Not So Pumped

Yesterday we went to Pump-It-Up to celebrate Tommy's birthday! Tommy's dad, Troy, was Chad's roommate when we first met. Funny side story...Chad and Troy were roommates, Chad and I met, started dating, Troy met Denise, proposed, got married, Chad moved in with Ryan, Troy and Denise had Victoria, Ryan met Ashley, proposed, married Ashley, Troy and Denise had Tommy, and Chad and I FINALLY get married! Sorry, Babe...I couldn't pass it up! In fairness to Chad, he did propose before Ryan proposed to Ashley...but I still like to give him a bad time about the fact that we had friends who met, got married, and had children before we were ever engaged. :o)

Okay...back to Pump-It-Up...Chad and I had a feeling that Landry was NOT going to be a fan. If you don't know, Pump-It-Up is a giant room that is filled with all kinds of bounce houses...most kids' dream...not ours. It started with us having to pull him into the room with all of the bounce houses...and quickly turned into this:

Yup, it was what we call the "spider monkey cling!" He wouldn't even let us put him down to walk around. I did try to take him into one of the bounce houses and just sit. Nope. Wasn't having ANY of it. Have you ever tried to get out of a bounce house with a 30 pound "spider monkey" attached to you for dear life...not an easy task my friends!

After about 45 minutes...we finally got him to warm up to this:

 He would at least stand on his own, far, far away from any of the bounce houses.

Knowing Chad and I...we were not about to let him just stand. So, Chad decided to take him up the giant slide.

Here they are at the top...Landry looks super excited!

 Ready, set,

 Go!

 He was so funny. He didn't hate it but when he got off he walked over to the door and said, "I all done. Bye-Bye. Home." Oh sweet thing. He did LOVE sitting on the bench "all by myself," he said. So we got a few pics of that, too:

Then after watching all of the other kids, he decided that he wanted to go down again... with me!

 Yes, I was the typical mom...trying to fix his hair before we went down. Would you expect anything different?

His biggest "thrill" for the day was sitting on one of the mats and "falling" onto the carpet. I know, watch out, he's a daredevil! :o)

The obligatory attempt to get a picture of all of the kids together in front of the obstacle course...love it!

In true kid/Landry fashion...he finally warmed up to the idea of going in the obstacle course when it came time to go to the party room for cake and ice cream! It only took him an hour and a half to warm up. Hmmmm...reminds me of someone else that takes a while to warm up to new ideas! :o)

Thank you, Tommy for inviting us to celebrate your big day. Even though Landry cried most of the time, and seemed terrified, he had fun!

So, here are some things that we now know we can cross off the ol' "to-do" list for awhile:

1. Disneyland - if you're terrified of the merry-go-round...you probably won't believe that it is "the happiest place on Earth."

2. Renting a bounce house - unless we get it for an entire day...because you won't like it until right before the guy comes to take it away.

3. Water park passes - you HATE being in a pool...so, I guess we don't have to worry about that expense either.

Just to Clarify

So, I have been asked...several times...by my dear sweet husband, "Why wasn't I mentioned in 'The Stand-off' post?" Apparently there have been "tons" of people that have asked him where he was during everything. I do think it is kind of funny that people assume he was sleeping, watching t.v., in the other room, etc. In fairness to him, he was there the entire 90 minutes. I was very surprised that he didn't cave...but he held strong. He will even say that he was the one that got Landry to finally clean up the mess. So, there you have it. Yes, he was there, he was part of the action...he was not asleep! Love ya, Babe!

Welcome to the Jungle!

Well, another year has almost come to an end so that means one thing...Open House! Last year I shared pictures of my insect filled room...and shared that I LOVE Open House. It's true. I do. Love it!

This year our 2nd grade team decided to change it up...and we went WILD! Thanks to my dear friend, Pinterest, we were able to transform our rooms into the tropical rain forest. Enjoy!

What is cuter than a troop of monkeys hanging from the ceiling? I'd say sloths...I love them!

 Safari Kids...with writing inspired by Dr. Seuss's "If I Ran the Rain Forest..."

Fractions, and bar graphs, and fun...oh my! My students created their own tropical bird using fractions. Then they graphed the number of fractions that they used and analyzed their graph...who says math is for the birds?

