4.30.2012

Discovery Green Egg Hunt

In downtown Houston, there is a park called Discovery Green where they have activities, concerts, and a splash pad. They had an Easter egg hunt and I took the boys and met up with some friends. It was not very busy when we first got there. I could not believe how many eggs they had spread out. Most of the eggs we picked up were already open because they had been trampled. It was insane. (This was free and open to anyone.)

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A few of the eggs had pieces of paper with numbers on them. You could turn in the papers and get a prize. It was pretty cool. One of the prizes we got was a ball popping toy with a very small ball. We opened it and the ball disappeared after a minute. I found it the next day in Edison's diaper! So nasty.

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We stayed to play with our friends for a while. Alex used that time to raid his basket of candy.

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We went to get lunch because I decided to stay in Houston instead of driving home and then coming back later to go to the zoo. The huge knot on Alex's head happened while we were eating. So sad. Edison loves balloons and all things that are ball-like.

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SLB Easter Egg Hunt

We were very excited to go to SLB's Easter Egg Hunt since the Christmas party was so fun. It was very family friendly! When we first got there, there were only a few people there. Alex ran around doing everything before it got busy.

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Alex had them make him a dog and then he walked it. He got bored so I was holding it. Then I accidentally walked it into the grass and it popped.

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You should have seen Alex's face when he saw the horses. He was ecstatic. He talked about it for days afterward. We came back multiple times. I think he got to ride the horses five or six times. It never got old.

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This guy was such a flirt. It was strange, and he kept telling us to come back again. Then we noticed he was posing for our pictures. So bizarre.

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There was a petting zoo with goats, ducks, a turtle, bunnies, and a chicken.

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Sam wanted to see how heavy it was so he tried to heft it. It was heavy. Alex kissed it. He really loves animals.

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There were a few trains driving around the parking lot. Alex's head almost exploded from happiness. He rode the train four times.

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It was a pretty warm day so Edison was in a hurry to rehydrate.

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Alex was going crazy in the bounce houses with the older kids.

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Edison fell asleep. I was impressed. He took a very good nap, too.

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They had the egg hunt divided by ages but there were so many young kids and the eggs were distributed evenly in the sections. So the older kids ended up getting a ton of eggs and some of the younger kids did not get any. Alex got one. He was happy, and I am fine with that.

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Back on the train again! This time Sam went with him.

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Edison peeking through the stroller after he woke up. Party time!

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Before we left, we went back to the horses one more time. This guy posed again! What is he doing?!

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4.29.2012

Babysitting Party

My friend asked me to watch her boys one day, and I said yes. Then another friend asked me to watch her boys, too! It was a party! Six boys and it was awesome. There was not a toy in its rightful place.

Edison and Zander are just a few months apart. They really enjoyed taking each others' toys. I was organizing some things while I was babysitting and I was putting a box in the attic. I stepped on the ladder and Zander started crying. I had pinched his finger between the sections of ladder. I felt terrible. It didn't bleed but he was really sad. I am a terrible babysitter.

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Alex loved having so many friends over. He was trying to be one of the big boys.

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That night, I went out for frozen yogurt with Ariel and Kristy. I love these girls and I am so glad I have had the chance to get to know them here.

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4.20.2012

His Real Birthday

I didn't plan to have two separate birthday celebrations for Edison, but I was late ordering his gift and so it didn't arrive until his birthday! So we ended up having another party (with just the four of us) so he could open his gifts from us and his grandparents.

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My visiting teachers are amazing. They brought Edison a birthday gift and then brought us dinner so I wouldn't have to cook on his birthday! The food lasted for three or four meals. It was delicious! They said they do this for everyone's birthdays.

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Thanks for the awesome clothes Aunt Emily and Grandpa and Grandma Merkley!

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We got him a sleeping bag. It is gigantic on him but he'll grow into it. We have so much camping stuff and we never go camping. We would like to go more. I don't know why it doesn't happen.

