Happy Birthday Dane!!!

Here's my little Dane 9 years ago. I was having some complications with high blood pressure, elevated heart rates and running the risk of having a 10+ lb baby, so the doctor decided to induce me 3 1/2 weeks early. After a fairly easy induction, Dane was born on May 22, 2000. Unfortunately his little lungs were not quite developed yet and after only holding him for a few minutes they took him to the nursery to give him oxygen and then shortly there after he was taken to the NICU and put on a ventilator. He definitely had size on his side. Weighing 8 lbs 4 oz, the nurses named him the king of the NICU. He got strong quickly and after only a week, we were able to take him home. Life with him over the past 9 years has been an adventure. Definitely highs and lows but I tell you, he is one of the sweetest, most loving, caring little boys that I know and I love that about him. Happy Birthday "Danegerous" "Danish" "Dane-o"!!! I hope you have a great year!

The Lego Party...

All right I have to admit when Dane told me that he wanted to have a Lego party I was a little bummed. What is the heck do you do for a Lego party??? I tried to talk him out of it, but that boy is obsessed with Legos and didn't want any other kind of party. So after some internet searching and creative thinking, I think I pulled off a dang good lego party. I have to say though that I could not have done it without Maggie, she was an awesome helper. I think she is following in my footsteps.

The Invite...I made envelopes out of colorful paper to resemble Legos and then glue dotted circles onto them to make them look like Legos. The invite was also printed using bright colors and invited the kids to a Lego Birthday Party at Dane's Legoland.

The Decorations...

I decorated using the same bright colors that I used on the invitations. We had colorful paper goods, streamers (which Maggie put up for me) and balloons. I then put some of his favorite Lego creations on the table as a center piece. he's been collecting all the pirate lego sets and had had most of them put together since Christmas which is quite an accomplishment.

Games...

We had some fun games planned. When the boys first came I gave them each a bowl and asked them to go up to Dane's Lego box and fill it with Legos. Then then had to come down and build something.


I swear for the first 30 minutes of the party I didn't hear a peep out of the boys. They loved it. We then gave each boy a prize for their creation. We had categories like the scariest, the biggest fleet, the sleekest, etc. then left them all out for display. 

Our next game was one that Maggie came up with and lead the boys in. She had picked out about 20 Legos and then dumped a bucket of legos on the floor and holding up one at a time had the boys search for the pieces. Another very successful event.

Our third game, I had the boys take their bowl of legos and I gave them each a pair of chopsticks. They had to use the chop sticks to take out as many legos as they could in two minutes. It really was quite humorous watching some of them try to use the chop sticks.

The Cake...

I made some Lego cakes which even though I am now where near a professional cake decorator, I thought they turned out pretty good.  Click here for complete instructions.

Presents...

And guess what Dane wanted for his birthday... LEGOS... and he got plenty. Thanks friends!!!

The Pinata...

Yes, we even had a Lego Pinata. Maggie made it for me all by herself. She is so creative. She came up with the idea on her own and carried it out till we had a wonderful pinata to smash.

The Goodie Bags...

Of course no party is complete without the famous "Goodie Bag". It's what all the kids go to parties for right? Well I made up the bags similar to the invite envelope with the circles and then printed each child's name in Lego font and tied it onto the bag. They each got a small bag of Legos, a bag of Lego candy (I was so glad I found these. Kholers is the best for this kind of random stuff), a bag of Bubble Gum (because I loved the colors) and all the candy they could get from the pinata. It was a great party with a few extra minutes at the end when all the kids played and put together all Danes new Lego sets.


Thanks to all of Dane's friends who came and made this party a fun one and definitely one to remember. Happy Birthday Dane I hope you had a fun party!!!

Emma's Graduation

It's hard to believe that my little girl graduated (from pre-school that is). She is growing up so fast and it shows in many aspects of her life. She finished her third year of pre-school this year (Sept. baby) and spent the past year in two wonderful pre-schools where she has learned to read quite well (I'm so proud!)
At her Bright Beginnings pre-school they celebrated this happy day with a great program that the kids put on for their parents and then received their diploma.
She had an amazing teacher Mrs. Olsen whom we will miss dearly until Preston gets to go to her. She was great and spent many hours this year teaching the kids and preparing them for Kindergarten.

Emma got to go to school with her cousin Jaynie. I think the only two of the grandkids that will ever get to go to school together. Lucky girls.

All in all it was a wonderful graduation and I was a very proud mama when my little girl got up and took a bow! What a kid!!!

Dance Recital

With the school year coming to an end our schedule is full of recitals, programs, graduations, and all sorts of fun activities. Last week the girls had their Dance Recital. "Dance Like a Princess". Both girls have throughly enjoyed their dance classes this year. Emma had a combination ballet/tap class and Maggie was in a jazz class. All their hard work and practice paid off at this great performance. Each of them even had a short solo in one of their dances.