"Alright who dares me to put my face in this cake!"

 

 

Trey turned 7 and he asked to have his Basketball friends over for a party. We told him we could have a party here of course! But on one condition - no presents from his friends. He said ok and off we went on planning the party. Trey said all he wanted to do at his party was play football/basketball, watch sports, and he had promised his friends that they could decorate cakes, NOT CUPCAKES MOM! Sure, we can pull that off! The basement was cleared out for sports, Sports Bloopers was purchased (not as funny as we thought), and 6 cakes were made with all the fixings on the side.
Let me tell you - I received a Thank You from most parents for the "no present part"! They all have multiple children and get invited to many, many Birthday parties. They were so excited to have their boys just come over and celebrate Trey! I was nervous about this decision. Now if you are reading this thinking poor little Trey:( Don't worry he was spoiled plenty by his family. He got tons from us and his grandparents, and great grandparents, aunts/uncles, and great aunts and uncles. Football card collection (binder and tons of trading cards), electronics, Patriots Jersey (Go Pats!), Toys R Us Gift Cards, and Roller Blades, and some cold hard cash! That is plenty. We really want him to learn that his friendships and the fun they bring are more important than the "stuff" they bring.
Back to the party. All 7 year old boys came to the house for a 5-8pm party! Whoo Hoo! Treasure hunt we made up - check they asked to play again! Sports played -check. Bloopers watched - check and disappointing. Sardines thrown in - check they loved it! Now onto cake decorating - check, check, check the boys absolutely loved this! The title to this post is the main reason why.
"Alright who dares me to put my face in this cake!" This is what Trey said during cake decorating. And oh boy did every boys face light up! All were in! Faces plunged into each and every cake! Tons of laughter, tons of "Look at me", and one boy even shouted, "let's make this your Birthday tradition"!!! We got the whole thing on video. Justin hooked the recorder up to the TV so they could see how they looked. Definitely the highlight of the party. They could barely contain themselves, jumping up and down laughing hysterically at how funny they were! They kept saying "watch, watch, wait for it, ahhhh, I'm awesome", as they each saw themselves dunk their face into their cake. 7 year olds are crazy! But that is why we love them!

Taatjes Runs A Muck through Chucky Cheese!

Taatjes turned 5! I have to be honest here and tell you that being new to the area and his school I did not know a single one of his classmates to throw him a party. It would have been too awkward! So we asked him if he would like to go to Chucky Cheese? That's a big yes from the 5 yr old boy! I dread Chucky Cheese!!! Extreme loud meets gross pizza meets snotty kids running around meets parents who tune out meets I can not stand this place! But I know that everything running through my mind during a Chucky Cheese visit is completely absent from a child's mind. So off we went. To my surprise if you go on a Monday evening to Chucky Cheese you may be one of the few people that go. It really did turn out to be a lot of fun. The boys were able to be crazed participants, bouncing from game to game to game. Taatjes loved it, which was all that mattered. He now loves being 5! Taatjes was also spoiled on by his family. Again Us, grandparents, aunts/uncles, great aunts and uncles, and great grandparents!
Red Wings Jersey, hockey card collection (binder and tons of hockey cards, toys r us gift cards, animals, roller blades, and cold hard cash!
A parenting highlight for us - the guy working the toy counter at Chucky Cheese, the place you turn in tickets for plastic, gave the boys extra toys (plastic) because he thought they had the best manners! (Insert one tear welling up in mom and dads eye) He told them they were very kind boys and thanked them for saying please and thank you!

Bathing Ninja Meets Inevitable Fate!

Last night was bath time for Teague or should I say a little Ninja named Teague. To begin this little story I will tell you the end result was not one clean little Ninja. You see our little Ninja decided to enter his bath by way of one super cool, high flying, every real Ninja must have one action packed "heeyaw" move! He jumped from the edge of the tub and planted his little Ninja forehead straight into the opposite edge of the tub! Fortunate for me Dad was the one in the bathroom and snatched him up and immediately covered his bloody head. I heard the crash, and to be honest was crossing my fingers hoping it was Justin who slipped and fell on the ground and not Teague who I knew was getting in the tub. When I heard the screams and Justin yell "MICHELLE I NEED PAPER TOWELS!", DRAT, I knew it was Teague! So off we went. Pictures below tell the rest of the story.
Teague with his homemade head wrap (from mom and dad) in the ER waiting room. What a trooper with his smile!

All stitched up! They gave him some numbing cream on his wound and some oral drugs to make him nice and loopy. This morning he said the stitches tickled him when they did it - great:)


Showing me his Ninja move that landed him with a split forehead.
He did great! Not once did he move or cry while they stitched him up. In fact he did not cry the entire time we were there (4 hrs!!!). They were amazed at how brave he was and thought he was their best patient that night! I think the Valium may have come into play, thank goodness!
He was so cute as he kept telling all the nurses and doctors that he got hurt because he was a Ninja! Love this stuff, kinda:)
Extremely Important Side Note - Justin was fixing the shower/tub spout and had no idea what Teague was about to do!

I will miss this some day!

Even though these are the same toys that have ended up piercing my feet at night, wedged in my vacuum, and clunking through the washer at times...I will miss not seeing them played with like this someday! "We need everyone we have to defend the castle!" Even the Santa globe made it in for the defense. Most likely a Teague placement:)