Four

John Michael turned four this week and we celebrated with ice cream and presents on his actual birthday followed by a party on Sunday.  And by "party" I mean we invited over two friends and their siblings plus nearby cousins and served sandwiches and cake and had no games or activities or party favors and then I had to leave abruptly to go look at rental houses that we're interested in.  So all in all, it was pretty successful.

John received some excellent presents including a tool box to hold all of his special treasures which currently include smallish Rescue Bots, Paw Patrol figures and Hot Wheels cars (not Matchbox, they have to have a Hot Wheels logo on them or they're no good, apparently).  He also bought himself a doctor's kit recently with his own money and asked me specifically if he could have a doctor's coat to go with it for his birthday.  When he got the asked for doctor's coat however, he was very upset because it was "too big" for him.  I tried to explain to him that doctor's coats are supposed to be long, all doctor's coats are that long, the definition of a doctor's coat is a long white coat, all to no avail.

I think I might have to hem it.  

He also requested a chocolate cake with chocolate icing which turned out to be not nearly as disappointing as our disaster of a present.    

I could go on about how I can't believe he's already four and how fast time flies by but I won't.
I can't though.  And it really does.

On Her Second Birthday

We celebrated Margaret's second birthday today and since I have an eleven day old baby it was a very fancy celebration indeed, complete with a store bought cake, delivery pizza and cousins.  Lots and lots of cousins.

We gave Margaret her dollhouse which was a big hit and she also got a high chair, stroller and Ergo for her baby dolls and a hair dryer/pretend make-up set to boot.  I'm afraid I didn't get any good pictures of her playing with her new toys so you'll just have to take my word for how adorable she looked wearing her baby doll while simultaneously blow drying her hair and pushing her stroller.  She will certainly make an excellent mother one day with those multitasking skills.

Before her party she maintained that it was not her birthday and she did not want cake or ice cream or presents--mostly because she's in a very ornery stage and automatically says no to pretty much anything you ask her.  But by the end of the day she was happily singing "happy birthday to me" with a tummy full of treats and arms full of gifts so I suppose she must have reconsidered her anti-birthday stance somewhere along the way.

If you ask her how old she is now, she will reply "two!" while holding up somewhere between three and five fingers only to quickly change her answer to "five!" while holding up all ten.  We'll obviously have to work on her finger counting accuracy but she's certainly got the enthusiasm down for being another year older.

...

Happy birthday sweet girl.  You bring us so much joy and laughter and maybe, just maybe, this year you can master bringing a little less screaming and ninja kicks :)

A Lego Party

  

David turns eight this week so naturally he wanted to celebrate with a Lego party.  We threw the standard Reintjes Family party involving a theme in which we could use mostly our old decorations, a homemade pinata, beer for the grown-ups, and pretty much no scheduled activities.

We brought down most of the boys Legos for everyone to play with and they were almost completely ignored.  Mostly the kids all ran rampant through the yard and house playing with various weaponry, Pokemon cards and eventually the opened birthday presents.  I think everyone had fun.

This year was fun because David was able to do a lot of help with the planning and execution of the party.  He put together the invitations, made Lego crayons for party favors with me and even took charge of the table decorations--which consisted of his Lego train and track and a big number eight.  He had very specific requirements for his cake, i.e. the same strawberry cake he always wants, which was tricky to bring into the Lego theme of it all, but we settled on a bunch of minifigures holding birthday candles.  It was pretty professional.

The whole party was pretty professional.  Or the opposite of professional, it's hard to say.

Either way, David had a really good day and that's the important thing, right?

On Turning Six

For his birthday this year, and after I explained again that everyone can't have a full blown birthday party every year or mommy would lose her mind, Henry decided that he would like to go to the zoo for his birthday.  Well, actually, he decided he wanted to go to Aunt Kate's house--the magical wonderland of everything my children love--but he settled for the zoo as a second best option.  If he hadn't I suppose I could have informed him that the Mandel's have given up eating everything that makes life worth living which might have swayed his opinion but I didn't have to resort to that, after all the kid does love the zoo.

In  typical Reintjes family tradition, we started the day off with presents which the kids love because then they have all day to play with their loot.  Henry is still incredibly into all things military so his presents were almost all army themed.  He specifically requested an army guy helmet, uniform and grenades* which Grandma Kazleman dutifully provided.  I'm already regretting the grenades, which apparently make explosion noises.  Awesome.  Since Henry's favorite pastime is building forts--like the one he was working on when he acquired that scar--I came up with the idea of a fort kit for his other big present when Aunt Courtney also wanted present ideas.  I was thinking camoflauge netting but Chris thought a Marine poncho liner blanket would be more practical.  Aunt Courtney just went with both, plus some really nice fort clips.  It's been a huge hit and now I've got interesting fort creations popping up all over the house, but on the bright side my blankets are all back in their rightful places.  As for us, we got Henry two army tanks to go with his well loved army men and some new coloring books, which goes to show you how lucky Henry is to have family to fill in those present gaps with everything his little heart desires :)

I was about to bake his cake the night before his birthday when I had the idea to suggest that he might prefer some ice cream instead.  I had to sweeten the deal with promises of every flavor he wanted, plus sprinkles, chocolate sauce and whipped cream but in the end he decided that what he really wanted was a giant ice cream sundae.  It was so worth not having to pull out the mixer on a Friday night.  For his special birthday dinner he requested mac n'cheese from a box and hot dogs.  He insisted the mac n'cheese be of the blue box variety and not the homemade everyday stuff.  Very fancy.

