Happy 7th Birthday Jon!

Today is the actual birthday of my eldest son, Jon. Not to be confused with our dinner with friends on Friday, or his kid party on Saturday or even his family party yesterday.  Today is the day.  See, if you've been tuning in since at least my birthday, you know that in the Page house we celebrate birthdays for days - they only come around once a year and one day just isn't enough.  Of course than we need to go through birthday detox because it is easy to get used to all the attention.

We started on Friday having old friends over for dinner, the Green's.  They lived in our old neighborhood and we've know each other since Jon was first born.  Their family consists of three boys, Jake (8), Noah(7) and Matthew (4).  We had pizza and Wii fun and the we all got a chance to catch up after too much time passing since the last time we last visited.

Saturday, we woke early to prepare for Jon's small party.  Last year we went had a large party at a gymnastics's studio, it was fun, but expensive.  With three children, we've made it clear that it isn't going to be an every year occurrence.  In fact the success of our little party has made us wonder if it is necessary at all!  Since Jon is a huge Star Wars fan (thanks in part to his father who rented all six episodes and sat the boys down for a marathon) we decided a Star Wars theme was best.  We invited four of his little friends, two from his class last year and two this year (one of which is the cutest little girl/tomboy you will ever meet- Jon proclaimed, if I were a girl, I'd be like Sarah, cute, but I would like boy things).  They were to arrive at 11, play and eat and get picked up at 1.  Only two hours you say, well it was just about the most perfect timing ever.  Our plan was to let the kids play for a bit and then send them on a scavenger hunt around the house to find clues to their next destination, each clue was written in Yoda-ease and had a word scramble for the actual room the next clue could be found.  They wound up at the Jedi Temple (aka-our play set) and found a box containing a light saber for each child (fewer kids, cooler treats) the final part of their journey was to battle Darth Vader (aka Ryan) to save the universe from the dark side.  Needless to say the Jedi's won and Darth got his butt kicked.  

Let me back track a minute to show you the lunacy, ahem, dedication that my husband has to our children.  He was up by eight, dressed and ready to hit a party store on 96th street because it was rumored to have an adult Darth Vader costume.  Much to Ryan's chagrin, they did not, but he did buy a children's one and took parts and pieces to make his own.  He hid by the side of the house as the kids ran outside to the Jedi Temple and then turned the corner to begin the battle.  And yes, this is all on video.  

We came in for lunch and presents, and ate the most adorable cupcakes made by my friend Melanie (who lives in Fishers, so if you live local and need a fantastic cake, cookies or cupcakes for your child I can hook you up!) We then played and all kids were picked up by one.

My dad then came later that afternoon and hung out with us and the kids as we prepared for our little family party on Sunday.  I try to make my gatherings pretty laid back and easy so I can enjoy the festivities as well.  We made homemade pizza (Jon's favorite) and had lots of snacks and of course another set of those darling cupcakes.  My brother and sis-n-law, dad and our friends the Hazelriggs (minus dad who was at a KISS convention-which is probably a good thing because being a dentist I am pretty sure he would have had seizures seeing the amount of sugar the children where consuming).  We ate, visited, played outside and opened presents.  It was a wonderful day, and best of all, Jon proclaimed, "this is the best birthday ever!"

Jon then was invited to his friend Sarah's house for more Jedi fun and hamburgers.  Ryan took our little Darth Vader (yes Drew in fact has swapped his Spiderman suit for Darth and wore it to a cowboy store) to buy himself some cowboy boots.  I got in a run and had a chance to enjoy the amazing weather. 

