Amazing!

The Amazing Race: Stratford 2010





So I'll put a few pictures up of what I can . . . because it's amazing. A-MAZ-ING.

So I had super-star parents this year in my classroom - they are the Magic Moms. I could never do what they have done and the ring leader of the operation is a working mom. That's right: a full time working mom. More power to her!

They decided that for the end-of-the-year party, they would have a day long party (no joke) and it would be the Amazing Race. Seriously. They had games and activities that related to 5 different countries, they had clues, passports, t-shirts, everything. You name it, they had it.

sidenote: I've never watched the show, but due to the attention to detail, I'm assuming it is exactly like the show.

The kids raced outside, inside, everywhere! The moms came in and decorated my classroom to look like different countries. Please note: these are not print outs -- they are cut sheets of paper, layered. These are my people. They are willing to spend crazy amounts of time on crafty things that maybe 1 out of every 10 people will notice and appreciate. I really appreciated it.

So while I can't post pics of the kids, I will post a few of the games and definitely the backgrounds.


I completely forgot to take a picture of the Egypt background - nuts!



So for Mexico, they had to assemble a puzzle that had the clue at the bottom. This led them to making pinatas.

Yup - all the kids made individual pinatas. Magic Mom had made individual paper mache spheres for the kids to make the pinatas out of. They were neatly painted and had lines for the placement of glue. Individually cut strips of fringed tissue paper were neatly arranged in color order in color coordinated boxes for each group. There was even miniature candy to be stuffed into the pinatas. I'm not joking.

Please note the assembled tree that the kids had to hang their finished pinatas on.

After the pinatas, they had to categorize Spanish words on a magnetic board, then translate each word before they could move on to the next clue. Yes. I'm serious.



Instructions for mosaic:


In Greece, the kids made mosaics - super cute! Either a sunflower or a parrot - everything was color labeled. Like paint by numbers, but with sticky foam squares.

Finished mosaic:



There were certainly more games than I can mention here (again: ALL DAY PARTY) but at the end, they kids all received these goody bags. They had popcorn, water balloons, bubbles (eco-friendly, of course), pencils and TWO books.


I got one, too!

Yeah - its super crazy and super awesome. Thanks to all the parents who came and helped out - we had 7 parent participants, all wearing the purple "grown up" shirt. I even got my own!

Happy Anniversary!

Happy 5th anniversary! These 5 years certainly flew by . . . how much things have changed since we were married: living with roommates to a teeny apartment, from a duplex to our own home, with our own mortgage. We've had losses, we've had additions (Hi, Luke!), we've had jobs we've loved, we've had jobs we've hated, we've gone to school, we've graduated from school, we've gone back to school, but through it all, we've had each other: for better or worse, its been us. I love you more every day and can't believe how blessed I am to spend my life with you. You make me laugh every day and sometimes, I even make you laugh. (those are the really good days) And you're stuck with me.

Here's to another 5 years! And 5 more after that . . .

Showering

With our good friends Sam and Brent getting married next month, the wedding festivities are getting into full swing. While Todd was off in Vegas for Brent's bachelor party, I hosted Sam's bridal shower at our place. I love our home so much, even more so now that I have the space to accommodate guests. The house has a wonderful flow to it - it just feels comfortable.

I had a great time decorating - what fun! Because Sam's colors are yellow and green, I found a beautiful green/cream damask fabric for the tablecloths and used lemons in jars for decor. (I always think of Jennifer Aniston in the "Break Up" with her '12 lemon centerpiece,' but I digress . . .) We had mimosas, lemonade and iced tea along with brunch-y foods provided by Sam's mother and sister.

The drink station


My cupcakes that failed terribly in the looks, but tasted delicious. I made frosting! Woo hoo!

Cute favors filled with candy delicious-ness. (Color coordinated, of course.)

The party guests!

My very "Martha" towel cake - the best yet! I do love making a good towel cake. Or diaper cake. Or diaper wreath! I do love a good "crafty" outlet.

We all had a good time and the boys arrived at the end of the shower. Todd was able to get the a/c working for us, too! He saved the day :)

WORLD CUP!

Being the huge soccer fan that Luke is, we've been watching a few of the matches when we run across them. He loves it when a team scores a goal - I really think he just loves all that screaming and enthusiasm. So he was running around, lifting up his shirt and screaming "GOOOOOOOALLLLL!" Hee hee.

So of course I had to record it. And of course, since Luke is Luke, he loves to watch his videos. He laughs at all the right parts and wants to be recorded again, then watch it again - it is a vicious cycle.

Yo Gabba Gabba!

Yo Gabba Gabba Birthday Party Fun Extravaganza! Woot! Luke loves a good birthday party and had a blast at this one. Well, only until meltdown.

Unfortunately, Todd was out of town the weekend of the party, so I was on my own for this one. Yikes!

The master painter at work. He stayed amazingly clean - didn't even need to touch his second set of clothes. Luke really does not enjoy getting dirty or messy. When he got glitter on his hands, he made a sour face and said "wash hands, Mama, please."






There were tons of fun art projects set out for the kids, some of which he participated in (painting, see pictures) and some of which was disinterested in (play-doh, etc.).

Dude - 2 year old birthday parties are crazy.

Napa Wedding

To the happy couple!

Grandma Bickel was kind enough to come up to visit Memorial Day weekend and watch Luke which allowed us to make a break for it and head up to Napa. Our good friends, Ryan and Brook, were getting married and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to be a part of it.

Their location was gorgeous, they rented a small winery for the weekend, which allowed everyone to stay there and be a part of the whole wedding weekend.

Ryan and Todd played football together in high school and coached football together after high school. They have been friends for a long time and Ryan's family is a second family to us. They are truly kind, wonderful people and we were so happy to celebrate with them! It was a small, intimate wedding and it was truly beautiful. Best of all, we were able to hang out with a bunch of our friends, many we don't see often. Some we haven't seen since I was pregnant with Luke. (Yikes! I need to get out more!)

Dave and Anny - both in our bridal party.

Todd and the happy groom, Ryan.

We are some fun people!!

We ate and drank and DANCED. If you haven't been to a wedding with the Bickels, well, you just haven't had fun yet. Todd, as always, was a dancin' machine. I often start off strong, but I can't keep up. I try, it's not out of lack of effort, but he is the Dancing Energizer Bunny. The wedding guests were all such wonderful people that everyone danced with everyone and we all had a blast dancing into the wee hours of the night.

Now, I didn't include all the pictures I have of Todd dancing, but I picked a few of the quality shots.


Dancing with the lovely Barbara, the groom's mother.

What a pair!
The next morning, we all met again at the house for brunch before sending the happy couple off into the world. They were heading to South America. Jealous, anyone?!?

Thank you to all the families, especially Ryan and Brook, for having us -- we had a ball!

You may ask - did Luke miss us? The answer: No. Not particularly. I guess that's a good thing :)

Cupcakes

or . . .
Conversations with Luke.

I love the age that Luke is at now. And by love, I do mean occasionally get frustrated. A lot. But these moments are really nice to have recorded because he is so talkative and so funny.

Even more than the video clip, Luke is so funny because he loves to watch videos of himself. Being funny on video makes him laugh as he's watching it. It's Luke in surround-sound.
Enjoy the videos as I upload all these tons of photos that need to get off the camera!