Pinocchio and a Pizza Party

Today we met our friends at the Little Theater to watch a musical production of Pinocchio. It started at 10:30 and was about 90 minutes long. Beckett, having watched the Disney Pinocchio last night in preparation, kept asking where the "real" Pinocchio was. ;). The kids ranges in age from 3 months (Harp) to 4 years (Molly) and there were 8 of us, 10 of the kids. They were all excellent throughout the show, which had some great songs and music, but got a little long. ;)

Top- Carly and Jenn with Wren and Drew; Bottom - Braylon and Jayme with Kim and Emmett (can't see him) and Kristin and Ava (can't see her). Harper and Beckett were with me, Lindsay and Vivienne sat near Rachel and Molly. 

Everyone came over to play and eat afterwards, and it was so much fun! We had pizza, chips, fruit pizzas (Ally made them), and cake pops. Yum! The kids played inside for a while and then, since it was such a beautiful day, we played outside and turned on the sprinkler. It makes me so happy to see Beckett having fun!

The cake pops and fruit pizza were a big hit. ;) 

Kids had lemonade through Pinocchio's nose!

Coloring pics of Pinocchio took a smurfy turn...

Sandbox time with Emmett, Hadleigh, and Hampton:

Drew LOVED the sprinkler!

The other kids joined him (note Beckett kept trying to use the unattached nozzle for "mist" and "jet"! "It's not workin, Mom!")

More backyard fun! The boys wore some of Beckett's swim trunks so we could all enjoy the water. The girls wore their diapers - it's the country, kinda. 

Beckett was excited to show his friends the Dino habitat he made with new maw!

Ava and Beckett climbing the rock wall:

Sliding and swinging (Ava and Kristin; Jayme and Braylon):

The kids loved climbing into the clubhouse, and each other:

The mommas enjoyed some catching up, too:

Harper in the beautiful dress by Treva (Beckett was having too much fun to join the picture...and I quote, "Nooo pictures, mom!! I'll catch you in my net!" Haha!!)

Then she cooed and smiled for everyone (carly enjoys it in the pic below) before she took a little nap in her swing. (About an hour!) 

More playing!

Jayme gave music lessons (haha) whole Emmett and Hampton hung out by the food. 

Everyone left by about 1:30 and we read books before Beckett crashed. He's still asleep. (Three hour nap!)

Grant's Farm

We had a great time at Grant's Farm today! We started with a tram ride tour and saw lots of animals along the way - geese, deer, black-bellied antelope (the male's bellies turn black in adulthood), elk, Texas longhorns, Irish steers, donkeys, horses, and wild turkeys. 

When we got off the tram, we got a Fun Pass so Beckett could give the goats two bottles of milk, ride the carousel, and at a snow cone. The goats were our first stop and they were well-trained. As soon as get saw the bottles, they attacked us! It cracked us all up. Beckett was laughing when the goat ate my dress. :) 

Beckett wanted to wrestle this one: 

Then we rode the carousel. Beckett wanted to ride the dragon!

Then we watched an animal show with lots of birds, including owls? Hawks, a bald eagle, two macaws, and (Beckett's favorite) a wild boar, ala Pumba. 

Then we walked through a mist bridge and got a snow cone. Can you guess what color he picked??

The grand finale was seeing the African elephant and riding a camel! The camel's name was Ruby and Beckett kept saying, "I'm riding the wump of the hump," which comes from Dr. Seuss's book, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. Hilarious! He loved it!

Sissy had a great day, too! 

Mommy and Me Gym Class

Seeing the gym for the first time:

HAPPY!

Tonight was our first gym class at the mattoon academy. Beckett loved it! First, the kids lined up on carpet squares and followed directions to songs. One song involved bean bags and was similar to the hokey pokey. Another song asked the kids to move their arms, legs, and bodies a certain way. Then we did a circuit of somersaults down ramps, cartwheels (!), and jumping through a circle. Beckett was laughing and running and very eager todo somersaults. He even did some on the floor between stations. Next was his favorite part: the trampoline. The teachers asked the kids to stand on the center "X" and then jump. Beckett was content "zooming" from one side to the other, and then repeating. There were two tramps, so we rotated through both and then went on to the balance beam. Beckett called the end a "big hill" and then jumped off. :). After the, he hung on a bar and swung like Tarzan. We ended with another turn on the trampoline, and we jumped together. He started to get the rhythm of it and didn't want to stop! The teacher, Sara, told him he did a good job and he said, "you're gorgeous!" Haha! He got a sticker. :)

Orange and Blue!

