It's Birthday Time!

Happy 5th Birthday Cole!
Ok, I have been a little slow posting these pictures. The anticipation of the birthday, then the birthday, then more of the birthday, and then even more birthday required a little bit of recovery time and lots of time to download all of the pictures. But, I think I am recovered. (At least for a few days until Emily's birthday preparation starts!!)
After weeks of discussing what exactly he wanted to do and what kind of cake he wanted (which changed quite a few times), we had everything settled and planned. He wanted a soccer ball cake and a sports themed party. (He didn't really care about the theme, but I kept suggesting sports things and he kept agreeing!)
We started with a rousing game of the Sports Edition of "Don't Eat Pete". I was a little skeptical about the game, but Katie insisted that kids loved it, and sure enough they did.
Then, we moved to a sports obstacle course, where they had to shoot a basket, hit a ball, throw a football through a hoop, and dribble a soccer ball.
Then it was time for pizza and Gatorade. (We had to have a sports themed meal also!)
As they were finishing eating, a special visitor appeared. (Chad had called me the day before and told me that he had arranged for a special visitor to come to the party. So all of my careful planning had to be adjusted and all of my neat ideas had just been trumped! But, looking at Cole's face when his special visitor showed up made it all ok!)

Cosmo was lots of fun. He wrestled with Cole, threw a ball with the kids, and then tried to beat the record in the obstacle course. (Emily and another girl at the party did not think Cosmo was fun. Because they were scared of him, they ran inside and locked all of the doors to the house!)
Finally, Cosmo signed everything from papers to shorts before rushing off to his next event.
After Cosmo left, we decided it was time to open presents.
Then, we broke out the cake and ice cream. (When they are already hyper from Cosmo and presents, why not pump them with sugar!)
Finally, we ended the party with a pinata that Chad got from a Mexican store. (This was actually the second pinata that Chad picked out. The first one was a Spiderman pinata, but because I had convinced Cole that we should do a sports theme, he had decided that he wanted a ball pinata. Cole's face fell as soon as Chad showed him the Spiderman one! Chad, being the nice dad that he is, immediately told Cole that he would take the Spiderman one back and exchange it for a sports one. Cole spent the whole next day asking me if I thought his Dad was going to be able to find a sports one. Thankfully he did!) We found out the cheaper pinatas from the grocery store might be a better choice because the thing was so hard to break that Chad finally had to use a metal bat to break it open. At least that meant every kid got several swings!
Even Addy got a swing!
The big slugger!The mad rush for the candy.
And the Pinata Joker?
Enjoy being 5 Cole!

Easter Treats

By the time Chad and I woke up on Easter morning, I'm pretty sure that Cole and Emily had checked out everything in their Easter Baskets and found most of the hidden eggs.
But the poor kids couldn't touch any of it until Chad talked to them about what Easter is really about!
They were actually surprisingly attentive. (Maybe because they already knew what was in their baskets anyway!)
Then finally, they got to dig in!
"Anakin Skywalker! I wonder how many stores the Easter Bunny had to search to find him."
"I have no idea what a kite is, but it has Barbie on it, so I like it!"
"Am I really going to get to eat this ring pop or is it a cruel trick?"
Once they had emptied their baskets, they were off to find the no longer hidden Easter eggs.



Once all of the fun stuff was over, it was time to get dressed for church.
Yes, she is as impish as she looks here! Cute, but trouble!
Also cute, but not quite as impish...yet!
And here is Cole's Easter outfit. Oh wait, this is his every day his Mom will let him wear it outfit! (He didn't want to wear the cute plaid shorts that I wanted him to wear!)
At Grandma's house they got to do another Easter Egg Hunt! What lucky kids! They are off again.
Emily liked to come show us every egg she found!
Addy didn't have to move to find the eggs. The eggs found her!

No More Needs to Be Said!

Easter Egg Fun

Last week, we used the one night that Chad and I were both home at the same time to dye Easter Eggs. (Although when we were talking about doing it, the kids kept asking me why the Easter Eggs were going to die!) Cole really got into it and he and Chad had a great time making all sorts of designs with the secret crayon and with rubber bands. Emily also got into it, but she got bored really quickly and started inventing new things to do!
The boys plotting their next egg. I think it had something to do with BYU or Cougar!
Emily and her "Emily" Egg
Addy dyeing Easter Eggs.
Big surprise, Cole made a blue egg!
Waiting for her egg to change colors was not Emily's favorite part!
The dual-colored egg
Addy still dyeing her Easter Eggs.
More Waiting!
More planning
Emily got a little bored waiting for her eggs to change colors in the dye (or waiting for the boys to finish up with the 5 colors that they were using all at the same time!), so she decided she would rather try painting them. It didn't work so well, but she enjoyed making a big mess!
Like father, like son. Cole also had to try the dual-colored egg.
Addy got a little bored with her toys, so Chad took pity on her and let her sit on his lap. It took him about 5 seconds to realize that was a mistake!
Emily also got a little impatient with having to use a spoon to get the eggs in and out of the dye. So, she decided her fingers would work just fine! (I think her fingers are finally about the right color again.)
Emily was dying (no pun intended!) to eat one of the eggs, even though we kept telling her that she doesn't like eggs. This is how she tried to eat it. And being the picture happy person that I am, I actually let her try!
We did finally peel it for her and she took a bite and declared that she did not like eggs. Just like her oh-so-wise parents had tried to tell her.
The finished products and the master artists
(This is again why Addy got to play on the floor! She's a little too helpful these days!)
I think the kids had a great time. Emily asks me every day if we can do Easter eggs again. But, I think next Easter will be quite soon enough!