Monday, January 31, 2011

December/January Art

Hobby Horse: Activity Calendar for December & January


There wasn't a lot of art brought home by Drew during December. They spent the majority of their craft time working on this beauty.

12/14/10
A handprint wreath banner
{Our first handmade Christmas gift from Drew! It makes me giddy.}

12/16/10
Popsicle stick snowman (made at his class Christmas party)

12/16/10
A candy cane
(the bag decoration for all of his party goodies)

1/4/11
Snowflake printing with Ivory snow

1/6/11
Cotton ball snowman

1/11/11
More Ivory snow painting

1/13/11
Decorating a mitten with his "cuttings"

1/18/11
A birdfeeder, made from a bagel and peanut butter

1/20/11 & 1/25/11
Drew says they didn't make anything. Hmmm....

1/27/11
A heart decorated with more "cuttings"


Sunday, January 30, 2011

Picture of the Day, Week 4

Sunday {1.23.11}
I am always tripping over toys on the kitchen floor. Apparently sitting on hard, ceramic tile is preferable to soft, comfy carpet. :) Today, it was a kitchen duel between Lotso's gang and the Heroes gang.

Monday {1.24.11}
Silly bands were one of the big fads of 2010, and the boys received their first sets from Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas. Drew isn't so much into them, but Reed can be found sporting them almost daily.

Tuesday {1.25.11}
It was Drew's turn for show & tell at school today, and after changing his mind a few times, he settled on taking his three Dinoco cars.

Wednesday {1.26.11}
Our little guy is four today! WHAT?!?!
Our day-long celebration concluded with dinner, cupcakes and custard at Culvers.

Thursday {1.27.11}
Grandma & Grandpa were in town to celebrate Drew's birthday with us, and then headed out today for their vacation in Florida. The boys always love having visits from their grandparents.

Friday {1.28.11}
A surprise visit to Build-a-Bear resulted in two new best friends - Buttercup and Bubba!

Saturday {1.29.11}
We had Drew's birthday party today. It was an awesome afternoon with great friends and a lot of Toy Story birthday fun!





Saturday, January 29, 2011

Space Ranger Drew & Friends

When I asked Drew what kind of birthday party he wanted, he told me "Toy Story!"

So I set in to create such a party.

And then like every other almost-four-year-old, he changed his mind.

Like two or three or ten times.

Other choices included an Imagination Mover party and a Sonic party.

So.

Toy Story it was! :)

Most of these party ideas aren't original. I found a lot of resources and inspiration online, but I primarily used ideas from Disney's site. I think it was something like "Plan Your Own Toy Story Birthday Bash!" that grabbed my attention. And really, if Disney doesn't have prime birthday material, who does?!?!

The invite.

The guests.
We ended up with a smaller gathering than expected. One family came down with the flu (and we wanted them to stay home!) and Abbi's (the little girl you can't see because she's hiding behind the little girl in the pink dress) little sister had had open heart surgery earlier in the week (she definitely was excused!). But we had a great time nonetheless!

The table and food.
Although it was a Toy Story theme, I tried to stick with Buzz's color scheme of purple and neon green.

A last minute addition to the decor.
It kept falling down.
Ah well.

Let me just say it's good to have a friend who has her own out-of-her-home baking business! I borrowed from her...a lot!
I made too much food, of course.
The purple cupcakes with the toppers are those that we had on Wednesday; they were my own idea. Jessie's cowgirl hat cookies and Woody's sheriff badge cookies came from Disney's site.

A cupcake tree full of alien cupcakes, another idea from Disney's site.
My aliens were kind of a flop. I couldn't find all of the suggested ingredients for decorating, so I kind of winged it. And then they got too moist overnight in the tupperware and their ears and antenna no longer pointed up. Oops. They still tasted good, eventhough they didn't look that great.

I used the boys' Toy Story toys as table decor.

I cut confetti (stars and the number 4) using my Cricut.
Notice the Potato Heads: I asked the boys to put them together in the "classic" Potato Head dress so they would look like those from the movie. This is what Drew came up with. Not exactly what I had in mind, but I totally left it. His authentic touch to the table decor!

I also asked Drew to set up the Green Army Men. And so he did. Around the perimeter of the kitchen counter. :)

The details.
I set up a table in the living room and set up Drew's Toy Story themed board games on it as well as a few Toy Story coloring sheets. Just something for the kids to do as they arrive and hang out.

