Bartering Market

We participated in our homeschool co-op group again this fall.  Andrew took classes on Moths and Butterflies and also Native Americans.  Coleman will get to enroll in "big kid" classes next semester.  I taught a class to thrid, fourth and fifth graders on Titanic.  We all had a fun semester.  We ended our fall with the Bartering Market and Christmas Party.  Our boys took chocolate dipped candy covered pretzel rods to trade this year.  They both made some really good trades and had a great time.  I enjoyed seeing Coleman come out of his shell a little with the bigger kids and trade with some of them too. 

 One of our friends brought a spin art machine and the kids could trade with him for a paper to use to make their own spin art.  Andrew and Coleman each traded for a turn.

 Both of the boys are enjoying art this year, but Coleman has always been our art lover.  He completed his turn at the machine, and then asked the mommy in charge if he could stand and watch everyone else take their turn.  So that's where he was for the rest of the market time.

 After the bartering ended, we shared fun snacks and enjoyed visiting with our friends. 

We are looking forward to next semester!

Superhero Party

The Saturday after Jonathan's birthday, we invited his friends to come for a superhero party.  Everyone was encouraged to dress up as their favorite superhero.  We started off with our superhero training course on the driveway.  They had to slide down,

 crawl through a tunnel,

 hit a homerun (we repositioned Ironman so that Batgirl and our bat didn't get hammered),

 ride down the driveway and shoot a bad guy,

 leap over a tall building in a single bound,

 this was hilarious by the way,

 and then shoot a basket.

"Curses!  Foiled again!" said our villian as all our guests passed their training with flying colors.

 If you click on this picture, you can see Andrew crumpled by the post after being shot by Ironman.  Andrew really got into his role as the bad guy and the little ones LOVED it!  What a great biggest brother!

 We came inside and had lunch next.

 Wonder dogs, super sticks, crash bang chips and gotham city grapes were on the menu. 

 For favors, Jonathan gave his friends a pack of cookies, a mask, and a cape made by Gigi.

 Captain America!

 Then we ate cake!

 And opened presents.  It was so funny to watch Jonathan as he hollered out, "Awesome!  Cool man!" after each gift.

 The whole gang

 It started raining right after our superhero training and didn't stop the rest of the day.  Jonathan went out on the porch in his cape and waved to everyone as they drove off.

 We are thankful for sweet friends to celebrate our big boy with us!

Jonathan's Birthday

 Jonathan had a super fun day celebrating 3!  He started off with a surprise pancake breakfast.  Check out his super silly face when he saw his plate.  We joke all the time that he will win an Academy Award someday.

 

 He opened his birthday shirt from Gigi and then posed with the streamers hanging over his door.

 Then it was off to preschool!  He was so excited to tell everyone at drop-off that it was his birthday and he was three!  In fact, he told them all week long that he was still three!  It became quite a cute joke!  Andrew and I took cupcakes to his class after lunch.

 We came home and took a nap, then the grands hit town for another celebration!  He and Gigi were having quite the conversation before dinner.

 Jonathan had hot dogs, chips and beans and everyone else had Subways for dinner.

 We ate the rest of the cupcakes with good old Blue Bell for dessert.  He asked for Toy Story cupcakes so I found an easy to do alien cupcake online and copied it.  He loved them!

 Then it was time to open his presents.  Let me just say, Jonathan takes after Coleman in his enthusiasm for gifts.  He was hilarious to watch.  He loved everything he got!

 Here he is reading a book to Coleman.  As soon as he opened a book, he told us to listen and then he read the whole story to us.

He was very excited about a new coloring book from his cousins!

Hugging a new book from us.

Someone gave his some spending money and he proceeded to put it right into his pockets.

 Then he opened his very own wallet (wahwet) and put the money in there.

 Gigi and Papack gave him some wintertime Buzz Lightyear pajamas.  Check out his little face and decide for yourself if he liked them.

 I had to wash them three times that week so he could wear them each night.

He was very kind and shared his presents with his brothers that night.  They all had a lot of fun playing with his new toys.

 We snapped a few pictures with the grands before they left.

 And one of our Family of Five.

It was a great day.  Next up will be his friend party!