Cars Party

A few months ago I started asking Caden what kind of party he wanted for his 4th birthday and he immediately told me a "Jake party." I told him he had that last year, so he had to pick something new. We tossed around a couple of ideas before he excitedly agreed to a "Cars" party. I loved this theme because we often call Caden "Cader-Mater," so we knew this would be the perfect fit for him.  

We had his party on Saturday, April 2nd. To say Caden was excited for his party would be an understatement. We started decorating the basement the night before, and Caden ran around the basement for hours screaming with excitement. 

 We decorated the basement as such:

Birthday poster and balloons. I made this poster and it was by far the most time consuming one to date, but I thought it turned out pretty cute.

 Cars birthday cake

 Drink table with "Rusteez Bumper Ointment" (Root Beer) to drink.

 Luigi's Tower of Tires

 Mater's tow cables.

 "Nuts and Bolts"

 Spare Tires (Mini Oreos)

 And Ramone's House of Body Art (tattoos)

 Cars centerpiece and more balloons.

 Tyler came up with this great idea to make a road leading to the basement. Loved it!

 After Caden's requested pizza for dinner we opened presents. Caden's face in this picture gives you a tiny glimpse into how excited he was.

 Man is this little boy spoiled! He got Spiderman and Fireman Legos, Jake toys, a toy gun, a soccer ball, and a lot of stylin' clothes!

 Love this supportive family of ours! They make the parties so much fun.

 After presents we sang "Happy Birthday" and Caden got to blow out the candle on his cake... okay, so we had to sing and blow out the candle twice because someone didn't know if they recorded it all.

After cake our whole family had a rematch of the kick ball tournament and then played dodge ball. I completely forgot to take pictures, but it was so much fun. Caden holds the record for the longest party. 6 hours... and honestly it would have gone longer but some of our family had a late night movie to get to.

Loved celebrating this handsome little boy's birthday. We love you Cader-Mater!

The Rest of March

Here's a few of the pictures that didn't make it into our other posts: 

How many devices does one person need? Well on this particular night Tyler needs two computers, his iphone, and his ipad. Technology has literally taken over!

 Because we made him eat his dinner. #thestruggleisreal

 Modeling our outfits for family pictures. Don't you just love them? Well I do.

 Mastering the Selfie.

 These two... I just love them. Caden was being such a great big brother and reading Brynn some books. He is so sweet with her.

 And we still struggle to look at the camera at the same time.

To end March's posts here is our favorite #convoswiththekids: 

I got mad at the kids because they kept asking me when they could have quite time. I finally told them that if they asked me another question about quite time, they weren't getting it. So...Kayla was outside blowing bubbles and she said "Is it time for quiet time." Then she stopped and said to me, "I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to the bubbles."

Easter Part 2

Spring break was great this year. Tyler took a week off and we went to Hanna Land for a few days of family time. It was pretty cold, but we managed to have fun. We played outside when it was warm enough, went on rides on the Polaris, watched movies, colored Easter eggs, played games, played on the swing set, and had a great time. 

This may be the only time all three kids will be able to fit on this, but man, are they cute! I love these three cuties of mine!

 We always leave the Bear in a fun place for Terry and Craig to find when they go back up there. This time the Bear is in the bathtub with a bottle of wine and a great read of Green Eggs and Ham. 

 After a few days of fun at Hanna Land we headed home for more Easter fun. The kids were so excited to leave their baskets out for the Easter Bunny to hide.

 The next morning some of us (Caden) were not quite awake.

 We started looking for the baskets. Makayla found Brynn's basket first. It was hiding under the computer cabinet.

 She got an outfit, Minnie figurine, and a bubble mower.

 We found Caden's basket next. It was in the movie closet by the books. Caden got Cars 2, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toy, and an outfit.

 Makayla's basket was harder to find. We looked all over and finally found it in the workout room up high on the weight machine. Makayla got The Little Mermaid 2 movie, Princess Legos, and an outfit.

 Selfie time! I'm starting to look old.

 Later that day we headed to Terry and Craig's for our Easter egg hunt and dinner. Brynnli and Kenzee were hanging out at the picnic table.

 Caden was modeling his new outfit.

 And these two were being just plain adorbs.

 I have come to realize I can't get a good picture of all three kids at the same time. I take what I can get.

 How cute are all of these cousins?

 And this handsome guy!

 Time for the egg hunt. Everyone loved sauntering around looking for their treats with their names on it.

 Brynnli took it upon herself to collect all of the colored eggs.

 We took a little break for some family pictures

My favorite moment of the day: Brynnli was trying to carry her basket of colored eggs and it was too heavy, so she dragged the eggs.

 They all fell out

 So she picked everyone of them up and put them in her basket again.

She didn't learn from her mistakes, and tried dragging them again. You guessed it, they all fell out again, and she repeated the process at least two more times. Needless to say all of the eggs were cracked. Lesson learned: Don't put all of your eggs in one basket! Ha ha!

I am so grateful this Easter season for such a great family and extended family. I am truly blessed! Happy Easter!