Random birthday pics

                                      Nathan got this 'awesome' Lego Ninjago set.... 

                                                    And this Ninjago DS game....

                                                 The rest of his birthday goodies...

                                                                   With Nana

                                              
                                                     And with Moma Kaye and Papa. 

The Cake

Nathan looooves Lego Ninjago stuff right now. It is relatively new so our local bakeries do not have any cake designs for it yet. Nathan tells me that he wants me to make his birthday cake. (Panic!) If he wants me to make his cake this year instead of buying one, then that is exactly what he will get. 

Nathan insisted on wanting the red ninja, Kai, on his cake. So what do I do? I scour the internet for images of Lego Ninjago cakes that other crafty moms attempted to make.  

In case you don't know what this whole Ninjago thing is, here is a pic. 

After showing him many, many, many cake images he decided on this one. 

Simple enough, huh? Yeah, that's what I thought too. But boy was I ever wrong! I give props to all the cake makers out there. I like to bake cakes, but I knew with this being his birthday cake that it would have to be close to perfect. The pressure was on. I went and bought all the supplies I would need. I had done my research and learned that a red icing is very difficult to make - so I even bought the Wilton "no taste" red gel to tint my butter cream icing. Well, I'll just say that a whole tube of that stuff later my icing was a dark fuchsia pink. Not red. 

We can't have a pink ninja now can we?? So back to Wal-Mart I go. I ended up buying the spray out of a can red icing. Worked much better. :) This is what I ended up with - the final product of my effort in cake making. 

Yes, I realize I could have written his name a little straighter along the bottom. :)

Now, I had to get Nathan's approval. He got home from school and I had the kitchen all decorated in birthday stuff. His face when he walked in and saw his cake...

                                                            He loved his cake!

Birthday weekend - Continued

Sunday was Nathan's birthday lunch at Nana's house. He really liked his big cookie Nana got him. Yummm!

Blowing the candles out. For those of you with a careful eye you will notice that there are only four candles on this cookie instead of the needed six... (Thanks Tammy!)  ;-)

A Birthday Weekend

Nathan's birthday was yesterday. We celebrated all weekend long though. He didn't want a party this year - he just wanted cousin Layton to "camp out" with him at the farm. So - Friday night we loaded up the tents and got the fixin's for some s'mores and headed to Papa and Mama Kaye's farm. 

The tents were set up...

Fire was made...

Nathan and Layton played in the tent for awhile...ate the chocolate for the s'mores....

And then - they decided that it was much too hot and there were WAY too many mosquitoes to sleep outside in the tent. They ended up indoors but I think they still had a blast. :)

See this little boy...He's 6 today!

                        Happy, happy birthday my lil man! I can't believe he's 6. My oh my....

Lacey's first day of preschool

Lacey has her first day of preschool today. She did great! She said she was ready to play. I saved my tears for when I got home. :(

My "Pretty Girl"

It's a tat-TOE!

Buffy, our nursery attendant at church, let Lacey put on these tattoos. Granted, by the time I snapped the picture they were looking pretty rough - sorry 'bout that. One is Eeyore and the other was Piglet from Winnie the Pooh. These are not tattoos according to Lacey - but tat-TOES. (Just another "funny moment" I wanted to capture.)

Nathan goes to 1st grade

It's that time again. Time for those early mornings and mad dashes trying to make it to school on time. Nathan was a bit nervous this morning, but I far exceeded him. My stress level was pretty high. I am so OCD on making sure that things are JUST right. So many parents just go on a whim and go with the flow...not me! I have to have things planned out. 
A checklist flowed around and around my head before bed last night. Nathan's clothes laid out - check. Paperwork filled out and placed in backpack - check. Lunch...will need fixing. 
Triple check to make sure I did indeed buy all his school supplies and that they are all labeled with his name - check. The list goes on and on. 

Anyways, I did manage to remember to snap a few pictures this morning before we left and when we got to his classroom. 

