WILLIAM IS 5!

I have loads of catching up to do on the blog... a huge task of documenting the 3 weeks my in-laws were here is still more than i'm able to bite off at the moment.. but i didn't want it to continue backing up all the other posts i need to make, so i'll just do what i can! 

William had his 5th birthday (March 6th)... believe it or not, i'm not a huge fan of children's birthday parties -especially for my own kids.  I have fun celebrating them, however the parties of this generation are just over the top.  i still refuse to drink that kool-aid, but do try to make a few personal touches on a simple birthday party.   For some reason all the kids LOVE to be at the school - specifically on the playground at ACS, so I decided to just have it there on a Saturday morning.

William looked forward to his party and asked daily if it was his real birthday or his party birthday all week long.  He was interested in being a part of every detail, so i put him and Audrey to work helping out with party favors etc.. 

I ordered pizza from Papa John's for lunch, so I just had a couple of snacks out for the kids - as well as a veggie tray and fruit skewers.. (not pictured)

Still loving the Etsy.com printables - it is just too easy!  Audrey and William wrapped the water bottles for me.

The basket of party favors:  I personalized little plastic zip pouches (they can use those for lunch money at school)  and inside i made small color pages of spiderman, small box of crayons, a pack of fruit snacks, bouncy ball and a pkg of pop rocks.  We also gave out silly string - i found these labels online as a free printable that say Web Blaster!

We had cookie cake for dessert, but I wasn't sure on the turn out so i made cupcakes for a little extra insurance... glad i did! they were almost gone.

Baby sister having a good time at the party

William and some buddies playing games on the field - this part of the party was a little bit chaotic since it was run by the high schoolers i hired.. but the kids didn't seem to care.

I was so lucky that the school allowed me to use their tables and chairs :)  Smart guy to pick the table with lots of cute girls!

Singing Happy Birthday... he wouldn't even crack a smile.  Totally embarrassed! Charles says he was the same way when he was young.  We just got cookie cakes here in abu dhabi about a year ago.. I totally ate myself sick on cookie cake after the party.. i ended up having to throw the leftovers away to avoid eating any more of it.  I. have. no. self. control.!! 

Aunt Nancy is always the cake cutter!!

After party gift opening!

He was SO EXCITED!

The thank you notes came in the printable party pack that i bought on Etsy.  I wrote the cards as he was playing with his new toys and got him to sign his name to each of them.  

Love his chubby little fingers.  

William still hasn't stopped talking about his birthday!  Honestly, his behavior has been pretty bad since then.  I think he just cannot come down from it..!! {SIGH} 

A note to my buddy:

William,

You have become such a big boy... it is sometimes hard to believe you are really 5 years old! You are so special to me - you are our only son.  We have gotten to know and love (most of - wink!) your personality as you grow and mature.  God gave you such a spark that surely you will learn to channel to your advantage one day.  You have a deep love for our family and always want us close by.  We have recently loved watching you play soccer, participate in swimming lessons, continue to work hard in speech class and continue to stay out of serious trouble in big school :) 

At this age you are super interested in all things related to super-heros and Ben 10.  You love playing alone in your room for hours with your little figurines or drawing them - then coloring and cutting them out. They are covering your walls! You ask us to put you to bed early most nights and you still want the lovey as well as the thumb at bedtime.   You are still headstrong and know exactly what you want and don't want.  You are still a really picky eater, but every now and then you surprise us by trying something new.  You love down time and are still a really big homebody(just like daddy)...  You are also still very cuddly and affectionate - which mama just LOVES! 

Happy birthday!!  and as i always tell ya, You're my best boy!

Thanksgiving / Christmas 2013

So clearly it has been FOREVER since I’ve posted on the blog….  I’m not letting it go for good, (even though it looks that way) I just haven’t had that kind of free time in a long time.  I’m committed to capturing our lives on here even if I have to back track to catch up.  My blog had it’s 6th birthday recently and I desperately need to make up for some lost time: 

So Thanksgiving was at Nancy and Lance’s again this year – Charles was traveling so it was just me and the kids, but I was determined to keep with tradition and give our kids that American holiday we love so much.  We invited others to join us, but it just didn’t work out to where anyone could come.  Between the two of us we did it all: Turkey, Cornbread dressing, Rice dressing, Green Bean Casserole, Sweet Potato Casserole, Cranberry Sauce, Pecan Pie and Chocolate Bread Pudding– and really, somehow –by the grace of God-  it wasn’t that hard.  We hit crazy traffic going over to their house (usually a 30 minute drive) – it took us well over an hour and on top of that the kids were wild WILD. One of those times you have to just eat and run. boo.

Kids table: Nancy made color books for them to work on

Baby corner: (photo bombed by william)  Julia is wearing Audrey’s old turkey outfit! Gobble Gobble!

The food:

The hosts:

The Cooks:  Yes we went thru all that trouble for just the two of us  

 

Ok now onto Christmas:

Pics were a bit out of order, so try to follow me here….

The kids got out of school mid december – jan 5th so they had THREE WEEKS off.  yowzers.  I was a bit nervous about how it was going to go since we chose not to travel and just to stay at home.  I did not plan a stay-cation like I did in October for Eid break –this time we just relaxed, rested and recharged. it turned out way better than I ever could have guessed.  The kids LOVED the down time.

Jumping forward to Christmas Eve:  It isn’t exactly a ‘recognized’ holiday here, so Charles spent the day at work.  I took the kids to the Park for a couple of hours to play… we were all totally filled with Christmas spirit and had a great time!

 

Later we got some lunch, put Julia down for a nap and then started decorating cookies for Santa!

They love doing this! What kid doesn’t?!

Per their request, we had a ‘Taco Night’ for Christmas Eve Dinner… LOL. why not? and then we opened gifts from Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents.  We (as in ME) shopped for weeks to get each kid the right gift in the right budget – whew. lots. of. running. around. (but totally worth it).   WHEN is UAE going to get on the AMAZON bandwagon?!

The kids LOVED their gifts from all our family members – they were SO EXCITED.  We played with all the new stuff and then off to bed so that Santa Claus could come!

Christmas morning, the kids were once again so thrilled and had a blast with their loot – I had even more fun watching them… such a FUN time and fun ages that they are in.  It was a magical Christmas – so relaxing and so peaceful. 

Backing up a bit, before Christmas we did the advent calendar activities again, but I found it more difficult to pull off this year and some days we just couldn’t get to it.  We did the best we could – mama was just SO BUSY.

Here is a peak at just a couple  of the ones we did.. Having 3 kids and two hands – sometimes it is not possible to bust out the camera…

here’s when we did Gingerbread houses:

And Sleeping near the Christmas tree:

And The Breakfast with Santa Event at school:

Class Christmas Parties: (*I have pictures of Audrey’s party somewhere…)

We even somehow snuck in a trip to the zoo with friends:

And Celebrated Amelia’s 1st Birthday! (Nancy’s youngest)

Trying my best to catch up – I’ll have the month of January coming soon!