Liam's 5th Birthday

I can't believe my little boy is 5 years old! It went by so fast. This is him at preschool with his teacher. We brought cake pops for his school party.

 

 

 

For his birthday he wanted rats.

 

So we took him to the pet store and he got 2 baby girl rats. He named them Skipper and Splinter. They are very tame and fun to play with.

 

This year he wanted a Batman party! Daddy made the cake and cupcakes.

 

We had a family party with the cake and presents.

 

Then we had a silly string war in the field. Liam got us really good.

 

That night we had his friend birthday party at the fun center. We had 16 kids come. They played arcade games and went in the play structure.

 

Everyone enjoyed eating and running around wild.

 

These are his friends from school and the neighborhood.

 

He really enjoyed being the center of attention with all of his friends. It was fun watching how he interacted with them.

 

We didn't have time to open presents at the party so we brought them home. Liam got a lot of really nice gifts. Everyone was very generous.

 

I am happy I didn't go into labor that day. I really didn't want the boys to have the same birthday. I love my little 5 year old man.

 

Daddy made the batman symbol on the wall. Here he is in his new pjs going to bed.

Easter

We got to visit the Easter party at the city Easter party in the field in front of our house. I finally got Brielle to sit next to the bunny as long as she was next to Liam too.

 

We came home and dyed eggs.

 

We got everything ready for the Easter bunny to come.

 

The next morning the kids found a map that lead to their hidden Easter baskets.

 

 

They were hidden in the playroom. Liam ate that whole chocolate bunny! 

 

We looked for eggs inside.

 

We found these huge eggs hidden on the front porch.

 

Cute family picture!

We looked for eggs outside. Unfortunately it had rained and some of the candy was wet. I don't know why they put the tiny hole at the top of the egg!

 

 

 Next the kids had to follow clues to find the golden eggs! A Finch family tradition. They found them in the back of daddy's truck. They each got $1 in it.

 

Valentine's Day.

We had a cute Valentine's Day. I had the kids pose with the hearts to give to the grandparents.

 

We also had a Valentine's Day party. The kids decorated boxes and exchanged valentines.

 

All week the kids made valentines for the family and we put them in a box. On Valentine's Day we opened the box and passed out the valentines. The kids loved giving and receiving them.

 

I made them a special pink heart shaped breakfast. It was a very loving day.

30th Birthday

 

I had a great 30th birthday this year! We started out by going out to a teppanyaki grill for dinner. The kids really enjoyed watching them cook the food.

 

 

Graham threw me a birthday party. I knew I was having a party, but I didn't know anything about it. It was amazing! He spent so much time and put so much thought into it. I really appreciated it. He created a birthday video for me. He had people who couldn't be there submit videos. I cried throughout the whole video.

 

 

 

On my birthday we had a lot of family and friends over. He had everyone bring me balloons. This is something that I had mentioned to him in the past. I ended up with 76 balloons! We had lots of great food and dessert. I really appreciate everyone who came and contributed to the video. Thank you for making my birthday a special one.

I had a lot of family come from out of town to visit. We went out to lunch to celebrate. My "birthday month" was extra special this year with all of the celebrations. 

And of course I had my annual delicious ice cream cake. 

Snow Fun

 

 

 

We were lucky enough to get some snow at our house. We went out with our sleds and cruised around the neighborhood.

Liam made snow angels. 

We got to tromp around the field and build snowmen. 

We took the kids ice skating over winter break. They both enjoyed it.

 

Even Brielle got the hang of it.

Since our kids enjoyed the snow at our house so much we decided to drive an hour to a fun sledding area. When we got there Brielle wanted NOTHING to do with it. She refused to put on her snow clothes and get out of the car. After sitting with her for 1/2 hour I forced her to put on her clothes and captured this lovely picture. 

We then had her try sledding down the hill which resulted with her throwing off her gloves, shoes, hat etc... We then sat in the car for the rest of the time.

 

Liam on the other hand loved it. He spent 2 hours exploring snow tunnels, sledding and building snowmen. So, I am happy the drive paid off for at least 1 kid.

Christmas

 

On Christmas Eve we made gingerbread cookies for Santa. Each kid got to decorate their own tray of cookies.

 

We spent Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa's house. The kids opened presents and we enjoyed a nice dinner together.

 

We came home and got ready for Santa. We put out his milk and cookies. We also put out some carrots for the reindeer.

 

Christmas morning was amazing. The kids screamed every time they opened a present. Liam got Prep and Landing Christmas Elf Gear and Brielle got a doll crib and Candyland Book.  

 

Later in the day our families came over to continue the Christmas fun. We shared an amazing meal together.

Here is what our floor looked like after all of the fun!