Simple, but they all had a ball

Cody wanted a "sports" party for his 6th birthday celebration, and I was all for it.  One, I was pretty sure I could come up with some "games" and two, they had the supplies for it at the dollar store.  Score!

I let him invite 8 friends (since that's how many invitations were in the package) and we ended up with 6 little boys + his bros, which was perfect. 
As they arrived, they got to make their sports visors . . .

Then we headed outside to shoot some hoops.  Luckily we had awesome almost summer-like weather...

They also got to try their hand (or foot rather) at soccer.  

Dribbling and making goals . . .

 

And practicing their "no hands" moves . . .

We also had some baseball planned, but since one of the boys had to leave early we decided to go ahead and get on to the real party stuff - presents and cake!  For the presents, I had the boys sit in a circle and pass around a ball while music played, if it stopped on them, they got to give him their present.

Cody was so sweet to all of his friends and so happy about each one of his gifts.  And I love to see how happy little boys are to GIVE gifts.

And then it was onto the "cake" . . . or cake pops.  Love these things!  They are fun, easier to make than they look, the kids love them and best of all, not messy! And did I mention dangerously yummy?

But since we couldn't stick candles in those, we had to improvise . . .

and the ice cream cups work great!

(PS I always use these at kids parties, so quick, easy and small portioned for little tummies)

As with all parties, it went by fast and the kids had a blast. 

And I don't remember this when I was six, but Cody actually had multiple birthday celebrations (and I haven't decided whether it's a good thing or a bad thing that I didn't take pictures).  So this party was on Saturday.  On Sunday, we had a family party at Grandma & Grandpa's with Chinese food per Cody's request.  And then on Monday, his actual birth day, he got to take treats to school AND we got to go to the fire station for dinner and brownie sundaes.  And if he wasn't spoiled enough, we even got to go for a ride in the fire truck, which despite what you may think doesn't happen very often and is quite a treat for these daddy-loving boys. 

It was a happy birthday indeed for this little man.

6yr old Birthday Interview with Cody

First, the favorites:

color - lightest blue

cereal - Lucky Charms (they get a box of "sugar" cereal for their birthday, so had this not been the day after his birthday, he probably would have said Rice Kripies or MultiGrain Cheerios)

vegetable - pear (hehe)

drink - blue cream soda (Russ bought them these just a few days ago and I think he liked that he got a special treat, and just fyi, they were absolutely disgusting and FULL of sugar.  big surprise.)

toy - Trio blocks

TV show or Movie - The Lorax (we actually very rarely watch TV, and I think its funny he said that movie since we haven't even seen it yet.)

game - Kizi.com (that was his automatic response to "game" his other was the card game "Mille Bornes")

book - Fly Guy

restaurant - the bakery

holiday - Mondays, because my friend comes over. (we just stared babysitting a couple little boys every Monday)  (When I clarified 'holiday', he said "Christmas, because it has snow")

animal - horse (although he really wanted to buy a snake or a guinea pig with his birthday money)

activity - playing with legos

What do you like to do after school?
do my homework so I can play games

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Game maker, movie maker, store owner

If you could change your name, what would you choose?

Striker

What is something you learned this year while you were 5?

Not to hit. "this teacher that comes to classes taught us that we cannot punch, we cannot bite."

Songs - ABC Rock

What do you love about each person in our family?

Mom - "because she makes food, because she feeds me food and she cleans the house"

Dad - "he picks me up from school.  he helps mom clean up the house.  he makes food when mom's gone"

Corbin - "he plays with me" "he loves me (but really you all love me)"

Colton - "he plays with me, he helps me with my jobs"

What are some of your wishes for this year?

sleep in the bunkhouse at Grandma's

And a couple stories about Cody (by Mom):

A few weeks ago we had a lesson in Family Home Evening about tithing.  At the end, I gave the boys their allowance (which they get for completely things on their responsibility chart) and helped them figure out what 10% was.  When I look over, Cody is stuffing most of it into the "tithing" slot on his bank . . . So I say "Cody, you don't have to stick the much in there".  With enthusiasm he responds, "I want more blessings!" . . . When were at church filling out the tithing form, I showed him where to write his name, address, etc. and he said with a knowing nod, "So He knows where to send the blessings."

 

The other night, Cody and I were laying in bed and I sang him the song "Families Can Be Together Forever" which led to a discussion about how great it was that mommy and daddy would get to be together for eternity.  He asked what other people do that weren't married in the temple and I told him that sometimes they are married "till death do us part".  Cody concluded that he needed a girl who wanted to get married in the temple - he said, "I'll make a sign that says "I need a girl who wants to marry in the temple.  Girls who don't want to marry in the temple KEEP OUT!"  This made me smile.  Then he added to the sign, "If you expect to marry me - 1,000 dollars.  No, 10,000 dollars!"

It all started
March 12, 2006

 1 yr later . . .

2 years later . . .

3 years later . . .

4 years later . . .

