Snow morning

 

 With the beautiful weather that rolled in right on its tail, I'd almost forgotten that we finally got a nice little snowfall a couple weeks ago.  I don't call it a snow day because it was pretty much gone by the time E got home from school, but it did make for a fun winterish morning. 

Building the perfect celebration

One huge thing I've failed to mention was that E turned 5 at the beginning of the month--- an event that in and of itself is slightly miraculous.  I mean there were times over the last 5 years that were iffy (if I would strangle him or not, if we should have called poison control but didn't when he put random things in his mouth if his impulse to run into parking lots would have finally caught up with him, if he would ever be let out in public again after an eventful outing, etc.)  In all seriousness, it's been a very exciting and enjoyable 5 years.

E's current OBSESSION is building with Legos.  We flirted with a few different party ideas but settled on a Lego party at our house.  Essentially EVERYONE is his best friend, so (despite my offer to take him and a few friends to the Legoland Discovery Center in Dallas to avoid a big party at my house) we ended up with 20 of his closest friends (ages 2-6) gathered in our living room (never say I don't love you kid).

   

We invited our guests with little individual homemade building sets.  

E's favorite part of the invite was the little Minifigure we made of him.  He insisted on holding a little bomb so our catchphrase ended up being "Come to my party. It's going to be a blast!". 

 I had visions of turning everyone into one of the characters from E's favorite Lego video games and coming up with a real-life adventure with elements from each of the games.  I think I'd decided that after the kids completed their adventure to find the Lego Arc of the Covenant they would board the Lego Black Pearl and sail to Lego Hogwarts to play a quick round of quidditch in our Lego stadium, but when I found out that the working Lego Nimbus 2000's I was planning on getting were on backorder, I decided to ditch that whole idea and go with a more traditional birthday party approach.  We went with a red, yellow, and blue Minifigure theme.  E requested "BIG" legos and some "Lego guys", so a couple rolls of wrapping paper, a bunch of boxes, cups and plates and lots of cans of spray paint later, we had our decor.

  Once our guests arrived we tried to keep the chaos to a minimum with some classic party games.

We created our own minifigure (on paper as well as with all the Lego body parts I've collected after stepping on them in various parts of the house).

 

I made a little Lego toss game.  My fatal error was that I used clear cups on a white board and placed it on my white tile, so it really just ended up being a Lego step on.  I think the kids had fun with it anyway.

What's a kid's party without a little pin the head on the minifigure? (the tilt of E's head indicates he found the weakness in the "blindfold")

 

We also played a little game I decided to call "punch and build".  The game is sort of self-explanatory.  They took turns punching out the pegs of our giant lego block and then used the pieces they found inside to add on to the group's creation. 

 

The kids had a little time to just play with Legos before they all got a bag of the edible Legos that fell from the feet of our minifigure pinata (please overlook the fact that the proportions of his facial features are a little off).  

Next was present opening (quick side note- Miss A was so sweet and decided that she wanted me to use the money that was earmarked for a "dolly" to buy E a present. When I asked her what she wanted to get him all on her own she decided "Lego Batman.  He will like that", and he did.)

 

We ended the festivities with a little cake and ice cream cupcakes and Lego Pizza slices. One of these days my kids are going to get a real cake for their party (and no, I didn't figure out the correct facial feature proportions for the "cake" either, but I did fix the order of "Birthday Happy" before we lit the candles).

After we got the kids all hopped up on sugar we sent them back home with a little bag of Lego goodies (coloring book, homemade minifigure crayons --not to be confused with the chocolate minifigures on top of the cupcakes-- and a small party pack building set). 

 

A big thanks to my mom for all her help in putting my vision together.  Without her help, I wouldn't have had the energy left to sit down lay on the floor after the party and help E put together all the Lego sets he got from his generous friend. Thank you to Br for just going with it. Thanks to all the parents who stuck around during the party to help keep Lego Lord of the Flies from making its debut.  And thanks to the birthday boy himself for all his good ideas. Thanks for letting us celebrate with you!

Miss A right now

Miss A is also very energetic.  When she is happy, she is SUPER happy (when she's mad, watch out world!).  We aren't really sure how that much personality fits into such a small body. Her personality can only be outmatched by her opinions.  It makes reasoning with her very interesting. Sometimes I say that she a little diva, to which she responds "I'm not a diva, I'm A___ Melton".  A very divaesk response if you ask me. 

She loves moobies (movies), fairies, princesses, dollies, pirates, ghosts and zombies (I think the latter 3 might be influenced by big brother).

