6/2 - Aiden's 5th birthday

We had Aiden's 5th birthday party yesterday (Saturday) at the house. He chose a dinosaur theme this year. He found the cake he wanted months ago so I went to make the basic rectangle cake on Thursday evening. We'll, I used my Coke recipe (using a can of coke rather than oil, eggs, etc) but used a different brand than normal. As I'm pouring it into the pan, I'm thinking it looks to runny and then notice on the box it says mix for 4 minutes (my normal brand is only 2 minutes) so I pour it back in to the bowl and continue mixing which thickens it up. After I let it cool some and flipped it over to let it cool some more and then ice it, disaster strikes. It was so moist that it stuck on the bottom of the pan in the center but I just assumed it was because the non-stick stuff didn't work since I dumped the batter out of the pan and it must have messed up the no-stick stuff. I get another cake mix on Friday morning and re-do it. Outcome: it still sticks!! I figure I actually need to use the eggs and oil but am totally frustrated by wasting my time and money on cakes that are sticking. Brad goes to the store on Friday evening and puts in an order for a 1/2 sheet cake with just chocolate frosting. Brad picks up the cake on Saturday morning (party isn't until 3:00pm) and then he looks at the dinosaur skeleton Aiden wants and makes a draft using the end of the fork. I then start to trace it using the white icing and get scared to death I'm going to mess it up so I hand it back over to Brad. He pipes in the rest (almost all) of the dinosaur and then I add the oreo crumbs I already prepared and a handful of dinosaur eggs (jelly belly candy). It turned out quite awesome I think.

It's hard to see put I cut out little dinosaur prints and put them outside from the driveway up to the front door. I then decorated the door with an 'A' and had dinosaur window clings on the side windows. The goodie bag eggs were a nice touch for the dinosaur theme. There were lots of unexpected guests so I got really busy real fast. That said, I didn't even take that many pictures. I made the eggs with baking soda, water, and black food coloring and then hid small dinosaurs in them. I gave everyone a round tinfoil pan with two eggs inside and a new toothbrush. They were supposed to excavate the dinosaurs. I also had vinegar in syringes to help the excavation process. It was a hit. Unfortunately, Aiden didn't want to do it but I put a tinfoil pan up away from the rest so that I could sit down with him and do it later. I was so bummed when I went to clean up and saw that towards the end of the party, someone must have grabbed it. Therefore, this cool sensory project I made for Aiden, he didn't even do. I think I'll make a few more eggs and still have him do it. It takes a few days for the eggs to completely dry put I think he would have fun doing it and discovering something. The backyard grass maze was a hit. Lots of kids running around and playing tag. It was drizzling a few minutes before Aiden's party started and was steaming hot about 30 min after it started. The kids were outside running the maze, playing basketball, using the stomp rocket, and excavating eggs. It was fun. To get some reprieve from the heat, we came in for some cake. It was delicious.

Apparently Saturday was a party day. There were a handful of people there who were party hopping that day so half of them left after the cake was cut (and eaten thankfully). Aiden was very excited to open presents so we let him do that. He had lots of fun and it was sweet that the other kids were showing him how to use some of the toys he got. Mrs. Rusty (his occupational therapist) came with her 2 boys and Aiden was really excited about that. Mrs. Rusty is the closest friend I have here and Aiden just adores her and her boys, especially JB. Aiden got an electronic bank and both of her boys helped Aiden put all his coins in the bank. He's been asking for a bank since Christmas (daddy got one then) because as Aiden will tell you, he is "saving for car for when he turns 17." He just cracks me up. Ms. Jessica, our Cubbies helper, came to the party and Aiden was so excited. Although unplanned, she was a huge help. Eli just wanted to play outside in the water but Aiden was inside opening presents and playing with them and I was chatting with Rusty for a bit. Rusty and her family stayed for a bit and it was so much fun. The boys just all played together so well and Eric (her husband) and Brad were just chatting it up and Rusty and I could actually talk and have a conversation (although it was mostly about therapy stuff). Maybe I missed my calling. I love OT stuff but when I volunteered in college, it was at the VA and while I enjoyed it, it's a much different experience when you invest yourself in something that interests or effects you.

