A Birthday Weekend

Today was Brandon's birthday! Our oldest boy is now eleven! That really is just amazing to me. It seems impossible that he's that big. He's almost as tall as I am!

We had planned a little party Friday evening with just a few friends, but Todd came down with a horrible cold so we decided to postpone. I decided that instead, I would just make the day as special as possible! It started with NO SCHOOL! That got him smiling :) Then he got to pick the place for lunch out. He chose California Pizza. And I know why ;) It's right across from the Lego store! So, of course, we stopped in for a little browsing after lunch. And, of course, we came home with a few things ;)

Nicholas and Megan had already told me what they wanted to get Brandon for his birthday. Since they wanted to get him the same thing and the item was a little pricey, I suggested that they could go together to get it. We made Brandon wait right outside the doors while we made out purchase. Then I made them all wait outside while I bought "goody bag" gifts for his guests (Megan and Nicholas!). Once we got home, I quickly wrapped them and allowed them a small gift exchange.

Here's their little gift exchange:
Of course it was a Bionicle :)

The goody bag gifts for Megan and Nicholas were Bionicles too ;)
I had to help Megan build hers but she loves it. Yes, even Megan. I feel like the whole house has been taken over...
For supper, we had hamburgers and veggies also a request from the birthday boy. Then they all watched a movie...in the tent! Yep, I put the tent up for them in the family room so they could have a little movie night sleep over :) We watch the new Bionicle movie! (bet you didn't see that coming ;)) I had Megan lay down and go to sleep after that. She's been coughing a bit and I didn't want her to be up late. The boys were allowed to pick another movie so they picked "National Treasure 2". Nick was asleep soon after it started, but the Brandon stayed up until the end. He's such a night owl!

All in all, I think for a botched birthday party day, he had a very good day...and it wasn't even his birthday!

Building Again

Last week, we headed up to Easton for some dinner and to browse the new Lego store. Yes, there is an actual store with nothing but Legos ;) We are a Lego-loving family! My kids would spend their whole day building if I let them ;)

So while we were there, I happen to pick up a monthly schedule of events for September. I had forgotten all about it but a couple of days later, Brandon ran across it and WOW was he ever excited! Every month at the Lego store you can do a Mini Build. It's a very small Lego creation made from 25-40 Legos. There's a different model each month. Also on the calendar is a contest to create your OWN mini-build! There are prizes and everything! My boys are very excited! So this is what was going on in our house last week:
Check this out! Yeah, my house is NEVER clean ;)
Here's Nicky's creation:
It's a gorilla! Didn't he do a good job??

Brandon is still working on his. The theme is September so we've been tossing around ideas like crazy! I'll post again when he is ready :)

So much fun!

Little Builders

I've posted before about how much my kids LOVE to build, but their newest creations just had to be shown! They are so creative! Just give them something...anything...and they'll make something else out of it! lol

These are two guys Brandon made up himself with Bionicle parts:

And this one just cracks me up! Nicholas has a dragon eating his Lego people! See all their hands up? They running away! LOL He even put one poor guy in the dragon's mouth!

Here, Nicholas found something to build with his math manipulatives ;)

It's a movie theater! The little green ones are inside catching the latest flick ;)

Not to be out done by her brothers, Megan built a few things herself:
Here she is with her Bionicle.

And next is her movie theater:
But this is what she does best:

She crawled under the table to make a home for her stuffed animals. She plays constantly with them. It's so cute!

I really love watching them play and wondering what they'll come up with next!