Miss A loves primping and makes many wardrobe changes during the day. 

She loves her teacher at school "Miss Waurwa" and you can tell Miss Laura appreciated her spunkiness and the fact that she keeps the day interesting. 

The things that come out of her mouth surprise me every day.

She is amazing at remembering people's names.

Miss A love to dance, color, play outside, swim in the bathtub, and sing. 

Unlike her brother, she can't wait until she can play sports, but she's going to have to be content with mommy and me gymnastics until she gets a little older. 

When you ask her how old she is the conversation usually goes something like this:
"I'm 3"
"You're not 3"
"Okay, I'm 4"
"You're not 4 either"
"Alright, I'm 14"
This little girl often acts like she's 14.  Sometimes when I tell her I love her she says, "I don't love you, I love my friends" She's also been known to let us know how S-T-U-P-I-D she thinks Mommy and Daddy are when they make her do something she doesn't want to.  I'm really really looking forward to her pre-teen years.

Her facial expressions crack me up. Her smile lights up a room. Her laugh brings me unmeasurable joy.  Despite the very interesting stages she's going through right now, we are so happy she's part of the Melton pot.
  
By the way, I love the picture I used for this post, but I have to admit that I'm not sure if she is giving me a warm embrace or trying to pop my head off.

E right now

E is still a very energetic and fun-loving kid.  He's as animated as he's ever been and hasn't lost that twinkle in his eye.  He loves pirates, boats, ghosts, zombies, haunted mansions, angry birds, Scooby-Doo, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, and lights up when he dances to and/or sings any of the aforementioned movie theme songs.  He is obsessed with Legos right now which means I spend a lot of time bending over and picking up little pieces scattered all over the house.  Although he's always had a knack for knowing what to do in video games, he's recently figured out how to actually play the games.  Not surprisingly his favorite games are Lego Harry Potter, Lego Pirates of the Caribbean, Lego Indiana Jones, and Lego Batman. You've never seen a kid so enthusiastic about the things he loves, (or as revolted by the things he doesn't love).

E may not ever remember where he left his shoes or jacket, but the kid has a photographic memory.  He may struggle with the letters of the alphabet, but he can remember the tiniest detail of most things he's seen or done. To be honest, it weirds me out.

His favorite colors are "shiny" (gold or yellow) and green.  I think that it's because they are the color of money.  He is always looking for ways he can work hard to earn money.

He loves sleeping-- once he's asleep-- and recounts many amusing dreams.  He has an amazing imagination.

He's always talking about how he wants to be bigger like a daddy.

Although he has been known to pick a fight with his sister once in a while-- E has a huge heart for such a little kid.  He automatically assumes everyone is his "best friend".  He is a great friend to the friendless and is very conscious of how people are feeling.

He periodically urgently yells "MOM! MOM!" and when I finally answer he says in a sweet voice "I love you".

When he gets frustrated he gets silly or angry.

His favorite insult word is "popcorn" (don't ask because I don't know).

He lives off hotdogs, bread, cheese, popcorn and instant breakfast (don't judge) and LOVES sugar.

We've tried out a variety of sports, most recently Br coached him in his first season of basketball, but E hasn't really gotten into any of them with the exception of his karate and gymnastic class.

When I asked him what he wanted to remember about himself right now he responded: "Just have fun".

Ketchup

Am I the only one out there that immediately thinks of this

upon hearing the words catch up?

In any event, I need to do a lot of it... catching up that is... not ketchuping (I guess that isn't even really a thing).

When I last checked in we were in CA pre-Christmas.  Well I'm pleased to inform you that we did, in fact, make it back from our trip in one piece. I'm guessing you already figured that out.  After our trip, we had a wonderful visit from Jojo and Beth, caught a free boat tour of Bricktown with some friends (the Pehrsons),
 

and had a very relaxing Christmas Eve and exciting Christmas morning.

We finished off the break with our annual New Year's Eve Eve (the second "eve" is not a typo) game night.

After that, we pretty much just settled back into the same old same old.  I guess you are wondering, "If you were just doing the same old same old, why has it taken you a month and a half to ketchup catch up on the blog?"  I'd like to blame it on my new efforts to stay on top of keeping my house clean (yes at times it has completely taken over my life)

or being distracted by the sudden influx of cake orders at the beginning of the year, 

but I guess I'll admit that time has just flown by super fast for me lately and I kind of forgot to blog.  Sorry all.