At the last minute I also turned on Toy Story 3, to provide background noise and something to prevent possible boredom. I'm not sure that was the best choice... ;)

Drew helped put together little goody bags for his guests.

I tried to find things related to the movies. The Green Army Men and the stickers are obvious. The slinky is for Slinky Dog, and the glow sticks are reminiscent of Buzz, because he glows in the dark.

The games.
Pin the Tail on Bullseye (from Disney's site).

Toy Story Bingo (An original idea. I made the cards with online images using Photoshop.)

I made this Stretch the Octopus pinata, as seen on Disney's site. It was filled with candy, and was an addition to the goods in the guests' party bags.

The action.
Blowing out the candle!

The game table was transformed into an eating table.

Presents!
Drew's friends were incredibly generous to him. And they all took a hint from his invitation as every gift was a Toy Story 3 toy!
This is an Action Links set.

An art set.

Woody's guitar.

And a cushioned folding chair.

It was awesome.

Drew had a great time.

The kids and adults all had a great time.

4th birthday party = SUCCESS!





Friday, January 28, 2011

Bubba & Buttercup

Just like last year, I received an e-coupon for a free animal at Build-a-Bear...and I also received a coupon for $5 off my entire purchase. {I heart coupons!} So on Friday morning, I told Drew that I had a surprise for him and Reed, and off to the mall we went.

When we arrived in the doorway of Build-a-Bear...well, let's just say I didn't get the reaction I was hoping for. At least Drew didn't cry in utter disappointment that this was the surprise I'd been raving about - but he wasn't exactly jumping up and down with glee. But once Reed exited his stroller and they began peeking through the bins of unstuffed animals, the energy increased and the smiles started to form.

Drew picked a puppy.

Reed (with some help) picked the (cheaper) brown bear.

And the stuffing began.

Warming up a heart for puppy.

And putting the heart in.

Then it was Reed's turn.

Bathing the boys for the ride home.

Drew took his puppy's grooming very, very seriously.

And Reed's bear's feet got brushed.

Then we named each new friend and put them in their houses to come home with us.

Meet Buttercup (Reed's bear, named by Drew) and Bubba (Drew's puppy, named by Mom).

Our new best friends.

They've been inseparable since Friday. :)


Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Celebrating Four

Drew woke up on his birthday and very excitedly proclaimed, "Am I four now?!?!"

Yes, Buddy. Yes you are.

To which he replied, "Mama! Next time on my birthday I'll be five!"

To which I said, "Are you trying to give your mother a heart attack?!?! Let's get through four first, okay?"

Brad's schedule was out of the ordinary that morning. He had already left the house by 6:30 to go to the hospital to be with someone having surgery, and he also had a funeral to officiate at 10:30 that morning. We were unsure if he'd have time in between so that Drew could open his presents. Thankfully, he did have a spare 30 minutes between the hospital and the funeral home, but he happened to come home as I was getting ready for the day. So present opening occurred in our bedroom, on our bed. {And yes, I did make my bed just before Drew got his gifts, and because there was still a towel wrapped around my head, I graciously offered to take the pictures instead of be in them.} :)

Cars game for his Leapster.

Monster Truck McQueen.

A new Bible.

Bullseye and Jessie.

Brad's parents arrived just after lunch, and spent 24 hours at our house before heading down to Florida for vacation. Presents, Round 2 occurred in the afternoon.

Hi-Ho Cherry-O game.

Toy Story KerPlunk game.

I love this picture...see how he's totally ripping through that package and tossing the clothes aside?? I don't think he even remembered that that shirt was a part of his present...

One tradition that I've carried over from my childhood is letting the birthday boy pick where he'd like to go out for dinner. Drew choose Culvers. A boy after my own heart.

After a delicious meal of Butterburgers and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, we indulged in custard and cupcakes.
{This reminds me...Drew saw me start to make his cupcakes the night before. I told him I was making Toy Story cupcakes for his birthday and that he could see them in the morning. When he woke up, he asked if I had his Toy Story cake ready. I said, "Yeah buddy, I finished your cupcakes." He said, "No mom, my cake. Every birthday has a cake!" I think my little cupcake toppers convinced him that these would suffice.}

Singing to the birthday boy!

Blowing it out!

We wasted no time digging in!

I

think

he

thought

it

was

delicious!