Today we had one last special treat for Jon when he woke up.  If you know Jon, Jon is pretty snuggly.  He loves to cuddle and be lazy.  He also has an unnatural love for infomercials and can repeat them verbatim and can give you a million reasons why you need the product. (I'm beginning to think I may need to create my own curriculum to sell to schools and have it infomercial based because I have heard from friends that this is a phenomenom that is sweeping their children as well.)  So months ago, he discovered the Snuggie. Yes, THAT Snuggie.  He has been bugging me since for his own, in Red, so he can play his DS without his arms being cold - seriously.  So seeing as I have a raw (and I mean raw) talent for sewing, I opted not to spend 19.95 to get two Snuggies and two book lights.  I picked out fleece that I knew Jon would love, and used a Joann coupon and made his for less than $10 and I have enough fleece left over to make Drew one if he gets real jealous.  Jon got up and we gave him his Snuggie and I said "look Jon now you can be warm and play your DS."  He said, "let's try."  Only on your birthday can you get away with playing video games before school.  I am happy to report that the Snuggie does in fact work and his arms DID NOT get cold playing his DS.  He also wore it around the house for the rest of morning, which was hilarious, but made me happy.  Ah the simple things.

I am also happy to report that it was a Lego birthday, so while I have a TON of those crappy little pieces around my house, we managed to get through the weekend with NO action figures and toys of the like.  I [heart] Legos! Can't beat them for creativity, imagination and problem solving.  See learning CAN be fun.  I will end this post with a ton of pictures, but also with this final statement.  I am in love with my big boy, I can't believe he is seven, I can still picture my fuzzy haired baby, and even though he's getting big, he still has that big dimply smile and those beautiful, expressive eyes.  I love the creative soul that he is, I love his empathetic heart and how he loves so unconditionally.  He's a quirky, friendly, adorable child and I am so very blessed to call him my son!

Thanks for letting rant on - I promise some Penny Pickles stuff later this week!

    

Do you hear the Empire's death march?

Mini-Darth

The Jedi's at the Jedi Temple

Jon introducing our guest Drew-Vader

My brother serenaded us at dessert time with Jon's guitar.

Just a cool shot - Silly Papa purchased on his last visit a contraband Storm Trooper rifle, normally we aren't allowed to shoot mom, but it made for a cool picture so we went with it, just this once.

Gotcha!

I promise I will post some pictures of Jon in his Snuggie, I am pretty sure he'll be jumping in it right after school! Once again - Thanks!

Miss Pickles is 2!!!

It is so cliche to say that I can not believe that my baby girl is two, but it is totally the case.  On one hand it seems like she's always been here and then on the other she is still so clearly my baby when I look at her with her two brothers.  Miss Penny has had a long week - she started feeling puny on Tuesday evening, promptly screwing up everything I had planned for the rest of the week to get ready for her party and Jon's school party. Wednesday she just laid in my arms all day and ran fevers for most of the day.  I am not a big fan of suppressing fevers, I feel like we need to let the body do what it was built to do, but even this was too much for me.  She was getting wheezy and it continued through to Thursday. I missed Jon's science fair (he placed first in his grade) and at about 10:30pm made the decision to take her to the ER.  Fortunately it was dead and we were the stars - Penny was a huge hit with the nurses - and jumped into the arms of the x-ray tech without a second thought.  It was determined by the end of our stay that Penny had pneumonia. Awesome.  So we had a couple of breathing treatments, an oral steroid, which she promptly threw- up because of her empty stomach and we were home by 1.  Needless to say two albuterol treatments and a steroid make for an energy filled two year old - so we stayed up until 3 watching Dora.  

My knight in shining armor, Ryan, took the day off on Friday to take Drew to the dentist, drop off all the party goods at Jon's school, run errands, pick up Penny's cake and get the house picked up while I laid around with my goiter, otherwise known as Penny.  Although by Friday she was in that fantastic state where she wanted me to hold her, but not really so we played the I pick you up, you squirm and cry and get out of my arms and then scream  UP UP UP! until I pick you up again game for most of the day.  Mommy needed a drink by about 2, but held out until dinner.  We cancelled our V-day plans and hunkered down at home.  

Saturday, Penny was at about 85%, so we decided to indeed have her gathering on Sunday.  Dad came down in the afternoon on Saturday baring more candy than any three, let along one child should consume and we had a relaxing evening.

