On Top of Spaghetti

Happy Birthday, Xavier!
Xavier turned four on Monday. We held his family party on Sunday, between church and AWANA. Whew, that was exhausting! He asked for spaghetti and meatballs and a lion cake. Andy and I made homemade meatballs and made Xavier's twice the size of everyone else's. The crazy kid ate the entire thing! I think he had a great day. He was so happy to receive some new Power Rangers to add to the one I bought him at a garage sale. At one point, he said "this is the best day, EVER!" I asked him why, and he said "because I got Power Rangers!"


I started decorating the cake AFTER the Buckeye game was over. I was so tired, I'm surprised it even resembled a lion!

Yes, my six year old is wearing a bib. I was trying to save the white shirt underneath.


At the end of the day, the over-tired kid was in tears because he wanted a "kid party." Unfortunately, I have yet to plan it. The poor kid is going to have middle child syndrome if I don't get my act together!

Gage's Halloween Party

One of Brooklyn's classmate's families is much braver than I. They planned a Halloween party for all the first graders at Trinity and their families on Saturday night. It was a blast! I wasn't too sure I wanted to go because of the cool weather, and Andy said we HAD to leave by 7 to make sure the kiddos were in bed by 8 so we could watch the Buckeyes. Both of us ate our words. We had so much fun! Most of the kids were in their costumes. Brooklyn has chosen to be Stephanie from Lazy town(I think it is all about the pink wig) and Xavier is the White(Rhino?) Ranger from the Power Rangers.

They started the party with some good old fashioned "Bobbing for Apples." I tried to ignore my germophobic tendencies and not think about all the kids mouths in a nice big bucket of water. Yuck!

Brooklyn was so proud when she finally snagged one of the apples. She practically submerged her whole head chasing the elusive apple. When she came up with it in her mouth, she shot water out her nose! Double Yuck!

Brooklyn eventually got too cold for her costume, stepped in dog poop, and got grass stains on the knees. I think we will pull out the Pink Ranger costume for Trick or Treating.

Xavier has been waiting for the day I would allow him to wear his costume outside. He was showing off all his best Ranger moves. I don't think the first grade boys were too impressed. But, they did a nice job of letting him tag along. Does anyone notice the goofy smile he's wearing? He's started curling his top lip under in this crazy fake "cheese" smile after we ask him to smile. It is driving me crazy! Anyone have any suggestions on how to correct this?

This had to be the highlight of the evening for me. The adults were each given a roll of TP and a time limit to create the best mummy. Andy was holding Isaac so he helped too. The kid were then given a turn. They were so serious and competitive. They all got frustrated when the TP broke. After the contest, the future TPers of America unrolled every remaining roll across the yard and had TP fights. It was nice to see the kids have such unstructured fun. They then scooped up all of the white fluffy stuff and threw it into the fire. I think we have a few pyros in the group!

What a great party! We didn't get home until after the game started. Thanks to Gage's family for such a great evening!

Way to go Sharks!

The parents and siblings always formed a tunnel for the boys to run through at the end of each game. Next to snack, I think it was their favorite part!


Xavier's soccer season came to a close last weekend. In some senses I was sad because I loved seeing Xavier and his teammates develop their skills. They went from wandering aimlessly on the field to turning the ball and passing to each other! On the other hand, it is getting chilly here in central Ohio! Xavier was thrilled to receive a medal to commemorate his season. The coach's quote to Xavier was "to the guy whose name I could never remember..." I'm already looking forward to his next season!

Corn Maize, Take Two

I went back to the Corn Maize on Monday. This time, it was Brooklyn's class running wildly through the corn. Andy and I practically did rock, paper, scissors to see who would go. Isaac was sick all weekend(stomach bug, 9 month old, need I say more?) so Andy stayed home from work so one of us could be the babysitter. I thought Andy should go because he doesn't get opportunities to participate in class activities during the week. But, I also knew he was leaving me for three days this week to attend a men's retreat through church. Finally, it was decided that I would go. It was basically the same event, but first graders are much more crazy than three year olds! They ran in every direction at every opportunity. I felt so sorry for the petting zoo's rabbits. It was borderline abuse! The kids would pick them up, drop them, throw them, fight over them, etc. Yeesh! I had a nice time hanging out with Brooklyn, but I could have done without the other 33 kids that tagged along. I'm so thankful I'm not an elementary school teacher!

A-Maize-ing!

Xavier has the biggest crush on the little girl in the front row wearing the polka-dotted raincoat. Notice the little girl in the second row wearing a polka-dotted raincoat. She has a twin! But, Xavier's heart belongs to Molly. She taught him how to pump his legs on the swings on the first day of school.


The kids were allowed to pick a pie pumpkin to take home. Xavier had to find the biggest one in the patch!

Xavier had his first official preschool field trip to The Maize in Plain City. I dropped Isaac off at a friend's and ventured into the corn with him. It was pretty fun for being a farm field in the middle of nowhere! The aerial view of the maze was impressive! It was in the shape of Jack Hanna holding a koala to honor his 30 years at the Columbus Zoo. At each marker in the maze, we were asked a question. The answer determined which way to go. Thankfully, the teacher had a cheat sheet! Xavier did well with his classmates and I was surprised at how attentive he was to his teacher. If only I could get him to listen like that at home! After the maze, we went for a tractor ride, picked pumpkins, had snack, listened to a lecture about the uses of corn, petted some animals, and rode a crazy slide. Xavier's favorite part? The kettle corn, of course!

So Long, ZooKids!

Xavier had his last zoo class last Thursday. It was such a good experience! Xavier had a great time hanging out with his buddy, Grace and learning about all sorts of animals. Of course, his favorite part of the class was...snack! I really enjoyed wandering the zoo with Isaac and Gracie's mommy and brother. I don't get too much time with just Isaac. I'd definitely sign Xavier up for ZooKids again!