Here are a few pictures of Nathan before we left home this morning: 

                                          And here he is with his teacher, Mrs. Smith. 

New school haircuts

Growing up, I could always count on getting a good haircut before school started. I always enjoyed it. With new clothes and a new 'do I was ready for that first day of school. Jeffrey doesn't seem to think the haircut thing is necessary and tells me so each year before I go in a frenzy making sure the kids get an appointment in time before school starts. (I guess that's a man thing??) Oh well, ANY-ways...

Here's Pretty Girl with her new haircut....

And Nathan...well, his hair grows so fast that he HAS to go every four weeks to get his chopped off. He refused to give me a sweet smile for his picture. This is what I got instead:

He looks a little on the cray cray side in this one, but still a handsome little man with a new hair cut.   ;)

Sweet Zoe

             This is my niece, Zoe. She is just the sweetest little girl. Love her to pieces! 

Be afraid...be very afraid

Ribeye Face

If you ask Nathan where he wants to go eat, 9 times out of 10 his answer will be "Logans!" 

Then you say, "Hey Nathan, you want a ribeye?!"

This is the face you will get....

You will also get this exact face if you ask him if he wants some snow crab legs. :)

Funny things my kids say

Since I am primarily using this blog as a way to scrapbook, I want to remember some of the cute and funny things the kids say or do. 

We have a trip planned this year for Thanksgiving to go to Gatlinburg, TN and stay in a chalet for the week. We thought it would be pretty cool to be there on Thanksgiving as well as when the temps are getting a little cooler. Anyways...Lacey was only 7 months old last time we went, so of course she remembers nothing. We've all been so excited about going and talking about it and Lacey tells me daily - multiple times daily - that she wants to go to the mountains! The Stinky Mountains! 

I can't help but giggle every time I think of her saying it. When you tell her it is the SMOKY mountains she will say it correctly for a time or two but later on reverts back to Stinky mountains. 

Here is a pic of Lacey from the last time she was there. Amazing how much they change! So quickly...

Lacey's new kicks

Lacey needed some new shoes for preschool. Yes, this is her first year of going and she is absolutely thrilled! She is all about being a "big girl" and not a baby. Lacey really looks up to cousin Ella and wants to do whatever she is doing. Ella often wears this style of shoe, so when Lacey saw these in the store - we had to buy them because they were "Ella shoes!" And to put the icing on the cake for her...they're Pink! She wants and thinks that everything ever made comes in pink. 

Now tell me that this isn't the most precious thing you've seen lately! A-dorable! 

Happy face, sad face

Nathan and Lacey are so different in their personalities. We took them to the kiddie carnival for their last open weekend and you would think they'd both be all smiles. Here's Lacey...and then look at Nathan.

She's growing up

Pretty girl gets a big girl bed. Yes, pretty girl is another nickname for Lacey. She's been wanting a big girl bed for awhile now, so we finally caved. When you ask her if she is a baby she is very quick to quip back, "I not a baby! I big girl! I Lacey!!"  
Sure do love my pretty girl. :)

Ninjas with radios

                                If you ever wondered what ninjas with radios looked like...

    While Jeffrey and I were at the beach, Ella and Layton decided to come spend the week with Papa and Mama Kaye too. They bought the kids these handheld radios partly for fun, but also to help keep up with where they were. Apparently, each kid had a handle. What did they come up with?? Well, Ella named herself 'hot chick', Layton was 'former', Nathan was 'Optimus Prime', and Lacey was 'big girl'. 

I found a ninja set at a store at the beach and knew that Nathan would LOVE it. I was right. As soon as we got to the farm to pick them up, Nathan scavenged my car until he found his present. He ripped it open as fast as he could and gave each kid some ninja gear. It was quite the sight to see them running around chasing each other with swords and nun chucks with their radios clipped to their pants. Nathan said it was the best day ever!