Sunday, Penny was ready for her party, she donned her new jumper I made for her and we had the usual suspects of my my dad, brother and sister in law and our local cousins, the Werts.  We ate, opened gifts and it was a great day!  Penny was HILARIOUS when we sang to her, she just kept looking around the room like, what in the hell are you people doing.  Too funny!  It was a Melissa and Doug and Dora party.  She received a kitchen and a bunch of wooden food and then the rest were Dora videos, shirts, a dress up dress, coloring book, book, did I mention she loves Dora?  We had a Dora cake prepared by my very talented friend Melanie (if you live locally, you NEED her to make your children's cakes, she's amazing!).

this is precisely why you should never teach your children to say "cheese"

It was a great day, we all had fun and best of all Penny is feeling loads better.  Today is her actual birthday and she is spending it, playing in her new kitchen, with her new toy food, wearing her new Dora shirt, while a Dora sing along is going on in the background.  It is so good to be 2!

Ooh - more Dora?

mmm, another Dora video

Happy Birthday baby girl - I LOVE YOU!

my favorite!

Thanks!*

*(for the record this was our first time taking pictures of something important with our new camera - some worked, some didn't and others I've just been farting around at a cool sight called picnik, until I can afford to buy photoshop - so bare with me as we learn to use our new toy!)

Miles Tiles: redefined

I was contacted a few weeks ago to do a painting for an old high school friend that I reunited with on Facebook. Chrissy, ahem, sorry Chris, I found out lives about 15 mins away in Fishers and prior to that we lived a few blocks apart in Broad Ripple. Small world.  Anyway, Chris' little boy Miles turned one last weekend and she wanted to have a painting done spelling out his name.  I had her look at some of my completed works for inspiration and think about some of Miles' favorite things.  Since he is only one, that doesn't always help.  So Chris and her husband, Brendan decided on a baseball vignette.  Brendan is a HUGE Reds fan so they wanted the team playing to be the Reds.  I inquired further and asked if there were any favorite players that I could include or a team for them to play.  Brendan was on it, he emailed a list of players and their positions along with the opposing team: the Cubs.  It was a ton of fun because then I could have my little players take on the identities of the real thing!  So cool.  What is neat about this piece is that Miles can enjoy this in not only his bedroom, but a playroom and honestly I don't think it will lose its relevancy, unless of course he decides the Reds aren't for him or he decides to form a garage band and baseball isn't his thing.  I don't think Chris and Brendan have anything to worry about, at least for about 15 years!  Here are my newest Miles tiles:

I want to thank Chris and Brendan for allowing me to work on this special piece for your little fellas big day!  It was so much fun to do and I appreciate all your input. We're looking forward to seeing you soon!  Happy Birthday little Miles!  I really enjoyed doing these canvas' for you!

Thanks!

these shoes aren't made for walking..

To keep with my "girl" series, I wanted share something I did for my friend Meg.  Meg's birthday was last Thursday, so it makes complete sense that I would posting her birthday gift and publicly celebrate her day a week late!  Right?  I actually was able to give her, her gift on her special day and enjoy a rare lunch out with no children - we're so naughty we even had wine at LUNCH!  I've been a bit backed up with sharing photos, but I am happy to share this one with you now!

So for Meg, I wanted to do something quirky and fun, something she enjoys and would put a smile on her face when she sees it.  I came up with this little lady:

The slingback, peep toe heel - not much more on this planet that is pretty than this for a girls wardrobe!

Okay, so I really like shoes, but Meg LOVES shoes - I don't have an official head count - but I am guessing it is somewhere around being able to cover the feet of a small village in Africa.  So this little beauty seemed more than appropriate.  

With all seriousness though, Meg has become one of my best friends and our relationship is one of those that I believe has come at a time when I needed it most.  Meg fills a lot of the voids I have since losing mom - they have quite a few of the same qualities, so even though our friendship is only a few years old, there is a comfort there of a decades long relationship. So for you Meg, I wish you a very happy birthday and a wonderful year ahead!  I love you!

Thanks!!!