Archive for January, 2008

Little Einsteins Music Party

Thursday, January 31st, 2008

birthday boys with drum cakes We had a Little Einsteins Music birthday party for the boys this year. We invited a lot of kids this year and most of them were able to come. It was crowded and loud but I think the kids had fun. Unfortunately Caleb came down with a fever on the party day so he wasn’t feeling too well. He mostly sat and snuggled with Grandmas and Daddy during the party. He still enjoyed some ice cream near the end of the party and opening his gifts afterward. He was feeling a bit better by then.

Grandma & Grandpa Yates came early and played with the kids while we set up the garage as the party room. As everyone arrived we had a couple crafts for the kids to work on; a paper plate tambourine and jingle bell bracelets. Then we did a shaker egg hunt in the living room. Next we played Musical Einsteins back in the garage/party room. We had Little Einsteins coloring pages taped to the floor in a circle. The kids walked around the circle while the music played and stopped on a picture when the music stopped. Then I picked a card and whoever was on the matching picture won! They got some Little Einsteins fruit snacks and could pick up the coloring page they were standing on and go color it while the game continued. Then we played what I called Tambourine Follow the Leader. One person holds a tambourine and beats it while walking in a circle to the beat (fast or slow) and everyone follows. When the leader stops everyone stops, then the leader names a part of the body for everyone to shake while the leader shakes the tambourine. Then change leaders and repeat. Not all the kids chose to join that game, but the ones that did seemed to enjoy it; especially getting to be the leader. Then we just turned on some kids music and put the instruments out for the kids to play along while we got the cake ready. I had made two cakes and decorated them like drums for the music theme. We brought the cake out and all sang “Happy Birthday” and Micah blew out his candles. Then we served the cake and ice cream and that was pretty much it.

After the party Grandma & Grandpa Jenkinson and Uncle Sean stayed for a pizza dinner and to watch the boys open their gifts. They sure got a lot of fun stuff. Thanks everyone!

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Micah is 4!

Thursday, January 31st, 2008

Micah 4 smile Micah’s birthday was on Sunday this year. He opened his gifts in the morning and had a little time to play before we went to church. His favorite gift was his “Flo’s Cafe” playset. He also got a new picture Bible storybook, “It’s a Match” learning game/toy, a couple new character Cars, a foam football, and some Lightning McQueen socks. At church I think his Sunday School class sang “Happy Birthday” to him. After church we let him choose what to have for lunch and he wanted McDonald’s and to eat at the restaurant. So we ate there and the boys played on the toys for a little bit before we went home for naps. After naps Micah played with his new toys for a while, then we decided to go to Chuck E Cheese’s for dinner and playtime since it was raining. The one in Simi looked super crowded so we went to the one in Thousand Oaks. It was pretty crowded too at first, but we braved it and the crowds thinned out after a while. Micah had a great time climbing through the tunnels and slides and playing games. I had planned to have cupcakes fro dessert but by the time we got home it was time to get ready for bed so the cupcakes waited another day. He had a fun day.

For days after he was telling everyone that he had had a birthday and he was 4 now. He was happy to tell about his gifts too if anyone asked.

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Caleb is 2!

Saturday, January 5th, 2008

cupcake smile Caleb had his second birthday on Thursday. We had some balloons and a few gifts for him to open from Mom & Dad & Micah. He got a Fire Hose Hero dress-up set, a Cars pop-up play tent, a Big Picture Bible Storybook, a Little Einsteins CD, Cars socks, a soft football, and a couple character Cars. He loved crawling in the tent and playing with his new cars. He had a great time playing catch with Dad with his new football. He especially loved throwing it through the balloons. After we played with Caleb’s birthday gifts for a while, we went to the park to play and feed the ducks. At first the geese were too big and loud and close and Caleb got scared. So Mom & Micah chased the geese away and Caleb calmed down and enjoyed throwing bread to the ducks and mud hens and seagulls. Then we played on the toys for a while. Caleb loves the swings the best. He also likes the slides and steering wheel. Then it was time to go home for lunch and naps. Caleb chose peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch and Mommy cut them in to a kitty shape with a cookie cutter. While the boys were taking naps Mom baked cupcakes. After naptime the boys each decorated a cupcake with sprinkles and ate it. Then we took Cisco for a walk with Micah dressed up in the fireman costume. It was cute how they pretended to connect the hose and fill the tank by a couple of fire hydrants we passed. After we got home Caleb tried on his Fireman costume too. Caleb loves to play in the backyard so he and Mommy went out for a little while before dinner. He rose the Skitter for a little bit and then we played basketball. He got tired of Mommy taking so many pictures all day. We had spaghetti for dinner, another of Caleb’s favorites, although he likes almost everything. Several times during the day I asked Caleb how old he was. A couple times he said “one” automatically and then remembered and said “two” very excitedly. He practiced several times during the day to try to hold up two fingers, sometimes with help from Mom or Dad. Finally just before bed he held up his thumb and first finger by himself and said “Two!” I think he had a fun birthday. His and Micah’s party is coming up next Saturday.

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New Year’s

Saturday, January 5th, 2008

boys blowing horns Micah & Caleb got home from spending the night at Grandma Holly & Grandpa Don’s house around dinnertime on New Year’s Eve. After Grandma & Grandpa left for home, we had a little New Year’s celebration by wearing party hats, playing our noisemakers and shouting “Happy New Year!” Then the boys changed into pajamas, Mom made some popcorn and we opened up the sofa bed in the family room to watch a movie. Uncle Charlie, Aunt Vanessa, & Diego sent us “An American Tail: double feature” for Christmas and the boys had been anxious to watch it. So we started “An American Tail” about 8:30PM figuring the boys could lay on the sofa bed and watch till they fell asleep. They stayed awake for the whole thing! Then we put in “Feivel Goes West”. Caleb cuddled up with Mommy and was so tired and out of it but his eyes were still open. Daddy finally took him and put him in his bed around 11PM. Micah stayed awake till the end of that movie too! By then it was about 11:40 so we read a couple books and then watched the ball drop in New York at midnight. I can’t believe he stayed up till midnight! Micah wanted to sleep on the sofa bed but not by himself so Mommy slept on it with him. Once we turned the TV and lights off we fell asleep pretty fast. We got up around 8AM and watched the Rose Parade. Micah was bored of that within about 15 minutes and went off to play. Caleb watched a little more but eventually went to play too. Mom watched it all and called them to see some special floats. They really liked the Honda float with the Ridgeline truck that turned into a rocket. Happy New Year!

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Christmas 2007

Saturday, January 5th, 2008

Family by Christmas Tree 2007 I’m trying to catch up on blogging and organizing all the photos we’ve taken in the past couple weeks. Christmas was great. We had a nice relaxing morning at home reading the Christmas story, opening gifts, eating breakfast, and playing with new stuff. Then Uncle Sean came over and we got ready to drive down to Lakewood. We went to Grandma Holly & Grandpa Don’s and exchanged gifts with them. Then we all went over to Aunt Martha & Uncle Tom’s for Christmas dinner and to visit with all the cousins. It was great.

Daddy had the whole week off which was nice. The day after Christmas we just hung around and played with new stuff some more. Then on Thursday we decided at the last minute to go to the Santa Barbara Zoo. On our way there we called cousin Kaite and ended up driving the rest of the way to Santa Maria after our stop at the Zoo. We had a nice little visit with Kaite, Buddy, Rocko, MaryAlys and Aunt Laura. It ended up being kind of a long day but the boys did great on the long drive. It was cool that they are actually old enough for us to be able to do something pretty spontaneous like that.

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