Happy Halloween!

Leave it to Jen to accessorize. Once she saw this mask at a local store, she KNEW this was going to be her Halloween mask! The rest she threw together to create this creature. We're calling it "Pumpkinhead" even though this one does not look like the Pumpkinhead in the horror flick.

Jesse was Spider-man a year ago and decided he wanted to be his favorite superhero again this year. That almost didn't happen because he lost the mask -- and we have TWO Spider-man masks! Fortunately, for his birthday, he got a new Spider-man mask. What wonderful timing! (Thanks, Misty.)

Happy Halloween from our family to yours!

Jesse turns 5!

Ever since the first of October, one thought has been a constant in my mind: I can’t believe my son, Jesse, is turning 5 years old this month. Wow! How the time flies! I often see people who knew me when I was pregnant with him and often they will comment on how he has grown so fast. I can still remember holding this tiny bundle in my arms 5 years ago:

For his 5th birthday, I wanted to make this day special for my special boy. So this morning, I made Jesse a special birthday breakfast, per his request: Pancakes (not the frozen kind) and bacon. We had a “surprise party” waiting for him when he got home from preschool today. I baked him a chocolate cake just for the occasion and he had a favorite ice cream to go with it: Peppermint. (His dad also really liked the peppermint ice cream, too. It’s a big hit!)

The hat he is wearing is courtesy of his preschool. (Thanks, Kim!)

After cake and ice cream, Jesse opened his presents. He got a pirate scabbard and shield from Jennifer, as well as a SpongeBob and toy car.

For months, he’d been asking for a DreamLites. We were not able to get him one but we got him something similar: A “Twilight Turtle” that does the same thing as a DreamLites.

After he opened his presents, he and Jennifer played for a while then they watched cartoons.

In honor of Jesse’s birthday, here are five of his favorite things:

1. Spider-man
2. Cars
3. Motorcycles
4. Tools (he has a lot of play tools)
5. The Cars movie

And here are five fun facts about Jesse:

1. At the age of two, Jesse often clomped around the house in his daddy’s shoes.
2. Jesse’s favorite breakfast is French toast sticks.
3. Jesse LOVES to play Bingo! Of course, I always try to let him win.
4. One of Jesse’s favorite TV shows is Special Agent Oso. (I’m a HUGE fan of James Bond and I think this Bond knockoff for kids is cute.)
5. Jesse’s other favorite movies are Pinocchio, Nanny McPhee, Curious George, Stuart Little and Scooby Doo.

Happy 5^th birthday, Jesse! We love you very much and hope you enjoyed your special day.

Jen's Eleventh B-day!

Jennifer turned 11 years old this month. Yay! And because her birthday fell on a school day, we did the same thing this year that happened last year: Gave her two parties! On Wednesday, her official birthday, she had a family-only birthday party. It was a cupcake party. I arranged 11 cupcakes on a tray in the shape of a “J.” She thought that was cool. She also got her family presents. She’d wanted a Monster High School doll for MONTHS and I was able to get her two. She was VERY happy about that! She also got a copy of a Burly & Grum book from our friend in England, author Kate Tenbeth, and from Jesse she got a Furreal Friends pet bunny. It’s so cute! She also got a DVD movie, The Woman in Black. We both saw that movie and it’s VERY scary! From her aunt Millie, she got a Doctor Who Eleventh Doctor Sonic Screwdriver. She was SO excited to get that! 

Thanks, Kate!

For the birthday party with her friends, which was today, she had a Doctor Who party. (She’s a BIG Doctor Who fan!) I printed out a few pics from the 7^th season shows and hung them on the wall. I also made fish fingers and custard (which was actually surprisingly good!).

The cake was the big thing. Earlier this week, when we decided it was going to be a Doctor Who party, I got online to research everything that had to do with Doctor Who parties. The fish fingers and custard were a MUST so that’s why I made those. There were several cakes: the TARDIS, Daleks and Silence. They were all very cool but Jennifer fell in love with the TARDIS cake. I kept wondering how the heck I’d get her a TARDIS cake! All the TARDIS cakes on sale were in ENGLAND! There were some people who made them at home and even though they included directions and pictures, my mind went blank over the whole thing. (I don’t MAKE cakes, I BUY cakes!) So, all week, I was trying to figure out how to get Jennifer a TARDIS cake for her party. One bakery we usually get cakes at said they couldn’t do it, but, finally, I found one who could: The baker at Albertsons. She said it was definitely doable. HOORAY! I printed out several pictures of the TARDIS and showed them to her. We went over them and the specifics of the cake. The best part was that she could have it done in 24 hours, which was a good thing since this was yesterday!

So we got a TARDIS cake for the party. WOO-HOO!!! Thank you, Albertsons. And it’s a nice cake, don’t you think?

And, of course, after eating the cake, we all had blue teeth and tongues! It was funny. 

After the food and cake, Jennifer opened the presents from her friends. She was very happy with everything. 

Then they moved on to watching movie, doing karaoke and playing games. They are all having a great time. 

It’s not so great for Jesse, though. He’s pretty much feeling left out because it’s a girls-only thing. But hubby and I are taking turns spending time with him. 

Happy Birthday, Jennifer!