More Birthday Pictures

This boy turned 6 years old and has just lost his first two teeth on the bottom. James loves school and is doing very well. He has started reading and is doing well in math too. James is still our sweet boy who loves to snuggle and his smile just lights up his face. He loves superheros if you can't tell. Anything Avengers, Batman and Star Wars just like his Dad. He and his friends love dressing up and playing with action figures together. James also still loves Legos and his collection is growing. 

James is standing here also telling me to mention that he loves his stuffed dog Red so much. He makes red talk to me all day long. James and Emma are longing and begging for a real dog. They have decided that when we get a dog if it is a girl we will name it Sophie and if it's a boy they have decided to name it Chocolate.

James is still picky about what he eats and hates having his hair cut. He also hates getting dressed for church but he is a great sleeper, falling asleep with in 5 minutes but this means he is an early riser. We think he is awake around 6:30 but we make him stay in his room until the clock says 7:00.

Birthday pictures

The pictures turned out great despite Mia not cooperating very well. It took a lot of persuading just to get her in the room. Then she would stand in place for on only a second. She also pulled her trick where her face looks at the camera but not her eyes. The lady taking the pictures was great and took the time needed to get good shots. We were lucky there was no one scheduled after us. We took her normal pictures and then had some fun letting her put on some of her dress up clothes for a few pictures. 

We love our cute girly 3 year old Mia!

Super 6 Birthday Boy James!

James had a SUPER birthday this year as he received lots of super hero and Star Wars themed presents. Everyone must know him really well. We celebrated two Sundays in a row for two super families. 

James got a Captain America action figure, Star Wars Legos and an Avengers blanket.

Here is the picture of the three birthday cousins! Love getting this picture every year. So fun to see how they change and grow.

To celebrate his birthday James chose to go bowling the day before and then order Chinese Food. We had a great time. Good choice on the food to, Bud!

James used the force to help him get a great score. It must of worked because he won!!

Then on his actual birthday we had the Van Bibbers over for cake and ice cream. Batman and later on Captain America both made appearances. James was super excited when Grandma gave him the same gift that she gave to Emma, a trip to feed the penguins at the aquarium.

He asked for an Avengers Cake and he got it. 

I am always so happy to let the very talented people at Smiths take care of that for me. 

Designing and creating cakes is not my thing.

Here is Mia doing her favorite thing. Snuggling up with someone and having them read her a book. This time it was Uncle Taylor (sorry no picture) and Grandpa Van Bibber. He is so good to read a princess book to her.

Field Trip to the Planetarium

One day Emma came home from school very excited that her grade was going on a field trip to the planetarium.  She said that parents were allowed to come but that they would have to pay $5.  Emma sweetly told Laura, "If you want to come Mom, I'll pay your $5 for you because you're always paying for me to do fun things."  Laura also sweetly told her that she should invite me (Quinn) instead, since I've never had the pleasure of going on a field trip with our elementary kids.  So I took a half day off and started the adventure.

We hadn't even made it to the bus before I wanted to put some kids in a headlock.  Emma selected her on-again, off-again "boyfriend" Mitchell to be her buddy, so I got to keep track of him too.  Sitting by them on the bus, nearly folded in half so we could fit on the bus seat, was really a slice of heaven.  And the way the girls behind us kept tapping them on the head, and the way I kept telling them to keep their hands to themselves, and the way the mom sitting next to them paid no attention whatsoever because she was glued to her phone...was also magical.

Well, here we are at the planetarium.  I didn't kill either of them along the way.

According to Emma...this was her favorite thing at the planetarium.

Second graders on Mars!

That there's a genuine moon rock.

The main reason for going was to see the IMAX movie "Born to Be Wild."  The second graders had been studying wild animals and had recently finished give their oral reports, so this was a fun way to wrap up the science unit.  The movie was in 3D and was a lot of fun.

The final event was centered around this cool projection globe.  It could be changed to look like the sun, the moon, or the earth.  A planetarium worker taught about all three.  She also passed out remote controls and asked questions for the kids to answer.  It was really cool.

When it was all said and done, it was pretty cool to go to the planetarium, and even more fun for me was to see Emma in her "natural habitat," interacting with friends and classmates.  I don't know how 2nd-grade teachers deal with all the energy (and somewhat peculiar smells) of these kids all day.  The teachers are saints.

Sledding

We finally got out and enjoyed the snow for family night on Feb. 1st. We also tried out the new sled. After many tries and races we discovered it was not as fast as our old one. I think this was Mia's first time sledding and she LOVED it. She had the biggest smile on her face and giggled as she went down. So much fun but oh so cold!