A Lego Party!!

This month we celebrated Andrew's 5th birthday with a Lego party for a bunch of his best buddies here in Baltimore. His actual birthday is at the end of December and with the holidays and traveling to and from Canada it worked much better to wait a bit and take the time to plan it just right!

To say that Andrew is a Lego fan would be putting it mildly. He plays with Lego constantly and when he's not playing with it, he's talking about it, reading a book about it or drawing plans for his next creation. He is often heard to say "Mommy, Lego is my life!" So with this kind of dedication, there was absolutely no question about the birthday party theme for this year!

Finding ideas and inspiration for throwing a Lego Birthday Party is super easy. The popular theme is all over Pinterest and the creative ideas that people have put together are amazing. I was very tempted to try everything I pinned, but forced myself to be reasonable and kept it simple! Our decorations consisted mostly of a Happy Birthday Banner that I printed from this website, some balloons tethered with jars of Lego, a few colourful strands of garland and some of Andrew's most impressive Lego builds.

I made each child a Lego T-shirt using printable iron on transfers that had their first initial and we also made some cute Lego construction hats using a plain hat and a Sharpie.

When the children arrived I set them up with some mini-figure colouring pages to keep them busy while we waited for all of the guests to arrive. We also played a game of "Let's make a mini-figure"(our Lego version of "Pin the Tale on the Donkey"), had a Lego Spoon Race and had fun with a Piniata.

For lunch we had the kids build their own mini pizza and served them with veggies and fruit salad, followed by cake, cupcakes and ice-cream. 

As the kids packed up to leave, they each received a little bag of Lego chocolates, some cookies and a new Lego City book. 

It was a great party, the kids had a blast and Andrew was thrilled. It is so rewarding to watch him that day. He loved being the centre of attention and we loved celebrating what an amazing kid he is!

Back to school...

This week Andrew ventured back to the Nature School at Irvine for his second year. He was really excited to see his friends and teachers and had no problem at all saying goodbye to Henry and I... a little different than our first day last year. The Nature School at Irvine has been a wonderful place for Andrew. Their day is split between a traditional classroom and the trails of the centre. They approach a traditional curriculum through nature, teaching the eager little learners to respect and love the natural world. As a teacher, I find it incredibly inspiring. Rob and I have been talking a lot about the "Top 10" list of what we will miss when we move back to Canada, and I know this community will be high on the list!

To show our appreciation (in advance) to Andrew's teachers and Education Assistants, we personalized some cute notebooks I found at Target. Using my Silhouette, I cut a banner for each notebook, tied on fun pen and tucked in a little note from Andrew. They were very happy with the gesture!

Looking forward to great year of learning!

*%#* My Four Year Old Says...

Today is my birthday!! I am super excited to be going out for a nice meal with Rob and some great friends while my little ones hang out at home with a sitter... happy birthday to me!!

This morning I was explaining to Andrew that today is Mommy's birthday and I asked him if he remembered to get me a birthday present. I thought I knew what his response would be, but as usual he surprised me with a hilarious answer...

Andrew - "Oh sorry Mommy, I forgot to go to target to get your present. I was going to get you some underwear, because you love underwear and they have Batman ones there!!"

These days...

Life has been hectic (as it always seems to be) in the Leeper House. In the month (!) since I've posted, we've had special visitors and travelled for the better part of 3 weeks! It's been a fabulous time and before I get back to sharing some projects that are in the works, I thought I would share a few photos of our adventures!

My best friend Sara and her sweet son Jake came to Baltimore to visit for a week in March. We had a lot of fun showing them our favourite spots in our new city and loved every moment of playing at home pretending that we don't live so far away! Jake and Henry are only a month apart in age and after an hour or two of testing each others limits they are the best playmates. 

We travelled to Oklahoma City for a family wedding and spent 5 days visiting with family that we don't see enough and enjoying our favourite OKC restaurants (the "barbecue" is like nothing I've had before!). We finally met a second cousin (adorable Isaac) and the boys were fast friends. Every time we leave we vow to make it back sooner, life needs to slow down!

