Today's news:
Brady seems to be feeling better after a bit of a rough night (he threw up twice...once at 3:30 am and once at 4:45 am ....ish). I'm pretty sure it was due to some nasty post-nasal drip because he's totally fine now. I have a cold too and was struggling to sleep even before I had to make a couple trips into his room. Each visit included: clean & redress one upset and crying little boy, strip bed, spray bed with anti-bacterial spray, re-make bed, rock....and repeat. Tired mommy = lots of Wii games this morning!!!

So, it's nap time at the 554. Logan is the last man standing and I've given him a couple minutes before I try to get him to lay down (he's super emotional today so I think he needs a quick snooze). I was laughing at a couple different things while putting Brady and Aiden in their respective rooms

1. Since Bray got sick all over his bedding, the bumper pad isn't on his crib right now. I have tried to get rid of it several times because I HATE changing sheets around the bumper, but it keeps his pacifiers from falling on the floor. I rolled up a thin fleece blanket and made a little "paci trap" with it around one side of his crib. I thought maybe this throwing up wasn't such a bad thing...maybe I'll just keep the bumper off for good this time. This line of thinking made me remember another positive "throwing up moment" in our family history:

I wasn't blogging back in Logan's early big-boy-bed days, but it's my general opinion that he was moved from his crib far too early (20 months). He seemed to initially have issues with too much space. For example, the second night he was out of his crib, we found him sleeping UNDER the bed instead of in it. He also went through a phase where he wanted to sleep in his closet...like a cave. We put an extra mattress in there after we realized that it was more than a 1 or 2 time thing. He slept in there for over a month....until he got sick one night and threw up everywhere. He HAD to sleep in his real bed for the rest of that night and, on subsequent nights, we just kept saying that the other bed was still dirty until he forgot about it and never went back to the closet. See...puking can be good!

2. Aiden is into sleeping in TOTAL darkness lately...except for a very dim night light (strange for me to understand, but whatever). During his naps, he also tries to get his room as dark as possible and even wants me to turn off the night light. EVERY day he asks me to turn off "the other light" and points to the windows. I have tried to explain to him that this "other light" is the sun....and I can't turn it off. He has INSISTED that I try. So I've told him several times that I will go talk to God about maybe turning off the sun for Aiden's nap. He buys my excuse and usually lets me leave the room...never to return. Today, when he asked me to turn off all the lights and pointed at the window, I simply said "ok baby....I'll just go into the back yard and turn off the sun now....love you...have a good nap." He let me go...he went to sleep :)

Sorry...I changed my layout again. I love the other one, but it's so dark and sort of hard to read. I chose this layout for my projects page and I think I like it better. me = indecisive (this is why Brian and I didn't register for everyday dishes when we got married....I change my mind too much!!)

It was so nice yesterday that we put off running all errands (until nap time) and played in the back yard all morning. Brian and I were sitting on top of the large deck box, sipping coffee and watching our three munchkins running around playing with bubbles (we were also taking turns chasing Brady and bringing him back from the neighbor's yard). I organized the outdoor toy box and we plotted all the fun things we're going to do this summer.

Today, it was a bit chilly in the morning, but I let the boys play outside until we went to neighborhood playgroup. It really warmed up around 11:30 so we ate lunch on the patio and played some more before nap time (which Logan is NOT doing anymore!!). When I took Brady up to his room for his nap, I changed his diaper and kissed his warm tummy. It made me remember one of my most favorite smells in the whole world...the way my kids smell after they have been playing outside and in the sun.


