Pinewood Derby 2011

Pinewood Derby was held on Steve's 41st birthday. It is something I had been looking forward to for weeks! Hayden and Grayson were very excited and the possibility of not winning was not an option. The entire way there we talked about how everyone has done their best and will try their hardest, but I knew my talk was something they were not interested in.

Sometimes I am so happy that Steve has an engineering mind. He helped the boys build their cars. He didn't spend as much time on it as I thought he was going to and we were a little worried that the boys would not place and would not get trophies.

The first race of the day was Hayden's den. Hayden is in the middle (yes with the big smile). That is because he won 1st place!!!! He was so excited. After four trials he had the fastest time. Hayden now gets to move onto the regionals. March 19th is our next big day!

Hayden kept the fastest time until an older boy beat him in the last race. Oh but wait. . . there is the Sibling heat. Yes, that is GRAYSON's car winning! Grayson beat everyone. It actually was a little embarrassing because he is not even a Cub Scout. But he was so excited. Not only had he beaten the bigger kids he had finally done something better than his bigger brother! It was an exciting day in the Chilcote house! Both boys did GREAT!

Right after Grayson won!

Grayson with the rest of the siblings. We are so proud!!!

First Birthday Carnival!!!

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY LANDON!!!

Landon is a precious child that is always happy and smiling. We know that we have a lot to be thankful for. Landon's first year was full of mostly ups but there were some difficult times as well. When Landon was five months old he was diagnosed with severe hearing loss. Knowing that our baby could not hear us was devastating. Together Steve and I researched, researched, and researched about infant hearing loss and we can tell you pretty much anything you need to know. Thankfully, we do not have to use this knowledge anymore because we met a wonderful doctor that helped to cure Landon's problem. After Landon had surgery in September he was able to hear again! He can hear us talk, he can hear the leaves rustle, and of course his rowdy big brothers! Getting thru this big hurdle gave us even more reason to celebrate.

Landon is our last baby and we decided to celebrate his birthday with a Carnival! I planned it exactly the way I wanted it to be for him. Below are some pictures of how we celebrated Landon's birthday!

This poster greeted guests as they arrived at the party. Steve took the picture during Landon's first birthday photo shoot and then he made the poster.

Tails the clown was wonderful. She came at the very beginning of the party and was here before the other children arrived. She started entertaining immediately. I was very impressed and the kids had a ton of fun! Landon really enjoyed watching her. Several of the adults laughed out loud so I would say she was a big hit. She played her guitar, told jokes, and of course made amazing balloon animals. http://www.tailstheclown.com/

Landon's birthday t-shirt, hat, bib, and sippy cup were made by: BloomingBabies on Etsy. All of the streamers, pennants, etc. were made by Dimple Prints.

The Cake Table! The cake was made by http://www.alittlesomethingbakery.com/

Decorated water bottles! My friends in Texas would understand why I decorate everything including the water but some of my friends in Connecticut think I am over the top!!! I had fun doing it!

Adult beverages!

I found the idea of making a banner for each month of your child's first year while I was researching ideas for our party. I loved this so Steve and I worked on putting together a banner. This is something I am so glad we took the time to do because it is a memento that we will have forever and something for us to cherish. The flags were a printable from Dimple Prints.

The prize tent. This was a super fun way of displaying all of the prizes that the children could chose from when they were done playing the carnival games.

As far as my six year old and my five year old are concerned you can't have a party without Goodie bags!!!

Happy Birthday Banner!

Candy Table. . . yes the children had a ton of energy!

The Popcorn machine ended up being a big hit at the party. The boys keep asking if we can get it out again. We will soon.

Our magician was fantastic and kept the party going. The best part was the kids trying to figure out how he was doing his "magic"!

The party hats were put together the morning of the party by my mom, my mother-in-law, and myself. I am not sure how many times we stapled our own fingers but they were adorable and well worth the pain!

Each child that came to the party left with a gumball machine.

We transformed our basement into a game room for the kids. We "hired" two of the older children to run the games and to hand out tickets. There were several games to choose from. I think the ball toss and the duck pond were huge hits. Each kid came away with a ton of tickets and got to choose their prizes at the end of the party.

Thank you to all of my friends and family for helping us put this party together. It turned out perfect for our wonderful little ONE YEAR OLD!!!

We Are BACK!

We have made lots of trips, had a ton of parties, Cindy has gone back to work more than full time, and most importantly we had a BABY! That is why there was such a break from the blog. We are ready to start keeping a blog again, if nothing else for us to have a place to journal our memories. Enjoy!

2011 and I am Back!

After taking a year and a half off from the blog, I am back!

And I am still in Connecticut!