And finally, the boys and I travelled back to Canada and spent two amazing weeks visiting with family and playing with friends... babies grow so fast when you live far away! I was lucky to have lots of help with the boys, which afforded me numerous nights out with my girlfriends and a chance to celebrate my "soon to be sister-in-law" at both her shower and bachelorette party!

It was an action packed month and I am so grateful that everyone takes so much of their time to be with us when we travel. We miss you already!

*#%* my FOUR year old says...

This morning, Andrew completely blew me away with his thoughtfulness... Could it be that we are finally moving towards thinking of others before ourselves???

Here's the story...

As Andrew stumbled into the kitchen this morning, I grabbed a handful of chocolate kisses and hid them behind my back. After an all too quick morning hug, I held out the chocolates and said "Happy Valentine's Day Andrew!!" His smile was wide for a moment, but he quickly turned and ran away, returning seconds later with his most prized possession, The Gotham City Jail,  he thrust it towards me and yelled "Happy Valentines Day Mommy!!" My heart melted a bit, bursting with pride for my loving little guy.... when he quickly snapped me back to reality. "Ummm, sorry Mommy, you can use it for the day, but you can't keep it forever. Maybe we should go to Target so you can buy me a new toy too!?"

Baby steps...

*#%* my three year old says...

It's been awhile since I have shared a "*%#* my three year old says", not because he isn't coming out with hilarious statements, but more because his recent interest in "bathroom humour" makes the appropriateness of his remarks questionable. Never the less, here is one I need to document that has nothing to do with the potty!

While playing (a little rough as always) with his little brother, Andrew suddenly starts yelling "oh no Mommy! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do it!" I rush over to find Andrew covering Henry's mouth with both hands. "I'm sorry Mommy! Don't worry, he will be ok, see he's not even crying!" I pull his hands away to see the usual toothy grin that is plastered all over Henry's face. "What did you do Andrew?" "Sorry Mommy! I made his teeth fall out. See??" He points to a trail of cracker bits down the front of Henry's shirt.

He was quite relieved when he realized his mistake. I love that his first instinct was to hide it, and tell me not to worry!

Here is a little video Andrew insisted I make to send into his favourite TV show, while we were preparing a snack for his preschool class..

Andrew's First Day of School!!

Today I am sharing a few photos from Andrew's first day of Preschool!

As you can see by the silly grin, he was pretty excited to be on his way to "big boy school"!

He wanted to take his little brother along too (how awesome would that be for me?!) and ensured me that he would have his teachers "keep an eye on him"!

Andrew will be going to school two mornings a week, and is attending "The Nature Preschool at Irvine". This is the perfect set up for a little one who loves to run, play and get dirty! They spend the majority of the morning hiking through the forest and approach the curriculum through lessons from the natural world... pretty cool!

We decided he should wear his Jays hat, so that everyone would know he's Canadian. He must have decided from this conversation that it was really important because every time someone asked him his name he would yell "I'm Andrew from Canada" (like he was speaking to someone with hearing loss). 

I'm so excited for Andrew to jump into this new experience! I know he is going to learn a ton and make lots of new friends! What a big boy he has become!

*#%* My Three Year Old Says...

The other day, while walking into our neighbourhood YMCA, Andrew ran ahead to check out what was happening in the large indoor pool. He turned from the glass window and frantically yelled across the lobby...

"Oh no Mommy! Look at all those Grandmas! They fell into the pool!"

Of course, the aqua fit class was taking place and there were at least 20 little white haired ladies bobbing about in the water. Needless to say we got a few snickers from the crowd!

*#%* My Three Year Old Says...

This afternoon, as I was struggling to help him out of his car seat (while holding a a few grocery bags, a diaper bag and squirmy 20 pound baby) Andrew held out his hand and said...

Andrew - Here Mommy, can you carry Oktivus Pri?
   *Optimus Prime is a transformer, and Andrew's latest obsession, for anyone needing translation!* 

Me - Andrew, you carry your own toy. Mommy's hands are really full!

