One Week

Landon's birthday is one week from today. I still have no idea what we are doing for his actual birthday, but his party is almost completely planned. We had originally wanted to take Landon to Chick-fil-a for his birthday dinner. I figured it'd be perfect since he loves eating there and I wouldn't have to cook- win, win! Then I realized that his birthday falls on Sunday. That means no Chick-fil-a for our birthday boy. So now we are back to square one. We asked Landon where he would like to go for his birthday and he said, "Target, Chick-fil-a, and Toys R Us." I can't get him to come up with another dinner option. I wanted a place that was fun for him. Chuck E Cheese is out because of his milk allergy. I'm sure we'll figure out a fun alternative for him. It just may take us until next Sunday to decide.

The only thing left to plan for Landon's birthday party is the food. I'm having a mid-afternoon party so I don't have to prepare a meal for everyone. I will have several appetizers followed by cake. I'm just not completely certain as to what appetizers I will be serving. I refuse to serve even one piece of food that contains milk in it at Landon's party. My feelings on it are this- Landon's party is a day for him. We are celebrating him on that day and he should be allowed to eat what everyone else is eating. It's not fair to say that he can't eat a certain snack on his special day just because it contains milk. On normal get-togethers and family celebrations that aren't centered around Landon, then yes we have milk containing foods with Landon safe alternatives. For Landon's own party I don't think it is fair for me to serve other party guests a milk containing item and tell Landon that he can't have it. I fully expect to have to take along a cupcake and other food for Landon when we attend birthday parties. I even expect to have to take along food when we eat out at a restaurant. However, I refuse to serve Landon alternative items at his own party. That's just my feelings on it and I hope everyone who comes is ok with the food selection.

The party decor is almost complete and I can't wait to see it all pulled together. Landon chose to have a Cars themed party. At first I wasn't into having a character themed party. Now that I have it planned out I am looking forward to the big day. Landon is looking forward to it as well. He's been so opinionated along the way with the party decor so I hope it turns out the way that he's picturing it in his head.

Pine Cone Bird Feeder

Landon has been wanting to make a pine cone bird feeder for several months now. Every single day he brings a couple of pine cones back home from our walks and asks if we can make one. I always forget to pick up bird seed when we are at the store. I remember as soon as we are pulling out of the parking lot. Running back into the store is not an option for the sake of my sanity. I would hate to hear the whining for a second time as to why he can't have a certain toy or a bag of Skittles. Once per store outing is enough for this mommy! I finally remembered the bird seed before we hit the check out lane on our last trip to the store. Landon was thrilled to pieces when I told him that we were going to make his bird feeder.

Spreading the peanut butter

Rolling the pine cone in bird seed

Getting ready to hang it

We then topped the afternoon off with a picnic lunch. It was Landon's idea of a perfect afternoon and I have to agree!

I'm still not entirely sure whether pine cone is one word or two. I spent more time googling that topic than I care to admit to and I still do not know the answer. I decided to make it two words since I have always done it that way. If anyone knows the answer, then feel free to say so in a comment! It would put my mind at rest.

Life with a Boy

Life with a boy means finding action figures and rocks in the oddest of places. When I am cleaning the house I always find something where it does not belong. Today was no exception. 

There was a rock on my candle stand

Batman was on a shelf where pictures are

Cyborg and Buzz Lightyear were on another shelf with pictures 

I can't help but to smile and laugh a little when I come across these things. My house is overrun with action figures and random objects like rocks. And I wouldn't have it any other way!

April Showers

Landon isn't the type of child that can be kept still. He loves to be outside and on the move even when it is raining. I see no harm in allowing him to play in the rain. As long as there is no thunder or lightning and the weather is still warm, then I'm all for him having a happy childhood filled with dancing in the rain and puddle jumping. I have fond childhood memories of playing in the rain and wading through the knee high runoffs of water at the bottom of our hill. I love re-living those moments with Landon.

Cereal Monster

Landon has a new favorite food- cereal! It has only taken me the past two years to talk him into trying it. I guess the trick was asking him to pick out a box of cereal at the store. I'm not a fan of the sugar content, but at least he likes it. Now we'll just have to work on the cereal selection. I thought it would make breakfast time easier, but I was wrong. Landon still wants pancakes every single morning. He likes to eat the cereal at night before bed. Truth be told, I don't mind him not wanting to give up his pancakes. I love our pancake making mornings together.

Indoor Activities

It was incredibly smoky outside last week from some wild fires. It was torture keeping Landon indoors when the weather was so amazing. We managed to pass the time by playing countless hours of Candy Land and creating Play-doh monsters.

We also grew an alligator and turtle in the kitchen sink.

He even arranged his super heroes into a line to have story time told to them by Lightning Mcqueen.

When he became bored of all of the above he took my camera and snapped tons of pictures of Tinkerbell.

I sure am glad that the smoke has cleared and that we can enjoy our days outside once again. I definitely have a boy that needs to get outdoors several times a day to keep his behavior in check.

