Monday, February 18, 2019

May: Alex's 6th Birthday Party!

On May 7, 2016, we had Alex's 6th birthday party.  He wanted a Star Wars themed party, so we decided to go all out.  We rented some space in a local park, donned our best Star Wars attire, stuffed a BB-8 pinata, and met

(Going ahead of time on May 9)
Greeting Alex, first thing in the morning to say "Happy Birthday"
to him!




















Happy 6th birthday to our big boy Alex!!  Love this goofy,
sensitive, and sweet little guy!

He enjoyed his birthday cards from family members.



Now let's back it up a few days to May 7, 2016 when we had Alex's birthday party.  It was a cold, misty, and overcast day, but we were ready to celebrate our big boy's special day!  We donned our best Star Wars apparel, charged up our light sabers and headed over to Auburndale Cove to celebrate.

Alex was ready to rock and roll with his light saber.
Our happy little "Storm Pooper" Penelope was ready
to have fun as well!





"Luke Sky"water"" and "Vador-Ade"
(As you can tell, I scoured Pinterest and had quite a bit of
fun with the labels.)
"Use the forks"  "Trooper Scoopers" and "Falcon Ship Dip"



"Wookie Cookies" for our dairy and nut free friends

Pretzel "Light sabers"

Unfortunately the Death Star was filled with brownie
and was thus quite top heavy and toppled over and smashed
the second tier of the cake.  Regardless, Alex was still
absolutely in love with his cake and all was well in the world.

Thanks Kristen and Pete for yet another awesome birthday cake!!
Alex's cake was a Lego Star Wars cake, so he chose six
of his favorite Lego Star Wars characters to put on the cake.
Unfortunately, as we were in transit, the Death Star
at the top of the cake toppled over and smooshed the front of Alex's cake.
Womp wommmmmp.
Alex handled it like a champ and still loved it nonetheless.















Alex's friends, classmates, and their siblings, chowing
down.




William enjoyed the cake alongside one of Alex's
classmate's siblings.

After cake, we brought out the BB-8 pinata that had been stuffed with dairy-free treats and little toys.  The kids had a lot of fun taking a whack at it.

William had fun whacking at the pinata.









Everyone in the party tried to break the pinata, but it was
 this child, a cousin of one of Alex's classmates, that finally
busted the pinata.  The kids immediately scattered to get as
many goodies as they could.
After that, Obi Wan Kenobe and Darth Vader arrived at the park!  The kids were totally thrilled and Alex and William were so surprised.


Alex was using the force in this picture.





Each child got to dress as a Jedi and got their own
light saber so they could train to be a Jedi as well.





Our little Jedis with Darth Vader.






The little Jedis met their nemesis.


It was time for the Jedis to be trained by their Jedi master.






Lol!  This guy was no joke.  :-)





















William LOVED battling Darth Vader.


Group attack!




After the kids adequately battled Darth Vader, they enjoyed getting
temporary tattoos.

The force was strong with us that day.
Happy birthday, big boy!!
















Koharu gave William a sweet good bye hug.



The whole family "helped" Alex open his presents after the party.
This is one of Oscar's favorite past times.





We had the best time celebrating Alex's special day.  It was so awesome to see his little Star Wars dreams come true. 

Until next time...

Love and kisses,
Nikki

Monday, June 5, 2017

May 2016 Part 1: Family Visit, Ben Folds, and William's Play

May 2016 brought us a lot of fun.  Most specifically, Joseph's parents and Aunt Nelli from Greece visited.  We also celebrated Alex's 6th birthday with some of his classmates and our close friends.  Then, we had a blast watching William perform as the Wise Octopus in his school's rendition of The Rainbow Fish.  Amidst all of these celebrations, we had a lot of fun playing around outside and enjoying the warmer weather.
The boys being silly on May 1.
Joseph's aunt Nelli had great chemistry with Penelope.

Penelope loved flying around the kitchen with aunt Nelli.

We enjoyed having aunt Nelli, Ilias, Elias and Linda at our home
for dinner and catching up.  It's always nice to have family around us.
Penelope enjoyed nibbling on her feet on May 2.
Our little puppers Oscar howling in the car.
Playing around with Penelope on May 3.
May the 4th be with you!!  On May 4th, our boys rocked their
Star Wars apparel properly.  :-)

Snack time!  Whenever I do dinner preparations, I always
have a few little vultures circling to get a few scraps of vegetables.
Here's our little munchkins nibbling on some peppers.

She didn't have any teeth at the time, but she loved
gumming on the pepper.

On May 6, Joseph and I enjoyed a rare breakfast date together at one of our favorite restaurants, Mooo.  We had such a great breakfast together with our little munchkin Penelope as a tag-along.
Joseph and Penelope, snuggling while waiting for our breakfast.

Snuggling with our best girl.  :-)

The boys playing around at the Auburndale Cove playground.

