Learning With My Boys

Independence Day Party

We decided to have an Independence Day party. We had family over for grilling and fireworks. J had so much fun celebrating the 4th of July with us. It was his first time experiencing firework. We were glad to finally have fireworks here, we used to do bigger fireworks when we lived in MT, so this was fun!

We grilled hot dogs and corn. We also had watermelon wedges.

We played badminton while it was still light out, then we tried it with smoke bombs after dark.

Sparklers and smoke bombs were a favorite for the kids.

Preschool Christmas Portraits

J is 3 years old this Christmas. We put up 2 tiny trees for him to help. He loves learning about Christmas and reading with Mommy!

Christmas Pajamas

Christmas Outfit

Black Suit

Christmas Sweater

I will use these photos in my Christmas cards that I send to friends and family this year. Be sure to check out my Baby Christmas Portraits post and Toddler Christmas Portraits.

Bob the Builder Party -3

J had a 3rd birthday party with his cousin whose turning 2. They are only 11 months apart so we decided to have a party together since their birthdays are just 3 weeks apart. We decided to have a Bob the Builder party since they both like it. We made a balloon bouquet for each of the boys and crepe paper round the room. I put out all his Bob the Builder toys and books for the kids to play with for the party.

We made pizza bagels for lunch and had chips, salad and soda with them. I found some small orange soccer cones to put on the table for decorations.

J loves playing dress up now. He got some cowboy dress ups and some pirate dress ups too.

I got some orange construction cones and made some construction looking signs from cardboard and yard sticks. Each boy had a sign that says how old they are and a sign that says their names. I also made a gift box for each boy with Bob the Builder on the front.

We set out their baby books for family to enjoy!

I made a 9×11 sheet cake with some Bob the Builder toys on top. I had a number 2 and 3 candle and a little construction sign that said, “Happy Birthday.” I made a road and dirt pile out of crushed cookies and I added whole chocolate graham cookies for the finished part of the road.

Be sure to check out my other kids party themes: Farm Birthday Party and Blues Clues Party.

Preschool Clown Shapes

He painted a different color each day and I cut them into shapes. He LOVES painting! I wrote the name of the shape on each one and then I placed the shapes on the wall with a clown juggling them.

He cut the different shapes from playdough too. I also made felt shapes (look in the background of the picture below) for him to play with.

Teaching him brings me such joy… I absolutely love see him learn new things. Don’t forget to check out my Preschool Clown Colors post as well.

Preschool Clown Colors

I love learning and teaching new things with my boy; he’s so smart, he already knows all of his colors at 2 and a half. He painted a different color each day… Blue + Yellow = Green

I cut each painted paper into a balloon shape for him and wrote the color word on the balloon with a black sharpie. Then I placed the balloons on the wall with a clown holding them. I used normal balloon sting to give a bit of a 3-D effect.

Toddler Christmas Portraits

J just turned 2 last month. He is such a joy to have in our family!

Christmas Pajamas

Christmas Vest

Christmas Outfit

Black Suit

I will use these photos in my Christmas cards that I send to friends and family this year. Be sure to check out my Baby Christmas Portraits post.

Blue’s Clues Party -2

J totally loves Blue’s Clues right now so I decided to give him a Blue’s Clues party for his second birthday. I decorated with lots of blue balloons and crepe paper. I love going crazy with the decorations while he is still so little because when he comes in the room for the first time his face lights up and he knows something special is happening. I had his party right after his nap so before nap the living room looks normal and when he wakes up… SURPRISE!!!

For his cake I just made a single layer round chocolate cake with some chocolate cupcakes. I covered them with my homemade blue buttercream and placed them on the table in the shape of Blue’s paw print. I served chocolate milk with it.

Buttercream Icing

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
1 cup Crisco
4 cups powdered sugar (2 lbs)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon milk (if thick)

Directions:

Cream together the butter and Crisco with a mixer.
Slowly add in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time.
Add the vanilla, if it seems too thick you can add a bit of milk.

I found some blue pinwheels and make a little Blue’s Clues coloring book for the kids too.

I printed out labels for the bubbles, and stuck them to the side of the bottles.

We got J a goldfish for his birthday since he still loves animals, and I am not the biggest pet lover.

J’s favorite song is The Hokey Pokey so we danced to is a couple of times. He loved it!

I put out his baby book again this year for our family to look though.

Be sure to check out my Farm Birthday Party post!

Toddler Fall Portraits

I love fall in the Midwest with all of the colored leaves. J is loving the weather too, since he likes playing outside so much! I followed him around trying to get some cute photos as he explored.

We took some fall pictures, he was much more cooperative than I thought he would be. He like’s trying to play with the trees, rocks, and leaves. He even posed by the tree with his hand on it for me, and sitting in front of it.

22 months old now.

Baby Christmas Portraits

I like taking pictures of Baby J (13 months old), and I love Christmas too. J was such a good baby, he didn’t touch the tree when we taught him not to; but he did love playing with the ornaments when we gave him one.

He was just a month old for his first Christmas, so this year so much more fun with him.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… I love preparing for Christmas, and I usually start my planning a few months before. I’ll use some of these photos in my Christmas cards and defiantly include them in my scrapbooks.

Farm Birthday Party -1

J turned one year old today. We celebrated with a small party with family, just how we like it. J loves animals, especially farm animals. His grandma reads him his favorite book, Noisy Farm, almost everyday. His first animals sound was, “moo”, I was so excited when I found this cow balloon. I also found some cow spotted latex balloons and some “Happy 1st Birthday” balloons and decorated the around the room with crepe paper.

I decorated with crepe paper around his high chair too and put a table cloth under it since we moved it to the living room.

For his cake I made an 11×13 sheet cake and put a farm scene on it. I used some farm toys from a game he had. For the hay I just dyed some coconut yellow.