Party In the Pit!

The boys got play balls for Christmas and we just got around to blowing up the pool for them. And then it was party in the pit time!! Nick dove right in - head first. From there it was just pure pandemonium.

 

Any Room in the Inn?

How many boys and dogs can fit in the tent at once??

A Little Paper, A Little Paint

Ben broke into his new paints he got for his birthday. Although they are finger paints, he wanted to use them with a brush. I used my fingers :)

Mama's By You On the Bayou

One of Ben's favorite books right now is Mama's By You On The Bayou. It's a book about all the animals in the bayou. It goes, 'Mama's by you on the bayou, rocking you to the sounds of the ...' And it has crawfish, fish, alligators, skeeters, snakes... I read it to Ben the other night and then he read it back to me. Except he just says, 'Mama's rocking you to the sound of ...' I thought it was super cute! And he has a very impressive memory.

Gymnastics

Ben is in gymnastics again this winter and totally loving it! He's even venturing into the pit this time around. He still won't jump into the pit, but at least he is getting in. Nick is taking swimming lessons at the same time Ben takes gymnastics so Adam and I are splitting the class duties. Hopefully I will be able to get some pictures at swim class this weekend. 

More Party, More Cupcakes

After the sledding adventure and playing in the barn, Ben was coerced into coming inside to open presents and have dinner. Ben got some awesome presents including nice new clothes, a stomp rocket, a school bus, a 'grooming kit' including a shaver (but no deodorant which was a concern for Ben), and some awesome new bedroom decor!

After a tasty spaghetti and meatball dinner Dzaidziu whipped up, it was time for MORE cupcakes :) I ran out of nutter butters, so these were just plain cupcakes.

Doing his weird thing when people sing Happy Birthday...

It was another successful, fun birthday celebration!

Sledding with Daddy

Adam's parents got a little bit more snow than we did, so they dusted off the old sled and headed for the back hill today. It was pretty darn cold out and Ben was bundled to the hilt. I'm not even sure he could see. Ben and Adam made two runs and then Ben decided he was done. It was pretty cold out and he just wanted to go in the barn and play with his trucks. While they were cold and freezing, I was nice and toasty warm in the house, taking these pictures with my telephoto lens :)

Birthday Party: Part 2 - JoJo's Pizza

After some time playing at Playland, we all headed over to JoJo's Pizza for dinner and cupcakes. JoJo's was great! They had the table all set up for us, we had a room to ourselves, good service and good food.

Lily and Susan make cookies earlier in the day, and spelled out a special message for Ben!

As part of the kid's goodie bags, I found foam animal masks.

Ben received some very nice, generous gifts that he was very excited about!

Ben gets so weird when people sing Happy Birthday. He hides his face like he's embarrassed.

An action shot of blowing out the candles - he blew out all 3 in one try!

We had another round of Alligator cupcakes - chocolate malt flavor this time. And again, they were a hit!

On the way home, Ben told us that this was his 'bestest birthday ever, ever' because you know, he's had soooo many...