November 2012

With birthday money and money that they had saved, Brock and Ryan bought some Legos.  Brock's set was huge...over 1,000 pieces!!!

Ryan was excited to get a Superhero Lego set.

They went right to work building.

Ryan's finished product:  an airplane with his favorite Avenger, Hawkeye, and the science lab from the Avengers.

Brock and his huge Star Wars aircraft.

Ryan was selected as the "Golden Gator" for his class this past six weeks.  This is what his teacher had to say about him and why he received the award.

Ryan with the Creek View Gator after winning his award.

His Golden Gator prize was a backpack key chain.

Proud Momma with her Golden Gator.

I chaperoned a field trip for Ryan's class to P-6 Farms.  They had a ton of activities for kids and we had a blast!

Rope climbing for my little monkey.

Rubber Duckie Races.

This was the group of sweet boys that I took care of.

The cow barrel train.

Ryan's 7th Birthday ~ Oct. 30, 2012

My baby boy is no longer a baby...he turned seven years old this year!  :-(  When I asked him what birthday dessert he wanted, he was VERY specific.  He wanted a yellow cake with blue icing and chocolate-covered pretzels on top.  And that's exactly what he got!!

Here he is opening one of his gifts...a HUGE Army airplane.  I think he was just a little bit excited!

Brock completed the Army theme with his gift to Ryan...lots of Army men and tanks.

Ryan with his huge airplane.

As with Brock's birthday, I decided to try my hand at money origami for Ryan.  I found directions to make Abe Lincoln With a Gangster Hat.  It turned out pretty good!

I made Ryan a $10 heart origami, too.

For Ryan's birthday party, he wanted a cookie cake.  So, once again, I made it.  This one turned out a little better tasting than Brock's.  Ryan added his Indiana Jones characters to make it super cool.

Ryan wanted a Halloween party, so Brock donned his Harry Potter costume once again.

And Ryan showed his Indiana Jones whip action.

Brock and Ryan with some friends.

Here is some of the food I made for Ryan's party:  Frog's Eyes & Hearts of Rats.

We also had a (Jell-O) bloody brain.

I wish I had an overhead view of these Mummy Dogs...they turned out really cute.  I wrapped hot dogs with crescent rolls and then gave them some bloodshot (ketsup) eyes. 

These were part of the goody bags that I made for Ryan's guests.

Ryan's guests all dressed up and ready to go trick-or-treating!

Earlier on Halloween, the first grade class got to dress up as their favorite children's book character.  Brock was nice and let Ryan borrow his Harry Potter costume for the day.

Our Jack-o-Lanterns this year:  a Mummy

Blue Angry Birds

...and the White Angry Bird.

Brock's 9th Birthday ~ Oct. 28, 2012

My sweet boy turned nine this year.  (Sniff, sniff)  He wanted a cookie cake for his party, so I decided that I would try to make it myself.  It turned out looking pretty good and it tasted o.k.  It was a little crunchy, but the kids seemed to like it!

After I made the cookie and put the icing on it, Brock decorated it with his touch...Harry Potter battling Lord Voldemort while Ron, Hagrid and Hermoine watch.

Brock asked his friends to dress in their Halloween costumes for his party.  Who was Brock?  Harry Potter, of course!

I think he looks amazing like Harry Potter.

Ryan was Indiana Jones!

Some of Brock's friends at Chuck E. Cheese.

After Chuck E. Cheese, we had 11 boys come to our house for a sleepover!  Whew!!  It was a lot of boys and a lot of fun!

Brock and Ryan with their 11 friends the next morning.

On Brock's actual birthday, we celebrated as a family.  Ryan gave Brock a cool Spy cam.

Brock really likes Origami, so I tried my hand at it and made a $10 heart...not too bad!

I also made a $5 ring.  It was a bit too small for his finger, though.

I asked Brock what he wanted me to make for his birthday dessert. I offered to make a pie, cake, cupcakes, cookies, whatever he wanted.  He said he wanted an ice cream cake, but I told him that we had spent a lot on his party and it needed to be something cheaper that I could make.  He couldn't decide, so I jokingly said that we could just buy him a bucket of ice cream and stick some candles in it.  That is exactly what he wanted!!!  So, I took him to the store and he picked out some sherbert.  I stuck some candles in it and he loved it!!