Monthly Archives: April 2015

Avery’s Birthday Party

For Avery’s birthday, we invited half a dozen buddies over for a Star Wars themed party. The boys started out shooting hoops, then played “hot potato” with a clone trooper helmet, engaged in light saber battles, and had to guess which Star Wars character they had taped onto their backs. Fortunately the weather cooperated and we were able to keep the boys outside in the yard for the party. As you’ll see from the pics, a good time was had by all.

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Goofballs! They sure loved hamming it up for the camera!
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Some of the decor: Clone Trooper balloons, not to be confused with Storm Troopers
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R2D2 Cups
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We started out playing basketball out front while guests arrived
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Our handsome birthday boy
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Then we headed to the backyard for some more fun. But it’s not a party without a little drama! Avery raced for the swing set, promptly did a flip on the trapeze bar, landed on his head, then fell on his back and knocked the wind out of himself. Avery was sure he was severely wounded, and Jonathan and I were concerned about a concussion. Avery went inside and laid on the couch for about ten minutes before he decided he felt well enough to come back out (thank goodness). His back was sore for a few days, but other than that, he was alright.

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When he came back out, Avery was ready for battle
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For a while, these two were content digging while the mayhem went on below
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Zane, Hayden, Holden, Avery, Roman & Hamza
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Jonathan fends off some attackers
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Mommy the multi-tasker, eats pizza while battling
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Look at those fierce faces!
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Holden preferred to be Han Solo, and told me that I was Princess Leia and he would protect me. This photo was taken right before he shot Jonathan in the forehead!
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Don’t mess with these guys!
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Cupcake time
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And now for the presents
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It was fun to see Avery reading the cards
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Hot Potato
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The night ended with Avery’s first sleepover with a friend, Hayden. They were soooo good!
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Avery the Eight Year Old

I know I always exclaim about how fast time flies in these birthday posts, but it blows my mind that almost nine years ago we found out we were expecting our first child, and in another nine, we will probably be touring college campuses with Avery. Wow. Sniff, sniff.

At eight years old, Avery is an awesome little kid. He loves Legos, Star Wars (Clone Wars), playing Wii, basketball, and riding his bike and scooter. He also enjoys reading books and writing and illustrating stories (mostly related to Star Wars). He loves his little brothers, and he and Kieron are especially close these days. It’s hard to believe it, but Avery is pretty quiet and reserved at school. At home, he enjoys his role as leader of the pack and chatterbox. He loves nature, can be quite dramatic, and often plays the role of peacemaker when his little brothers have disagreements.

At his checkup, Avery was 60 lbs and 4′ 4″ tall. The doctor chuckled and said she admired his honesty when she asked if he liked coming to the doctor and he told her no.

Happy birthday Avery. We love you!

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Last night as a seven-year-old selfie. He liked hearing the story of where he was at that time eight years prior, and all the drama that was going on.
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Awwwww!
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Surprise in the garage!
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A Few More Jeep Pics

I’m working on Avery’s birthday post, and came across a few more adorable pictures of Silas and Kieron riding in the jeep. They’re too cute not to share, so here they are:

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The Jeep

It’s a good thing we didn’t spoil Silas with many toys for his birthday. The following week, Amazon had a flash deal on their little Jeeps, and Jonathan couldn’t resist buying one for the boys. I was a little perturbed to hear about the purchase that would soon take up a good deal of real estate in our garage (not to mention, I also find motorized toys lazy and indulgent 🙂 ). However, Jonathan told me he has fond memories of his own little car from boyhood, so I decided to do my best to reserve judgement and see how it went. Well, it has been a blast for all of us! And the the extra bonus – within a few days of the Jeep’s arrival, Silas was pooping on the potty just to ride in it! Genius!

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Kieron’s First Race

Kieron finished his first race in March, the local St. Patty’s Day 1k! (I guess technically, I finished my first too). After a long stretch of beautiful sunny days, we woke up to one very soggy, wet morning. Jonathan and I briefly questioned how badly we wanted to do this, but decided to follow through. As we waited for the whistle, Kieron was definitely showing signs of nervousness, so we started the race holding hands, basically with me towing him along. It helped that his friend, Louis, was also racing with his dad. It didn’t take long for Kieron to warm up (both literally and figuratively). Pretty soon he let go of my hand, and even passed some people. He was so proud when he finished, and seems to have caught the running bug! We’re currently training for the Cinco de Mayo Kids Mile.

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