark is a strong BOOT to the ball to defend his team’s goal. (In the video below, he’s wearing a white shirt and he’s the one who boots the ball towards the other end of the field…)
Well, another school year is off to the races…and this year, our baby girl headed off to kindergarten. She got a big girl backpack and lunchbox, and I just had to include The Kissing Hand in there for a little surprise. It’s a sweet little book about a little raccoon being nervous about going to school so his mom kisses his hand and tells him that her kisses will go with him to school. Selah was FAR from being nervous about school but I think the book was really more for me than for her… (waahhh!!) I hadn’t been emotional about this whole thing until I sat to read her the book…and couldn’t make it through without crying! Gah! The kids think it’s hilarious when I cry during books, so I’m glad they got a kick out of it!!
We went to back-to-school night and found her classroom, teacher, desk and friends!
I’m actually not sure if there’s ever been a child in the history of all children more excited to go to school. This child was practically jumping out of her skin she was so excited. She picked out this shirt as her “first day” shirt…the panda sequins change when you slide them up or down.
But honestly, have you ever seen such an excited kindergartener?? When she saw this picture, she said, “It looks like I’m about to jump up.” And I responded, “YOU ARE!! Don’t you remember how you couldn’t stop jumping up and down??” Hahaha!! And here she is showing off her panda sequins shirt…both when the sequins are up and down!
Here she is walking into school for the very first time as a student, and waving goodbye as her class walks into the building…
If it looks like she’s a giant in this picture, it’s because she is :). Actually, she’s not the tallest one in her class! She’s #2!
She only had a half day of school so I couldn’t pack her a fun lunch, but I was happy to see her again after a few hours :). She even made us a kissing hand while at school!!
And here is the self-portrait that she drew the next day for our first homeschool day. She is wearing a unicorn headband and holding a parachute, of course :).
Selah is thriving in her kindergarten class. She absolutely LOVES going to school. One thing I don’t think I made clear before her first day was that she was actually a STUDENT, not the TEACHER. There are quite a few hilarious quotes from her first day, but this one is our favorite: She proudly reported to us after her first day, “Mom and Dad, I was really helpful today. I helped all of the little ones who didn’t know how to cut and didn’t know their letters. You know, all of the two- and three-year-olds in my class.”
I looked at her and said, “Selah…they are ALL five…just like you…”
Her eyes got HUGE and her jaw dropped and she said, “REALLY?? REALLY????!!!!!”
Oh my word, we love her so much!!!!
One thing that has been SO PRECIOUS to watch unfold is Elliott and Selah’s friendship while at school. At home, we have worked diligently to help them build their friendship with each other and prayed that God would form a strong bond between them. But of course there are definitely days filled with much tension between the two of them. We have spent many hours instructing and teaching Elliott about protecting and watching out for his sister while at school and he has just hit the ball out of the park so far this year. One day when she didn’t have anyone to sit with at lunch she went over and asked Elliott if she could sit with him. And he said…drum roll please…”Of course, Selah!” And he cleared a space between himself and his friends for her to sit. #heartgush #thankyouLord!!! He has been a valiant big brother, protecting and serving her while at school…and even telling his friends to go easy on her during Gaga ball because she was only in kindergarten :).
And speaking of that Big Man, he’s an old pro at this whole “school” thing…
This mighty man found this shirt at the store and INSISTED on wearing it on the first day of school. I will admit I was not the biggest fan of it…not because I don’t want to take some credit for this wonderful young man, but because we all know that he is who he is because of the MIGHTY GRACE OF GOD!!And of course, Brian and I have helped shape him and teach him…but if we’re gonna get a t-shirt, it might as well boast about our great God. I wish the shirt said, “I am who I am thanks to God and a little help from my dad and mom.” 😉 Regardless, we let him get it (I’m not sure I’ve EVER seen him so opinionated and persistent about an item of clothing) and wear on the first day of school…
Aaaand, the caption on the picture of the two of us together reads, “Mom holds son at gunpoint and forces him to wear shirt that gives her credit for his awesomeness. Son is terrified.”