I bought this bubble blower about 4 weeks ago because I KNEW the boys would love it. It has already provided hours of entertainment. It blows GIANT bubbles with smaller bubbles inside!! It's way cool and the boys love to chase the bubbles and pop them. Combined with squirt guns to "shoot" the bubbles down...it's almost as good as the water table in the summer!
I just have to make sure they stop shooting directly into the machine because it got watered down there for a while and stopped blowing the bubbles as well.
I didn't take any pictures, but Logan was practicing on his new scooter today. It's a 2-wheeled razor and quite advanced for a 4-year old...in my opinion anyway...but what do I know....he's only been at it for a couple of days and he's really quite good at it! I'm making him wear knee and elbow guards along with a helmet until he gets MUCH better though! :)

This past Saturday, my friend Anna threw a Cinderella party for her daughter. The invite said "please come dressed in your most elegant prince or princess attire". When I told Logan that he was going to dress as a prince for Ashley's party, he said "no! I don't want to be a prince!" He even said that directly TO Anna. I actualy had Logan call the next day (mostly to make her laugh) and apologize for being rude. I suggested that he ask if he could come as a knight instead. The conversation (rehearsed about 10 times before I called) went something like this:

Anna: Hello?
Logan: Hi Miss Anna. I'm sorry that I said I don't want to come to Ashley's party. I DO want to come. May I please dress as a knight?
Anna: (laughs) Sure Logan...you can come as a knight.

Then I thought...what did I get myself into? I have to figure out how to make him a knight! I decided to make "over the shirt" vests out of felt. Since I am compelled to coordinate my children, I made them for Aiden and Brady too. I thought they turned out really well. I took pictures of the process and have decided to put them on a new projects page that I started. <-- I'm planning to use that place to put all my crafty-craft stuff so as not to bog down the main blog :)

The final product. Each vest took me about 1/2 an hour. Of course I was doing them on THE DAY of the party! The boys all were very happy to wear them (phew!) and now they are "living" in the playroom for future use (most likely in conjunction with the foam swords we have laying everywhere around here!)
Daddy and Bray at the party.

Everyone made crowns. Aiden only kept his on long enough for me to take a picture. He actually wanted to make a princess one :) (by the way, that's supposed to be a basketball on his "crest")
Logan had no interest in the project and actually hunted down a knight helmet from Connor's dress up box! I let him bring (and Miss Anna let him keep) the sword from home. I found that in the dollar bin at Target - ka-ching!

The royal guests wait to play a few games. Aren't the girls simply adorable?! Logan was busy running around being a knight, but he did stop by to play the games from time to time. Aiden was right there in the action the whole time....even when the girls all voted to dance to a video of modernized Disney princess songs.

I have to say that I think Bray's vest was my overall favorite!

And in other news, tonight after dinner we were all cleaning up quickly to rush off to the bath. I was wiping under the table when I heard Brian, from the kitchen, exclaim, "Brady!!" I stood up and Bear was ON TOP of the table. He had climbed on to a chair and then on to the table! Grrrrrreat! P.S. He is only in a diaper because he was quite messy at dinner and had to be stripped before I let him out of his seat!

Oh fantastic....let's stand up and walk too! ;) That's my arm reaching in to save him from himself!

We were so happy to have Auntie Denna and Baby Ry with us last week. Two points on the visit

1. I think Logan knows how to work over his aunt (and his sleepy mom)
2. Den...Aiden is NOT your child...so no....you may not take him home, despite the fact that he and Ry have the same blue eyes and despite the fact that he and your husband have the same basketball obsession. I was there when he was born....he's mine!

Here, I leave Auntie Denna to watch Logan while he rides his bike in the front of the house. I really needed a nap since sisters can often stay up too late drinking....a little wine :) Den was kind enough to watch our non-napper while mom snuck away.
Somehow, Logan lured Den into the back yard. She called me from her cell phone (on the home phone) to make sure it was OK for him to play in the mud. Um....I don't think either of us anticipated the extent of his mud-adventures. He was playing that he was an excavator....and then he named himself "mud man"....and then he drew a big muddy picture on the window. When I came down, Denay said "sorry....I wasn't sure what the actual rules are and I didn't know when to make him stop". Don't feel bad honey....resistance is often futile.

Here is mud man....with giant mud hands....

