Mason's 6th Birthday

I am so far behind with my blogging, I don't know if I will ever truly catch back up. But, I have to try at least, right?   Here we are back on December 27th, 2008. Mason had an awesome 6th Birthday. He was so so spoiled, he had 3 parties. For years I've felt guilty about the poor kid's birthday being right after Christmas, so this year, I decided to make sure it was all about him, and it really was. He had about 15 friends and cousins over on the big day for a super fun Batman Party. Mostly they just ran around like maniacs, but they also played a few games and ate some pizza and cake.
Lori gave me this game idea and it was so cute. The kids drew a picture of Mason and decorated it, then played "pin the nose on Mason". 
Here is Ethan, being the "loner" as usual. He's so funny, he doesn't do well with crowds, but he warmed up to it eventually.
Here they all are, eating their pizza and waiting for the cake.
After cake, we also had a ton of fun with a Transformers Pinata (they didn't have a Batman one at the store), but I was too busy helping with it, so I didn't get any pictures.
They gathered like mad-men to give Mason his presents. They were all shoving and yelling, wanting him to open theirs first. It was so cute.


How cute is that? Mason lucked out that Gene-Boy and Bennion were here for Christmas, so he got to have them at his party.
Here is our family party, which we had the next day, on the 28th. Our Oldham Family Christmas Party ended up being on the 27th after Mason's friend party, so we decided to have the family party the next day, when things had calmed down a little bit.

Do you think he likes it? heehee.

Here is Party #3. It's kind of a tradition in my family that we have the kids parties at Chuck E Cheese, which the kids love and most of us adults do too.
Here is my cute Dad with Aidan.
This picture of Ethan cracks me up. He looks so serious.


My cute Mom and Dad picked up this cake for Mason on the way, because I was running to late to get one.
All in all, I think he had a pretty awesome birthday. 3 parties, tons of presents, and lots of cake.....what more could a kid ask for? I love this little boy. He is such an awesome kid!

I LOVE SPRING!

I think that this is a turning point for me. Fall has always been my favorite season, but this year, I think Spring is going to take the lead. I know we're still not really out of the winter weather yet, but the weather today is so amazingly wonderful that a blizzard striking tomorrow couldn't wipe the smile off my face, because now I know, that Spring really is coming!

Christmas Day

Trip to the North Pole

We took a little trip to the "North Pole" this year and got to see Santa Claus! The boys were so excited. Well, that is they were all excited, and then we tried to put Aidan on Santa's lap and he freaked out.

This is the first year that Ethan has been willing to sit on Santa's lap. It was so cute to see him sitting there chatting with him.

Mason cracked me up. He just sat there and talked like he and Santa were old friends. 

A few days after we saw Santa, Dan was talking to the boys about what Christmas really means and he asked Aidan...."Aidan, what's Christmas all about?" and Aidan said, "Santa det me presents.". Even though it wasn't the answer we were looking for, it was so cute and hilarious! He understands so much more than I give him credit for.

Bowling with the Boys 12-1-08

We took the boys bowling for FHE on Dec 1st. I'm not sure we'll be doing it again anytime soon. As you can see from the picture above, it wasn't all fun. Aidan freaked out whenever it wasn't his turn. He was so funny. He LOVED carrying the ball.
I love this picture because it shows Ethan "willing" the ball to get a strike.





The boys all did great, and I think every one of them got a better score than me. 

Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving was at my house this year (with my side), and it was so much fun! I was worried that Dan wouldn't be too thrilled with tons of kids running around our house, but he actually loved it. I loved being able to just stay put, rather than packing everyone up along with the food. I just stayed in the comfort of my own house and got ready. Here are some of my favorite pictures of the day. Alexa (above) is so tiny that she managed to fit into one of my toy boxes!
Here is Alexa (or Lu-lu) with Nanny. The picture isn't the best, but I love how happy they both look.
Here is BJ with Sage. She is scared of me still, but not as bad as she used to be. Isn't she so gorgeous??
Here is Dan with Aidan. 
And here is Dan with Lu-lu. She is such a huge fan of her Uncle Dan. I think it's because he loves her so much. We beg Saesha every time we see her to let us keep her. I think it's only fair, she already has a girl and everyone says that Lu-lu looks more like me anyway.
Cute little Kaleb, playing with toys.
Here is the whole group gathering to play games. You can see our terrible mess in the kitchen behind!

Dinosaur Museum-11/24/08

Jesus wants me for a ..........cowboy?

Last week, we went to the dinosaur museum (post to follow) for Family Home Evening. On the way there, we sang an "opening song" and the kids picked "Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam". After it was over, I was trying to explain to the kids that Jesus wants us to always be happy and positive and try to be like Him. I could tell Mason was thinking about it pretty hard, and then he said, "But, I want to be a cowboy!". Dan and I cracked up. Where do they come up with these things?