Angry Birds Birthday!

So last year, after Tyler's Halloween birthday party was over and we were halfway through cleaning up, I made the offhand comment that his next birthday could be an Angry Birds party. That suggestion spawned a full year of Tyler wishing, planning and hoping for an Angry Birds birthday "for when I turn FIVE!" How could I refuse? :)

We started out with a life size angry birds game! McKay and I both attempted to build catapults, but one bent and the other snapped in half. So the game became Throw the Stuffed Angry Bird at the Tower! Which seemed just fine to all the kids. 

 This was Tyler's Angry Bird Face. 

 We call this the Jamie method, which was more of a battering ram action than an actual throw.

 A pinata, of course, which ALMOST made it through one round of smackings with a broom handle.

 Edison had a terrifying solid hit.

 This girl (Samia) absolutely demolished the poor bird.

 And they're off!

 RIP!

 This is always my favorite moment of my kids' birthday parties, everyone gathered around them, singing to them. Seeing a roomful of people who love this boy just like I do warms my heart each year. If I could wish for just one thing for each of my babies, it would be enough loved ones to fill their lives. Cheesy, I know :)

 An impromptu viewing of Bug's Life? Sure, why not?

Tyler got a bunch of really cool Legos and Transformers toys, but this one was too awesome not to mention. Tyler's cousins affectionately call him Tyler Man, and for his birthday, they made him a superhero cape with TM on it. 

Thanks, everyone for making my baby boy's day special!

State Fair with Grandpa!

(I posted a ton more pictures on Facebook last week, but I thought I'd stick some on here too. This is our family journal, after all. You know, when we feel like writing in here.)

My dad occasionally flies out to Texas on business, and last week was one of those weeks! I was happy to play hooky and skip my classes that afternoon so we could all pack into our car and take my dad to the state fair!

We had a blast with Grandpa. We ate way too many fried things (Fried Cinnamon Rolls rolled in bacon bits? Fried Coke?)  Tyler and Jamie cannot get enough of Grandpa Eatough (it had been about two months since we saw him last).

After the fair, we took Grandpa back to our house to show him all of Tyler's things, including his "sculpture" (a pyramid of bricks), his pile of leaves he's been raking lately, and his airplane room. Jamie brought Grandpa her favorite animal book, and he read her her bedtime story before he left.

I love, love, love that my kids have my dad as a grandpa. He is so interested in everything they say and do, and it makes them feel so special. Come back soon, Grandpa! You need to see the sculpture renovations!

First, Tyler started school again! (Insert Hallelujah chorus here.) He's been dying to get back to school, and, let's be honest, so have I :) He turns five this year, but missed the Kindergarten cut off date by a few months. This year his preschool includes a Kindergarten readiness program, which he is just smashing through this week. We really worked on his letters this summer, and it totally paid off. Not only did Tyler learn his letters, Jamie heard me drilling him all summer, and she has actually picked them up faster than him! McKay's mom's jaw about dropped off when she saw Jamie name nearly every letter A-Z last weekend. I was so proud :)

October Days

How can I possibly be expected to do my homework when these little people are so distractingly cute?

 Dimples! This is one of my favorite Hinckley genes.

 My beautiful baby girl, who is not much of a baby anymore! She will actually be starting preschool in January! Sniff, sniff.

 Can you even handle these curls? I LOVE her hair, and I always get asked if I curl her hair (crazy people! like she would sit still long enough for that)

Some little funny things lately:

Jamie has continued being obsessed with reading books, and excellent obsession. Her favorites right now are "Wheels on the Bus", and "Animal Opposites". With the animal one, we are talking about lots of animal sounds, and we've had to get creative with traditionally non-speaking animals. In our house, turtles say "Duuuuuuude!" and crabs say "Hey, hey, hey", a la Finding Nemo :)

Lately, McKay and I have been splitting bedtime routines 50/50, where I normally take care of Jamie, and he wrangles Tyler into bed. Jamie's bedtime routine is pretty normal, but McKay and Tyler have evolved those 15 minutes into something hilarious. One part includes Tyler insisting McKay sit on Tyler. Jamie and I can hear them laughing form the next room over, and I don't blame Jamie for escaping my reading to her to go see what they are up to.

We are ridiculously behind with blogging, but life is just crazy; I have Jamie crawling all over as I type this! But we are loving these cool October days. We've broken into Jamie's winter 2T clothes and I am loving the cozy toddler look. We made real gingerbread the other day and the whole house smelled wonderful, like spices and fall.

More to come!