Benjamin's Lego Birthday Party

Benjamin's theme of choice for his 4th birthday party was, in a word, LEGO. I must say that the possibilities are endless for a Lego themed party. I found a ton of really cute ideas online.

I made the banner by printing out the letters using a Lego font. I outlined the letters in yellow marker and then cut them out. I put the letters on triangles, added ribbon and that's it. Super easy and inexpensive. I got the printout for the Lego guy here.

I put bubble wrap on top of green paper to make it look like a giant Lego board. I got the idea here, I modified it by using green paper instead of spray paint.

Cute little candy boxes made of Legos. 

I bought a package of primary color card stock at Michael's. It was pre-cut rectangles that were the perfect size. I punched 1 1/4 inch circles with my circle punch and stuck them to the card stock using pop-dots. I made a bunch of these paper Legos and put them up on the wall as decoration. It looked really cute and it was super easy (and cheap) to make. I got that idea here.

 A Lego cake.

Complete with white chocolate Lego bricks and little chocolate Lego men. I used a mold for those.

I'm not going to lie, the cake was a bit of a pain to make. I just made a 9x13 cake, cut it into the sizes I wanted for the Lego blocks. The tops are marshmallows cut in half.

Benjamin wanted a #4 candle AND four candles.

Enjoying his Lego cake!

The paper Legos looked really cute.

One of his gifts was a Lego recycling truck.

He loves it.

One happy birthday boy!

I'm keeping all this Lego stuff. I really hope that one of the boys wants a Lego party again because it was so easy. I have a dozen other ideas that I would love to do with a future Lego party. We had a small party at our house so I didn't really have the opportunity to go as Lego crazy as I would have liked. The possibilities are endless! Such a fun theme for such a fun boy!

Dear 4 Year Old Benjamin

Well my sweet cuddle bug, you are officially 4 years old. How is that even possible? I can't even wrap my brain around how big you are. I can remember your tiny little body at just over 4 pounds like it was yesterday.

I really can't believe that you are 4 years old already. In celebration of your birthday I thought I would take the time to write a little bit about what you are like at 4 years old. You are a handful! And I mean that in the best possible way. You keep me on my toes, that's for sure.

Here are some of the things you love as a 4 year old:
-You love cereal. You eat at least 3 bowls every single morning, but you don't eat the same cereal for all three bowls, you go to the pantry to pick out a new cereal for each bowl.
-You love to cuddle, specifically with me. You say "Hey mom, will you cuddle me" at least 5 times a day.
-You love to watch "Curious George", it is your favorite show.
-You love to play with anything that has wheels or wings (cars, monster trucks, tractors, airplanes...etc)
-You love to play and I mean really play. You have the best, most vivid imagination. It is remarkable the scenarios you invent in your head. It is a true joy to watch you play
-You love to make sound effects, you have a sound effect for every toy you own.
-You love your momma. You are stuck to me like glue, you follow me everywhere. Everywhere.
-You love to suck your thumb...still. You love to rub your blanket while you suck your thumb. It is incredibly adorable.


Here are some of the things I love about you:
-I love that you like to cuddle with me. I love that you ask me several times a day to "come cuddle"
-I love that the first thing you like to do when you get home is take off your shoes and socks.
-I love that you can watch the same show over and over and never get tired of it.
-I love that you always hold my hand when we walk together.
-I love that you ask questions. About everything.
-I love that you sleep with 3 blankets.
-I love that you like to watch videos of yourself and look through all the scrapbooks I've made.
-I love that you asked for biscuits and gravy for your birthday dinner.
-I love that I can't remember a time when you weren't part of our family. It's like you've always been here.

For your birthday today we continued our tradition of Birthday Doughnuts!

You chose chocolate with sprinkles.

You picked off one sprinkle at a time.

I asked you what color sprinkle you like best.

Your answer: "I like all of the sprinkles the best".

You nibbled your doughnut like a little squirrel.

:)

Sugary doughnuts make you a little silly.

Happy 4th Birthday Benjamin. We love you to pieces.

(click here to read about Benjamin's exciting arrival into the world)

7 years old

Today is Caleb's 7th birthday. What!? How is that even possible? I just can't understand how he got to be 7 already. 7 seems like a big deal to me, but I guess I felt the same way about 6 and 5....4....etc.  It goes by so fast.  In a blink he is 7 years old and about to start first grade.  Bittersweet for this momma.

