Henry's Birthday Party

As promised, here comes a little report on Henry's birthday party. We had it at an indoor "inflatable playground". Essentially it is an enormous warehouse filled to the max with giant inflatable play structures. The kids had a great time - I thought it was a little overwhelming... You couldn't see around, through or over any of the structures so trying to keep an eye on 20 or so little boys was not easy. When it was time for pizza and cake one of the staff members had to climb through everything to find a kid who had decided to just sit in a corner and take a break all by himself for a while. I was pretty nervous there for a bit that we had lost one of Henry's friends... Anyway, everyone came out of there sweaty from all the jumping and climbing and full of sugar from the cake and goodie bags so we'll call it a success! Henry was so happy and felt so special - that was the only thing that really mattered anyway.

Catching up...

I feel like I have more I would like to share from our holiday season. December was so busy that I didn't get a chance to post everything I wanted to. It doesn't matter when the pictures are posted, as long as they are, right?

Somehow we ended up meeting Santa 4 times this Christmas season. That must be some kind of record - for us anyway. Each visit had varying degrees of loud screaming or excessive pouting involved, as you can see below.

The first picture is from our town's official "Cookies with Santa" event. Sounds harmless enough, don't you think? Apparently Anna and James did not feel that way. They screamed pretty much from the time we entered the building to the time we left. Not sure why we stayed, waiting in line and all, other than not wanting the outing to be a complete failure. The only way we could get a picture at all was to include Dan:

Dan is trying to stay positive!

The next set of pictures is from the Lucia celebration where Emma was part of the show. This was probably our most successful visit with Santa. Actually he was Jultomten as Henry explained to us that this was the svenska Santa! Tomten gave out enormous bags of candy that may have had something to do with our success rate.

Henry is explaining to Jultomten that he wants a Nintendo DS for Christmas. (which he did not get this year...)

Emma, looking a little selfconscious on Tomten's lap.

Even James was happy! You can tell he is looking in the bag where the candy is.

Of course we couldn't be 100% successful. Anna was NOT happy - luckily she still got her bag of candy though - the evening was saved!

Next up is our visit with Santa at our country club. This is where the pouting came into the picture. Henry wouldn't have any part of sitting with Santa. Maybe he had had enough of the man in the red suit at this point? Whatever the reason, there was no talking our stubborn little man into being photographed.

Classic Anna!

Another one where Dan had to step in.

Unfortunately our fourth visit with Santa was not documented with pictures. The kids each got a gift this time and it all moved too fast for me to manage my camera. Anyway, we probably have enough photos... You may be asking yourself why in the world we insisted on our upset children sitting in Santa's lap and getting their picture taken over and over again. I think that is an excellent question. The only answer I can come up with is that we got caught up in the moment and it was "the thing to do". Plus I think it's kind of fun looking at these!

20 Questions for Henry

In honor of Henry's fifth birthday this week, the two of us sat down and I interviewed him.

1. What is your favorite color?
Henry:Blue
2. What is your favorite toy?
Henry: Spiderman
3. What is your favorite fruit?
Henry: Strawberry
4. What is your favorite TV show?
Henry: Scooby-Doo
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?
Henry: PB&J
6. What is your favorite outfit?
Henry: Scooby-Doo shirt
7. What is your favorite game?
Henry: Play-doh game
8. What is your favorite snack?
Henry: Apple sauce
9. What is your favorite animal?
Henry: Giraffe
10. What is your favorite song?
Henry: Old McDonald
11. What is your favorite book?
Henry: Thomas the Tank
12. Who is your best friend?
Henry: Riley
13. What is your favorite cereal?
Henry: Koala cereal and Fruit Loops
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside?
Henry: Play on the slide.
15. What is your favorite thing to drink?
Henry: Orange juice
16. What is your favorite holiday?
Henry: Christmas
17. What do you take to bed with you at night?
Henry: Bomb bird
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?
Henry: Cereal
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday?
Henry: Crab legs
20. What do you want to be when you grow up?
Henry: A dad

This idea was not an original one. I have become obsessed with Pinterest lately and that is where I found these questions. (see pin here)

2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Every January 1st I feel the same way - hopeful, optimistic and that this is a chance to start fresh. I feel like nothing is impossible and I feel thankful for the opportunity of a new beginning.

2012 is going to be a great year, I just know it!

Henry is 5!

This little guy turns 5 years old today! I don't really want to say "I can't believe my little boy is already five years old"...but of course it's true...time flies and it's a bit scary... Not to Henry though - he is super excited and let us know that his new favorite number is 5! We had the traditional birthday breakfast consisting of waffles (in the shape of snowflakes - not the easiest thing to pull off) with real whipped cream and strawberries, topped by a candle. As you can see by the picture, Henry has now learned to pose for photos, although this smile isn't half as fake as some he gives me.

After breakfast Henry, with the help of Emma, searched through the house for his presents with the help of sticky note clues. This has also become a tradition and the kids really love it. Dan and I have almost as fun as the kids, just watching them get excited when they figure out a clue and eventually find a gift. I think Emma enjoyed it as much as Henry, even though she didn't get any presents.

Grandma and Grandpa came over for lunch and we had cupcakes with more candles:

For dinner Henry requested crab legs, which suits us all (except the twins perhaps) perfectly.

Anna and James liked the cupcakes though!

We will have a birthday party with all of Henry's friends next weekend, so stay tuned for more party pics!

Henry's Holiday Program

Henry's preschool had their holiday program last week. Our little boy had been practicing for weeks for this performance, at school and at home. He sang all the songs over and over again and was so excited to be able to show us what he could do! Just look at his precious face - you can tell how proud and happy he was. He was extra excited to see his daddy in the audience as we hadn't told him ahead of time that he would be there. The photos aren't of the best quality here - it's hard to take pictures with so many people around while trying not to miss a thing at the same time...

Check out the little boy holding his ears!

You can even tell from the back how big Henry was smiling!

Singing like the angel he is...hehe!

Happy boy!

What happened here?

This morning I walked into the kitchen to find this, an open and completely empty drawer. I normally keep our plastic cups, plates and bowls here. So where, oh where could they have disappeared to?

I walk into the living room to find a very happy little boy, contentedly sitting in a pile of what used to be in that drawer. He seemed very pleased with himself...

Of course this is precisely why that drawer contains all of our plasticware...at least it is harmless if they get thrown around a bit, even if it means they have to be washed constantly!