Tyler's 6 Birthday

We decided not to gamble with Kansas's oh so predictable (not!!) weather and celebrated Tyler's birthday inside this year. We held his party at our gym and enjoyed pizza and games. Tyler wanted a Lego birthday. We had a Lego relay, and topped his cake with Lego building blocks, and a Lego Bionicle creature. Compared to Ellie's cake, Tyler's cake was much easier on Mom and Dad - we put Tyler to work building the cake toppers.

During the party, the kids had a great time playing around running through an obstacle course and playing scooter hockey. The highlight of the party was a scooter train.

Tyler's friends were very generous - he received lots of great gifts. He even wrote his own thank you cards this year. Wow - how did he get to be 6 already??!?

Halloweeen Pictures

Just realized I haven't posted any pictures from Halloween. With both kid's birthdays and Halloween so close together, it is hard to find time to keep the blog updated.

Tyler has rely been into Superheroes, especially the Justice Leauge . Last year, he was Batman. This year, he wanted to be the Flash, the fastest human alive. We got him to slow down just enough to be photographed before he took off to collect as much candy as possible. Actually, it was Tyler's idea to pose like this.

Ellie, on the other hand, wanted to be princess (big surprise !!). Melissa found a beautiful Cinderella costume for her. Complete with tiara, blue dress and glass slippers, Ellie looked every bit the princess that she is.

Melisa got roped into dressing up as well, since she was 'room mom' for Tyler's kindergarten class on Halloween. She won't let me post any pictures, but she looked good in a cat outfit.

Even I got into the act. We have a costume contest at work. Since everyone knows how much I like the Steelers, I decided to go as Troy Polamalo. If any of you have ever watched a Steelers game in the last two years, he is the guy on defense with the long flowing back hair hanging out his helmet. I even had a small Larry Johnson hanging off the back - a little jab at the local Chiefs fans.

Trip to Arboretum

Not too much to say, just some pretty pictures from trip to Overland Park Arboretum last weekend

Ellie's 3rd Birthday - Part 2

Did I mention that Ellie likes princesses? Take a look at the cake we made for her. Melissa found the design on-line. Basically, it is two sheet cakes on top of each other. The towers are two ice cream cones stacked on ends, with a 3rd sugar cone for the turret. Strawberry wafers and licorice string combined for the drawbridge, with Hersey kisses around the top. We were pretty proud of our creation. Best of all the kids thought it tasted great.

We had several activities for the kids, including: decorating crowns and coloring pictures of princesses such as Belle, Ariel, Cinderella and Snow White. We also played 'pin the crown on the castle'. I have to confess to spending a little too much time drawing the castle. But hey, nothing's too good from my little girl, right? Oh, I guess I should explain the kids' expressions. We took this picture after the party, and kids were having a little fun. I don't know where they get their silliness from. Personally, I blame grandpa and pop-pop.

Had to get one shot of Ellie posing in front of her Princess decoration. She was pretty excited to see it hung up. We had to leave it hanging in our kitchen windows for several days before she let us take it down.

Ellie's 3rd Birthday - Part 1

Can you believe Eliana has already turned 3? In some ways, she is definitely a little girl. Take princesses and dress up for example. She loves to play dress up. You can see her modeling a pretty sequene dress and feather boa - a birthday gift courtesy of grandma. She even has the right look and pose for a run-way model. I don't think my mother has had this much fun shopping for Ellie since she picked out her first, new-born outfit.
Ellie also loves anything to do with Disney Princesses, so imagine how excited she was to get the Snow White dress up outfit from my Uncle and Aunt. She has been running around in one or the other outfit for days now.
Last picture is from Ellie's birthday party (more pictures in the next post). She received a special call from Cinderella, wishing her a happy birthday. For once, she was speechless. However her smile tells you how excited she was.