A Pirate Party

Anders turned the big 5 this October.  We usually do a big party with friends for the 5th birthday and Anders requested a pirate party.  I have a love/hate relationship with parties.  I love planning them, making crafts, researching and creating games, and making food.  I hate the chaos of the actual party. So usually I do all the planning and work beforehand and Hans entertains the kids at the party.  He's the fun one....story of my life.

 All the food had a pirate theme.

 We had several stations set up for the kids to visit.

This was Digging for Buried Treasure.

There was sand everywhere.  Actually, I'm still finding sand.

 They could also visit the Tattoo Parlor...complete with a grumpy tattoo artist.

 Pin the Eye Patch on the Pirate

 Hans realized the kids could see through the mask, making the game too easy.  So he took his shirt and wrapped it around the kid's head.

 Some kids got wild and crazy and wanted to pin the eye patch on upside down.

 Then the kids thought it would be a good idea to make Hans play the game.  See?  He really is the fun one.

 Then Hans worked on his acting skills by reading a pirate book.  The kids loved all of his voices.  They were hanging on his every word.

 My little pirate was really enjoying himself.

 He's trying hard not to blow out the candle before the song is over.  He just wants to eat the frosting off of the cupcake...he can't wait!

The party ended with presents.  All the kids like watching the birthday boy open presents...it's actually pretty funny to watch.

So looks like a fun day...right?  That's what the pictures will tell you.  But it was loud and crazy and a couple of the kids kept telling me how much they didn't like my food.  And that is all fine and expected.  But my little introvert who often separates himself away from a loud bunch decided halfway through his party that he would rather play up in his room all by himself than be with this friends.  There were tears when we told him he had to play with his friends.  I was partied out.  Can you guess why I don't do "friend" parties every year?

Sophie's Birthday

Hans, John, and Gus actually left for Canada on Sophie's birthday.  So we said goodbye to them, then Anders and I went to party with Sophie.  Sophie turned 13 this summer.  13.  I don't like teenagers...but I'll keep her around.

Anders had to be standing right next to her the whole time she was opening presents.  I kept calling him away and he kept going back.

Her big present from Pam, Debbie, and Glenn was this Ferris Wheel set.  That is one excited girl right there.

After present opening and ice cream cake we made our way to Medieval Times.

Anders takes his sword wielding very seriously. 

When you enter Medieval Times you are in a large room.  Trumpeters announce the presence of the king.

The king will knight the special guests.  The announcer called Sophie to the front.  She was not at all happy about this.  So Anders went up with her.  The announcer called him her bodyguard.  He's a cute little bodyguard.

They even put a little cape on him.

Once it was all over I think Sophie had fun.  But she is not one to draw attention to herself in a room of people she does not know.

Shortly after this the knighting the tournament hall was open.

We were cheering for the yellow knight.

Sophalicious and her mom.

Our knight did not win, but we all had a blast.

A Little ER Trip

After the Children's Program at Church we came home and tried to relax.  It had been a busy day.  Hans and I were just discussing what we were going to do for dinner as the boys were chasing each other around the house.  Apparently the day hadn't been as exhausting for them as it was for us.  All of a sudden we heard Anders scream and he ran over to us holding his head.  He said he had hit it.  When I took his hand off of his head to examine the wound, blood just started gushing.  For a long while Hans and I couldn't even get a good look at the wound.  We determined that an ER trip was in order.  Both of us had to go because Anders' head was still bleeding and he wouldn't hold a towel on it by himself.  So we quickly bundled up the boys and ourselves and headed to the hospital.

John was quite upset the whole way there because he felt like this was all his fault.  He had been chasing Anders.  It didn't matter how many times we told John that it was okay and it wasn't his fault.  John didn't calm down until he saw with his own eyes that his brother was okay.

Anders stopped crying long before we reached the ER.  All of the boys were troopers as we waited hours to be seen by a doctor.  Anders was a total rock-star and didn't even cry when he got his stitches.

Needless to say the evening was not relaxing.  But what should I expect as a mother of three rowdy boys.  Now all of the Fiene boys have been inducted to the stitch club.

 Before:

Yep, I know...it's gross.

After:

3 stitches later.

Anders' School Program

This year the preschool did a little Christmas program for the parents.  It was pretty cute and the kids did a great job with all of the songs.

