Looking at things

This post is kind of a compilation of several days worth of pictures :) Dada and Gigi came over last week and watched the boys so I could go get my hair done. It was the only appointment I could snag and it just happened to fall during Mardi Gras break!! I put Dada in charge of helping Jack do his homework and reading. He gets homework to do on weekends as well. Fear not, it's not much :)

Dave got an iPad for his birthday and was reading a comic book on it with Jack tonight. Jack did really well with reading until he got tired. This time change has not been kind to my kids. Jack has to be dragged out of bed every morning and Theo was up till 11 last night. He napped at school......... never good.

Uncle Miller and Aunt Sarah gave Jack a Doodles book for his birthday and he loves looking and completing it! Especially now that he can read :) Here he is following the maze with his finger in the back seat. The boy loves him some mazes!

Lastly, we gave up tv before lunch time for Lent. Even though we are not Catholic! Most of the people here are and we just figured there was no harm in helping the kids understand the Lenten significance. So we've been supplementing morning time on the weekends with lots of activities. Discovery Toys are just the best for that!

Birthday continued

I cooked dinner yesterday for Jack and everyone gobbled it up (tomato basil chicken pasta). Sorry for the poor quality, I was still busy serving up dinner and just grabbed my phone. But notice the crown seat cover that I snagged at a local craft store. I think it's the perfect touch to the seating area! Gotta love my Etsy birthday banner :)

Jack helped Mimi make the cupcake toppers before his party. We ended up using them as tags for his treat bags for school instead but they turned out very cute!

Jack's 6th birthday party

We celebrated Jack's 6th birthday today at a place called the Bounce House. He wanted Phineas and Ferb decorations so Mimi customized his cupcakes with all of the fun colors. The kids just bounced and played and had so much fun. Our party attendant was our neighbor down the street so that made it really nice :)

Jack had mostly Mom's club friends there and a friend from his new school. We attended a party for a little girl in his class before his own party so we met some of the parents and classmates.

His big gift from family was a basketball goal for outside. Dave put it together all morning and Jack shot a few hoops after his party. It was a wonderful day and we're so thankful to Mimi, Mama, Gigi and Dada for driving over to share this day with us.

Mardi Gras in New Orleans

Jack, Theo and I ventured in to New Orleans to meet up with Dave's extended family for Fat Tuesday. They all rented a house off the parade route Uptown and it was awesome! We spent the night at cousin Katie's house on Monday and got up bright and early (6 am) today to get a parking spot by the house. "Uncle" Mike's brother and sister were in town and hooked me up with a costume. I was part of a school of fish, Mike was the fisherman and the rest of the family were BP oil workers in white clean up gear. It was awesome! I made Jack a turtle costume and Theo and cousin Elise were little fish :)

The kids sat up in the ladder seat with cousin JD helping catch stuff (namely keeping them from being pelted in the face by flying beads). We are all beyond exhausted by had such a fun time. I haven't been a part of Mardi Gras day in the city since grad school!!! I always had to work during Mardi Gras and then have just stayed on the Northshore since having kids.

Thank you Gallagher/Kerisit/Waddell families for a wonderful day that we won't soon forget!!!

Cake and coins

Dave's birthday was yesterday and he was out of town for it (it's planting season. Par for the course right now). He came home tonight and I baked him a cake. Don't worry, I won't be opening up my own bakery anytime soon ;) I didn't have the right size tip to put on the squeeze frosting (can you tell??). Ha.

And in other news, Jack's school participates in the Pennies for Patients drive for childhood cancer! I'm so happy to get to collect money for this cause that is near and dear to us.

PS- Jack got another 100 on his spelling pre-test. That makes six 100's in a row. Wow.

Right or left?

I got Theo a pencil gripper to help him learn to hold his pencil for writing. I also got him a placemat that he can write on to practice making his letters. I'm scared for him next year since he'll be going to the same school Jack is now (Jack started doing probability this week. After mastering fractions last week. Ha ha). Anyway, I caught him switching hands today. He's been favoring his right hand for quite some time but did a great job with his left hand today. Hmm!

Hanging with Molly

We went over to a friend's house this afternoon (the weather was GORGEOUS) and let the kids play outside. They jumped on the trampoline for a while and then rode around in Molly's 4 wheeler (just a big wheel-type thing). Molly's baby brother, Henry, was doted on by everyone! He's a smiley, happy dude :)