Harper was kicking and cooing and these are two of the pics I got. Haha! I realized she will be in college in 2032! Ugh. Can that be right?

(see full image)

Sent from my iPhone

Pinterest Picnic

Last weekend was the annual Town-wide Garage Sales...not sure of that's worthy of proper noun status, but anyway... One of the treasures I found was a Little Tikes picnic table for (wait for it!) three dollars!! They are $49 - I looked it up. I had seen an awesome picnic table makeover on Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/pin/119486196336356246/)  and thought this little guy would be a good outdoor seating and eating option for Beckett and his buddies who come over to play. 

Here's how it started:

The first step was to disassemble the parts. Easy-Peasy. They just snapped apart:

Next, I got out the fabric I had purchased last summer to make his playroom bunting.

Gotta love coordination! (I told Shonn it was going to match the playroom and he laughed with an eye roll. Mars and Venus!) Anyway, I "measured" and cut the tabletop piece first. 

I should mention that the Pinterest tutorial suggests spray painting the legs to coordinate. I am not a craft perfectionist and I plan to use this outside where the paint would likely chip off, so I just made sure the fabric matched the legs' existing color. Saved a step! 

Then, I stapled the fabric to the tabletop, followed by the vinyl. (I got the vinyl at Walmart for $3 per yard. There were several options, but this one said "for picnic tables" on it. Well thank you very much, vinyl makers!) 

I repeated the process for the legs, in a coordinating fabric. 

Remember how I said I'm not a craft perfectionist? Well, the corners are HARD to wrap smoothly. Through trial and error,  I ended up wrapping each piece like a present, but it doesn't look perfect by any means. (Oh well!) I did figure out that the less vinyl on the corners, the easier it was to "wrap".

Lastly, I snapped the table back together and placed it outside. Not bad for a $3 table, $6 worth of vinyl, 4 lines of staples, and one blister! The whole project took about an hour. 

Now we are ready for our first picnic party on Thursday! 

Pool Party!

This morning, Beckett, Harper, and I met our friends at Treva's house for a fun pool party! Beckett told Treva, "iossed you, Treva!" It was so cute. (And I think Treva liked it!!)

Harper was (of course) dressed for the occasion (thank you, fashionista Pullen!). 

Beckett had a blast with the other kiddos and was actually interacting and playing with them. The other boys are 4 and 7. The 4-year-old, Kyle, became Beckett's big buddy.  

His twin sister, Kennedy, showed him Treva's fish.

Treva and Sara made a yummy lunch ad then we went swimming!

Beckett did GREAT in the pool. He wore his new life jacket that zips on like a shirt, and it helped him become more confident. He held onto me almost the whole time, until the end, when he was jumping in! Then Treva got out her little slide and he went down it four or five times into my arms. He even went under a couple of times and laughed and said, "Again!"  It was a lot of fun. Kaitlyn snuggled with Harper the whole time. :) 

6th Anniversary

Where does the time go? In some ways, it seems like yesterday that we said, "I do," yet when I look at our kiddos and think about how our lives have changed, it seems like a lifetime ago. Regardless, I'm so thankful for our marriage and its foundation of friendship, openness, and faith. 

We started our celebration at church, where Beckett did great in the nursery - no tears! - followed by a family nap. That evening, Beckett went to play with josh and drew at the Toners' (video) while Harper spent the evening cuddling with Treva and Kaitlyn at the Bradds'. Both kids had an awesome time while shin and I enjoyed our first date since Harper was born. We had dinner at The Brickyard and it was wonderful - the food, conversation, and dessert! 

Bad picture alert, by it's the only one we had from last night!