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My parents forgot to send Alex a gift back in August so he and Edison got to open their monies together! Alex was so happy.

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I put a scoop of ice cream in a bowl and stuck a candle in it. Sam was already gone to his softball game at this point so I was trying to take pictures, sing, and give the ice cream to Edison. I must have forgotten to strap him in because he went for the ice cream by himself. I was able to blow out the candle a split second before Edison grabbed it. But, of course, it was still flaming hot and he burned himself. Thus, tears.

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4.19.2012

Oldify

I found this app that makes you look old. I also tried Fatify, but it is too close to home. My boys looking old has me cracking up though. I love their faces.

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4.17.2012

Jimmer

The Rockets were playing the Kings in Houston so we went to cheer on Jimmer. I was getting so excited to pick up Sam and go to the game. I was overly anxious to leave the house so I took the boys to get some ice cream. Alex loved it. Edison was jealous that he didn't get his own cone.

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Alex was really excited to go to the game. He kept saying, "We go see spaceship!" It was easy to spot Jimmer on the bench because he was the only white guy. I don't think I'm exaggerating. He got to play in the first quarter and overtime.

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During the game, one section won a cake. As the mascot was presenting it to them, he accidentally tipped it. It fell off the balcony and down on top of the heads of the people on the lower level. The camera panned down and the people below started eating it. It was hilarious.

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I am so glad I brought the sippy cups. It entertained Edison for three quarters. Edison also did a lot of clapping and cheering. I don't know why Alex isn't in these pictures. He was probably busy running up and down the stairs and kicking the heads of the people in front of us.

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The Rockets won in overtime. After the game we got to go onto the court and shoot free throws. It was organized by the BYU Alumni Association of Houston. It was crazy to be on the court. Sam was chasing Alex so he couldn't get a very good picture of me, but I missed. Shoot, there goes my chance at the draft.

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We got back to our car, dressed the boys, and drove home. It was a late night, but worth it.

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4.16.2012

Edison's Camping Party

This might be a little overboard for a first birthday party but I really enjoyed planning it. I am going to write an exorbitant amount of details because I am not very good at winging it, so if someone else wants to plan a camping party, here's what I did.

This party was on March 24, 2012, which is funny to me because it was exactly one year after Edison was expected to be born. But he decided to be a stinker and come late.

I was probably the most proud of the invitations. They were cute! I would love to be invited to a party with invitations like this!

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I started growing the wheat grass 10 days before the party. I think that may have been a little early though because it was starting to get moldy.

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All you do is soak the wheat in a bowl of water overnight. Then sprinkle over the top of dirt. I watered twice a day at first, and then once every other day after it was a couple of inches tall.

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This was the table outside of our front door. Everyone got a name tag and the adults could guess how many marshmallows were in the jar and then there was a prize for the closest guess.

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I woke up two hours after my alarm went off on the morning of the party. Thanks to that, I was running behind and didn't take pictures until after guests had arrived. Luckily Catherine arrived a little early and she made the wraps while I took some pictures. All of the food labels, the banner, and the signs on the invitations were made from paper grocery sacks.

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The s'mores on a stick were a hit. I only made 20 and they were gone in less than five minutes. These are so easy. I put semi-sweet chocolate (I combined chips and bars, because that's what I had) in a glass bowl and set it over a pan of simmering water until it melted smooth. Then I put the marshmallow on the dull end of a wooden skewer. Dip into the chocolate as much as you want, then allow the excess chocolate to drip off. Dip into crushed graham cracker and stick in the "fire." I do wish I had used sucker sticks instead of wooden skewers. Little kids were carrying them around and I thought for sure someone was going to lose an eye.

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The cups for the dirt and firewood were prepared a few days ahead. I tied twine around the cup and then used a hot glue gun to make it stay where I wanted it to be.

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The dirt cups are chocolate pudding with crushed Oreos and gummy worms.

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I put the dip in the bottom of the cups so there wouldn't be kids digging into a bowl and making a mess. It required more ingredients, but I think it saved a lot of trouble.