DVD Coloring Case

I came across a great way to recycle DVD cases while perusing Pinterest. The DVD case was turned into a coloring case. I loved this idea and started making one right away. It was super easy to do and I already had all of the materials on hand. All you need is a DVD case, a utility knife, fabric, a piece of cardboard, and spray adhesive.

The first step is to cut out the part of the case that holds the DVD in. Mine is rather sloppy looking, but I did almost lose my finger in the process. Learn from my mistake and never cut towards the hand that is holding the DVD case still.

The next step is to cut a thin piece of cadboard to cover the part of the DVD case that was just cut. I used a mailing box for this. (I ordered one from the post office around Christmas time without knowing that they came in packs of ten. I always knew I'd find a use for the extras sooner or later!)

You then cover that piece of cardboard with fabric by using spray adhesive. I don't actually have a picture of this step. My main concern at that point was not getting blood all over the place so I didn't want to touch my camera. A second piece of fabric will then be folded down to make a pocket. Spray adhesive that piece of fabric onto the fabric covered cardboard. You then spray adhesive the fabric covered cardboard onto the DVD case. Lastly, I glued a piece of scrapbook paper into the clear plastic slots.

This is the end result. Mine is slightly unever in some areas, but I don't think that will matter to my three year old. I also found that pages from those small coloring books (found for $0.50 at most stores) fit perfectly into the slots where the DVD informational page once was.

I have a feeling this will work out much better than the crayon roll in shopping carts. It'll keep my busy boy entertained while shopping or even in his car seat. I will no longer have to attach the traveling lap table to his car seat. The hard backing of the DVD case will be enough support for him to write and color on.

Much better step by step directions and photos can be found here.

Fourth Birthday Countdown

"How many more days until my birthday?"

That is the question that I am asked minute after minute for days, if not for weeks now. Landon is so excited for his upcoming birthday. I decided that we would make a paper chain so that he could visually see how many days are left. It hangs right outside of his bedroom door so that he can take one ring down as soon as he wakes up every morning. He'll then count it and wake me up by telling me the new number. T-minus 23 days until my baby boy is FOUR!

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday was a not our traditional Easter, but it was so much fun. Landon woke up and went through his Easter basket. The first thing he asked about was if his magic jelly beans sprouted into lollipops. I told him a story about how those particular jelly beans were magic and if he planted them, then they would sprout into lollipops.

He was so excited to see if the jelly beans really were magic. He asked to check on these before he even asked to see what the Easter Bunny had brought him.

He then checked out his loot from the Easter Bunny. By the looks of it he was very happy.

Afterwards we ate breakfast and then headed out for Disney on Ice. My mom's main gift to Landon was tickets to the show. This year the theme was Toy Story. Landon had no idea about it until we got there. To say he was excited would be an understatement. He even dressed as Woody. He thought it was going to be a typical day of shopping at the grocery store while he was in his costume. He put on his costume as if it were a normal day- only Landon!

We had the most amazing seats- right next to the ice on the floor. It only added to Landon's excitement. He was all smiles throughout the entire performance.

Right around this point Woody saw that Landon was dressed as him. He gave Landon a tip of his hat and a thumbs up. It made Landon's day!

 When it was all over I asked Landon what his favorite part was. He couldn't stop talking about the Ken and Barbie scenes. I have to admit that they were my favorite as well. Those scenes were hilarious and filled with lots of music.

Landon even stood up on his chair to dance along to the songs. The little girl next to him quickly followed.

Landon made out like a bandit during the performance. Over priced cotton candy, snow cones, and a light up toy all at the same time. Reason #101 why Landon thinks that Mom Mom is way cooler than Mommy!

 At the end of the performance I had Landon take a picture next to the Toy Story 3 blocks. It didn't quite turn out, but he's still adorable!

Easter 2012

I hope everyone had as good of an Easter as we had. Our Easter weekend was a very busy one so it will be in a series of posts. I'll start with the Easter egg hunt that we went to at the zoo. It was our first time going to the one at the zoo. I think we found an egg hunt that we will be going to year after year. They did an amazing job at separating the age groups. Other places have tried and failed miserably. The older siblings are usually running into the egg area and trampling the younger ones. At the zoo they only allowed the child in that particular age group (for Landon it was 3 and under) and one parent on one side of the field. The other children and family members were to wait on the other side of the field where the rope remained up at all times. Landon finally did not get trampled on by an older child and he walked away smiling instead of crying. He even walked away with a prize winning egg! He won a stuffed monkey and he hung it up in his room as soon as we came home.

Waiting patiently for the egg hunt to begin.

 

He's been so brave this year with the Easter Bunny. We haven't had a single meltdown this year due to fear! Thankfully any Easter Bunny we've encountered has been without eye glasses. Landon says that he is scared of the ones with glasses.

His monkey that he won!

We also dyed some eggs on Friday. Landon wasn't as excited about this as I thought he would be. He was a good sport and did a few so that I could have my memory of us dyeing eggs together.

He came running to the table once I told him that the eggs had dried enough for him to put stickers on them!