Happy Birthday Benjamin!

It was so much fun to celebrate Benjamin turning 5. He was so excited about choosing a party this year, and I did my best to make it a lot of fun for him and for his guests.

Here is all my hard work before the kids arrived!  I got a lot of my ideas from Pinterest, and the rest were lucky finds!

For the cake, I bought fondant to roll out a five, and then I bought some hot wheels candles. I thought it turned out so well! The pile of tires I made from his play dough cars kit, which came with a tire press. It worked perfectly! For the cupcakes, I used the same tires, and then I found cute trophies at the dollar store.

For the apple cars, I cut toothpicks in half and stuck on grapes and blueberries. I made the water bottles from free printables I found online, and then also had donuts (spare tires), which the kids really liked.

Here is Benjamin when he came down and saw everything for the first time. He received a lot of presents from family, so he got to open one at a time throughout the day.

Abby was very disappointed unless she got to help. For the most part, Benjamin was gracious. Though, I did have to break up a few fights.

Benjamin gave Abby some Hello Kitty pencils to open. Papa and Grandma Deb got him blocks, so we played with those the day before the party. It was so helpful to have them here to help me set up all the tables and decorations.They had to leave Saturday morning, so we spent the day killing time before the main event by opening a new present every hour or so!

Love those curls!

To start the party out, the kids colored pictures of Hot Wheels. Then, we played a game of Cars Bingo. Next, they colored their own little matchbox type cars with markers. After that, we went on a Hot Wheels car hunt, and each kid found their own car. We played a game launching their new cars from a ramp into containers on the floor. They especially enjoyed this game. Then, we blew into straws to race a ball down a race track. Later, we moved it to the hallway race track.

Each kid got a medal (leftover from my cross country and track days).

Benjamin got some really nice presents from his friends!

We stalled as long as possible, and finally Daddy got home from work so we could cut the cake!

Remember to celebrate the joy of Christmas

The past few years, I have struggled with Christmas traditions. How does one make anything lasting when nothing ever stays the same? One joyful year, I had a brand new December baby, and all travel was placed on hold. The next, I didn’t even want to decorate, since I wasn’t going to be home to enjoy it. Then, my mom died on Christmas Day. It was all I could do to keep a smile pasted on as my kids opened the presents just down the hall from where my mom was spending her last few hours on Earth.
It certainly put perspective on the gift giving: Would all this stuff mean anything if I knew I wasn’t long for this world?
It is with these thoughts that I enter yet another Christmas “season.” I continue to wrestle with how to make it special. I know there is no guarantee of another Christmas for any of us. So, as changes greet us each year, how can I make memories and traditions that are lasting? Here are a few of my conclusions, and lessons I hope to impart to my children:
Christmas is about Jesus.
It’s not all about the decorations, the cookies, the cards, the family gatherings and the presents that I stress so much about. The purpose is to celebrate the birth of Jesus — God's amazing gift to us. Even if I had none of the fun trimmings I have come to expect at Christmas, I still would have much to celebrate. No matter what changes in my circumstances, or who is there to celebrate, this day reminds me that God’s love is constant.
It isn’t about presents.
I want my children to realize that Christmas is about God’s gift of salvation to us, and nothing we could ever give God would equal that great gift. All God desires in return is our love. On Christmas morning, we remind our kids that we are giving gifts as a demonstration of love for one another. It is a reminder of a gift from God that we cannot open, but is far more valuable than those placed under the tree. To keep ourselves from going overboard on all the presents, we set a guideline to give the kids three gifts, similar to how the Wise Men brought three gifts to Jesus.
St. Nicholas blessed others.
We play along with some of the Santa fun, because St. Nicholas is a reminder of how the actions of one person can bring such joy to others. To help promote that concept, we spend much of December looking for ways to bless others, and show them the love of Jesus. We talk about how it feels better to give than to receive. If my son asks if Santa is real, I plan to sit him down and talk about finding the hope and joy in the majesty of God, rather than the pretend magic of Santa. I will remind him that God is real. God sees him when he is sleeping, and knows when he’s awake. Only God knows his thoughts, and only God is his judge.
My kids are not good.
This is the time of year that so many parents tell their kids to behave, or Santa won’t bring them presents. It makes me sad, because that is in direct contrast to the concept of grace. I want my kids to be able to admit they make mistakes, just like I do. We can’t be nice all the time. Every day, we think things, say things and do things that land us on the naughty list. That’s why we need Jesus so badly. We can never be good enough to reach that standard of God’s perfection. By admitting we fall short, and believing in God’s son, our list of wrongs is wiped clean. We are guaranteed his love and forgiveness.
There is always joy.
I want to experience joy on Christmas no matter what happens, who is there, what presents are exchanged, where we travel and how the food tastes. My prayer is that I can let go of the expectations, do my best and then focus on the message that the angel Gabriel delivered: “I bring you good news of great joy!”

My how time flies

OK. I admit it. I got so far behind on blogging, I just gave up. But, now I want to catch up as best I can. Here goes …

Precious Benjamin started preschool at Liberty Heights! He goes three days a week, and we just love his teachers and all that he is learning. He had to fill out a form at the beginning of the school year. His favorites include the following:

Favorite show: Curious George

Favorite animal: An Angry Bird

Favorite Game: Angry Birds and Rush on Xbox

Favorite Color: All of them

Favorite toy: hot wheels

First day of preschool shots…

Abby misses Benjamin when he is gone! But, I think she also has enjoyed the time with Mommy and Daddy.

We are missing the warm days we enjoyed at the end of summer.

Benjamin learned how to play soccer at Soccer Shots one day a week after preschool. He loved it so much, we signed him up for winter soccer.

Benjamin’s favorite friend at preschool is Luke. He talks about him all the time. Here they are hanging out on their field trip.

The kids had SOOOOOOO much fun this Halloween. We went to Entertrainment Junction to check out the pumpkin patch there, and for Trick or Treat, we hung out with friends from our Community Group. The kids got tons of candy, and they are still asking when they can have Halloween again. As they wait for next year, they are enjoying playing dress up with their costumes.

We really enjoyed hanging out at Niederman Family Farm with our friends and with Grandma Jan.

And, playing in the leaves was a big hit!

We had a great time this November up at Papa’s house celebrating his marriage to Grandma Deb. And.. Uncle Mike and Aunt Christy came up for a surprise visit. The kids were ecstatic that they got to play all weekend with their cousins. Benjamin cried so hard when they left.

I just love this photo of Benjamin. It is his pensive look…you can just see the wheels turning.

This was our first snow. The kids thought it was Christmas…literally. Apparently snow means Christmas.

So, now that we have the tree up, they keep waiting for snow to fall. No matter how many Christmas countdowns we have up around the house, apparently that is the deciding factor.