5 years later . . .

And here we are 6 years later . . .

Happy Birthday, Cody! 

We love you!

A little L-O-V-E

Valentines for friends - heart shaped candy cane suckers

Corbin's Valentine note to Cody (they can send them at school and they get delivered to their class):
"I love you Cody!  Your an awesome little brother!  I hope you have a great day.  Try to stay on green!  I hope you win something like the dipndots maker! I love you.  Have a great day. Love, Corbin"
(the 'stay on green' is referring to the warning cards they get when they are disruptive or having a hard time behaving. It goes green, yellow and then red.  The Dippin Dots Maker was one of the prizes for White Ribbon Week.)

Valentine's Day dinner at our house: heart shaped jello jigglers, pink mashed potatoes and individual heart shaped mini meatloaves.  It was a hit!

My cousin and his new wife coming out of the Idaho Falls LDS Temple a few days after V-day.  I was so happy to get to make a quick trip up there all by myself to see aunts and uncles and cousins and second cousins!  I so love my family!

And a cute story about young love . . .

The other day, Corbin had a friend, who is a girl, over and when I went up to check on them, I noticed that Corbin had changed his clothes, to church clothes no less, and he was in my bathroom combing his hair.  I hear Breanna say, "Can I come out now?"  She was in the throne room.  I quietly and firmly whispered, "Corbin!  What are you doing?"  Corbin:  "I'm grooming"  Me: What?!  Corbin (pushing me out into the hall) whispered, "I'm going to ask her to be my Valentine", with an eyebrow raise and a nod.  What could I do then?  Yep, I'm smiling just thinking about it.

I've Got the Power!

So they hooked me into being on the PTA board again this year  . . .  this time for White Ribbon Week.  I know, you're asking WHAT is that?  It is supposed to be WRAP - White Ribbon Against Pornography, but we weren't allowed to say 'pornography' (because if we don't say it then it will go away), so we just stuck with internet safety.  And I think it actually turned out to be quite a successful week!  Our theme was "I've Got the Power!", as in I've got the power to decide what I will view, post and and pass on online. (and yes, we played that song before and after school all week long).

We had all these different things that kids could do to earn tickets for awesome prizes, including a ripstick, a RC monster truck, a Justin Bieber guitar and a Dippin Dots Maker, among others:

They could earn tickets by signing the Clean & Safe Media Pledge, having their parents read the 15 Internet Safety Tips and signing that they have a filter on their home computer, by making a poster or doing a coloring page, or by writing an essay of "how I can stay safe on the internet". 

We also had a powerboost that they could memorize and pass off each day that had a coordinated dress-up for that day:

Power Boost #1: “I will ‘crash and tell’ if anything online makes me feel uncomfortable. I will protect my mind."

Wear: a hoodie (Protect your mind!)

Power Boost #2: “I will use technology to connect with my REAL LIFE friends. People online are not always who they say they are.”

Wear: Dress up like someone else--your teacher, someone famous, a police officer, etc. (Sometimes people online pretend to be who they're not.)

Corbin was a paramedic with Dad's hoodie; Cody was an army man

Power Boost #3: “I will keep my personal information and passwords private. I will only share them with a parent.”

Wear: Your shirt inside out! (Don't let personal info slip out!)

Power Boost #4: “I will not view, share, or pass along negative or embarrassing information. I won't get tied up in cyber bullying!”

Wear: A tie (Don't get tied up in cyberbullying!)

Power Boost #5: “I will encourage those around me to make smart choices in media and online."

Wear: WHITE-as much as you can! (Let's remember white ribbon week all year round!)

The kids got tickets if they dressed up each day and if they wore the white wrist band we gave them.  They also got tickets if their parents signed that they had discussed each of the power boosts and we sent home ideas for discussion and questions that they could go through with their child.

We also had a great assembly by NetSmartz that separated the kids k-2nd, 3rd-4th, and 5th-6th, and each one was perfectly suited for that age group.  My kids are still talking about it!  It turned out to be a very successful "ribbon week"!

If you're interested you can find more info about White Ribbon Week here or you can "fight the new drug" here.

Why We Love Daddy

He takes us fishing - every season and any kind of weather.  And we even get to eat it!  Yummy!

He makes cookies with us (AND all the cousins!).

He lets us spray the fire hose, slide down the fire pole and play on the fire engine.

He builds the best forts ever!

He has cool work parties!  We don't like that he has to work at the hospital on his days "off", but we sure like the perks!

AND . . .

He makes the best crepes with no effort at all.
He plays "Transformers" with us.
He plays video games with us way more than mom does.
He always buys us gum at the gas station.

He takes us camping and has taught us to love the outdoors.
He lets us ride his horse.
He drives the boat round and round while we tube and kneeboard.
He taught us how to play Lord of the Rings Risk.
He helps us with homework, teaches us how to tie our shoes and how to ride a bike.

We love you, Daddy!  Happy Birthday!