Overall, it was a great day. It went from a party of 2, to a party of 4, to a party of 6, to a party of 9 and ended up being a party of 12. It ended up that the two people from Aiden's daycare class that RSVP didn't even come. I had 2 late RSVP's (they called the night before) from his class and they came. The neighbor down the street came which I didn't know about and even brought 2 cousins to join in on the fun. One of his favorite daycare teachers came which he was excited about. For some reason, Aiden gets more focused on the grown-ups coming rather than the kids (JB was an exception). I think he just gets along better with adults and likes to talk them more. Kids his age tend to imaginative and ... he's not. :) He's very realistic so he can be imaginative if it makes sense and could be real. God knew exactly who needed to be at this party and it turned out great and was a great memory for Aiden. We are so thankful for the other kids and grown-ups in his life.

This past year has been a great developmental year for Aiden. He has become so much more independent with physical things (putting on his clothes, opening containers/bags), going potty, etc) and that has opened up a new level of freedom for him. His still loves routine but we don't have to use his picture schedule anymore (although he does use it sometimes). His ability to look ahead and plans things is quite amazing (in my opinion). He thinks things much farther out than I would think he should be able to. He is communicating so much better but still has a very hard time controlling his emotions and being able to communicate through his frustrations. He continues to strive to please people and not upset them which is sweet but I don't want him to base his life and his well-being on the response of others. I've done that it's no fun. I pray for more freedom for him than that. I love that he has a heart of gold but I pray he can balance it and learns that disappointing and/or offending people is not the end of the world.

10/30 - Brad's work Halloween party

I don't have too many pictures to post of randomness because I haven't taken many lately. Aiden was sick last Friday evening, and we kept him home all day Saturday. He missed a friends birthday party that Eli still went to (with Brad) and it was hard for him to understand why he couldn't go. It was a good teaching lesson for being sick and spreading germs and also realizing being sick isn't just about him but spreading it to others. We did let him go to Brad's Fall Festival for work. It's is a big show that they put on and we figured he wouldn't spread too many germs. He's actually really good at using his germ busters and thankfully, he hasn't been coughing all that much. He's just had no energy, hasn't been eating, and an occasional cough. When he does cough though, it's been sounding nasty. Aiden dressed up as a Biker Boy and Eli dressed up like a pirate.

Here is a little picture of Eli in his costume. Unfortunately, he lost the hats within 10-15 minutes of getting there.

They had 6 rooms decorated on each floor (there were 2 wings, 2 floors on each wing) and they had 3 different kinds of rooms: friendly, spooky, and scary. Scary was definitely out for us and some of the spooky rooms were just a little ... too spooky. Below the boys are in a friendly room, fishing for candy.

They did a great job decorating most of the rooms. Here is one in which the boys had to duck down to avoid cob webs which is why Eli is crouching down.

The one room was pretty cool. I was wondering why it was so crowded and why it was taking so long ... then we figured out why: angry birds. They had 2 stations set up and let the kids each take a couple turns hitting the cups they had set up. I don't think Aiden or Eli actually hit anything but they still gave them candy.

It was pretty cold outside but Aiden was determined to play golf. He got to hit the ball through three holes and then Eli got a turn. They had lots of fun. Look at the leaves everywhere ... I'm enjoying the seasons as much possible right now knowing that we are heading back to Florida.

Eli was pretty tired by the end of the night. Here he is resting on daddy while we go down the steps. He then realized I had the camera and perked up for a picture. Eli is just the best little snuggled. He just leans into his hugs and cuddles. I love it.

Overall, the night was a success. We got home late and Aiden fell asleep right away. He's finally starting to feel better which is very good news but it sounded like Eli was getting the cold this morning. This evening he was okay so we are just praying the rest of the family stay healthy.

