Nikolai's Birthday

Here is a backwards post about Nikolai's Birthday...again late, but still fun!



For his birthday we gave him The Fantastic Mr. Fox and The BFG. He also got a teepee...which did not turn out as well as my first attempt (I think, surprisingly, that a better made sheet makes a better teepeee) so we didn't take pictures of it. :(

Nikolai wanted a Jungle theme for his birthday...this is his tiger cake (minus the stripes). I put both of them in a tuperwear to stay moist and the frosting stuck to the lid...so, this one is missing his nose. :)

This is a big family picture taken at our house after Nikolai's baptism. He was lucky enough to be baptised on his birthday!

Andy baptised Nikolai...he did a great job and we're so proud of both of them!

This is a rhubarb coffee cake that Nikolai's loves. As you can see he is super-excited.

This is Nikolai's monkey pinata...it turned out great and everyone had a good time! He had several friends over for his party after school before school got out.

Thanks for making it to the bottom!

Andy's Graduated! Hooray!

I know this is old news...but I'm always behind...of course. But, here are some fabulous pictures of our baby brother's high school graduation. Go Mustangs!

Welcome Chicks!

We've welcomed five chicks to our house recently. Aleksi's kindergarten class watched several chicks hatch and we got to bring three of them home. We then got two more from D & B about a week later. They are hanging out in our sunroom keeping us entertained. Jay is building a chicken coop and we hope to have our own eggs in the future.

Happy Birthday Aleksi!

This is the teepee I made Aleksi for his birthday...he was really excited!

Aleksi and all of his presents.

Aleksi and the pinata.

I know it looks like it is "hanging," but it was the best we could do. :)

I made Aleksi a peach coffee cake in the shape of a chick for breakfast. He wasn't super excited, but the rest of us enjoyed it.

Aleksi wanted to have a "chick" birthday,...as in chickens, not babes. So, we made yellow rice crispie treats that I cut out in the shape of chicks to send to school, stayed up all hours of the night creating a chick pinata, and planned fun games for his friends to play (like pin the egg in the chicken's nest).

Aleksi had a great time at the party, and now I'm gearing up for Nikolai's here soon. Birthday's are exhausting, but it is so fun to see them happy and excited.

As always, my pictures are totally out of order and I am too lazy to fix them...enjoy this post backwards. :)

Sock Monkeys

A certain sister, who shall remain nameless, forced me (against my will) to spend hours upon hours of time sewing very difficult sock monkeys to give to the boys for Christmas. Okay, so she didn't force me, but it seemed like such a good idea! Needless to say, mine are nowhere near as fabulous as hers, but the boys love me anyway and in turn love their sock monkeys. A few months ago, while at our local Youth Ranch, I found a set of very cute sock monkey sheets for only $5.00. I couldn't resist. I finally got them on their beds by combining the set with another sheet set, and I think they couldn't be any cuter! I put the stuffed animals ont he bed for modeling purposes...they are very cooperative. :)

A Very Briner Easter

We had a fun time on Sunday having a post-Easter and Birthday celebration. Grandma had lots of fun things for the kids to do. The "big" boys went out and hid the eggs for the kids. Each one of the kids had to find a pink egg and a big egg. The smallest eggs were for the littlest kids.

Everyone lined up on the patio and had a great time looking for eggs in the yard and on the porch. Then, the "big" boys had to hide the eggs a second time. This time they could find as many eggs as they could, but they HAD to find the one with their name on it. Uncle Tommy aslo brought some hard boiled eggs along and he and Kiera had fun hiding those for the kids as well.

When everyone came back in, Grandma had a huge basket of prizes. The kids traded their egg for a prize of their choice. Then the adults were able to choose a prize as well. I got some nice lotion and big bag. :)

It was a really fun time and the my kids appreciated the egg hunt, since we were out of town this year. Happy late Easter!