5 and a HALF!

i know it's been forever. sorry. lots has been going on in our world- but i'll save that for a different post...

Luke is officially 5 and a HALF today! He has been anxiously awaiting this BIG DAY for several weeks. I am blessed to have had a mom who was really into half birthdays. We used to always get a special dinner that night and when i was in college she'd send me a care package with a birthday card cut in half. She's just super thoughtful like that!

I still can't believe he's 5 and a half. He's smart, sensitive and a thoughtful little boy. We have had some great late night giggles and chats. He has a great imagination that i hope he never loses. He's usually pretty sweet with his brother too. Jack looks up to him so much. He always tries to do what "duke" does (that's how jack says luke- cracks me up).

Here's a few pics from the past week...

we had a date and saw Despicable Me 2!

Park shot! love Jack's CHEESE face.

Luke showing Jack how to dig in the sand

Luke is 5

Okay so it's been forever since I wrote on here- I'm sorry!! We have had rounds and rounds of sickness, work has been busy and my Zumba schedule got a little crazy! But here is the long awaited interview with Luke!


INTERVIEW TIME:
I am starting a new tradition of asking Luke every year on his birthday these same questions (thanks Lisa for the idea!). It will be fun to see his answers over the years!
Here's a link to his 4 year old interview CLICK HERE

1. What is your favorite color? Red

2. What is your favorite toy? GI Joes

3. What is your favorite fruit? Strawberries

4. What is your favorite tv show? Ninja Turtles

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Mac n Cheese

6. What is your favorite outfit? My comfy pants {sweatpants my mom got him}

7. What is your favorite game? Sorry! the board game with Mah-Mah

8. What is your favorite snack? Goldfish crackers

9. What is your favorite animal? Vulture

10. What is your favorite song? Michael Jackson "Bad"

11. What is your favorite book? My new BOB books especially the Mat one

12. Who is your best friend? Magnes, Harley & Kenny

13. What is your favorite cereal? Cinnamon Toast Crunch

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? play at the park

15. What is your favorite drink? Chocolate Milk {and sprite when my tummy hurts}

16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Woofie {his stuffed dog from aunt e}

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Daddy's bacon and eggs

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Red Robin

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? a paleontologist {and yes he totally knows what that is and how to pronounce it}

"i'm fake 5- right?"

This past weekend we had 2- yes TWO- parties for our almost-5-year-old. We're at the age with Luke in preschool that he wants to party with friends, and yet the families still want to celebrate. So this year- and this year ONLY- we did 2 parties. His friends all celebrated with him at the Portland Children's Museum, and then Sunday we had a lasagna dinner feed (thanks to Costco!) with all our family. It was madness, but fun was had by all. But the best thing was something he said to me Sunday before his second party.

Luke: "Hey mom? Since yesterday was my birthday party and we celebrated my fake birthday- that means I'm fake 5- right?"

LOVE that boy.

here's some photos from the events:

his real birthday is friday- so stay tuned for his yearly interview. Click here to find out what he said last year! LUKE YEAR 4

17 months!

 HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I hope that everyone had a great christmas and new year. I can't believe it's 2013 already. 13 is my lucky number- so I'm hoping this will be an awesome year!

Jack James is 17 months old today. I can't even stand it!! He's so big now and is such a kid now, not so much baby. When he sees me break out my phone he does this cheesy face and says "CHEESE"! It's really just too cute. He says so many words now and he's playing with his toys more- but he's still totally obsessed with balls. Especially Basketball. He has quite the arm too! Here's a few pics of him this past week- cheesy face and all!

Next up for us is Dad's birthday, Uncle Josh's birthday and then LUKE IS TURNING 5 on the 25th. I can't believe I have a 5 year old!!

what 2am looks like...

Both the boys are battling a bit of bronchitis- so sleep was a luxury last night. In fact- anytime Jack was down- Luke was up. I think i slept from 4am to 5am only. From 12:30am until 3am, Jack thought it was party time! Here's what 2am looks like in his eyes...

Good thing he's so stinkin' cute!

it's been a bit

To my 2 (or 3) faithful readers... i am so sorry that i've been MIA for a month and a half. it's been busy! We had a great Thanksgiving surround by lots of great family and food. I survived a bad case of the flu and luckily didn't pass it on to anyone else in my fam {i think God knows that i can barely handle my own puke, let alone anyone else's!!}.

How have we been celebrating the season? Well right after Thanksgiving we started our Elf on the Shelf. You can learn more about him HERE. He's been busy- but sometimes he doesn't move, and Luke is quick to point that out! Here's a few of his locations as of late...

We also started a new family tradition of going to the zoo lights! My mom and Gary came too! It was kinda cold and a bit rainy- but the boys didn't mind at all. They LOVED it! I think the train was the best way to go- you're covered and you get to see all the lights!

We also got a tree that weekend. They boys had a great time running around at the tree farm looking for the perfect tree. It was too cute!

i'm cutting down the tree!

jack wants to help!

Luke also got to go on a field trip last week to Wentzel Farms! Auntie Maris was there and between her and one of the other moms- i got sent some cute photos of that day! Luke's face cracks me up!!

this one makes me laugh every time!

luke loves to pose with statues!

This past weekend was a super busy one! But before we get started running around- we usually start our mornings off with a good breakfast with bacon. I snapped this cute one of the two littles... so adorbs.

bacon lovers

Saturday afternoon, my mom, aunt corriney and I baked family tradition spritz cookies and Jack got to have his first one. He LOVED it!

yummy!

 We also had our first of many christmas gatherings! We were at Auntie Jens (and Tayo and Uncle Jeff's) enjoying yummy gourmet grilled cheese and soup!

jack did NOT want this picture- can you tell?

cutie by the tree

aunt jaime and jack

 And i always love it when Maris sends me photos of Luke being silly (she watches him for me 3 days a week and gets him to preschool). This one cracks me up every time. and yes, that's a plug-in protector smooshed on his nose. hahahahaaa

 HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

happy halloween!

We survived yet another year of trick-or-treating! We have an awesome tradition of going to my brother's house and taking all the littles around their great neighborhood! Their neighbors are all SO friendly and all have young kids. It's a great area!

The kids all had a great time- and Grace outlasted us all {the last 2 years she's been a bit scared}!! She had a blast out there this year and kept referring to herself as the "Bravest Princess". 

Here's a few pics of our night.

jack rocking grace's wig. so funny!

Seaside 2012

We went to the beach this weekend to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday early. Thanks so much mom and gary for using your timeshare so we could enjoy the beach! We had great weather, yummy food and some worn-out kids. They had a blast! Here's a few of my favs from this weekend!

the weather was pretty nice!

Luke drew an owl in the sand

he was pooped!

fashion show in the lobby

Jack's first time playing skeeball!

Jack enjoying an oreo

pre dinner appetizers!

crusin the hallways before everyone was up!

Jack loves the seagulls!

enjoying the aquarium