Surviving Lee

Along with company for Theo's party this weekend we also had Tropical Storm Lee!! Lee dumped rain on us for 3 1/2 solid days. Not sprinkles......... RAIN. Our yard was turning in to a lake! Luckily Theo scored some awesome presents for his birthday and we played with those while we were stuck indoors :) Here is the contraption that Grandvonnie got them. Not sure who loves it most- Dave, Jack or Theo. Ha!!! It was hard to say goodbye to Mimi and Papa but we'll be seeing them soon at cousin Melanie's wedding next month. Yay!

T-H-E-O's Clubhouse

Sweet T had a great 4th birthday party at The Bounce House! He had a giant cookie cake (his request) and Mimi made a dozen chocolate cupcakes with fondant Mickey Mouse shapes on the top. I made jambalaya for the adults and we had pizza on hand for the kids. Tropical Storm Lee is sitting right on top of us so everyone was happy to be inside and letting their kids burn off some energy. The air was so humid inside there though that we sure were sporting some interesting hairstyles ;) The kids were covered in sweat from running around and playing.

Theo had a mix of friends from Cedarwood (his old school) and Lake Castle (his new school), as well as friends from Moms club. It was really sweet to see how bonded the kids from his new class are already. The little pack of 4 of them just ran everywhere together and had a great time.

Papa and Mimi made special trips over (Mimi drove and Papa flew) and we were so happy to have them with us. Mama wasn't able to travel over this year and she was missed. Gigi and Dada braved the squalls from Lee to drive over and even picked up the cookie cake for me! Champs! The rain was really coming down and hasn't let up much yet. Poor Theo always gets hurricanes or storms on his birthday weekends (recall Gustave?).

We opened gifts at home after the party and Theo scored tons of adorable presents. He chose to open his gift from Aunt Jen and Uncle Brian first :) He scored Mr. Potato Heads, rubber duckies (his favorite tub toy), moon sand, erector sets, hotwheels..... the list goes on. Let's just say our baby was LOVED today and had a fantastic birthday weekend. If only all children were so treasured.

Tea time

Mimi drove over last night to spend the weekend here with us for Theo's birthday party. We had the day to ourselves while the boys were at school so we did girly things like shop and enjoy high tea at The English Tea Room. Notice our fascinators?? Love it!

The dreaded 4 year appointment

Turning 4 brings joy and the sudden realization that you have to get 4 shots, a blood test, urine screen, vision and hearing tests. Oh yeah, and it's flu season, so tack that on as well. Poor Theo. I was honest with him, as I was with Jack. I told him to be brave and that we'd go out for ice cream when it was all over. And that every 4 year old has to do the same thing. We took Pluto along for comfort. Big boy didn't even put up a fight for the finger prick (um, more than just a prick..... squeezing a vile of blood from his finger more like it) but really got peeved with the shots. He had to be held down by the nurse and was screaming things like "no, don't do this to me", "ouch, that hurts. Stop!!". And then he hollered for about 5 minutes after it was all said and done just to let everyone know how unjust he thought it all was. But a sucker, visit to the treasure box and ice cream made it all better :)

And just for kicks, here's an inside peek at Jack's backpack. First grade DON'T PLAY!! Books and workbooks from each subject, yo!

School celebration

Theo's teacher sent me these pictures from his birthday treat at school. I love, love this cute group picture of the class (minus one friend). How cute are these kids???

Notice the apple in the background of one of the pictures. It's the behavior chart and all of the kids have a worm with their name on it. I love hearing who had to move their worm to a different apple each day from Theo. Jack's class assigns numbers and the kids flip cards to different colors. Funny how he can tell me "#2 and #13 flipped the color today". Makes me laugh!

After school celebrating

I spotted Theo and his big birthday crown when I came through carline this afternoon. It made my heart just delight! I knew he felt special and had an enjoyable birthday :) His teacher, Mrs. Hoover, just showered him with things today! He had his crown, a birthday sticker and a birthday certificate! She said the class LOVED the krispie treats and got the biggest kick at eating off Mickey's ears ;) I posed him outside by his birthday balloon on our mailbox in all of his regalia. Notice Pluto is in the picture. He's in heaven and loves his birthday present :)

We met Betsy and her crew at church for Wednesday Night Dinner. I hadn't been in a good two years and tonight I was reminded why I stopped going! Ha. We joked that we'd revisit the dinner once Theo turns 10. Five kids to 2 adults is not a good ratio in that kind of environment (self-serve everything). I don't think Betsy or I sat for longer than 2 minutes the entire meal. She did bring him cupcakes and the kids sang him "Happy Birthday" before devouring their cupcakes.

On our way home we stopped in at Alyssa's house since it's her birthday today as well! Theresa had a pinata set up for the kids and everyone had a nice time just playing. It's so special that Alyssa, Theo and my cousin, Cody, all share a birthday today. Happy birthday, y'all!!!

Theo is 4!!!

Theo turns 4 today at 11:16 am. He'll be eating lunch with his friends and will get to enjoy his Mickey rice krispie treats as they sing him "Happy Birthday". His sweet teacher promised to snap a picture for me on her phone (LOVE that).

It was hard to shift into birthday mode almost immediately upon returning from our Europe trip, but I think I managed to swing it. Theo still LOVES Mickey Mouse so that is his birthday theme this year. Mimi sent me some great ideas for decorations and favors and I copied the treat bag for Theo to take to his classmates this morning. Since his birthday is so early in the school year, I just know not many class friends will turn out for his party. I wanted him to be able to celebrate with them and that's why I sent in a treat bag. My poor August baby!!

We got a move on it early this morning to allow time to get free birthday donuts at Donut King up the road from us. Theo got to go behind the counter and tell Mr. George which donuts he wanted (chocolate and regular donut holes, glazed donuts for Jack). Donut King really bends over backwards to make the birthday children feel special and Theo did!! Jack can't wait for his turn behind the counter in March :)