...and giant mud feet (he seriously had a huge layer of mud AROUND his feet which made him look like he was wearing some sort of crazy mud shoes). On the positive side: we found out that we have a pipe that burst because, while spraying Logan clean with the hose outside, I created a mini flood in our basement (a mere 2 days before Logan's big party) which will be fixed tomorrow. It's good to know these things....and fix them.....right? Looking for a silver lining to the flood here people.

Don't be concerned mud man. You will be scooped up and showered promptly by your mother...nails will be clipped to release dirt...cloths will be thrown in the washer....your aunt will still be invited back!!

I think this was early Friday morning. Den had Logan and Aiden playing in this ball pit thing that we accidentally inherited from my friend Lisa (she dropped it off last summer for our garage sale, but Aiden fell in love with it.) This ball pit is actually the reason I found the basement flood because I had it hiding in Brian's workshop (the site of the flood). I went down to get it per Aiden's request and the floor was under a bit of water. Here, Den is holding the zippered doors shut to contain the craziness.

Here, our blue-eyed baby boys hang together on the floor.

Is it me or is Ryan trying to lure Aiden away with his cuteness?? But no...wait! Brady comes in to break up the love fest. "That's MY big brother dude....back off!"

Last Saturday we had Logan's 4th birthday party at the house. We made the alien masks, played games in the basement followed by pizza, more games in the basement (led by my brilliant husband who was equipped with a small parachute, a bunch of balls and his great imagination). Finally, everyone enjoyed cake and we finished off with the present opening (which is always surprisingly fun for the other kids who ooh and ahhhh and tell everyone in the room that they or a sibling or a friend have or want that particular gift). I think everyone had a good time! Thankfully, auntie Denna arrived last Wednesday, led in the development of a super fantastic time table and project plan for the party set up & execution and helped prep everything. Nana arrived on Friday and basically ran everything behind the scenes. THANK YOU GUYS!!!!

Today (Tuesday) was Logan's "birthday day" at preschool. Mrs. Jen made him his "4" necklace and he decorated it with lots of stickers.

On the drive home from school, he told me about the stickers. "There's a boat and a fire truck, one of those O things you throw at people in the water and a race car!"
Back up to Saturday morning. I woke up thinking it would be a bad thing for Logan to open ALL of these awesome new toys right at 7pm when he would only have a couple hours to play with them. So...we decided to open family gifts after breakfast. Brady was goofing around during the meal and we took a couple snap shots of him.

We set Logan up in his chair and let him open all the presents the family brought. He got an Optimus Prime costume from Auntie Denna, Uncle Tom & Ryan (awesome!) He got a giant Wall-E from Nana and Papa that has to be taken back to be fixed (bummer, but it's worth the wait!) plus a talking Woody to go with Buzz from Valentine's Day. Mommy, Daddy & brothers gave him a couple little things including the mini sandbox, Transformer flip flops and a Bakugan shooter.

Aiden helped carry the trash to the kitchen (his own idea!) I thought he made quite a colorful trash man! :)

After Naps it was finally....Party Time!! We had 2 big tables set up for the craft. Here are a bunch of the party-goers making alien masks :)

Then we had all the kids descend (in disguise!) into the alien arcade (lit by black lights that daddy purchased that morning). Are you wondering why Optimus Prime is with them?? Let the birthday boy do what he wants was the moto :)

Here is Planet Darts, one of the 5 games the kids played downstairs...manned by Connor and Ashley's mom Anna.

Papa started drawing Mickey Mouse on the Spray the Comet board after most of the kids went through. Several came back around after they were done with all the games and got to choose between spraying a tail on a comet or spraying Mickey's face off the board...

Moon Bounce Basketball. Prize = cool bouncy ball.

Logan hung out with Daddy and played games intermittently. He wore his new soccer shirt for his party.

The kids started in a circle and played Pass the Comet to some fun party music that we found (all space, rocket or planet-themed songs like "Rocketship Run" by Laurie Berner and "9 Planets" by Justin Roberts...plus maybe Spaceman by the Killers) They stood in a circle around our sign on the floor. This picture may or may not include a shot of my cute blue shoes. The other feet are daddy's!