Here the self-portrait Elliott drew on the first homeschool day:
Elliott has a fabulous second grade teacher and he is, as always, loving school!
My goodness, these two are just my absolute favorites!!! Happy first day of school, dear ones!!
Apparently I’m making it a tradition to just barely squeeze the Last Days of School post in before the start of the next school year…
Well, we did it! Another school year down in the Moberg history books. We continued another year of partial homeschooling–so two days a week, Elliott went to school and Selah went to gymnastics and then we homeschooled them the other days. We absolutely love this combination for so many reasons, but that’s a post for another day! 🙂
Elliott has grown immensely in his leadership this year while at school and we just couldn’t be more proud of him. His teacher told me that often once he had completed the assignment given, she would tell him he could have free choice time. But then the next thing she knew, she would turn around and find him wandering from classmate to classmate, helping the kids who didn’t understand how to do the work. #heartgush
Although Elliott has NEVER had a problem talking non-stop, sharing ideas and telling stories at home, this is the first year we’ve really seen him blossom at school. Probably one of my favorite things about this past school year was watching his friendship grow and deepen with his buddy Quinn. They are two peas in a pod for sure!!! An amazing team and great role models.
To my somewhat dismay, Elliott fell head-over-heels in love with…MONOPOLY this year. (Thanks, Dad!!) 😉 Wow. I mean, the child eats, sleeps, and breathes Monopoly. He can’t get enough of it. They were tasked with the assignment to come up with an invention and so he–obviously–invented…wait for it…“a robot that can play Monopoly with me even when my family doesn’t want to.” (And just for the record, Brian in particular has played HOURS UPON HOURS of Monopoly with him, but clearly it’s not enough…) We have seen Brian’s entrepreneurial side bursting out of him this year as he really, really enjoys buying and selling. His math skills continue to shock and awe us. For instance, the kids had been slightly obsessed with the idea of the concept of starting a fire by rubbing two stick together. Brian mentioned that if either one of them ever started a fire by rubbing two sticks together (obviously under our supervision) that he would give them $50. A couple minutes later, Elliott said, “Well I’m going to start a fire 20 times so I make $1,000.” Brian was surprised that he did the math so quickly so started giving him other 2 digit by 2 digit multiplication problems, and Elliott solved them all…! Here are his stats…unedited. 🙂
Selah, our sweet girl. She continues to be the most profound combination of strength and gentleness, service and leadership, hilariousness and, well, other strong emotions! She has excelled this year in so many ways. It is an absolute joy to watch her blossom into a little girl who loves the Lord and loves others so well. She LOVES to read and now that she is a strong reader you will often find her with her nose stuck in a book…and it’s not too unlikely that you will find her like that while doing a handstand. We have noted this love for reading, but I will say I was surprised that she said her favorite part of pre-k was reading books! She is whole reader, unlike her brother who is very much a phonics kid, and so we often hear some creative renditions to what she’s reading when she comes to a word she doesn’t know and simply makes up her own word for it. She also begged me to do flashcards with her most every homeschool day (I’m not a huge flashcards fan for teaching reading at this age, which is why she found herself begging…). However, she insisted that I hold the flashcards UPSIDE-DOWN so she could read them that way. HA! And she had a pretty nearly perfect record of reading them all correctly!
This will also give you another glimpse into our girl…I took her last day of school picture and, I’ll admit, was quite proud of myself when she smiled beautifully and I got the picture in one try! But when I said, “Wow, Selah! We got a great one on the first try! Good job!” she busted out laughing hysterically and pointed out that she was holding the wrong side of the sign! Haha, very funny, Selah B :).
And will the REAL Last Day of Pre-K girl please stand up…
And, of course, it wouldn’t be a true picture of Selah if there weren’t some goofy ones thrown in there… The MOMENT we got (an accurate) picture of her, she ran over to climb a tree. In a dress. And that is how she rolls, ladies and gentlemen!
