Birthday Fun!

Matt's 5th birthday is tomorrow. His teacher, Mrs. Michelle told me that I could bring a cake on Friday to celebrate with his class. We went to their playground and set up the food on the picnic table. It was a beautiful morning for it. We had so much fun!

I had Walmart bakery make this cute baseball cupcake cake. Matt is really into baseball right now with his t-ball practices starting up this week, so I thought he would like it and he did!

On each child's birthday, they get to wear this cute birthday hat.  All of his friends sang Happy Birthday to him and he blew out his no. 5 candle. We ate cupcakes, cheese nips and capri suns. After eating the kids ran off to play on the playground. I snapped a few pictures of Matt playing with his friends.

Here is Matt and his best bud, Carter. I really hope these two get in the same kindergarten class next year.
Looks like a few of the boys have a baseball game going...

Tomorrow we are off to Incredible Pizza in Memphis to celebrate his actual birthday. He is so excited and has told anyone and everyone that would listen about his special trip. For those who aren't familiar with Incredible Pizza, it is a neat place with a food bar, go carts, glow in the dark golf, bowling and many other games. It will be a fun day for sure! David will post Matt's video he has been working on late tonight or tomorrow. Can't wait to see it.

Spring Break!

We kicked off Spring Break week with a trip to Memphis to spend the night and go to a Memphis Grizzlies game.  We had a great time and had our camera phones clicking......

Happy kids on the way to Memphis!  Matt had his "ears" on watching his DVD. 

 Our first stop was Kohl's in Southaven.  Matt bought an Iron Man figure with some of his saved Christmas money.

 The next stop after lunch was Target.  As you can see, Matt is a big super hero fan.  Here he is trying on a Captain America helmet.

 His next purchase with his money was this super hero DS game.

 The kids were so cute carrying their luggage through the hotel.  They loved punching the elevator buttons and looking out over the lobby as we rode the elevator.

 McKenzie loves hotels!  We noticed this note she wrote before we left.  Bless her heart!

 Monday night we went to the FedEx Forum to watch the Memphis Grizzlies play the Los Angeles Clippers.

 Matt was a complete nut at the game.  He danced to the music and had a great time.  I told him before the game about Blake Griffin, who is the best player on the Clippers and makes amazing dunks almost every game.  During the pre-game warm-ups, Matt asked me, "Which one is the Amazing Dunker?".  He kept calling Griffin "The Amazing Dunker" the rest of the night.

 Matt loves waffles!  Tuesday morning we went to our favorite breakfast place in Memphis - Miss Polly's on Beale St.

 McKenzie looks excited about her breakfast, too!

 Tuesday included another trip to Target and Matt spending the last of his Christmas money on a Buzz Lightyear car.

 At lunch we met Betty's Aunt Melba and cousin Elizabeth and her daughter, Kendall.  Kendall was a hoot, going nuts for her food and laughing at everybody!  We had a great time visiting with them!
 

 After lunch we went to Barnes & Noble where McKenzie used some of her own saved money to buy a few books........

......meanwhile, Matt was break dancing and teaching a new friend some moves in the children's section.

We had a great time and I can't believe the week is almost over already.  I hate that the kids have to go back to school already.

Matt the Rebel

At the beginning of the week, Matt told us that he and some boys had gotten in trouble during outside play time at pre-school.  They were playing and tackling each other and the teacher told them to stop and not to let her see them tackling again.  Matt learned his lesson.........only it wasn't the lesson the teacher meant to teach.

Last night at supper, Matt was telling us about playing with a couple of friends on Friday.  I asked him what they played and he said they were tackling each other.  I said, "I thought the teacher said she didn't want to see y'all tackling each other again.".  Matt said, "We were playing behind the slides so she wouldn't see us.".  Matt, we need to talk.

Matt is a literalist.  He takes you at your word and does exactly what you say, so you better say it right!  One Sunday morning at church he was pretending he was Iron Man when we got there.  I told him not to be Iron Man when he went to Sunday School.  He didn't.  He was Wolverine!  Now I tell him not to be any super hero.

