Get your own drink sista

Maggie is a good baby.  She does, however, have a few quirks I'm not fond of.  

The biggest one is not taking a bottle or sippy cup. 
(Another is her teeth grinding!  She only has 5 teeth for heaven's sake!)

Before you suggest anything, I have tried it all.  water, formula, yogurt, breast milk in all kinds of nipples and sippy spouts.  I even went away overnight (30+ hrs) and she held out!  She was eating solid food so she wasn't starving.  So I finally took my friends advice and gave her a cup with a straw.  It took a few tries, but when I strapped it to her tray with some rubber bands so I could do the dishes while she played with the cup, she figured it out!

 The best part of the day wasn't Maggie's discovery though.

 It was Livie's comment that had me laughing so hard.

She said, "Great, now she looks like a guinea pig!"

Because we are a Super Family

We went to our local Chick Fil A's kid's night.  

It was Super Hero night! 

 George was Spider Man, Ginnie was an Incredible, and Liv was Cat Woman!

(George is not meditating, Ginnie is a little confused and thinks webs come out of her hands,

and Liv misunderstood that Cat Woman was not a pouncy little kitten.)

Like most things we do, it is said, "Close enough!  Let's eat!"

 Our little Super Heroes ate for free because of their costumes.

 He even figured out how to eat with his mask on.

This pic is just to prove we didn't leave the baby behind.

Liv said she was like Jack Jack in the Incredibles and no one knows she is really Super yet.

Troy's News

We have been a little out of it lately.  It has been a rought few weeks.  I really have not felt like posting anything and now I'm back logged.  I just mass posted a birthday series because of the amount of pictures I had. 

Troy had surgery a couple of weeks ago.  Everything all happened pretty fast.  I'll let him tell you more, but I wanted everyone to know he is getting lots of love.  Maggie even offered to help his rest.

I love this man beyond words.

The Pirate Party

George has been asking for a Pirate party for 2 years now.  I don't even know where this idea came from.  But last year we didn't have birthday parties (we celebrated with our family of course).

We had a baby instead.  :)

 So, invites went out to a few of George's friends (not many, we have a small house and figured it would be rainy as April often is) and I started baking.  I have finally learned to start baking days ahead and freeze my cake!

 I need to work on my piping skills.  

Or maybe invest in a pastry bag instead of a ziplock with the corn cut off!

 This cake didn't take long at all.  I was loving the simplicity compared to past years.  

I might be out of cake retirement....

 The Pirate-y Spread.

 Dolphin and whale shaped chicken nuggets, different type of wings, and later came out fish sticks.

 Cannon balls are just black olives.  Add a little fruit and veggies and we called it a party!

 Stephanie saved me some work and brought the Deviled ships (that lasted 5 seconds!) YUM!

 Oops, if I wasn't in a hurry, I'd fix this.  Maybe later..... ha ha, yeah right.  If you tip your head you can see the seaweed salad (linguine alfredo mixed with spinach and a little food coloring), bread stick X's, Pirate Booty, and pineapple rings.

 The final cake with sails and of course, Pirates!

 Arrrrrg!!!!

I couldn't help it.

The cutest Pirate ever!

 George is wearing his "Captain George" pirate shredded shirt (thank you vista print!).

 The Crew seemed jovial.

 And the porch, thankfully could be used.  It was under the beginning stages of remodeling, and the weather was warm enough to play in.  When the rain was pouring, it was a much needed play space!

Now George is thinking of a Baseball party next..... Poor kid does not really have a concept of time.

Arrrrrg!

After a sweet b-day breakfast, we asked George if he was missing anything for his birthday.  It took a while before he guessed presents.  (I am taking that as a good thing!)  

Troy and I started looking around, we made big eyes at each other and with horror in our voice,

we told George that Pirates must have took his presents! 

 But, alas!  There was a button and note where the gifts would have been.

 Ohhh, there is hope for getting his gifts!

 First one found in the pantry!

 Livia gladly read the clues for George and let him take the lead on where to go.  

It was great to see all three kids totally into the hunt!

 Of course, those pesky pirates went back and forth from upstairs and down stairs to try and wear out the little explorers.

 Ginnie got a little sidetracked with new dress up outfit.....

 Hey, look what fell out of the freezer!

 He ended up looking for the 7th, and last gift outside.

 Triumph!

 The Loot!

 It was a great day, even George agreed.  

His requested spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.  

It was a little hard to find a place for the candle, but garlic bread saved the day!

A black bottom cake for the finale!

George is Odd!

Having a kid every other year makes for some fun patterns.  

1. As one kid begins homeschool for Kindergarten, the next youngest child starts our favorite pre-school program at the near by Lutheran school. 

2.  Each child will get to spend at least 1 year with a sibling in the 0-2, 3-5, 6-9 classes at church.  It really helps in the transition of classes.

3.  All the kids turn Even and Odd number ages during the same year.  This is an Odd year and George is the first of the kids to be an Odd number.  The girls are still 6, 2, and 0 (10 mos).

I like to get a picture of the birthday kid first thing in the morning.  

Usually we are greeted with, "It's my Birthday!"  

Not this day.

 George thought I was Virginia bothering him and I heard, 

"Ginnie, leave me alone!  I want to sleep!"

I told him it was me, and he opened his eyes to smile and say, 

"I'm FIVE!"

That was better.

 George, Maggie and I headed to the local bakery to pick out a special birthday breakfast.  

Those wonderful ladies even sang to him!

 George picked a monster chocolate glazed donut, 6 assorted donuts for the fam, 

4 chocolate men cookies, a back bottom cake, and a mini lemon folded pie (huh? weirdo!).

 He was so excited!

 Of course there were candles and singing before we ate.

It was a good start to being Five.