10/10 - Daycare picnic & Awana

On Saturday, the boys daycare had a family picnic. It was from 12-2 which makes no since to me seeing how they nap at daycare everyday from 12-2. Anyway, we went for part of it and got there right at 12. The boys were excited to see the jump houses. We let them jump for a bit and then persuaded them to have some lunch.

They ended up eating a few bites and then going and playing and then coming back for more lunch. Below you can see Aiden throwing a ball at a couple of plastic cans and he knocked some down. He was having a blast.

Eli follows Aiden to most places so he wanted to try the game too. He was too funny. He didn't have enough skill yet to actually hit the cans from the far away so we had to eventually move him closer to the table.

He thought it was awesome when he actually hit some and they fell.

After success at the cans, Eli headed back to eat some of his hotdog. Of course Aiden wanted nothing to do with a hotdog so he had his yogurt.

Aiden is loving bounce houses now and usually asks to go in it right away. Eli is still learning to like the bounce house so he hesitates a little more. They both finally got in there and enjoy bouncing and wrestling. Eli is in the blue shirt with sleeves on the left and Aiden is towards the back with a white shirt that has a helicopter on it.

You can see in this next bounce house picture that Aiden was taking down Eli. I should include another picture showing Eli taking down Aiden but I'm saving space. These two go at it in the bounce house and have fun. I was so scared they were going to hurt someone else though so I eventually had to slow them down.

There was another inflatable there that had a ladder-type thing on it and they had to climb up it and then slide down. Here come Eli and Aiden down the slide. Eli loves to slide laying down and it's rare that he actually sits up to go down an inflatable slide. 

I was able to get a picture of Aiden with his teacher, Ms. Jennifer. She has an awesome southern accent that cracks me up. She does really well with Aiden and he likes her and is learning a lot.

The boys even got to go fishing. This game cracked me up. They put a fishing pole over the curtain and then someone puts a treat on the end of the line and then pulls at it (like a tug from catching a fish). Both boys enjoyed it and thankfully the teacher attaching the prizes gave the boys the same thing so there was no fighting later at home.

The other game they had there was a throwing the bean bag in the hole board. Here is Aiden throwing his bean bags. Eli did it too but he had to scoot a little close to get them in the holes.

Even though it's October, it was quite warm and sunny out on Saturday. This picture below is a special group of ladies!!! They are my Journey Girls (Journey is the name of the daycare/church) that I train a few times a week. From left to right is Susan (she's an unleashed monster), April (the director), Me, Erica (Eli's former teacher), and Shenika (Eli's new teacher). It all started with Erica and it's been so fun to train these ladies and see health-related improvements in them. Erica and Shenika think they are going to stop after the holidays but they don't realize I won't allow that :)  They are all doing such a great job.

As I mentioned in the last post, I've been updating Aiden's Therapy Book to include his occupational therapy exercises. While I was taking pictures of his stuff the other day, he insisted on being in the picture. He cracks me up. He likes tools and such so when Rusty showed us this exercise, I knew I would have to get some stuff so we could do it at home. He has to take the little nuts and gather them in his hand, one by one. Then he has to put a little nut inside a big nut one at a time (using only his left hand). This makes him have to manipulate all the muscles in his hand to move the nuts around so they won't fall and is great therapy. After I bought the gigantic nuts (we literally bought the biggest size they had), I told Rusty we had gotten some nuts for us to do therapy at home. She asked if I got the bolts too. I said, "no, we didn't use bolts the other day." She then informed me that putting the nut on the bolt is good therapy as well. I went back to the store and took my big nut with me but to make a long story short, we ended up just getting a package of nuts & bolts so he can do that too.

We check on the boys every night before we head to bed and I had to take a picture of Aiden. He was so cute because he was curled up on his pillow and had his head on his blanket. Totally opposite of how he should be. 

Here are a few pictures from Cubbies that I took on Sunday night. This is such a neat group of kids and I've enjoyed teaching them so far. The woman in the white sweater is Kristy, one of the leaders. Aiden is sitting at the table (it looks like she is pointing to Aiden) playing with play-doh.

