Nerf

My oldest boy turned 9 this year and is crazy about Nerf guns.  He ask me for a Nerf party so I googled it and found some pretty great ideas from people that have way more time than I do!  You see, Polina's birthday is the end of October and my 2 boys and husband are all within the first 2 weeks of December!  So I have become a master at outsourcing during this time of the year.  I came up with the idea of hiring the 2 teenage boys that live next door to be the platoon commanders.  In November I sent this email to each kid...

Subject:  Telegram for (child's name) 

I found long sleeved camo shirts at Old Navy for $4 a piece.  My son and I came up with 2 names for the teams.  We created logos for each on the computer and then I printed them on special paper and ironed them on the back of the shirt.

Golden Vipers

Silver Hawks 

I found a place on Amazon that made personalized dog tags 2 for $5!

Each one was engraved with their name and  team.   

My dad picked up a bunch of boxes from a local appliance store and my husband and neighbor boys set them all up in the backyard.

 

Needless to say the kids all had a BLAST!  It was hands down the easiest party I ever threw and the kids were talking about it weeks later.

The birthday boy.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I love this time of year.  I like to get out our Chirstmas decorations right after Thanksgiving so I have lots of time to enjoy them before the season ends.  Shortly after Halloween I started showing Polina Christmas DVDs and reading Christmas books to help her start to understand the season.  She has since become VERY concerned about the big guy.  We have since given him the code name "Harold".  For about the past week or so, the first words out of Polinas mouth were "mom, where Santa?"  This would go on the entire day.  So last Sunday we took our annual trip to see Santa.

As you can see she was not nearly as excited to see him once we got there.

By the time we left the play place she was saying "Santa, watch me"

Before we left the house, I ask the boys to put on something with Christmas colors and these are the shirts they chose.  LOL

 Every year after we see Santa we stop at Fritz's.  The food is horrible but this kids LOVE the train that delivers the food to your table.

After Fritz's we always check out the gingerbread houses and then head to the Westin and on to Union Station for some of the Seasons best decor.

Brett thinks he's getting to old for this "Santa" stuff but I love how he has taken on the role of "caring" for his little sister.

I have been taking my kids to the same Santa every year since my oldest was 6 days old.  I told Brett when we got home that he is under contract to have his picture with Santa until the age of 18.  He finger printed the contract before we would take him home from the hospital. At least that is what we have told him.  He said that was entirely not fair...but he believes that he's stuck and has to do it!  LOL

Why is it that getting a good family photo is so hard???

Polina's 3rd Birthday

Polina's birthday was the end of October.  I figure better late than never so here is the post.  :)

I held large birthday partys for both of my boys when they turned 1 so I wanted this to be a big party for Polina.  I started thinking about the party in July probably and struggled to come up with a theme since she really wasn't that interested in any of the characters at the time.  So I decided that her biggest passion right now was dogs.  She LOVES dogs!  So I had a theme and then one day on Zulilly I found this dress.

The rest of the party was planned around this supper cute dress.  My neighbor offered to make the cake and did an amazing job!  The top layers represent the 2 birthdays we missed.

We had puppy's for everyone to take home.

We played the limbo, "pin the tail on the pooch" and had a pinata.  I think all of the kids had a great time!

3 Year Old Checkup

We went to the doctor today and he had no issues with Polina's health or development.  She weighed 27lbs (12%) and was 36.5" (30%) for height.  

Polina's 3rd Birthday at OneTrueMedia.com

This is the montage that I made in celebration of Polina's 3rd birthday. This is the first birthday we have shared with her.

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

We met one year ago today.

Here is the little girl that I met one year ago today.  She was quiet not sure what to think of us.  We knew she could walk but she wouldn't even stand up.

  

Here she is today, one year later.  She speaks English quite well, loves music, dancing, swimming and playing outside.  She knows most of our friends by name and can even recognize their cars when she sees them out!