Since Glenn had to leave for work this morning, we woke Caleb up a little early and surprised him with a donut. You can see the giant sleep spot on his forehead.  I think it took him a minute to figure out what was going on and why all of us were in his room singing "Happy Birthday".

Breakfast in bed!

Benjamin enjoyed a donut too.

For several weeks Caleb has been begging for a skate board park system that he saw at Target.  Basically you can buy several different elements that you would see at a skate park and you can put them together to create your own skate park.  It comes with a small finger skate board that you use on the different ramps.  Anyway, he really wanted this toy which is unusual for him because he doesn't normally ask for toys. Of course, we got it for him

The look on his face when he opened the present.  Yep, I think he was happy.

We got him 3 different sets.  Each set comes with a finger board but we also wanted to get him something a little more his style to use on the ramps.....

...a dude in wheelchair! Rock on!

This action figure is actually from the movie Avatar and I found it by doing a quick search for "wheelchair figurine" on Amazon.  I was so excited!  And so was Caleb.

He was doing some pretty cool tricks.

Not sure what this face means??

They played with this all day.

Caleb did take a break to play his new "Donkey Kong" game that he got from Gammy and Grandpa Al.  He loves the game but it is a little hard for him so I end up playing it quite a bit to get him through the levels.  He's so lucky to have a momma that is so awesome at video games.

For dinner we had pizza, Caleb's favorite food.

Followed by a delicious homemade cake (so yummy).  Caleb wanted the #7 candle AND 7 candles.

7 years old.  Wow.  

In celebration of Caleb's birthday, here is the story of his birth.

Happy 3rd Birthday Benjamin

Three years ago today Benjamin entered the world with quite a whirlwind and full-on craziness (you can read all about B's dramatic entrance by clicking here).  In celebration of my little guy's third birthday I thought I would reminisce for a bit, so bear with me as I write a letter to my second born son.

Dear Benjamin,

You are officially a big boy now at 3 years old.  I say that you are a big boy but there is still so much of you that feels like a baby to me.  It is remarkable to believe that three years ago you entered our lives.  Your grand entrance was not what we had expected or planned but God is good and His ways are higher than ours.  You were perfect, all 4 pounds and 7 ounces.  And we were beyond thankful that you were as healthy as you were considering the fact that you were 8 weeks early.

I loved how you were covered in all these tiny fine hairs.  It looked like peach fuzz.  You were just so sweet.

Five weeks in the NICU seemed like an eternity but I cherished our moments together there.  I was so anxious to bring you home where you could finally meet your big brother.

Caleb (or "bubba" as you like to call him) was smitten with you from the beginning...although he was not a fan of your crying.  To be honest, he still is not a fan of your crying :).

I have so enjoyed watching your grow, develop, and explore new things.

I love your passion for play and toys.  And I love your ability to play independently.  I love that I can hear you playing with your trains and construction trucks in the other room, I love that you make all the appropriate train and truck noises.  I love that you love anything that has wheels or wings.  Such a true boy.

I love all of your expressions and your cute smile.  I just love your face.

 I love your ability to sleep in the strangest, most uncomfortable positions.

I even love your thumb-sucking, burp cloth obsessed self.  (Although the burp cloths are beginning to look pretty worn and very well loved...they aren't going to last many more rounds in the washer...and I'm not buying any more).

I love that you will eat sour cream by the handful. I love that your favorite cereal is Honey Nut Shredded Wheat. I love that every time you eat a carrot you say: "I am a bunny rabbit". I love that you like your cheese stick cut up so that you have "cheese circles". 

I love that you love Izzy Bell.  I'm convinced that Izzy thinks you are a puppy playmate for her.

I could go on and on and post hundreds of pictures.  You are such a blessing to our family.  It is hard to remember a time when we didn't have you in our lives.  You bring us so much joy and laughter.  I love your personality (minus the tantrums), I love your independence, I love your imagination, I love that you are super ticklish, I love the way you say "vacuum cleaner", I love that you want to hold my hand, and I love that God chose me to be your mom.  You are precious to us.  Happy Birthday Benjamin!  I can't wait to see how you grow and develop in the years to come.