TOMMY TURNS 3!!!

 Tommy's birthday party was on Sunday.  We decided to have a Monster Party for the 3 year old big boy. 

 The decor was just a crap ton of monsters, of course.  We didn't get to see the end of the movie (Monsters University) so we thought we'd create our own ending of a birthday party!

We had Monsters on every door and hanging from every threshold. 

 This picture makes me laugh.  Tommy's checking out the snowy Detroit/Philly game before the party.  Can you see it, bud??

 

I saw this Mike Wasowski balloon and I just had to get it.  

When I bought it, I carried it out and put it in my car.  This was the startling site in my rearview mirror.  HOLY MOLY, it scared the bejesus out of me.

 But it is hilarious.  We had way less Sulley decorations because I mean, come on... Billy Crystal.  Duh.

I got this great cupcake cake from Meijer. It was delicious with whipped cream icing.  My fave.  (Tommy wasn't going to eat it so I got what I wanted. Ha!)

 Another feature of Tommy's awesome party was the photo booth.  The signs said, "Grab a prop and make yourself into a Monster!" Oh and don't forget to hashtag #tomsterparty of course!

All the photo booth participants.  LOVE IT! 
I didn't get everyone in the photobooth that day so they'll get their own photos below...

I didn't get Tommy's Godmother Traci and her family in the photo booth! Darn it! It was great to see how big Joey is getting though!

I also didn't get Aunt Debbie and Grandma either.

At least I have evidence that they were there!

After an italian feast (Tommy had his favorite meat sauce with macaroni shells), we blew out candles.  For some reason, this process/song was a little overwhelming and Tommy decided to hide.

 We convinced him, like we do with everything else, by saying, "I'm going to blow out your candles before you do."  He blew them out with no problem. 

Like I said, he had no problem at that point!

 Tommy was super excited for his birthday vegan chocolate cake that traveled all the way from Bloomington with Aunt Shiela.  I know, I know, ENEMY CAKE! But I don't know of any vegan bakeries in our area so if you hear of one, let me know! No milk and no eggs and it is delicious!

Makes for one delicious mustache!

 We had to get a quick partial family pic with Mike Wasowski. He's such a scene stealer.  Also, why can't the Thornburgs do anything without their phones? Seriously.  It's the middle of blowing out candles and he has to have his phone.  What have we done???

 The cupcake cake was a success but luckily there were a few cupcakes leftover for mom and dad to eat later. ;-)

After dessert, we opened presents. We got Tommy this super amazing train table set for his birthday. 

This was the scene the night before while Uncle Adam and Andrew put the train table together.  It wasn't Ikea bad but it didn't look easy.  It took several hours and several beers.  I assume beer and the B1G championship game made it take longer.  Then they stayed up even later and watched Evil Dead.  I'm glad I skipped out on that and went to bed.   

Tommy got really, really great gifts.  He has enjoyed them all.  He keeps changing his mind on what to play with or what movie to watch because he has so many options. So much fun!
He got this GRRRRREAT microphone that is super loud (from dad).

But I got him these hugely dangerous Wolverine claws.   We were apparently in a contest to see who could get the worst gift.  ;-) 

Jeez, all these pictures and where was Charlotte? Well she basically slept through the entire party! She was so tired.  It was nice to be able to focus on Tommy for his special day.  So thanks Charlotte!  What a good little sister.  I was afraid I didn't get any pictures of her at the party but I did get a couple. 

 We got some terrible photo booth family pics.  This one was purposely terrible. 

 This was the best one we got.  Half of Tommy's face and none of dada's.  Yay us!

I got others with Charlotte in them.  Here is Charlotte with Harper and Katie.  Harper was so cute with her! 

 Wyatt was too! Entertaining her with the Bear-in-a-Box.


Tommy had so much fun for his birthday.  Thanks to everyone for coming and making his day super special!
HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY TOMMY T. THOMAS!! ;-)

Tommy's Christmas Show 2013

Tommy's annual Christmas Show was last week.  It was, as it usually is, pretty hilarious. 

 Here's Tommy looking spiffy in his green and white striped sweater.  So dapper!

 His class has 10 kids in it.  They are so cute. 

Squirrel!!!
Ha!! I don't know what he saw.  It was apparently more important than the song. ;-) 

They all had hand motions for this song.  Only one kid got it right.  Oh pre-schoolers.

I only had my camera for one day at this point.  I didn't read how to take a video on it and I couldn't figure it out in the dark so I took videos at the end with my iphone.