Andrew - I know what's a good idea! You should transform to a Octopus... then you could carry more!

Ha! After doing a quick google search for "transformer octopus" I found this!  Perfect!!

*#%* my three year old says...

Yesterday, while the boys were sleeping, I was enjoying one of my favourite maternity leave luxuries... watching Ellen with a cup of tea. Andrew woke up and wandered in from his nap. He pointed to the T.V. and said in a groggy voice...

"Mommy, she was the one who cut my hair last time!"

I immediately cracked up, and texted the story to my cousin Lynsey, who is also our favourite hair stylist!

Hmmm, I guess to a three year old there would be some similarities!

*#%* my three year old says...

Andrew - Mommy, Easter's all done, what comes next?
Me - ummm, Mommy's birthday comes next. Should we have a party?
Andrew - Yeah! What kind of party Mommy?
Me - How 'bout a pirate party?!
Andrew - Noo! That's not for Mommy's
Me - Well then, what kind of party is for me?
Andrew - hmmmm, I know!! A kitchen party!!

Ha! Like his comment about me "playing clothes" it is clear that he thinks I find house work fun!

*#%* my three year old says...

Andrew has joined the rest of the world in the asking the question that society has been pondering for almost 80 years...

"Mama, why Donald Duck wearing a shirt but 

he's got no pants on?"

*#%* my three year old says...

So Andrew, like most kids his age, has a healthy all encompassing obsession with super heroes. His favourites include Batman, Spiderman and Captain America. He really enjoys watching superhero cartoons and Rob and I have given in and allowed him to watch some of the retro ones on Netflix. We find that the older they are the less violent. You remember how it goes... Spiderman outwits the bad guys by chasing them into a corner where the police are waiting with handcuffs at the ready. His favourite is "Spiderman and his Amazing Friends" circa 1981. The show is pretty tame as far as the fighting goes, however, the '80s weren't exactly know appropriate gender portrayals and the ladies are ridiculously stacked! We didn't think Andrew would take notice until...

Andrew and I are playing our usual Spiderman game. He is Spiderman and I am Firestar (Spiderman's female friend who's superpower is the ability to shoot fireballs at the bad guys). After we each become the superhero version of our self we chase the bad guys around the house.

Andrew: "Look out Firestar he's going to get you!"
Mommy: "Quick Spiderman! Shoot a web at him!"
Andrew: "No Firestar! You have to use your boobies to shoot fire at him!!"

What?!!! Andrew was clearly under the impression that Firestar's super powers come from her ginormous rack! Hilarious!

Here's a pic of my girl Firestar... I too would feel pretty powerful with that body!!

...and away He goes!!

Well it's official, Andrew turned three less than two weeks ago and he is now a big kid! This week he went to his first swimming and skating lessons (with no Mommy or Daddy to hold him up!). I was worried he would refuse to leave my side in both situations, but he surprised me and had no problem following his new teachers and joining his class. It was pretty amazing to watch him in this new setting.  I managed to snap a few pics without being too obtrusive!

waiting for class to start...

He wiggled right in beside the teacher!

Very serious...

Henry is excited for his brother's big day!

We have entered a new stage of parenting, now its time to put this mini van to the test!

*#%* my three year old says...

Andrew is officially three! It's hard to believe I have a three year old. He seems so grown up! The things he does and says continue to make us laugh everyday, and his latest interest in hats and helmets make for excellent photo ops!

Here's my favourite of the month;

While putting Andrew to bed over the Christmas Holidays my sister caught Andrew in the middle of picking his crusty little nose, and then (sorry for the details) popping his findings in his mouth (Why do kids do this?)!

Auntie: Andrew! did you just eat a boogie!!??

Andrew: No no Auntie, it's not a boogie. There was just a little bit of muffin in my nose.

Auntie: No Andrew, I think that was a boogie!

Andrew: No Auntie, see (opens mouth and sticks out tongue) just a little bit of muffin.

And some great pics!

Happy Birthday Monkey!!