Birthday Week Extravaganza

Tyler has now entered the world of the Robins' Week Long Birthday Celebrations.  His actual birthday was on Friday the 14 but we began the excitement early.  Tom's mom, Gram, arrived on Wednesday night along with Uncle Tom and Aunt Sue.  I can't say enough how grateful we were to have them here.  Isn't it wonderful to have so many people who care about and love on your kids?  It's one of the things I'm most grateful for.

On Thursday we were able to go to Tyler's Birthday Blessing at his preschool.  (His school is at a church up the street.)  Because he went there last year, he knew exactly what to expect.  He gave us all the scoop in the morning, "I get to wear a crown and they will give me a pross (aka cross) necklace...mom, remember to bring something of mine to show everyone..."  I may or may not have gotten a little teary-eyed up when I talked about him in front of all the kids.  (I'm becoming more like my own mom every day.)  I love that kid so much and can't believe I have the blessing of being his mother.  It's amazing!  When his class walked into the chapel, he was beaming and kept giving us thumbs up.  Ahh...I'm dying. 

Side Note: The moment we sat down in the chapel (which looks a lot different than the chapel at our own church), Mikey said, "snack please."  That kid is conditioned: church=snacks.  I should probably work on breaking that habit.

While Tyler was at preschool, Gram, Aunt Sue and I took Mikey to the park.  I think at first he was unsure what to do because he is so used to sharing all the attention with Tyler and now he had three adults ready and willing to play.  Sue played a game where she said, "Got your legs...feet...etc."  He loved it and started making requests, "Get my tummy Sue!" 

As always Gram was super hands on and played with Mikey on all the toys.  My boys are obsessed with her.  When we got home from church on Sunday, Gram had already left.  We pulled into the garage and they both started saying, "I want Gram! I want Gram!  Where's Gram?"  

For almost a year, Tyler has been asking for a "mean skeleton" birthday cake.  His dream finally came true.  He helped me make it on Thursday before the big party on Friday.

This picture was from the weekend before his birthday.  My parents were up for the weekend and decided to bring his gift early so my dad, who wouldn't be at the party, could see him open it.  Roller Skates!  What do you think?  Does he like them?

Tyler has been asking for an electric "electridge" guitar for a while.  Gram and Grandpa Tim got him one and he has been busting out tunes ever since.  Shhhh...don't tell but Mikey plays with it when Tyler is at preschool. 

Uncle Tom and Aunt Sue gave both boys a bunch of fun little gifts like books, stickers, etc and also gave Tyler a new soccer shirt.  I don't have a picture because Tyler said he can't wear it until he has soccer practice.  What a nut...I love it.  

Birthday Morning!!  We had his new scooter out and ready.  Thanks Uncle Tom for putting it together!!  He rode it all morning.  

Mean Skeleton Birthday Party

Like I said, Ty has been talking about having a "Mean Skeleton Party" for almost a year.  I don't know where he got the idea, but, in true Robins birthday fashion, he was very specific about his birthday demands.  He wanted a big skeleton and "pretend" dirt on his cake.  We decided to invite a ton of friends to the party so it was pretty...no really... crazy.  Once again, I was grateful to have Gram, Tom, Sue and my mom, who came up the night before, to help.  We had the kids make skeleton masks and we gave them skeleton tattoos and/or ribbons.  They played with toys, ate cake, beat each other with balloons...basically it was a preschool palooza over here.  I kinda love that level of chaos...especially when I can see that my kids are having so much fun.  

Here is Ty enjoying his cake.  I wish I had a picture of he and Mikey together in their matching shirts.  

Mikey hung out by the table the entire time eating (teddy grahams, pretzels, cake, jello jigglers-btw I remember those tasting good...seriously nasty-and juice boxes).  Today he told me that he wants a skeleton cake for his birthday party.  

Don't you love this picture?  He has such a fun group of little buddies.

It wasn't cold but Tyler begged to wear his new pjs to bed.  I love my little skeleton.  In honor of Tyler turning 4, I'm going to share 4 awesome things about Mr. Tyler.

 

1. He has more energy than anyone I know.  I feel like we spend the entire day running, wrestling, throwing, etc.  Even though sometimes it's exhausting, I love his energy.  It makes me think that maybe someday, I'll have a running buddy in our family. 

 

2. He's SUPER friendly.  He almost always says hi to anyone with whom we cross paths.  If he's too shy to do it, he tells me to, "Mom, tell that construction worker hi."  He's best buddies with all the neighbors and their pets.  He volunteers for anything that involves him being in front of others.  He's always happy to make new friends.

 

3. He's inquisitive.  I think this might come with the age but Tyler asks a million questions a day.  He'll remember a small detail and then ask a million questions about it.  Today he asked me how grown ups know so much...hopefully he continues to believe that for a while.

 

4.  He has become a great big brother to Mikey.  What started out as a rocky relationship has become a great friendship.  When there is a big crowd of people, Tyler says, "Mom, I'll make sure to pretect (protect) Mikey."  Today they set up a trap for me.  Yesterday they spent about an hour "shooting" me.  They have come up with a few made up words that they like to chant together (one being "vegobe").  Tyler will tell Mikey to do something naughty that he knows Mikey won't get in trouble for but he would because he's older.  I don't know if that defines him as "good" but he has taken little Mikey Roo under his wing and taught him the ways of kid hood.   

 

I could name about 40 more but I'll spare you.  We are grateful to have Crazy and Wonderful Tyler Boy in our home. 

Tyler had his first soccer game on Saturday.  He was nervous and hid behind me until his coach told them about their team mascot...the teddy bear.  She put it on the goal so the kids would know where to kick the ball.  It worked about 50% of the time.  Watching him play soccer was one of the funniest experiences of my life.  The kids had no clue what they were doing.  Half of them were crying and didn't want to play.  The other half were scoring into the wrong goal.  Anytime there was cheering, Tyler would run over to us and give me a hug and everyone else high fives.  At one point a kid from the other team spotted his skeleton tattoo and they both stopped to have a conversation about it. Awesome!

Mikey didn't think the game was that great.

Once Tyler got the idea, he was all business.

Later that day, we took the family downtown to a really fun/different park and then to see the "sights" of OKC.  I LOVE living here but when people are visiting from Chicago, showing them downtown Oklahoma City isn't that impressive.  Luckily, we still had fun.  

Everyone left Sunday mid morning.  Like I said before, my kids were pretty disappointed when we got home from church and there wasn't a fan club waiting.  We had to spend the rest of the day detoxing...which was totally worth it because we had such a wonderful time.  Tyler is now planning for his next birthday party.  FYI: It's going to be pumpkins..."There's not going to be any bones.  Okay Mom?"   

Not Pictured: I was bummed that I didn't get a picture of Tyler and Mikey playing with Bekah's girls, Ellie and Averi.  They drove all the way up for the party.  She stayed for a while and the kids played nicely the entire time...no crying, yelling, fighting...it was wonderful.  Come on Bekah...just move here!!  I treasure their friendship. 

Also, there aren't any pictures of Uncle Tom because he was nice enough to take pictures the entire time.  On Thursday morning, Tyler ran into my bathroom to tell me that everyone was here. He said, "Uncle Tom is still sleeping.  I'm trying to think of something to wake him up."  I said, "Maybe you can hug him."  Ty replied, "OR Tackle Him!" and raced out.  Thanks for being such a great sport Uncle Tom!!

I am overwhelmed by the amount of love I feel from our family.  I'm grateful we have such a great team supporting us.  Thanks to all who made Ty's birthday so special.