This was my favorite sign! We didn't end up having enough room to do the Orbit Rides (one kid sits in the middle of the parachute we borrowed from Aunt Diana while the dads spin them in a circle). Brian used the parachute for other games in between pizza and cake (we had some time to kill)

Big Party = BIG cake!! Did I mention that this was supposed to be a Wall-e cake? Logan changed his mind when I went one day to modify my order from a 1/2 sheet to a full sheet cake. He found the picture in the book next to the cake counter while I was talking with the bakery staff. We had to let him check out the various toys that would come on the cake so he could decide between Eve & Wall-e or Optimus Prime....that stinker chose the boring red and blue cake ;) Look how tiny the toys looks! This is my favorite cake - chocolate with the whipped frosting that actually tastes like cool whip and not like Crisco.

Time for presents! Grandpa and Uncle David move the goods over to the birthday boy....

...who did not need to be coaxed into his chair. He ran around the party yelling "ok everyone - present time!"

While the kids ate, played and watched Logan open his fun new stuff, Nana decorated the goody bags we collected before the kids left the basement (small toy control....Brian had a fear that all the stuff would be taken out and spread from one end of the house to the other...he knows children well!) It's hard to see, but in the background we had the cool "glow in the dark" coloring toy. It flashes between two screens and lights them up alternately with a black light. Auntie Denna did an awesome job making a little sign that flashed "welcome to" and then "Logan's 4th birthday party"

After most of the kids had gone home, I finally caved and let Logan open the awesome gift that the Kelly kids brought - a color changing car station - sooooo cool! Logan, Connor and Aiden all started playing, but Logan found something more interesting....the left over fruit salad (he requested pizza and fruit salad for his birthday party!) He was standing up there shoveling massive amounts of fruit into his face with two different giant spoons! As you can see, there were many cameras going off as all the moms and dads were dying with laughter....Logan was oblivious in his own happy place! It reminded me of Aiden and the bread on New Year's.

Monday morning - REAL birthday morning. Daddy took a late flight to New York and we had our favorite breakfast....McDonald's pancakes. We sang and lit candles...of course.

Our darling (spoiled rotten) child even got a couple more gifts....a Bakugan storage tin and an "easy transforming" Optimus Prime..."from his brothers".

Bakugan!

Here are Logan and Aiden playing with one of L's new favs....the mini sandbox (go mom!) He named one of the garbage cans scoopy or sandy....something like that. He played for about an hour straight, ate lunch, and went back to playing. Too bad we lost some of the sand on the floor...it's messy, but oh so worth it to find a toy that makes our active little man sit still.

This past weekend, I was going through the mail and spotted the calendar of events brochure from Jellystone Campground. We went there a couple times last summer (our first camping trip ever and for their Halloween weekend). I was so excited to see the brochure because I can't wait to do a couple more trips this summer! I seriously love this place - they have a ton of cool events like a wacky water weekend and, of course, Halloween. I was reading all about the cabins they're building which look AWESOME. I flipped the whole thing over to see when they open and I screamed out loud, ran into the living room and told Brian to STOP what he was doing!!!

Here is the calendar side of the brochure
And my kids are on it!!!! This is a picture of (from left to right): Mackenzie & Ryan from down the street with their mom in the orange shirt behind them and then Logan & Aiden with me in the brown owl shirt standing in the background. This was taken on a stage during the group costume competition during Halloween weekend. I had NO idea they were even being photographed. I called Susan immediately! How cool is that!! Our little rock band group:

Phew! So much excitement!

2. Sorry for the picture of Logan on the potty, but this is just too funny. He keeps taking Buzz Lightyear to the bathroom with him and putting him on Aiden's training potty. He even told me yesterday that I should wipe Buzz's bottom! Haha - Kids are awesome!
Hey Buzz....Aiden's been getting jelly beans for going peeps in the potty...you wanna couple too?