You can tell it's the end because things derail very quickly.  Pay attention to Tommy at the very beginning of the video.  He still whips out the lion's roar from Halloween, even at Christmas shows.  At 20 seconds, he cracks me up because it looks like he's just pretending to sing and looking very official doing it.  At 25 seconds, he's bending over or something.  No clue.  At 37 seconds, some kid in a black suit takes a tumble and knocks down another kid forcing the teacher to go help them.  Oh these kids.  They are awesome. 

The next day was the annual Polar Express Day.  Tommy wore his robot jammies and brought Fluffy Doghouse with him to school.

PJs and sneakers, nothing is cuter! ;-)

Another successful Christmas show in the books.  2014 is definitely upon us! Time is flying!!

The Jump Up

Oh the Johnny Jump Up.  Let's call it a Jenny Jump Up instead.  We thought we'd give it a try with Charlotte.  We stuffed a blanket in with her and boy oh boy was she excited. 

 Big time fun!

Look at those smiles!
Do you remember Tommy in the Jump Up?

I think they're finally starting to grow into their own looks.  They look different to me, just a little bit. What do you think?

There a video on Tommy's Jump Up post.  He reacted much differently to it.  He just wanted to eat it. ;-)

Here's Charlotte video. 

She talked and talked about how much she liked it.  Too cute!

Early Christmas Present

I have wanted to get a DSLR for a LONG time.  I finally found the camera I wanted and Andrew was nice enough to get it for me early so that I could have it for Tommy's birthday party. 

Look at the nose on that thing!! It's a Canon Rebel SL1 (I have a Nikon family so they were hugely disappointed).  It's the teeniest DSLR on the market.  I know it looks huge but it's small and very light.  Perfect for me.  Andrew found a mega deal online which was also perfect. 

Here's my first picture.  The screen is huge and touchscreen! So cool!

 Then I started in on my target subject. Poor Charlotte! I hope she likes getting her picture taken.  She makes a great model!

 So sweet!

Awww baby toes!

 A big grin from Tommy T!
Those were all taken in AutoFocus.  I finally started messing with the settings (with a little help from the internet) and took the following. 

 Our masking taped Elf on the Shelf.  What did Tommy decide to name him? Santa Claus.  I think he's confused on the whole thing. ;-)

Ahh, our Purdue ornament in front of the Christmas tree in another bokeh shot.  Yay bokeh and yay Christmas! Perfect time to try out a new camera.  You'll be seeing lots more pictures from the newbie.  Can't wait to show you! Stay tuned!

Thanksgiving Numero Uno y Dos

This year we decided to host both sides for Thanksgiving.  We thought it would be easier to not have to travel.  So Thanksgiving number one was on Thursday.  We had family from Indy, Syracuse, Chicago and Columbus, OH. 

 Tommy wore his Indian headband in celebration.  He called it that, not me.  I'm waaaayyyy more politically correct than that. 

Charlotte celebrated by being held... 

 by Aunt Erin...

 and Aunt Laura...

 and cousin David...

 and the newly and officially crowned UNCLE Doug!

 She also took many naps too (although not in this picture).

Later in the evening, I decided to have some wine and Tommy decided to have some dessert although it looks like he's partaking in the pinot.

We also played Celebrity.  Andrew and I were teammates during one round.  He started out with, "He played for the Chicago Bears....  He was a linebacker in the 60s and 70s???"  I had no clue.  I named off people that were incredibly incorrect.  Then he says, "His first name is this (Points to his groin) and his last name is this (points to his rear)"  I yell, "DICK BUTKUS!!!!"
Best line of the night! It was the 'Eric Baldwin' of last year's game.  

The next day was Friday and we were all very tired.  AND CUTE! 

 Then Saturday it was time for the Keiper Thanksgiving.  Tommy showed off his dance moves.  Andrew showed off his stache. 

 Charlotte chilled with Brandon and Desi.  Seriously, she's totes chillaxed.

We had an awesome Mexican fiesta because we knew we would be all turkeyed out.  Everyone brought lots of great Mexican goodies, including this cake.  My Aunt Debbie went to the local Mexican grocery store aka the Tienda de Comesibles.  She got tamales and this dulce de leche cake.  She forgot to order one so she brought someone else's cancelled dulce de leche cake.  Apparently Daniel wasn't going to have a feliz cumpleanos.  Bummer, Daniel! You were the talk of our Thanksgiving celebration though!
PS- Yes you can see her you-know-whats. Feliz feliz cumpleanos para Daniel, eh?? Ai-yi-yi!


 As is tradition, there was a jam session in the basement.  Jack impressed us all with his shredding skills.  I only got one video so you get a tiny look at the musical prowess of the fam. Tommy can keep quite a beat for a 3 year old!

We had a great time hosting both Thanksgivings.  It was exhausting but still lots of fun! Thanks everyone for coming! Happy Thanksgiving!