And now for a little compare and contrast, especially because I never posted a “first days of school” post!
Our Mighty Man!
Our Tenacious Girl!
Kindergarten and Second Grade, we’re ready for you!!!
Today isn’t Friday. But after a wonderful loooong weekend of having Brian home, it feels like Monday with him back to work. And I wish it were Friday. And I wanted to title this post “Flashback”…and so we have morphed into “Flashback Friday.”
There’s my wishful stream-of-consciousness-thinking for you all today.
I will be the first to admit that Google creeps me out. It has proved time and time again that It, indeed, knows the ins and outs of my life. Inner-workings that It should never know. Why do dark chocolate ads keep popping up on my screen? How did It know I was thinking about that? Why does It suggest eating at certain Mexican restaurants around town? How does It know that Horchata and tortilla chips are the main heroes in most of my nightly dreams? And how has It convinced my kids that It knows EV.REE.THING?
Kids: “Mom, what time are our friends coming over?”
Me: “I’m not sure exactly. They said sometime around 9:30.”
Kids: “Well just ask Google!”
It is just…creepy.
However, for all of its creepiness, It does have some redeeming qualities. Such as flawlessly directing me to any Mexican restaurant in the city. And, the inspiration of this blog post: effortlessly popping photo memories up onto my phone screen.
So here’s where we get to the good part. On May 21st, this is what was happening around these parts:
Just look at these two.*
And the next day, guess what Google showed me?
UMMMMMMMMM………………………………………………..
A. HOW ENTIRELY UNREAL IS IT THAT THIS HAPPENED ALMOST EXACTLY 4 YEARS AGO TO THE DAY? My jaw totally hit the floor of my heart.
B. HOW CREEPY IS IT THAT IT PULLED UP THATPHOTO? I totally looked over my shoulder and underneath the couch cushions. Where does It hide, afterall????
Oh my word. Be still my beating heart. Look at those babies. And how grown up they are now! And yet exactly the same…
Except I think Elliott probably has less teeth now than he did back then. What can I say…you live and you lose teeth.
Who knew all that Alphabet Train-ing (haha) and conducting and riding would lead them to here, today?!! It was surely a foretaste of the feast to come…yet, of course, we had no idea. Don’t you think God was just smiling down on them that day, at 1 and 3 years old, knowing what would be happening 4 years later as 5 and 7 year olds? I love that. What joy to flashback and remember this. I suppose I should thank Google, for without It I would have never discovered this priceless treasure. Well, thank you, Google. (But enough with the dark chocolate ads. That’s not helping anything.)
*Disclaimer: For those of you who are not fully aware of who Brian Moberg is in his entirety, I assure you that Elliott has been fully trained by his extremely thorough father to ride that four wheeler with excellence and utmost safety. There have been a couple of times he’s had the responsibility of taking his sister along with him, and their Daddy is always right next to them, watching and ensuring that they are wise and safe. But for all the kids and adults reading this: do not try this at home.
Or, better yet: come by and Brian will teach you–and your kids–to ride one. And then you should totally try this at home. Because it’s awesome.
(Note: I have had this post 99% done for a month and then…#LIFE. So without further ado*… now that school’s basically about to start again…I present to you…the kids’ last days of school!)
(* Did you know that is how “ado” is spelled???? I typed it “adieu” (because, duh) but decided to google it to save my mom from possibly needing to correct my mistaken grammar once again–only to discover it’s ADO! What the what??? WHO KNEW??? Add it to my list, Mom. But at least I caught it ;). )
#butistillthinkadieumakesmoresense
——————————–
Well that school year flew by!! Wasn’t it JUST August??
We had an awesome first year of Kindergarten and homeschool Kindergarten and Preschool!! And even though it was snowing the week before, we didn’t have our classic snowy last day of school this year :).
