There and Back Again: A Hobbit Party

My little hobbit wanted a party to showcase legos, the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Here is our grand adventure!

The fellowship were summoned by mail.

Frodo gets ready for the adventure. 

He loves the South-farthing pipe weed.

Here are some of the cast. Legolas, Gandalf, Frodo and Gimli

And what do you know, Tolkein himself showed up along with a dear friend, C.S. Lewis!

 Arwen Evenstar and her elf guardian

A hearty luncheon with stuffed mushrooms, Farmer Maggot's crop of veggies, Tasty Sausages and of course, Lembas bread (made from crecent rolls!).

Orc Grog (growlers of beer) for the big folk and rootbeer for the littles.

After a good hearty meal, clues were hidden and a map to Middle Earth was passed out to the Fellowship.

Tolkien gives the first clue.

Hidden among the Trolls (thank goodness they were stone!) they find one of the clues.

 

A journey into Mirkwood Forest...

they find another.

And yes, the Hobbit went barefooted!

Finding the treasure! No one guessed that Frodo had the ring!

Then it's time for cake. Lego Smaug atop his treasure and a treasure map.

Everyone but birthday Hobbit blew out the candles. He was too busy with his treasure.

Can you spell Entomologist?

The entomologist has turned 5! How is this possible?!? We registered him for kindergarten last week and bought him his first real backpack for his birthday. He got to move up to the top bunk for the first time last night. And although he's not actually heavy enough to move up to a booster seat, he's getting one (albeit with a 5 point harness) ! Is this actually happening?

I am sure so many of you remember the little guy from his first days into this world. He is as independent and stubborn as they come. I am beginning to understand that second kids are just their own people. They feel the need to assert that independence as individuals in stubborn ways that both drive their mothers crazy while bringing a sense of pride at the same time. This guy loves people. Although he will fight me tooth and nail over which pair of white socks he wants to wear, he also can't stand to be by himself. He follows me around and is under foot just like an infant at times. He'd rather wallow on the floor and wait for me to finish my email than go find something fun to do by himself.

Here is what I find him doing when I am busy on the computer...

I have found that if I take some one on one time seriously without distractions, it serves as a charge for him to play independently for a time afterward.  I sat up in his bed yesterday and had him tell me all about the bugs he got for his birthday and then he left charged long enough for me to take a nap up there for the next 45 min. I couldn't believe it.

Here he is entertaining himself by drawing but only after some one on one time!

Here is Entomologist Aeneas with all of this gear on, ready to go catch some bugs.

He has a ridiculous passion for things he finds interesting and right now that thing is bugs. He routinely digs in the recycling bin looking for things he can poke holes in and use as a bug catcher. Recently we checked out another really fun book from the Library called "Bug Zoo." I picked it up in hopes to prolong the lives of the little critters we pick up on our hunts. It teaches you how to build, care and feed the little guys. We have had so much fun building habitats and and catching bugs and now that he has gotten his real bug catching gear from his birthday, he's all that much more official.

Here is one of our bug habitats that we built using stuff from around the house and  a few things from the hardware store.

This is the invention of all inventions. It's called a bug pooter. It's basically a bug vacuum that you power with your mouth. Both boys spend hours flipping rocks and collecting things in it. They had no less than 50 rolly pollies in them yesterday.

You can hear him telling you how the pooter works and how it is made.



Happy Birthday my little scientist. You are amazing!

Winter Beach Party!

Aeneas is decked out with his swimming stuff, ready to dive into the pool.

It is customary for Miss Melanie to host a Winter Beach Party in January each year for her little pupils. And it's something that the boys look forward to for weeks leading up to it. So she cranks up the heat, gets out the water stuff and has the kids dressed for summer. It's always so funny to hear what the kids expectations for such a thing were. I heard several things from the kids that were worth repeating: "I thought we were going to have a real beach inside our school!" "Why isn't the pool filled up with water?" (Yeah right!)

Here is Miss Melanie and Aeneas making an "Ocean in a Bag": super gooey hair gel with an assortment of sea creatures and shells. Miss Melanie claims she forgot to wear her suit that day. ;)

There has been such good weather this January despite it being Colorado, that most of the girls were on the playground in the melting snow in nothing more than their suits and some pants if you can believe that! Colorado kids have a bit thicker skin than this GA girl for sure.

Football and BBQ

Patrick chose BBQ ribs, white bread and coleslaw for his last Daddy and Son cooking lesson. And there's nothing that goes better with BBQ than some football. So it was one recent Sunday afternoon that we did just that. Of course we had to play in the snow, under the beautiful blue skies before we could possibly sit down to the TV. Thanks buddy for taking me back to the South! Maybe you can take a lesson or two from your Deda and Uncle Zeebee to learn to do some REAL BBQ one day. I will gladly buy you a smoker in return for it!

July Fourth Celebration

One of my all American Favorites, Patrick, 8 months

I'm curious what everyone has planned for the 4th. We have some friends that have invited us to come over, pitch a tent Sunday afternoon and stay till the sunrise morning for a camp-out in their yard. Everyone is just bringing a variety of food and kids to contribute to the potluck and chaos.

So, what food are you planning to prep for your celebrations? I was thinking Calico beans and Georgia Caviar. And some really cute picnic ant parade cupcakes made out of choc covered peanuts and pretend/candy food hoisted on top of their backs from my new cupcake book book.

Does anyone have any cool, yummy, traditional, celebratory ideas they can offer? I'd love to hear some recipe ideas and also what your plans are to celebrate with your family on this truly American holiday.