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Ants on a log. Classic kid food. Celery sticks, peanut butter, and raisins.

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Happy Camper Crunch was an idea I got from pictures of another party. I have a bad habit of overestimating how much food to buy. This jar has one box of Golden Grahams, one bag of mini marshmallows, and one pound of milk chocolate chips. I bought twelve boxes of cereal for this. Luckily I really like Golden Grahams!

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Basic trail mix. I bought three huge bags of trail mix and people ate 1/4 of one bag. I bought the small foil pans online here.

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These wraps are the most delicious things ever. Spread cream cheese on a flour tortilla. Sprinkle with dry Ranch seasoning. Add sliced deli meat and cheese (we used swiss and a spicy cheese). Roll up and slice.

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I bought camoflauge duct tape to cover the waterbottles and then decided I didn't really want to introduce camo into the party theme. So I returned the duct tape and instead made my own water bottle wrappers. I peeled off the one that came on it, then stuck mine on. They stayed right where I put them because it was still sticky from the original wrapper. Then I wrapped it with tape. I was worried that they would start running from the condensation, but that did not happen during the two hours they were out.

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Everyone kept talking about the cute bears and their sign. This solidified in my mind the importance of details in a themed party.

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Sam was a big help. He hung all of the Christmas lights, he set up the tent, and he built two fires! He has to use his Eagle Scout skills somewhere! The fires just use regular fire wood and red, orange, and yellow tissue paper.

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We decided to not mow the grass in the backyard because it was an indoor party. But of course, that is where all the kids chose to play. It was a fun to visit with the adults. Since it was a party for a one-year-old, it gave us plenty of time to talk to each other.

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A few of Sam's friends from the MILR program at Cornell now live in Houston and they were able to come as well. It was great to see them.

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 Alex thought it was a party for him.

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I made a cupcake for each person which meant tripling the recipe. Only 12 cupcakes were eaten even though there were 37 people there. I need to remember that not everyone likes cake. I dyed three bowls of frosting - one yellow, one red, and one orange. Then I put them in three separate piping bags. I put those bags into a large bag with a icing tip on it and then frosted the cupcakes. The red looked kind of pink though.

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I made Edison his own carrot cake with buttercream frosting. He loved the frosting and hated the cake. Seriously. Every time he put some cake in his mouth, he would pull it out with a disgusted look on his face and then go back to the frosting. I hung mosquito netting over the cake and it looked awesome. It also kept the kids out of the cupcakes until after we were ready to eat them.

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We played a few games. The first game we did was hot potato. These kids were too young for this game. Every time Edison got it, he just held onto it and tried to eat the aluminum foil. I took it away and pretended like it was burning him and then he started crying. So it went around the circle twice, which took about two minutes, and then we were done.

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Another game we played was a scavenger hunt. We made two teams and they went outside and tried to find everything first. This awesome poem was written by yours truly.

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I found a tent pinata and I had to get it. Even though Edison is a little young for a pinata, it was still very fun for the older kids.

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Edison got one candy. He actually sucked it out of the wrapper which was a lovely mess.

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Sam helped Edison open his gifts. Everyone was so generous and these are the only toys the boys play with now!

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One friend was so thoughtful and brought a gift for the big brother so Alex didn't get too jealous.

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The party favors were very fun to make. I started with making the s'more kits in cellophane bags.

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Then I put other things into a lunch sack with a Red Cross symbol bearing the words "Camp Survival Kit."

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They were a big hit.

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The aftermath of the party.

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All that mattered was that Edison had fun. Which he did. So it was a success.

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It was a very exciting and fun day. That night, Sam and I watched a movie and then slept in the tent.

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Sam also deserves another special mention for being amazing. He never cared how much I had spent on the party, and he just went along with everything because he knew it made me happy to plan it. Someone at the party asked how long it took me to get ready for the party and I responded, "One month." It's true. Sam went along with all of it. He is a pretty good one.