Elliott has a “choclit” store with his good friend Abi. They crush up rocks during recess and they turn into chocolate! I think he did fine job of managing his store…with the exception of one little rumor I heard through the Mommy-grapevine…apparently Elliott was denying his buddy Quinn (and fellow chocolate maker) bathroom breaks. Apparently there was a lot of work to be done and no time to waste! (And apparently there’s a lot more we need to teach Elliott about not implementing abusive working conditions!) #workshardlikedaddy #peopleneedtheirchocolate
I love the detail Elliott put into his self-portrait. Favorite shirt, favorite overalls, and he even included the adorable little heart that Abi gave him. It really looks exactly like that!
Elliott’s sweet teacher shared a little word about the things that she saw in each child. Here’s a short video with what she shared about Elliott!
We are so proud of our big man. He started the Magic Tree House series towards the end of the year and I would say that’s when he really got hooked on wanting to read ALL the time. Although writing’s not his favorite, he’s improved so much and can write simple little creative stories. The child is a math genius and Brian and I have both watched in awe as we try to challenge him in math and he just keeps accomplishing the challenge!
And Selah! Gah!! I’m teary eyed looking at these pictures…she is SO grown up!! What on earth??? She still has a full school year more until she starts kindergarten…I feel like she’s going to look like a teenager in a year!! (WAAAaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!) (And, P.S. Those are her natural curls…I have NO idea how she had such an awesome hair day that day!!)
I can’t believe how much she’s grown up this year. Seriously. Stop.
In case you can’t decode her writing, she wrote, “I like that I can write my name even my middle name.” Both my kids are slightly obsessed with punctuation, hence the comma and exclamation mark following her sentence ;). She wrote that sentence ALL on her own! I read her the prompt, turned around for a minute, and when I looked again she was done!
Selah is our fearless learner. She is not afraid to make mistakes so she just gives it her all. Her writing and stories are my FAVORITE…she just sounds out words and writes to her heart’s content…creating hilarious stories and beautiful, heart-felt letters to others.
You can’t have last-day-of-school pictures without some goofy ones thrown in there!
On our last home day we made ice cream. I used to do this with my fourth graders and it was a fun activity to do with the kids.
You add cream, sugar and vanilla to a plastic bag. Put it in a container with ice and salt and SHAKE IT UP! Add chocolate and sprinkles and scarf it down!
Our Big Man–compare and contrast!
Our Sweet Selah–compare and contrast!
We had A LOT of fun this year and can’t wait for the next school year! First grade and Pre-K, HERE WE COME!!!
It all started at the end of May, after several “false alarms.”
But this time, it was REALLY happening: Elliott’s bottom right tooth…WAS LOOSE!!!
And then on June 8th, Brian tucked Elliott into bed like normal. But no sooner had he left Elliott’s room than Elliott leaped out of bed and yelled, “MY TOOTH FELL OUT!!!!!”
These pictures tickle me so much!!! He is ELATED and can’t contain his excitement!! What a rite of passage!!! First lost tooth!!!!
And this little GIF that my phone created from the video after he lost it….oh man, I have watched this about 400 times!! It makes me laugh so hard!! Suz (my GIF buddy), this GIF is for you!!
So then last night I was out with some friends and came home late to find this…
A paper arrow path that led me from the kitchen into the craft room…and I found a decorated envelope addressed to me…with “new’s”! I opened it up and found a red card tucked inside that said…
His second tooth fell out while I was gone!! Who is this kid?!! He came up with that idea and executed it all on his own! I love him!!!
I tried to get a picture of his missing teeth just now. After a photo-bomb and a tickle from his little sister, we got some good ones :).
Well, happy first two missing teeth, Big Man!! The straw-sucking options are endless now!!!
He crossed two items off his bucket list before leaving the “5s”…
1. Getting stitches–OUCH!
If you think this picture is too graphic, be glad I didn’t show you the “before” picture!! 7 (blue!) stitches!
and 2. Learning to ride his bike without training wheels! Yahoo!!
