Fischer's Birthday!

I can't believe this amazing boy of mine is 6.  He is the sweetest, kindest, loving kid I could have ever asked for.  Fischer is a GREAT big brother and tries so hard to please everyone.  He likes to be right about everything.  This bike riding, sport loving kid brings so much light and laughter into our lives.  He is the first to give a hug and remind me that everything is okay. Don't know what I would do without this kid.
For his actual birthday we decided to keep it low key and do something fun as a family.  We celebrated with his friends earlier in the year and got together with some family over the weekend.  The morning of his birthday he opened his present from his Dad and I.

I didn't realize that the batteries for this toy would need to charge for 5 hours before using. Fischer could hardly wait to try out this new toy that could drive in snow, water, and dirt.  Luckily for him we did get quite a bit of snow so he was able to test it out.
Fischer wanted to go to the arcades to play a bunch of games, so once his dad got home from work we went.  There we had dinner and played a bunch of games.

Drake enjoyed checking out the sights and sounds of the place.

 All the kids seem to enjoy themselves and I was glad we were able to go do something fun on Fischer's special day.  We love you Fischer.  Happy Birthday!

Football Game Day

The Christensen's always like to get together to watch BYU football  but that is especially true when they play Utah.  With the Christensen's getting together to watch the game we decided to make it a game/birthday get together for Fischer.

I made this cake to share and celebrate with Fischer.  I wanted to try a new frosting transfer technique that I hadn't done before.  It was really easy to do and a fun way to jazz up a birthday cake.  The cake was chocolate with a caramel pecan filling.

 The BYU game was a bit rough in the beginning.  Griffin's body language as Utah kept getting touchdown after touchdown was a perfect representation of what most of us were feeling.

 Grandma Joyce decided to cheer things up by surprising each of the kids with BYU shirts.

Just after half time we sang to Fischer and had some cake

 Some of the kids decided to take a break from the game and play outside on the tree swing. Kinsley is always great to play with Fischer and Griffin.  They all seemed to have a great time.

School Christmas Program

Fischer's school did a Christmas program where each of the age groups came and sang 1 to 2 songs.  I loved seeing Fischer up on stage singing his little heart out.  He did so great.

Little Birdie

The other day the dogs found this bird in the back yard.  I thought it was dead at first until Gus decided to nose the thing and it started flapping around. I knew it wasn't doing very well but I didn't have the heart to just leave it freezing face down in the snow.  So Griffin and I made a little bed and brought the bird inside to warm up.

This is how I found the bird

Griffin didn't want to leave its side.  He sat their talking to the bird and telling it that he was going to make him all better.  He even grabbed a medicine syringe (without medicine) and tried sticking it in the cage to see if the birdie would take his "pretend" medicine.  

Sadie wasnt' really sure what to think about having a bird in her dog crate.  Being a bird dog she wasn't about to leave it's side and sat by the crate all day.  

 Unfortunately the bird didn't make it. We did our best but it wasn't meant to be.

Seeing Santa

Kids had a great time seeing Santa today. Fischer couldn't wait to tell Santa what he wanted, Griffin just wanted the candy he got for sitting on Santa's lap, and Drake was fascinated by Santa's beard and kept trying to pet and grab it.

Children's Party

Karl's work does a Children's Christmas Party.  This year they rented out the Living Planet Aquarium.  Each of the kids got their own Coca-Cola stuffed penguin.  We also got to see all the animals and wildlife before it was open to the public.  The kids loved seeing everything.

Look Whose Moving Now

Drake has been doing the cutest little army crawl to get around but today he figured out how to do the typical baby crawl. With three little ones now mobile I've got my hands full.

Drake's First Tooth

Drake got his first tooth just in time for Thanksgiving.  We sure love this one tooth little grin of his.

Our little wiggler

When I went in to get Drake this morning, this is how I found him.  When he went to bed he was completely clothed in his PJ's.  Sometime during the night he managed to wiggle out of them.  The PJ's were still zipped up and untouched.  Not sure how he managed to get out of those.

Batman Party

Today we celebrated Fischer's 6th Birthday with his friends. With selling the house and a potential move I wasn't sure we would be in this house to celebrate with his friends near his actual birthday so we did it early.
Fischer wanted a Batman Birthday Party.  So I did my best to decorate for his theme.

 I decided to have most of the games set up in our own Bat Cave (AKA: Basement)

 I didn't go all out with a cake due to so many showings of the house but I did manage to pull of these batman themed cupcakes.

 Once his friends arrived we all went down to the bat cave where I welcome the kids and asked them if they would like to become superheros.  They all said yes. So I explained that to become a superhero there were a series of test and skills they would need to master before they could obtain Superhero status.
The first test was to test their accuracy.

 Each child was blindfolded and then spun around 6 times.  They were then required to place the bat icon on the chest of the poster.

 Needless to say Fischer was a little off in the accuracy test.

 Griffin was the first to place his bat in the proper position.

 The next skill was to test the children's strength and speed in our stomp the bad guy challenge.  With each bad guy (aka: Balloon) they stomped they were rewarded with a treat (a piece of candy was placed in each balloon)

 It was really fun seeing the kids get into it.

 Our next test of skill was to test each child's aim in our Vaporize the Villain Challenge.

Villains consisted of Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, Joker, Penguin, Cat Woman, Two Face, and Riddler. 

 Before they could vaporize the villain they needed to know who the enemies were. I educated them on each of the villains and what they did.

With Vaporizing Sting (aka: silly string) the kids were ready to test their aiming skills.

 After our series of test we decided our superheros in training needed a break so we headed upstairs, opened presents, and had cupcakes.

 It wasn't long after cupcakes that a special guest made a surprise appearance.  BATMAN! He finished the training off by explaining to each of the kids what it means to be a true superhero.  He explained that being a superhero isn't just about fighting bad guys but it's about being nice to those around you, being a friend to everyone.  He gave them examples such as opening doors for someone and sitting next to a kid who may be lonely.

 Batman then presented each kid with a cape and mask and declared them superhero ready.

 Once all our superheros were caped and masked Batman left to save the day elsewhere. The kids waved and saw him off as he drove off on his Batcycle.

Party favors were then handed out and the kids left to go home. All in all it was a great party.  Fischer was thrilled about Batman coming and his friends all seemed to have a good time.