It was an all around great day even if  I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that it's already been six years since he made his (very slow) arrival on my second ever Mother's Day weekend.  I certainly would never have imagined a few short years later I would be spending my time researching camouflage netting and thinking up the best ways to hang said netting in my dining room.  Being a mom certainly brings plenty of opportunities for personal growth.

A very happy birthday to our not so little "Henny," as Margret calls him, much to his chagrin :)




*My Amazon links are affiliate links which means if you click on them and buy something I get a check in mail about once every three years, each time I hit that $11 mark.  Thanks for supporting the blog ;)

On Turning Three and Rolling to the Rescue

John John turned three today and he was pretty excited.

Partly because he's obviously a big boy now, but mostly because there was a Rescue Bot explosion in our house.  And what three year old doesn't enjoy an explosion of his favorite plastic monstrosity?  I kid, I kid.  Kind of ;)

Chris stayed home for breakfast and we gave John his gifts in the morning so he would have all day to play with them.  I spent the last couple of weeks crafting him a cardboard Rescue Bots fire station and making peg dolls of all the human characters.  They were a pretty big hit.  And since he's the reigning 'cutest grandchild/nephew in the history of grandchildren/nephews' the actual Rescue Bots also came pouring in.  Because that's what he needs.  More Rescue Bots.  No one can resist his adorable smile and sweet requests for just one more bot.

Well I can, but I'm his hard-hearted mother so I suppose I don't count.

After all the presents were unwrapped and daddy was sent off to work, we had some of John's friends over for two separate playdates that involved lots of Rescue Bots and also chocolate chip cookies.  Once Chris came home again we had the obligatory cake and special birthday dinner.  John requested fish sticks and a chocolate cake with blue sprinkles and a Rescue Bot on top.  Fancy.

The icing was not my best work.  Note to self:  don't attempt to make complicated icing while simultaneously monitoring multiple three year olds fighting over who gets to land which Rescue Bot where.   John didn't notice.  A frosting connoisseur he is not.

He had major second thoughts after he decided this was the bot he wanted to put on his cake but I wouldn't let him switch and frosting-ify more toys.  He got over it.  And licked his treasure clean once it was reclaimed.

Happy Birthday little man!  You are the sweetest, cutest, best hug giver in the family--and don't you know it :)  Roll to the rescue honey.  Roll to the rescue.

For The Birthday Girl

In our house, it can be hard to think of a first birthday gift since we have pretty much any toy an about-to-be-one-year-old could want.  Even with the addition of a little girl I was stumped.  She was already gifted a precious baby doll when she was born and the boys already have a play kitchen.  Aunt Courtney and Grandma Kazleman outfitted her for fall with a new coat and hat and some new dresses and bows.  What more does a little girl need?

More dresses and bows?

Well yes, but what does a girl need that doesn't cost any money but will nevertheless become a cherished keepsake that she will treasure for years and years to come and one day pass down to her own daughter with a misty look in her eye remembering how her mother lovingly made it for her all those years and years ago?  That's trickier.  No pressure Margaret.

Well, I have a little doll cradle that was mine when I was a girl with my name etched into the end.  It was the perfect size for Margaret's baby doll so obviously it's been living in her room and housing her baby since we moved here.  At some point it had a little mattress that went in it as well but that has long since disappeared, so the boys and I got to work making a new one with a matching pillow from some old sheets Grandma Reintjes gave us the last time we visited.  Goodness knows I can't say no to free fabric :)

I did the sewing and the boys did the stuffing.  I love that it turned into a team project, even if I did have to intervene and tell them that no, we would not be using the batting that they had shoved down their underpants to do a silly dance for the bedding and would they please stop because, gross.

Once we finished that, it was pretty obvious that what Margaret's baby really needed was a tiny doll quilt to keep it warm during these cold, cold Virginia winters.  So I spent a considerably longer time working on that.  I made it using scraps from her actual baby quilt as well as remnants I saved from some pillows that were made for me when I was born and some of my own baby clothes.....so I guess what I'm saying is that it's extra special.

This project has taught me that I am utterly incapable of sewing squares in straight lines and/or getting patchwork anything to line up correctly when I'm using a sewing machine.  I quilted it using pink embroidery thread which did a fairly good job at disguising the wonkiness of it all.  Mostly I'm hoping Margaret will grow up really appreciating things with that lovely "homemade" quality about them and not notice that mom is not a professional at this.

I also picked out this little hardback collection of Eloise Wilkin stories for her, because even the baby who has everything can always use another beautiful book, am I right? 

  

So far, David likes the book more than Margaret and John John has spent the most time tucking the baby in with the new quilt but I'm sure Margaret will really love and appreciate her presents.  You know, eventually.