Tommy's Christmas Program 2012

Every year Tommy's school has a Christmas Program where the kids sing Christmas songs.  It's usually pretty darn cute and this year was no exception.

 Again this year, they brought Tommy in riding with 2 of his classmates in a wagon.

Look at him. He's a star of the show.

 Here's Owen, Tommy, Layla and Livy. Layla looks scared but also still a little excited.

This is part of the stage.  There was another set to the right.


I put together the best clips into this little video for you so you can pretend like you were there.  That kid loves eating jingle bells.  What is up with that?? Also, I apologize for the shaky camera work.  I was laughing too hard at his sweet dance moves.  Andrew said 'Why would he want to get down to Silent Night??'  Here's the video from last year (eating the same jingle bells) if you would like to compare.

When we came home that night, it must have been such a relief from all that performing because it was breakdown time.  Poor kiddo.

 But he quickly caught a second wind because he was back to posing for pictures on his way to bed with Scout.

Here's one last cheeser pic for ya.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Jack's Third Birthday Party!

The Sunday after Tommy's birthday party was Jack's birthday party.  We got the invitation for Jack's birthday party and we were like Oh crap! We gotta get Tommy's invites in the mail!  

Jack's birthday party was at Fundamentals in Indy.  Oh man, did Tommy love this place.   

They had a ball pit. What more could you ask for??

Basketball hoops apparently.  Tommy has a hoop at home but he spent most of his time here playing in the basketball area.  He kept going back.  Come on, Tommy, let's do something you don't already do all the time.

He crawled through the tube.  

He also walked on the rainbow balance beam!

Jack's birthday cake had Mater and McQueen on it too! I told ya all boys love that movie.  Diane and Kevin must like that movie too! They look stoked. :)

 What a cutie!

 Then it was back to the ball pit.  Where'd Tommy go??

 Then Wyatt and Tommy played on the trampoline.

 What goobs! They definitely used up some major energy at this party.

Then it was time for the parachute game.  I worried it might be too advanced for Tommy.  There were directions using colors and numbers but he did just fine.

This was obviously his favorite part. :-)

 Going underneath was pretty exciting too.

 

We always know how much fun Tommy has when we go places according to the breakdown he has when it's time to go.  This was one good party!
Thanks Staffords!! Happy 3rd Birthday Jack!

Tommy's Second Birthday Party! Part 3

Tommy is one cute kiddo.  So my last post will consist of pretty much all pictures of just him.  Many people took pics of the little guy that day. There are a lot so here we go... 

Here's the little guy getting ready for his feast.  Check out those sweet stoplight brownies, by the way.  Tommy is unimpressed. :)

Tommy was, however, impressed by the tiny little trophies on the table.  He liked to "take a dwink" from the teeny cup.

I love this picture of this moment.  I have no idea what is going on but I love the expressions.

Setting the cupcake down, Tommy looks a little overwhelmed by the dessert.

Then Wyatt popped up from under the table.  He was kind enough to let Tommy blow out his own candle but I ended up blowing the candle out for him.  Good try, little guy! :)

Then it was time to chow down!!

"Mama, I made mess!"

CHEESE! 

We had to change his shirt because he had chunks of frosting and cake all over it.  Andrew chose his Batman shirt with the cape. Perfect choice.  It matches the frosting leftover on his cheeks. 

Look at that little cutie sitting at his new table.  What a smile.  

Finally, this is my favorite picture from the day.  What a hillbilly.  So funny.  Love that little belly.  Plus he has two Maters and Sarge all in his hands.  Can't get enough of his little Cars cars. :)

Here's a pic of Tommy on his new car from his birthday last year after having to change his shirt from massive drooling.

Here's a picture of him on his new car from his birthday this year.  Boy, has that boy grown!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Thomasaurus!!

Tommy's Second Birthday Party! Part 2

Part Two: The People

We invited pretty much everyone in our guest book because last year was semi-disastrous what with the Hand Foot and Mouth and the face rash.  So this year's party was supposed to be somewhat of a redemption.  So we invited everyone thinking also that since it's December, a lot of people would probably be sick.  When the RSVPs starting coming in, I didn't think anything of it.  Then about a week before the party, I started total them up and holy crap, we could have 50 people! YIKES! 

