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. 

Reposting of Happy New Year

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a safe and fun new year's eve. We spent the night at home. Bob bought me a fryer for Christmas, so we fried a bunch of different foods (matchstick potatoes, mushrooms, zucchini, mozzarella sticks) and I tried to fry a snickers for Bob, but apparently they need to be frozen first because it melted on contact. I bought a smoker for Bob for Christmas, so he wrapped chicken in bacon and smoked it all afternoon. I could smell the smoker around the corner when I was coming back from doing errands. Glenn said it was the best taste ever. It was really good! After dinner, we had a dance party. The boys stayed up until 9, and then slept together in Glenn's room. Bob and I just made it to midnight, then went to bed.

I promised yesterday that I had more pictures of post-Christmas fun. So, here they are. My parents came back to our house last Thursday. On Friday, we drove down to Disney and took a tour of some of the resorts to view the Christmas decorations. Some of the resorts weren't as decorated as I thought they would be, but we still had fun. Our first stop was the Contemporary Resort. They had a gingerbread tree. It smelled delicious!

 

We took the monorail to it's next resort, the Polynesian Resort. The boys loved going on the monorail. They didn't have a lot of decorations, but there are so many beautiful plants there that we took a walk of the grounds. Here, Bob is putting his finger in the nose of a little tiki guy (I know, classy)!

Our next stop on the monorail was the Grand Floridian. It was beautifully decorated. Unfortunately, a lot of my pictures didn't come out because apparently my lens was smudged (that's why there is a bit of a halo on some of the pictures). They had a life size gingerbread house. 

 

We then took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom, then the boat from there to the Wilderness Lodge. It was great walking around there because that is where Bob and I stayed on our honeymoon. The inside of this resort is like the hotel in Yellowstone Park. It was beautiful.

We then waited a half hour for the bus to Downtown Disney (that's where we parked the car). Here are the boys waiting.

I think Glenn was dancing.

In Downtown Disney:

A couple days ago, Alexander and I were sitting on the couch and he put his arm around me and said, "This means I love you!" I happened to have my phone within reach, so I took this picture. I love him, too!

Bob took video of Alexander's gymnastics program. I've never uploaded it this way, so we'll see if this works. If not, at least you have another picture. 

And here's a bonus picture, Alexander rocking out on the guitar on New Year's Eve. 

 

Reposting of Christmas Fun

I am reposting the last two posts because apparently I'm the only one who can see the pictures. So, hopefully this works.

We've been having a fun Christmas time! Last time I posted, we had just had the Christmas program at our church. Here's a picture of them singing a song. J-O-Y (Joy to the World).

Before school ended, Alexander had a gymnastics program. He did a great job and was very cute! Here, he's doing the table. When the teacher asked what you are going to put on the table, most said cookies. His friend behind him said coffee. :)

 

 

We saw the annual Ocala Christmas Light Parade. We got a good spot without having to put our chairs out and tape a week in advance (seriously, they do that!). We had a picnic snack and a good time! It was perfect weather for a parade. By the time it started, it was getting dark and all the floats had Christmas lights. Our church won third place in the non-profit category.

 

Alexander dressed himself and wore this the whole day!

The weekend before Christmas, my brother Brad, his wife, Julie, and son, Jason came for a visit. We went down to Downtown Disney for the day. 

 

 

Of course they also rode the train. They wanted ice cream (Bob, of course). It was in the low 60's, so I had a cafe mocha instead.

 

After church, Alexander put on his glasses (some $1 readers I got for him to play with) and got out a book to read. :)

Christmas morning was wonderful! The boys got us up just before 7:00. They hadn't seen all the presents under the tree, so we kept them in our room until we were ready to open presents. Alexander is wearing his new Captain America costume. Glenn was too busy playing on his new tablet. 

Angry Birds was the theme of the day. I got bought Alexander these big cardboard blocks. Glenn received a bunch of Angry Birds and pigs. So, they set up the blocks, put the pigs on them and threw the birds at them just like the game. Notice Alexander's one green and one red sock.

My parents came for a late breakfast on Christmas and stayed the night. We went to visit my brother and family at Julie's parents' house just south of here the day after Christmas. Here, the boys are eating a gingerbread train while watching The Polar Express.