Best Buds

Matt is the type of kid who takes a while to.....well, do anything.  He took forever to start walking.  He'd stand up and hold on to things but he wouldn't let go even though he was able to take a few steps.  He just waited until he was ready to walk well before he unveiled his new talent to the world.  He was the same way with talking.  We were starting to get worried because he just didn't talk much.  When he finally started talking, he talked our heads off! 

He's just a very cautious little fellow who likes to observe and study a situation or a task before he dives into it.  He started pre-school this year and didn't seem to care anything about any of the kids in his class.  He couldn't (or wouldn't) call any of the names of the kids after being in school a month!  I think he was just observing and getting to know his new classmates.......from afar. 

Well, now he's gotten to know them and he's really coming out.  He and Betty had the following conversation the other day.
Matt:  "Mommy, all the girls like me."
Betty (not sure where this was going): "Oh really?"
Matt:  "Yeah, they think I'm funny."
Betty:  "Do you mean girls like Miss Lauren?"  Lauren is a young lady in her 20's who Matt has a crush on.  He says he likes her, but he doesn't like to look at her because it makes him nervous!
Matt:  "No, I'm not talking about old women, I'm talking about the little girls in my class!"

So, not only is he becoming a little ladies' man, he also has a best buddy -- Carter.  Carter had a birthday party last Saturday and Matt was so excited about it he could hardly stand it.  Here are a few pictures of the buddies at the party.

Valentines, Birthdays, and Bieber Fever

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone, especially my Valentine!  Our Valentine's celebration was a trip to Memphis Saturday.  Betty requested a trip to a couple of our favorite restaurants and just a day with the family.  Our first stop was The Olive Garden.

Betty and McKenzie really love The Olive Garden and Matt loves it because he gets to help Mommy with her salad.

After a little shopping and a stop at the cupcake shop, we went to the Paradiso movie theater.  McKenzie has the Bieber Fever and she and Betty were going to see the Justin Bieber movie.  Matt and I had intended to just go to a few stores and kill time until the movie was over, but he decided he wanted to go see Gnomeo & Juliet.  Betty and McKenzie really enjoyed their movie, Matt thought his movie was funny, and I enjoyed my $7.50 nap.  Yes, I followed in my mother's footsteps and fell asleep during the movie.  I didn't make it much past the opening credits but I woke up in time to get us some popcorn and still see the main part of the movie.  Back in 1977, my mother took Andy and me to see Star Wars and slept through the whole thing!

This is the line Betty and McKenzie had to stand in to get into the movie.  The place was crawling with little girls suffering from Bieber Fever!

We finished the day by eating at the Side Porch Steakhouse to cap off a wonderful day!

Valentine's Day is also the birthday of two lovely women in our family.  We'd like to wish a very Happy Birthday to Nana.....

...... and BettyWard.

Snow Day

The kids are home today enjoying a snow day. McKenzie suckered me into giving her and Matt their Valentine baskets early since they would be home today to enjoy them. She did have a point and I am glad we gave in. Here are a few pictures of their goodies.

McKenzie loved her new thermos for school and new charms for her charm bracelet and necklace that she received for Christmas. Matt loved his new Iron Man costume and dinosaurs.

I am loving these Valentine ring pops I found for them...so cute! They are made to look like a diamond ring in a case.

Speaking of Iron Man, Matt is very into super heroes these days. I hear that his daddy was the same way at his age.

It's so fun to watch Matt pretending to be someone different everyday. David and I loved this commercial that was aired during the Super Bowl. It was a commercial for Passat but had a little boy in it that pretended to be Darth Vader. It reminded us of our life these days with our little super hero! If you haven't seen it check it out...It is so cute!!!!!!

The Stain Fighter

Thursday McKenzie participated in her first science fair.  Her project was "Which Laundry Detergent Works Best?".  She tested five different detergents and included water as a baseline.  It was a good experience for her and they weren't required to do one, so I'm proud of her for wanting to do it.

Her findings were that All with Oxi-Action Stainlifters worked the best at getting out mustard and jelly stains.  Clorox II was the worst.

Good job, McKenzie!!!