Late Night Movie Party

William declared this birthday one of the best ever.  It started a few nights before the big day when he helped me make some oreo pops to share with his class at school.

 This year we decided on a movie party theme.  Since we don't do sleep overs we agreed that this could be a "late night" birthday party.  Before his friends came over we opened some presents--he was excited about each one.  But he especially loved the Minecraft video game and pet goldfish.

 Once the guests started to arrive we started out the night with a few rounds of movie bingo.

 Usually we do cake at the end... but we didn't want to run out of time so we did that next.  William requested the Andes Mint cake (that Rich had earlier this year).  So yummy.

When tummies were full of delicious cake we moved onto the main event--the movie!

 James took tickets at the door and for the concessions.  He loved being involved... and loved even more that he got to stay up for the movie while the little brothers went to bed.

 Having a projector is so much fun.  We re-arranged the guest room and brought in all our big floor pillows.  Then we were able to show the movie up on the wall.

 I didn't quite time it right and we had a little bit of time between the movie ending and parents coming so we played some board games for a while.

It was crazy to have a house really full of boys so late at night but it was really fun too!  It's always fun for me to see my boys interact with their friends and be social.  I'm so glad that we could help William have a great birthday.

Sunday Temple Walk

One Sunday evening Rich gathered everyone in a huddle and told them the game plan: once jammies were on we would go on a special drive. 

Then we drove over to the temple.  It was the first time the boys had seen the Las Vegas temple... and the first time they have been up close to a big temple. I think they were pretty amazed.

 Henry tried opening up the doors and going in.

Walking around the temple was the perfect Sunday evening activity.  I'm so glad that we live closer to a temple again!






ps. I'm hesitant to share this story but I also don't want to forget it.  It's funny and embarrassing at the same time.  Alexander is finally potty trained.  It took much longer than the other boys but he's finally there.  After we took pictures near the fountain the boys ran ahead a little ways.  When we caught up to them we found Alex relieving himself on the flower bed!  Aaaghh!  He was proud of himself for not having an accident and insisted that it would help the flowers to grow.  It would have been much funnier if it wasn't at the temple.  We had a nice little talk about it afterward.  It will be a great story to embarrass him with in a few years.

Before we get to Thanksgiving I figured I had better put up our pictures from when we carved pumpkins.  Rich was out of town the week of Halloween and rather then attempt carving pumpkins with 4 boys I opted to wait until after the holiday.  And we ended up doing it when the little boys were in bed.

The boys did a good amount of gutting this year.

 They drew their designs out on the paper for Rich to follow.

 Rich did an amazing job of making their visions become realities.

Nine is fine!

It's hard to believe that 9 years ago William was born!  He has grown up into such a great boy.  He is a wonderful helper and caring big brother.  Even though we've moved around a bit in the past few years he is great at making friends and he is a good friend to others.

I love listening to all the things William has to say and hearing his unique perspective and watching his creativity develop. Happy birthday my big boy!

Here is his annual birthday interview.

What is your favorite...
color? red and black
food? pizza
toy? Legos
show? Ninjago
animal?  shark
comic book? Ninja Town
song? Ninjago theme song
primary song? Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam
What do you like to do? play with my friends and brothers, play video games, play with toys and legos, and play King of the Bed with Dad
Who is your best friend?  Chandler, Luke and Reece
What do you want to be when you grow up? a Lego designer or a video game designer
 Do you have a girlfriend?  No!


I am - awesome!

I am afraid of - nothing!

I like -playing with my friends, playing King of the Bed, playing video games and Legos, and playing with my brothers

I like to eat -chocolate bars

I don't like -mushrooms!

I know -9x9 is 81, that I'm awesome

I want to be -a video game or Lego designer

I like to watch - Ninjago

I like to go to -Disneyland and Grandma's house

My hero is- Dad!

I cry when - I get hurt

Mom gets mad when -I do something naughty

Mom is happy when - I help her

Dad gets mad when -we don't obey him

Dad is happy when -we play with him

What I want to be when I grow up - a video game or Lego designer

I can't wait for - my 10th birthday

Something Mom says to me - "I love you."

Something Dad says to me -"Great job!"

My favorite animal is - a shark

My favorite place to go is -Disneyland and Grandma's house

My Mom and Dad make me laugh by - tickling me

I know my mom loves me because -she gives me kisses

I know my dad loves me because -he plays with me

Daily Sunshine

Most days, after homework is all done, the boys head outside to play with their friend.  I often see them up in the tree or find them along the side yard.  When I ask what they are doing they tell me in all seriousness, "Preparing for the zombie apocalypse."

Balloon Fest

A few weekends ago we heard about the Las Vegas Balloon Fest.  It was free so we decided to check it out.  The balloon launch would have been super cool to see--but there was no way I was going to wake up early enough to catch the 7am launch.  So we settled for the glow fest in the evening.

We got there a little before dark and got to walk around.  Henry was a bit terrified of the fire... but the other boys loved it.

We even got to touch one balloon as it started to inflate.

As the sun started to set it was beautiful to watch them glow.

Unfortunately, right next to the free event there was a super pricy carnival.  My boys really wanted to go on the ferris wheel... but when we looked at the prices it would have cost us over $20 for our family to ride it!  Sheesh.  So we told them we'd go get ice cream instead and all was right in the world again.

I love it when we can find events like these!  It is so much fun to watch my boys enjoy something new.

Halloween Fun

Halloween was fun.  I was able to help with James' class in the afternoon.  The first graders rotated classrooms and did different activities in each one.  They decorated a pumpkin and drew a monster.

 They played bingo and did the limbo.  James is really awesome at the limbo.  It is so funny to watch him.

I was glad that they allowed me to bring the little boys so I could help.  And Henry and Alex were very well behaved.

Later in the afternoon/evening we ate our traditional jack-o-lantern pizza, got costumed, and then Rich headed out with the boys for an evening of trick-or-treating.  Our neighbor-friend, Reese, joined along too.

Costumes changed again and we ended up with Venom, a spy, Spiderman, and The Emperor.

Everyone was pretty happy with the loot they collected.

William spent the minutes before bedtime sorting the candy by type.  Too funny.

 It looks like Reese's came in with the most... but looks can be deciving because I took all the candy I knew no one likes and passed it out to the trick-or-treaters that came to our door.

I offered to pay the boys for their candy.  I thought they'd take me up on the offer for sure since they love money (especially William!) but they didn't buy it.  Maybe I'll ask in a few more days.  Too bad they don't know that we'll end up giving most of this away to Rich's Young Men or throwing it away!