Bananas About Multiplication...students created their own multiplication problem...then they brought it to life with their banana tree!

Rain Forest Alphabet...rain forest creatures A-Z...anteater to zorro...no, not the masked hero...the fox-like rain forest animal!

Do you know how many layers are in the rain forest? Room 9 does!

You can't have a rain forest without the red-eyed tree frog!

I put a little display together of different items that come from the rain forest: the chemical in insect repellant, cocoa, coffee, coconut oil, tapioca, vanilla, cashews, macadamia nuts, Brazil nuts, grapefruit, lemons, limes, pineapples, bananas, papayas, mangoes, coconuts, spices, and so much more!

Of course, the highlight...the students animal creations!

The Stand-off!

So, our Saturday morning started with The Stand-off of 2012. Yup, you read that right...a stand-off. It all started with this:

Handsome decided to take an entire box of cards and throw them all around the living room. When it came time to clean them up...this is what happened:

There were lots of tears...lots of "negotiating"...a time out...more tears...more negotiating...a diaper change...still more tears...and more negotiating.

 We had to pull out the "big guns" and hold the vacuums as ransom.

Oh yeah...and his pants...

 if you don't know...Handsome is EXTREMELY modest and HATES to not have an item of clothing on...so I thought...what better way to get him to clean up his mess than to hold his pants ransom after his diaper change...this is the result:

He still wasn't willing to budge...neither was I...and so... the stand off continued...for 90 minutes! Yup...90 minutes...that's right...1 hour and 30 minutes...lots of tears...a time-out...a diaper change...negotitations...ransom...and the result...this:

After 90 long minutes...the cards were picked up!

I'm not going to lie...it felt really good to win the stand-off. No, I don't regret holding the vacuums...or his pants hostage. No, I am not going to apologize for taking pictures of this so that it is documented forever. 90 minutes is a small price to pay for a little one who will learn that if he makes a mess...he WILL clean it up. Oh, and yes, I am the mom...and I will win! :o)

Monkey See, Monkey Do, Landry Tigh Just Turned 2!

Today we celebrated Handsome and his 2nd birthday! Before he was born everyone must of known that he would LOVE monkeys because we received quite a few monkeys and monkey related items. All of them were and are his favorites...so choosing a party theme was easy!

Here is the adorable invitation created by Kristine Schroeder at KDS Designs:

There is a wonderful park right by my parent's house...so I reserved our spot and it was PERFECT!

 The tables...

Monkeys and bananas!

(bins were from Dollar Tree, pinwheels: Party City, monkeys and bananas:WinCo)

 Favors for the kids...filled with Landry's favorites: a monkey, bubbles, and M&Ms!

 It's not a party without some cake!

 And of course you need something to eat!

 Everything is all set up and ready to go!

 (I made the banner using my Silhouette, tags and labels were created using Microsoft Word, foam monkeys came in a craft set fom Michaels)

 Here is the birthday boy!

 "Muscles!"

 Love my little family!

 Poppie trying to find the trick to "Barrel of Monkeys!"

 The kids had a blast playing at the park!

Landry and Nolan

 "Cheese!"

 There's nothing better than a birthday hug!

 Landry and Amy...such good buddies!

 Landry and Victoria...I think Landry has quite the crush on Miss Victoria!

 Trying out the swings...

 not such a fan!

 "Hi Tommy!"

 Finally, time for some cake!

 Landry was really funny this year! He WOULD NOT touch the cupcake until we gave him a fork...and then he had to stop whenever there was a "mess" on his hands. This child cracks me up!

 Mom gets a bite, too!

 Amy loved her push-pop cupcake!

 Presents!!!!!!

 Landry wasn't realy very interested in opening the presents. He was much more interested in cleaning up the "mess," pointing out airplanes, birds, saying "bye-bye" to helicopters...

 and dragging his balloons around!

 Best buddies!

 After it was all cleaned up and done...time for some quick pictures!

Nawnie and Papa...no denying who's grandson he is!

Auntie KK

 GG and Poppie

 and here is what happens when you try and get  2 year old to pose for one more picture!

Thank you everyone who came to celebrate with us! We love you all and are so lucky to have you as a part of our lives...love, The Lofgrens!

I linked up to:
Tater Tots and Jello