Jump Rope for Heart 2013

It's that time of year again! Glenn always looks forward to Jump Rope for Heart, which supports the American Heart Association. I asked him again this year why he was doing this and he said, "I'm raising money to help people with heart attacks and heart problems." You may remember from past years that he really gets this fundraiser. He is such a sweet and caring boy and I hope he never loses those qualities.

If you would like to help the American Heart Association with their research, please click on this link to Glenn's donation page.

Thank you!

It Takes a Heart to be a Hero

Roller Skating

Yesterday, we went to a birthday party at a roller skating rink (yeah, they still have those)! Glenn had never gone roller skating before. It was very tough for him at first, but he started to get the hang of it by the end of the party. But he had fun the whole time and never gave up. 

Alexander received skates for Christmas that can be in training position (one wheel in the front and two in the back) or inline skates. We have them in the training position right now. He had tried a few times since he received them, but it's hard to do on the driveway. He picked it up really quick at the party on the smooth surface. It also helps that his wheels don't roll freely like the roller skate wheels. He was so cute. He also did a sock race running in his socks with other boys up to age 8. He was last place, but he did run the whole way around the rink.

 

The boys can't wait to go back!

Glenn's Birthday Party

Glenn turned 8 this past Thursday. Can you believe it?!?! A week ago, we had his birthday party with his friends. That morning, he had the Pinewood Derby with Cub Scouts, which was great for me because it kept the boys busy while I finished preparing for the party. However, I'm sad I missed the derby because they had fun. Glenn's car came in first place in his den (the ribbon is on his pocket with a red car hanging down), and the older kids gave his a pack award for cub scout spirit (they gave out three total pack awards).  He was proud of himself and realized that all the hard work that it took to turn a rectangular block of wood into this car was worth it.

Then came the party! As you can tell right away, the party theme was Angry Birds. For those of you who are not game savvy, Angry Birds is a phone app (now with merchandise and I think a movie will be coming out next year) based on birds who are angry at pigs that steal their eggs. Anyway, we are all hooked on the various versions of this game and there was no question as to what the theme would be this year for his birthday. 

I made the cake. I saw it in on Pinterest. I used wafer cookies for the structure the pigs are in. There's even a golden egg hiding below one of them. And we had the pigs, bird and slingshot from Christmas. I found sugar paper letters at Hobby Lobby to do the writing. And yes, it did take what felt like forever to do the grass on the top of the cake.

 

I had a photo booth set up with props for the kids to use from glasses, to mustaches, bird eyebrows and beaks.

The birthday angry bird...

...and his bird brother.

Glenn and his friend.

Alexander and our neighbor friend. I love that his friend chose to mix it up, having the top hat with the bird beak. 

 

Alexander and his friend from school (the older brother of this boy is pictured above with Glenn). 

Although no adults would partake in the photo booth, I made Bob pose for a picture after the party. I got him back for making this face by posting it on facebook.

And of course I had to get into the fun!

I am so happy we bought our bounce house years ago. It has been great for birthday parties and just having friends over. You can kind of see a pig pinata off to the right of the bounce house hanging between two trees. It took forever for the kids to break it. 

Instead of Pin the Tail on the Donkey, we had Pin the Beak on the Angry Bird. Apparently, they could see through the scarf (if they were sinister enough to try to peak). The kids also had fun putting the photo booth props up to the angry bird.

I had given these blocks to Alexander for Christmas. And Glenn received birds and pigs for Christmas. Christmas morning, they were setting up the blocks, putting the pigs on them like this and knocking them down with the birds. So, of course, we had to do that for the party, too. 

Glenn did not want to have the candles on the cake because he didn't want wax on the cake. So, we put them in cupcakes. Then he decided to blow them out like this. What a great idea! No spit on the cake and reduced the number of germs. :) Notice that the cupcake liners are zebra. He has transformed his room with a zebra theme. I'll get some pictures of it soon. 

We also had a tattoo station. Glenn didn't want any during the party, but afterward, he asked for more he's every had in his life combined. 

Alexander has found they last longer if you put them on your tummy.

We had a great time. I gave what looked like red Chinese take-out containers and put Angry Bird faces on them for the favors. One of the favors was a little bag of gummy worms with a topper that said Angry Bird Food. You can tell I had a lot of fun with it.