I took this during 'Coming In Time' after we handed out all the vests. I want to get a group picture and think I'll try that this week. I imagine it will be difficult to get a group picture of this class but I'm going to try. 

Here is Aiden and two other Cubbies (DaMond & Eric) showing Cubbie Bear and Luv E Lamb the bugles they made. Another one of the leaders built that stage this year for our puppet shows and it's been great. Another friend had a good idea when I saw that she puts plastic table clothes over the toys and things that they kids are not supposed to play with. That works awesome for this class especially since there are a handful of kids that have an extremely hard time staying in their seat and not playing with things.

I can't wait to see what the rest of the year offers for Cubbies. I'll post more about Aiden's therapy and some medical stuff I've been dealing with in the next day or so.

6/3 - Aiden's 4th birthday

Aiden turned 4 yesterday at 2:20pm. I can't believe it's been 4 years. We decided to get a bounce house for this occasion. I really wanted the monster truck bounce house since that was Aiden's theme this year but it wasn't available so we settled for the crayon bounce house. The first two pictures show the boys helping daddy put in the stakes to hold the bounce house in place.

The party started at 10am and Aiden was pretty excited to wear his crown that he got at daycare. He was also excited to jump in the bounce house with his friends.

Here is his monster truck cake:

It was great for Papa to drive up with the cousins. Here are Graham and Aiden playing together in the bounce house. They played so well together and had so much fun.

Aiden worked up a serious sweat before it was time for cake. Here he is cooling down and excited that he gets to blow his candle out.

We got a family picture. I'm determined that next year we'll be able to get one with both kids looking at the camera at the same time. No promise of normal faces and/or smiles, but at least eye contact with the camera is what I'm hoping.

I even got in the bounce house and played with Aiden for a bit. He was having lots of fun.

He was excited to open his presents and had lots of fun with his friends around.

Aiden got another surprise when Mrs. Lisa stopped by his party to say hi (his former OT). He has a special bond with her and trust with her that's pretty neat.

I tried to take a picture of the entire group but I kept cutting just one child off so I've just included 2 pictures to make sure I got all the kids. They had fun and so did Aiden = successful party. Back row: Sydney, Alyson, Kyleigh, Graham, Grayson, Eli, Raymond, Aiden; Front row: Maddie, Logan, Lilly, Blaise and Jordyn.

Aiden was so excited to have his cousins come that he couldn't nap. I was sad for that because he played hard but I don't blame him for being excited. In the afternoon, we had a sunday school party to go to but I'll update you about that later.

6/3 - An update since Disney

I can't remember if I posted about going to watch Clifford, but we took the boys to see Clifford the Big Red Dog. This picture is classic and I am in love with it. The look Eli is giving me is priceless!!

We got to go to a friends birthday party a few weeks ago and the boys had lots of fun with their friends. I haven't taken many pictures lately but here are a few from the birthday party. These two of Eli are just too cute not to include.

Let me explain Aiden's shirt. I forgot his so we had to borrow one because he's so fair skinned and would have burned.

Here is a group shot of all the kids. Aiden didn't want to look up at the camera. Eli wasn't happy but at least he would look up.

Here are a few random pictures. The boys playing at the train table and some iPad time (yes Eli is naked; fresh from the bath). We've been working on potty train with Eli and he does a great job if we take him to the potty. He doesn't tell us if he has to go yet, but he'll go if we take him to the potty. It's a work in progress but is going very smoothly so far.

We also had a girls night out for Stephanie before she leaves. It was a fun but somewhat sad night. She'll be here for one more week so I'm not going to be too sad yet. The last picture is the majority of the group that went to dinner.

Aiden started feeding therapy 1.5 weeks ago. It was very interesting and it's a work in progress. He is doing better at daycare and hopefully that will translate to progress at home and less struggle at meal time. I'll post soon about Aiden's birthday party that happened yesterday. Trying to play major catch-up is tough,