Penelope loved giving sloppy and gummy kisses to her big brother Alex.

He liked it, too.
The kiddos playing around on May 6
Alex and Oscar snuggling before bed time.
On May 7, 2016, after Alex's birthday party (in next post), Joseph and I drank a tall cup of coffee and headed out on a date night!  Our favorite musician, Ben Folds, was in town for a concert.  Joseph decided to splurge and purchase a special package in which we were able to listen to him rehearse and then go to a meet and greet!  It was an awesome concert and an unforgettable night.  We've been listening to Ben Folds since we were in high school.  Whenever Joseph has the time, he always plays Ben Folds music for our kids at home on the piano.
Super excited to see Ben Folds' rehearsal with Y music!!!
So, super excited to meet Ben Folds!!!!  I totally fangirled and thanked him
for his music because when our children as infants were crying in the middle of the night,
we would play the song "The Luckiest" and ALL of our kids would calm down immediately.
(Yes, I told him that story.  He seemed touched and said, "Aww, thank you!"....but he was
probably creeped out a little bit by my enthusiasm.)

Nevertheless, we finally got to meet him and it was awesome.  :-)


Ben Folds rehearsing with the musical group Y Music.

What an awesome experience!!

After the meet and greet, we grabbed a quick brewski
before the concert started.  So happy to be out and about
with the hubs to see our favorite musician.


He's such a hilarious performer.  I like his commentary in between songs.

He also encourages sing-a-longs during a few of his songs.
It's such an awesome experience.
Miss P, making a meal out of her foot on May 8.  :-)

Our cheeky and drooly little girl.  :-)

She's such a love.

William and Penelope snuggling together before Penelope's nap.

He loves his little sister so much and she adores him as well.
On May 10, 2016, William's school put on a play based on the book The Rainbow Fish.  William and his fellow classmates did a wonderful job singing songs and memorizing their lines so that their play went off without a hitch.  They did a spectacular job and William made the most adorable "Wise Octopus."  I was so proud of him and his fantastic performance.

Penelope and I were excited to see the show.
William and his classmates entering the play.

So proud of our little octopus.

I was so impressed that he could tolerate that giant costume.


William, our cutie patootie.






















The play is over!  Time to dance with friends!

He enjoyed holding hands and dancing with his friend Skylar.

Our adorable wise octopus.

He loved performing!

Such a cutie!

Penelope and I posing with the cutest octopus.

Time for Alex's 6 year old check up!

One of our favorite nurses measuring Alex's height.

Penelope wanted to join Alex in his picture.

Then William joined in.  Love our little crew.

Our happy little pup in one of his happiest places, the passenger seat.

On May 11, 2016, William did a second production of his play.  I was so thrilled to be able to see him perform again.
"Hi Mommy!!"  He's such a sweetheart.


The cutest octopus, ready to deliver his lines.






The wise octopus gave sage advice to the rainbow fish
and suggested she share her rainbow scales with others.

William and his buddies.

Me and Miss P on a beautiful sunny day.

We bumped into our friend Ai-ris and her kiddos at the park that day.

Ai-ris, Penelope, and Koharu snuggling.

While William was on a play date with his friend Phillip.
On May 11, 2016, I was cutting fruit and had three little
fruit vultures circling around me.

One of our favorite games to play with one another
is rolling the ball back and forth down the hallway.
Penelope was beyond excited to join in the fun.
On May 11, 2016, I captured on video one of our favorite
songs to hum/sing around the house that's also accompanied
by one of our favorite little "dances."  Ladies and gentlemen...FLYING BABY!!


Our chunky little monkey, nibbling on her foot on May 12, 2016.

She's such a cheeky little one.

Our happy little girl.

Our darling little men loooooove froyo.  We were so
happy to discover that Pinkberry had dairy free options.
Penelope had a swinging good time at the park on May 12, 2016.

She looooved the swing!


William had fun in the train.  We were so happy
to finally be playing outside in warm weather.
The kiddos loved enjoying the warmer weather at the park.

Miss P chilling in the grass with her big brother William.

She had fun exploring the grass.

It's always so funny to find that Oscar has tucked himself
into the boys' beds after we've given the kids their baths.

May 13, 2016!  We officially have a 7 month old!  Our little princess slept through the night, sat up like a champ, said, "Muh Muh Muh Muh," loved baby mum mums and roasted sweet potato, and laughed hysterically at fart sounds and her brothers' antics.

Taking her monthly pictures proved to be a bit more difficult.

Our little nugget was much more mobile!!

Love her fuzzy bald head and chubbiness.

There's that beautiful smile!

Our little 7 month old was very vocal that morning.  :-)

May is always a very busy month for us, but we wouldn't have it any other way.  It's never boring, that's for sure and is always packed full of lots of fun!
Until next time...

Love and kisses,
Nikki