 Anders was very excited when he saw us in the stands.

 He even had a little line to say.

 Anders and his teacher, Mrs. Best.  Her last name sure suits her, as she is the best.

I'm pretty sure Anders didn't care at all if Hans and I were there.  Debbie and Pam were the ones he really cared about.

Student of the Week

At some point in December Anders was the student of the week.  He was very excited to make a poster with lots of pictures.  He picked out the pictures, the special paper that was used for the letters of his name, and wrote all of the words.  He was very particular.

 I know he doesn't look like it, but he was pretty proud of his poster.

As part of the student of the week there was a Mystery Reader on Friday.  Early on in the week Anders kept asking who his mystery reader was going to be.  He asked Debbie if it was her...she told him no.  Then he said he knew it was going to be Pam.  He was convinced of it.  The funny thing is that I had asked Pam the week before if she would do it, but he didn't know that.

 He was happy, but not at all surprised when we came into his classroom.

 Pam had a captivated audience.

Anders was a very happy boy.

He loved being Student of the Week.

Miss A

Miss A was our second foster child.  She was with us for a little less than a month and got to go back home to her parents.  I say got to, because it was a very good thing.  She arrived on Halloween night.  We had a couple of other families over for dinner.  I don't remember much about that night other than crying.  Lots of loud crying.  I wonder if those families will ever visit us again.

We realized the next day that this little beauty, with full and healthy lungs, didn't actually speak English.  She is from Nigeria and her family had just come to the US for a visit and to seek medical treatment for her oldest sister.  After a day or two she became a little more comfortable and started to understand a little of what we were saying.  It warmed my heart to hear her walk around the house singing songs in her native tongue, Yoruba. 

The boys LOVED having a little girl in the house.  They would have done just about anything for her.  While we were all sad to see her go, we were glad she was reunited with her family.  Her parents are kind, gentle, and loving people.  Her dad took a picture with Miss A and the three boys the day she left and I'm told she has it framed next to her bed.

 When I found this dress I immediately thought of this sweater that my Grandma knitted.  Anders loved the idea of matching Miss A.  

 All of the boys loved her so much they just couldn't help but give her hugs.  It took a few days for them to understand that she didn't necessarily like strange boys who spoke a different language hugging and kissing on her.

Beautiful, sweet, spunky Miss A.

Flossing

The dentist came in to Anders' school to talk about dental hygiene.  Anders was obsessed with flossing for the next few days.

 He came downstairs one morning flossing like this.  Needless to say we've been going through a lot of floss.

And of course, when one boys gets his picture taken the other one wants his done too.  And there is Anders still flossing.  I wish I got video of this, he looks like he is sawing something.

Anders' Birthday

Yes, I am a horrible mother.  Anders' birthday came and went and I never blogged about it.  Take comfort in knowing we did actually celebrate the event.  We actually still had D with us so there were 4 boys chomping at the bit to open up presents and eat cake.

 This kid actually had a couple of celebrations because Debbie and Pam had us over to celebrate before they left for Florida.  We had to have the non-birthday boys sit on the couch so Anders could actually see what he was opening.

 The present he was the most excited about was his new bike!  It was chilly, but the boys went outside right after this to test it out.

 He was ready to open the rest of his presents the afternoon of his actual birthday.

The big four year old requested a Sonic the Hedgehog cake.  This was fun to do.

His birthday fell on a Sunday and we actually had a voters meeting scheduled that day.  So we brought the cake to church and everyone sang Happy Birthday and had a piece.

Cleaning or Playing?

These two finds lots of fun things in the playroom when they are suppose to be cleaning.

They are so darn cute.  I guess the cleaning can wait.

My Goofballs

Last summer, while the boys and Sophie were in Florida, they named themselves Goofballs.  They even went as far as to numbers themselves oldest to youngest.  They even sign birthday cards that way.  "Happy Birthday Goofball #2.  Love, Goofball #1"  Debbie thought it would be cute to get a shirt made.   For Christmas this year I gave the Goofballs a special shirt.

Debbie and Pam even bought them goofball glasses.

 Goofball #4 was being, well, a goofball and refused to take a picture.

A big thank you to my brother, Mark, for designing the shirts for me.  All 4 Goofballs love them!