Then as December goes, many people got sick the week of and we ended up with a much easier number of 30.  Phew! Still quite a raging party though.  Here are the peeps that we captured some pictures of... 

 We've got Doug, Erin, Aunt Jenny, Susan, Hattie (on the floor), Pop and Uncle Adam playing some Coffee house background music. :)

 We set up Andrew's office with a rug and a table because we need more spots for people to consume the grub (hot dogs! Tommy's fave! with chili and cheese, etc.).  Here are Kevin, Mandy, Traci and Maria.  Hey Maria, Doogie Howser called and he wants his pager back.  Andrew told that joke at the party and then admitted that he had waited 5 minutes for me to come back in the room before he told it because he wanted me to hear it.  Now that's romance, folks! :)

 Here's my dad, Lilli and Isabel at the table set up in the dining room.

 Here's the crowded kitchen! Grandma Katie, Shiela, Andrew, me and Steph (or Steeeeef, whichever you prefer).

The Play Room was crowded all day.  The Deichmans came and brought their 4 and 3 year olds, Joe and Elizabeth.  You can also see Katie and Harper in the background. 

 You can see Claire and Hattie (well you can barely see Hattie).  My brother Brandon and my aunt Shiela in the background.  Then Erin, Doug and Aunt Jenny in the foreground.

 Mandy thought something about the gift opening was funny.

 Then Maria apparently caught on and laughed too.

 Tommy's Godmother Traci was there too. His Godfather Travis was also there but the only picture I got of him was just half of his face in a cake picture.

Tommy got a sweet Batman mask from Maria and Mandy. Tommy thought it was hilarious when Grandpa put it on.  He's right.

Wyatt was there but I'm sure you already knew that.  Tommy's not going to have a party without Wyatt being involved.  But I wanted to post this picture because I thought it was funny.  I have no clue what is going on here. 

We were worried about Tommy being timid in front of so many people at the party but he totally loved the limelight. We shouldn't be surprised since he came from two limelight-lovers.  But we were.  He loved making everyone laugh while opening gifts.  What a cutie.  

Tommy's Second Birthday Party! Part 1

It's party time! Tommy's birthday party was this weekend.  What a great time.  I'll have to split this birthday party story into several posts.  So here we go... 

Let's talk about theme and decorations first. Tommy is a huge fan (like every other boy his age) of the movie Cars.  

There might be some blurring that I did here after the fact.  Just maybe. 

The night before the party, I took some painters tape and laid down this sweet race track around our house.  

Tommy got a battery powered Mater from Grandma and Grandpa the week before so he drove it all around the track.  

Around and around and around... The track was a major hit with Tommy.  

 I made some allergy-free cupcakes for Tommy Hawk.  No eggs or milk.  I substituted a banana and cornstarch for the eggs and water for milk. We got a zebra box mix from the store so they were banana chocolate striped cupcakes.  They weren't half bad!

I found a sweet cake topper that was a candle from the party store.  It was bigger than the cupcake.

I got his cake from Target.  We have lots of fancy cake places in the area but I decided not to spend boatloads of money on cake or cupcakes that Tommy can't even eat.  The Target cake turned out super cute too.  Thanks for the suggestion Claire! :) 

 McQueen is "Squallin' Em!!" :-)

 I made all the decorations myself with my Cricut.  It's pronounced cricket, not Cry-Cut.  Don't make the mistake I did and sound like an idiot at the store. :)

 I think Tommy's favorite toy from the party was the balloons.  He is STILL playing with those a week plus later!

 I put a sign up for this party so people knew the cupcakes were 'allergy-free'.  The last time people just thought I made gross cupcakes. Ha!

 Tommy's checkered birthday banner.  You can also see McQueen in the bottom left corner.  Those stupid Cars characters on the Cricut were nearly impossible to make! I had to improvise A LOT.

I also made Tommy T's shirt with some stitch witchery.  He was not happy about having his picture taken here.  The shirt turned out kinda cute but I still think those jeans Andrew got him are the CUTEST.  Such a stud.  

Stay tuned for more birthday posts...