If you’ve been following Elliott’s birthdays the last couple of years, you will know that ever since he was turning four, he has had his parties planned out for the next several years. This year, it was “Wood Crafts.” The way to this child’s heart is truly through wood crafts.
We’ve frequented The Home Depot’s free first-Saturday-of-the-month quite often as the kids love to build and paint. So when I found out they ALSO do *free* birthday parties, I tucked the idea in the back of my party brain for “the Wood Craft birthday year.”
Elliott and I sat down together in February and planned his party. Oh my, he is a boy after my own heart! I don’t know anyone else on the planet as thrilled as I am to surf through a hundred fonts and pick the best ones for our task, haha! But he sat on my lap and we surfed until he gasped with delight when he found the perfect one :). I love him :). We planned out the snacks and the treats and designed the invitations. He had a construction birthday when he turned 3, so I re-used the banners and signs! I just had to change some “3s” to “6s” and we were set!! WIN.
We arrived, set out the food, hung up our banners and waited for our guests to come!
There are SO many fun food ideas for construction parties! Elliott and I had a blast planning these out and making the signs for them! We had a refueling station, boulders, nuts + bolts, wrecking balls, and 2x4s (which Brian not-so-subtly pointed out that they are actually 1x1s…oh well!)!
The sweetest lady ran the birthday party. She was great with the kids. Before everyone arrived, she pulled out the ORIGINAL Home Depot Kids Apron (it is actually made of cloth!) with every pin of every project they’ve done! The kids were fascinated as they were sporting their aprons with their completed project pins proudly displayed.
Party guests arrived and got to sign a hard hat for Elliott! How cool!! Nice touch, Home Depot! 😉
The week before the party we talked to the coordinator and got to choose the wood craft we would be working on. He selected the helicopter. Karen from The Home Depot led the kids through each step.
First step: sanding
Second step: put on goggles, assemble and hammer
Side note: Do you see Selah in this bottom right picture? She is TOTALLY in to being a statue, especially when someone is taking a picture. When I saw this picture I laughed out loud…especially with her “I heart my truck” tattoo on her hand…it’s the perfect photo bomb–LOL!!!
And, done!
Look at these cute kids and their helicopters!! What a blast!!!!
He just couldn’t wait to open presents, so we did that next :).
When Elliott and I were planning out the party, he jumped at the idea of doing some sort of “build-your-own” dessert. He opted for Dirt Cups which, ironically enough, I’m not sure he’s ever eaten before?? I explained what they were and he was super thrilled at the idea. So was this baker-challenged Mama!! They were SO easy and a huge hit with the kids. I gathered all the kids when it was dessert time and excitedly explained to them that Elliott really wanted mud for his birthday treat, so we dug some up from our back yard for all the kids to eat! It was a CLASSIC kid reaction: “EEEEWWWWWWW!!!!!” they all screeched in unison. I went on to show them the dirt, the rocks, the 2x4s, the pebbles and the worms they could put on their mud cups! They laughed and squealed and “eewwweed” some more…until it was time to eat! Then all I heard was, “Mmmm, this is delicious!!” So cute. I love kids!!!
The kids each got to take home their helicopters, a Home Depot apron, and these simple favor boxes filled with a couple tattoos and sticker and a construction vehicle eraser.
Elliott got a few more celebrations as well…dinner at Red Robin one night, birthday treats for his class another day, and of course–his actual birth day celebrations!
Okay this moment completely cracked me up!! He has been eagerly awaiting the moment the Red Robin peeps would sing to him for his birthday…and then he got all shy on us! And pretended like he didn’t even notice they were singing to him! I guess it was super important that he re-fold his menu in THAT particular moment, hahahah!! I love him! 🙂
But he didn’t have a problem scarfing down his ice cream as soon as those singing people left him alone!
Birthday day: presents from Erika, Grandma & Grandpa, Selah, Mommy and Daddy, a birthday cake-shaped pancake with 6 candles, the park, and Grandpa’s famous mud pie!
