Ten Things

1. Sleepy Sprout!

2. Silly boys after school and the little one very happy with his new little Destiny.

 

3. Riley got to try out nunchuks at tae kwan do class a couple of weeks ago. I think he thought they were cool, but he had a bit of trouble doing what Master Candace wanted him to with them.

  

Then the next week his friend Matthew had to make up a missed session so he came to Riley’s class. Riley was excited to have him there, and Rory and Sophia had fun playing together while their older brothers practiced their moves. Riley also got a birthday headband from Master Candace.

4. Zac’s Angry Birds birthday party was on Saturday, August 20. The boys had a great time!

5. Dana, Diana, Lynn, and I went to see Bad Moms at Canal Place at the end of August and had a great night out. It was fun recognizing all of the locations around New Orleans where the movie was filmed!

6. Riley with his new birthday Lego sets and his coveted Ninjago snake guys.

  

7. Dana, Erin, Jenn, Lizzie, and I all attended the New Orleans Moms Blog Annual Night Out at NOMA on August 27. The theme was “27 Dresses” so we all wore old bridesmaid dresses. It was a fun night!

Jenn even made us recreate a picture from the movie Bridesmaids before we left to go home. Classic.

8. September 3 was the opening game of the 2016 LSU football season. It was a pretty historic game: the Tigers played Wisconsin at Lambeau Field. Kenny left on Wednesday morning to fly up north. He visited a few customers in Minnesota, met up with our friend Adam in Chicago, and then headed to Green Bay. They had a great weekend (despite LSU losing), and the boys and I survived back home. We even went swimming at Nola and Nopsi’s the morning of the game.

 

9. When I asked Rory one recent morning how he would smile for his school pictures (which are this week), this is what he did.

10. I am in the middle of my fifth week of half marathon training, and I have one thing to say: it is hot out there. I’m doing well with the training schedule, but I think it would be loads easier if it cooled off a bit. Pushing through the humidity has been no fun. I relish the cloudy days!

Fingers crossed for nice weather in Orlando come race day!

6th Birthday Interview {Riley}

What is your favorite color? Dark green

What is your favorite toy? Legos

What is your favorite fruit? Mango

What is your favorite tv show? Ninjago

What is your favorite movie? Nightmare Before Christmas

What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Little smokies

What is your favorite snack? Fruit roll-up

What is your favorite animal? Scorpion

What is your favorite song? The Ninjago theme

What is your favorite book? The Ninjago character encyclopedia

Who is your best friend? Claire

What makes you happiest? Playing with Legos

What do you want to be when you grow up? I want to go to Daddy’s work.

What is your favorite drink? Strawberry lemonade

What is your favorite holiday? My birthday

What is your favorite thing to do outside? Splash in Nola’s pool

What is your favorite game? Playing with Legos

What do you like to sleep with? Giraffey

What is your favorite thing to wear? My Jack Skellington shirt

How would you describe yourself? I would just draw a poster of me and all the things that I like.

What is the best thing about you? That I have lots of favorite things

Video Tuesday: Pillow Heads

Before one of their sleepovers a few weeks ago, the boys put their pillows on their heads and stumbled around Riley’s room for a few minutes before getting into bed. Please enjoy their silliness.

Happy Tuesday!

Video Monday: Diving into the Pool

Since I basically had the Olympics on anytime coverage was shown, the boys got fairly familiar with the games. So much so, in fact, that they made up their own swimming game. Please enjoy.

Happy {Labor Day} Monday!

Riley’s 6th Birthday

We had Riley’s 6th birthday party last weekend at the Jazzercise facility. It was the perfect space for what we did: Legos, of course! Bricks4Kidz, the same company that put on the summer camp, came out for Riley’s party. Teachers Abbey and Katie were there to help the kids, and they brought lots of different build options.

 

Riley really wanted a Ninjago party, but unfortunately Bricks4Kidz didn’t have any specific Ninjago builds. However, Riley settled on a few pirate-themed builds since the latest season of Ninjago is about sky pirates. The kids built either a pirate ship, a trebuchet, a chomping crocodile, or a fishing pirate.

They also had plenty of time for free play with the huge bag of loose Lego pieces. This is always Riley’s favorite part. In fact, I was impressed that he actually sat down to do one of the structured builds. But he was very sweet and helped Colin build a chomping crocodile.

In lieu of the typical games that Bricks4Kids usually does during birthday parties, Riley requested the same volcano experiment that he did in summer camp. The kids collaborated to build the volcano out of Legos and then Abbey made it erupt by adding vinegar to baking soda and food coloring. They loved it and of course asked if they could touch it.

 

After the volcano and a bit more free play, it was cake time. Kenny and Grandma actually got the cake done a few days before the party, which worked really well. Riley requested a green djinn blade (a special sword in Ninjago), so that’s what they did. Kenny said it was one of the easiest cakes he’s done, and it looked really cool when it was all done.

We lit the candles (held by Lego guys custom built by the birthday boy), sang to Riley, and cut the cake. It was a fun party; I think Riley had a great time!

  

Riley opened his presents when we got home and was so excited to see what he got. He especially loved the Nightmare Before Christmas movie from Alcee and the big Jack pillow from Claire and Colin. He immediately started putting together a small Lego set and Rory insisted that Kenny set up the new marble run. Happy boys!

 

Riley’s actual birthday was Tuesday. Kenny hung the balloons leftover from his party in front of his bedroom door so that he got a surprise when he woke up. And I decorated his place at the breakfast table with streamers, balloons, and his birthday plate. He was excited to discover it all that morning!

He unfortunately had to go to school on his birthday, but I found a big birthday sticker that I put on his shirt before we left. He came home that afternoon wearing a birthday crown and with a special note from Mrs. Smith. And a birthday homework pass! He decided to save it for another day. I offered to take him to get Tutti Frutti or another treat after school but he decided he wanted to just go home.

His class celebrated the three August birthdays yesterday. We contributed donut holes and they also had juice pouches. He said it was fun!

Happy happy birthday, my sweet Riley-bean. Daddy and I love you so very much!