Blaze's 3rd Birthday!!!

 My little Blazer turned 3 on September 22, 2013! He was very adamant about having a train cake! Thank goodness Betty Crocker had an online video of a do-able train. He picked out the colors for the train cars and really had a vision for his cake. While I had meetings Sunday morning, James and Blaze put all the candy decorations on while Jackson video taped the experience. I think Blazes's favorite part was definitely eating all the candy he wanted while decorating!

 Blaze knew exactly what he wanted for his birthday dinner -processed foods that we only have for special occasions. The menu was: Mac'n'Cheese ( in fish shapes and Monsters Inc. shapes), string cheese (orange and white combo), Doritos, root beer, and HOT DOGS! James and I HATE hot dogs! My kids wouldn't even know about their existence if my parents hadn't fed them hot dogs at their house. James decided to make the best of it and "grilled" them on the Foreman. Of course I didn't have one, but just the smell that lingered in our house for days was sickening! I had to make some banana bread to try to mask the smell, but that only lasted temporarily. The kids loved their dinner and thanked Blaze for sharing with them.

 We were able to Skype Grandma Ce Ce and Poppy so they could watch Blaze open their present. He got a set of planes and a gas truck from the "Planes" movie, a big Disney story book, and an easy reader. Paul and Jackson were just as excited about the planes as Blaze was!

 

All of the kids made little cards or wrapped "presents" for Blaze. They are too cute!

 Great Gran Perkins always sends the kids a fun card with a $5 bill in it. They get so excited to take the money to the Dollar Store and buy whatever they want!

 We also Skyped the Williamson grandparents for presents. Grandpa Joe picked out a kid tough digital camera, so now Blaze can be like his siblings and have his very own camera! Our present for Blaze was a "Spooner". It's a board that slides around and preps kids for snowboarding, skate boarding, or surfing. Blaze keeps asking me to take him to the beach so he can use it in the water! It's been a hit with all of the kids, and I even like to play with it.

I love Blaze's faces. He is so animated and keeps me laughing all day long! He's my forever baby, and I'm going to enjoy hugging and kissing and cuddling him for as long as he lets me. Luckily, he's a mommas boy and seems to like the physical affection. I always ask him why he's so cute, and he says "Because I love you mommy!" I've caught him calling me "Sarah" a few times this week, and I quickly correct him. Maybe I'll have one child who calls me mom!

Hanging out with Cache...

We recently went to visit cousin Cache, Uncle Caleb, and Aunt Lauren in their new home! It was so fun to see them settled and making it their own. I just can't get over how RED Cache's hair is! He's such a sweet baby with a calm easy-going disposition. The kids really enjoyed handing down some of their favorite baby toys to him.

 Uncle Andrew only lives 10 minutes from Caleb now, so they get to hang out a lot. Andrew brought the kids chocolates and little toys from his trip to Italy. I was kind of jealous - of the chocolate!

Andrew brought these beautiful creations that he purchased at a cafe his friends own. Would you believe they are made of gelatin? I felt bad eating them because they are so perfect, and I was very surprised at how good they tasted. It wasn't like any Jello I've ever eaten! These works of art are hand made somehow by injecting the floral designs into the gelatin. I'd love to see these being made. 

Fast and Furious...

One day, Alanna asked her daddy to take the training wheels off of her bike. The next thing we knew (two days later) she was speeding up and down the hill with her brothers! She completely by-passed the whole ordeal of us holding the back of her seat and wobbling around. And now she spends every spare moment out front keeping up with the boys in the neighborhood. Luckily, we had two cute and very sweet little girls move in across the street who come over every day to ride bikes too. We've been waiting to get some great neighbors to replace the Palmers, and we finally did. Not that anyone will ever replace the Palmers, but we have loved getting to know the Clark family. And we love that their kids are so fun and get along with our boys and Alanna.

Not only does Alanna love riding her bike these days, when she is indoors she is constantly doing cartwheels, toe touches, splits, and back bends! She's started up her jazz/tumbling class again and can't get enough of it. We've been continuing to progress with her reading, and it's so fun to see how happy she is with herself. She is just so amazingly cute, smart, and talented. 

Lombardi Cheapskate Race!

We are so lucky to have such fun friends like the Lombardi family! Cassie is so creative and loves to organize and let us tag along. And once again, I'm stealing pictures from her blog! They have an annual Lombardi Cheapskate 1/2 marathon/5K run, and it's free family fun! I love that the boys ran a little over the 5K mark. I need to take them out running more because they are good at it and enjoy it. Jackson got one of his random bloody noses during the 1st half, but he got through it and continued running. Paul was a little speedster through the whole race.

Cassie was on her bike so she could take pictures of all of the runners. She said that every time she rode past Paul, he would speed up and try to beat her!

Alanna biked it! It was a few days before she learned how to ride it with two wheels! She is begging us to take her back to this race trail so she can do it again.

Blaze was riding in style! This is definitely NOT a jogging stroller. And I don't know why I thought it would be fun to use it as one! I did enjoy the second half of the run when James was pushing/running with Blaze while I was hands free.

After the run we had to have treats, of course. My kids devoured the Doritos! 

 

So proud of these kids! 

Funny Little Clown...

Blaze has a September 22nd birthday, so he missed the September 1st deadline for most preschools. But, the Montessori school where many of our friends go will take kids at 2 1/2. Lucky duck got to start school this year anyway! He absolutely loves going to school like his brothers and Alanna, and of course, he has to carry a full sized backpack with him. That's half the fun of school for him! I really miss my baby while he's gone! But, I love to see him walk out the doors escorted by a teacher and he looks so proud and confident! Blaze reports that he cuts bread, walks the balance beam, plays with a hammer, and eats Goldfish crackers while at school. And I really hope that he shares the toys and doesn't get too bossy with his friends like he does with his siblings. His favorite thing to do lately is to tell people off. He will point his finger and very sternly say "You apologize! You did that on purpose!" I just can't help but laugh. Some afternoons Blaze will decide he'll go for the cool look and wear a pair of oversized sunglasses. At the preschool orientation the teachers assured us that they would not be judging our children's choice of clothing, so we shouldn't sweat it. That philosophy works well for my family...too bad it didn't work at Jackson's school last year when his principal thought we would be good candidates for a sub-for-Santa family based on Jackson's appearance!