Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Jack's First Day of School

This is Jack's second year of Preschool and he LOVES school! We got him into a preschool that is in a home of an LDS lady who is fabulous! It is called Happy Apple Preschool and we are loving everything about it so far! 

Sadly, we couldn't find the backpack that Jack wanted in the store and so we had to wait for another one to come to the store.  He used his cool batman bag on his first day.  Jack chose his clothes for his first day and I turned my head! Haha. 



Jack's teacher sent out these pictures of his class about a week into school.  Jack is on the back row, second from the right and his best friend, Coleman is sitting next to him.  Jack loves going to school with Coleman and everyday when they get to school, they run to each other and say, "Hi Buddy" and then give each other a big hug.  They are hilarious.


We got Jack's backpack and he LOVES it.  He wanted this one and not a single other backpack tempted him.  He loves carrying his school folder, theme day items, and his pencil holder in his backpack. 



Being silly, as usual. 


Friday, April 13, 2012

Jack's Birthday Party

Of course, we had to have a SUPERHERO party this year.  Being away from "home" and family, I decided it would be fun to do a little party with some of Jack's new friends here in Phoenix. 

I did a lot of planning beforehand, yes, mostly Pinterest and my friend Suzanne had such a cute Superhero party for her son a few months earlier and so I stole many ideas from her.  I knew things would be crazy with Mike's finals around the corner and Grandma coming into town and so I tried to do as much as I could before.  I did get a lot done, but my Mom was a "super"- star and really helped me pull this off. 

I made his invite and thought it turned out really cute!

I wanted to make the rainbow cake that I saw on Pinterest.  
It turned out SO GREAT! Stay tuned.....



We baked and decorated the cake the day before.  I have a dream of being a decent cake decorator someday and sadly am far from that, but I will say the cake turned out AWESOME!!!! I still get excited about it when I see pictures.



I searched Phoenix for a comic book store, so I could make him a birthday banner. Loved how easy they were to make and how great they turned out! 

We had a "Superhero Training Camp" for the kids.  
The obstacle course. 



My Mom and I made masks for each of the kids (my Mom brought the Batman ones for Jack. They are great!) and each kid went home with a Super Pop (Ring Pop). 


Everyone was invited to dress up as their favorite Superhero for the party.  We told the girls they could come as Princesses if they wanted.  Jack was Batman. 


All of his friends. 

Jack and Cara

Beginning the course...





Security.... haha

Our front door....
(Superhero Headquarters..... Please Fly In)

In front of our house...

Walkway to our front door. 

Present time! 
Jack got a lot of great gifts and after each gift, he would go give his friend a hug! It was so cute! 

Jack and Coleman


Yah, he hugged everyone! 

Sorry to say, but we have an all time favorite gift. 
A STOMP ROCKET!!!! 
If you want a great gift, get one of these.  We have played with it SO much! We go to the little park connected to our community pool and we try to shoot the rockets at each other.  I stand by the blanket and Jack runs to the other side of the lawn and I aim it and try to hit him.  Sounds kind of bad, I know, but it is harmless and we rarely get even close to him.  Jack loves it. 
Thanks Coleman!!!

I LOVE this picture! So cute. 


Inside of the cake! 

So the party went well, all of the kids are outside eating cake and all of the Moms and us are inside. We can't get away with an event without some drama.  Well, we hear a loud noise in the front of the house.  It sounds like someone was dragging a garbage can up the walkway to our house.  It keeps getting louder and louder and all of a sudden it is like a tornado outside.  A micro-burst went right past our front door and into the back yard.  All of the Moms kick into high gear and run to get the kids. I don't think we fully realized what was going on, but the kids all start screaming and run to the screen door and so do the moms.  One problem, the OBSTACLE COURSE! So I start ripping and pulling at the yarn and dive in and try to pull kids through the maze.  Mike finally grabbed some scissors and we got it down and got everyone in.  It only lasted a minute or so, but it seemed like 10.  The kids were a little nervous after that, but everything was fine.  I'm sure it would have been hilarious to watch now if we could have caught us all on video tape! 

It was a success! Jack loved it and that is was matters the most. 
Happy Birthday Jackers! Love you! 

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Jack's 4th Birthday

Happy Birthday Jack!!!

Jack woke up to special decorations in his doorway. 

 We put up some decorations for Jack's special day and ended leaving them up for his party which is in a few days.  He got to open a special present before going to school. 




SPIDERMAN SHIRT!!!!

After school, Jack got another present.  One of the best presents we could ask for..... 
we headed to the airport to pick up Grandma Roper!!! She came to visit for Jack's birthday and to help while Daddy survived finals. She brought lots of fun presents for Jack's special day. 


Once Daddy got home from school, Jack got to open his presents. 


Superhero book with figurines....


and a Spiderman helmet to go with.....

A NEW BIKE!!!


We went straight outside for his first ride. 
Luckily, the weather is PERFECT in Arizona this time of year. 




Then we loaded up and went out to eat to celebrate. We went to the Rainforest Cafe because Jack likes the animals and scenery. 




Mommy didn't want to make 2 cakes and so we bought a couple little cakes at the store so that Jack could blow out candles on his actual birthday.  We decided to save his real cake for his party. 


Happy Birthday Jackers! 
We love you SO much buddy!!! 
We hope you had a fun day.