jake turns four

F O U R

Wow, did that ever happen fast.

Four was ultra exciting because it was the first year Jacob got to have a kids party.  We planned a picnic for his friends and their families, made invitations and Jacob hand-delivered them to each child, planned a scavenger hunt, made mini cupcakes and cupcakes for the kids to decorate, made a picnic feast, Jake filled goodybags, and then... May 10th arrived with rain in the forecast.

Luckily my Aunt offered her house up as plan b and we made a last-minute location change (THANKS aunty Brenda and uncle Mont!).  It turned out to be overcast with just a few drops of rain so we were able to play in the bouncy castle and do the nature scavenger hunt outside BUT picnic and decorate cupcakes in comfort inside.  Perfect. 

The guest list was definitely the hardest part.  I think the smaller the better but there were a lot of family friends to invite and a few of his good friends from preschool.  Plus their siblings!  We ended up with nine kids (four more were away on holiday, phew!), Jake and Avery too, and then everyones' parents. 

But everything went smooth... 

The bouncy castle was a huge hit 

(I can totally see why people buy those things now)

  

Time to picnic

And onto the nature hunt.  All of the kids got a red pail with a printout of pictures of things to find: rocks, flowers, twigs, leaves, pinecones, pine needles and acorns.  

Last but not least, cupcake decorating with a lot of sticky little fingers and happy kids

A party success!  And a four-year-old with a huge grin on his face.  

Kids were sent home happy with their loot-bags and we then popped forty balloons, vacuumed up about a million sprinkles, wiped-up after all those sticky fingers and were home in time for Avery's nap.

    

I had a hard time with Jake turning four, seems so fast and sounds so big.  But we love watching him grow, seeing his sharp little mind work and love that kind heart of his.  These four years have been a dream.  Love him so hard it hurts and always will. 

halloween fun

This was our funest Halloween yet.  Jake was really looking forward to the whole thing and it helped that they had a party in his class.  He kept telling everyone who asked that he was going to be a "big digger" and although I consider myself a little crafty, I didn't want to tackle that.  So we were happy that Grandma Jean sent this Buzz Lightyear costume in the mail.  It was really adorable.  And so was our little ladybug (Apparently a really popular costume this year as three of Avery's friends were also ladybugs).

These two are just too cute!

       

We also enjoyed pumpkin carving.  It took Avery a while to warm-up to it; but in the end she got her hands a little dirty.  

Jake invited some friends over to decorate mini sugar cookies and of course everyone had fun.  Good work Jake.  If you look close you can see the little ghost and moon sprinkles.  So perfect.  

The most-talked-about-event at the preschool Halloween party was ghost bowling.  Happily Miss Taylor sent out pictures and here is Jake showing us how it's done.  There was also snacks galore, so the party was a success.

And we made these paper spider webs to decorate with, which turned out super.  It was a happy, happy Halloween :)    

our fall summary

You can see that fall is nearing its end.  

Cooler breeze.  Barer trees.  Dark mornings.  Greyer days.  

But we really made the best of all that autumn has to offer...

 there were piles of leaves to jump into with friends on our walks home from school. 

there was golfing in the park.  

bright and sunny walks

more parks, leaf collecting and searching for acorns

    

With our fall leaves this year we pressed them flat (just for a few hours), then ironed them between waxed paper, cut them out and taped them onto our sunniest window.  After we ironed and cut, I thought they looked really dull; but once they were stuck to the window and had the light behind them, they were vibrant and bright.  They kept their colour way better than dried/pressed leaves do, so twenty of them on the window was quite a happy sight. 

We roasted pumpkins, scooped them out, made pumpkin purée and used it to made pumpkin pancakes.  Avery loved them, Jake liked them and Bill and I thought once was nice - to be festive and all -  but we kind of preferred original pancakes.  With the rest of the pumpkin purée we're going to try baked pumpkin donut holes.   

We decorated the house with gourds (and sorted them by shape and colour too).

  

we went to the beach last week - just to throw some rocks in - on our way home from the grocery store.  

and we nature walked some more 

  

See ya next year fall.  We're already looking forward to it.     

bunting flags

I have been seeing bunting flags everywhere and think they couldn't be any sweeter!  They are perfect for parties or as room decorations.  I sewed some blue pendants for Jacob's birthday which now hang in his nursery.

I think paper bunting flags are just as sweet and they couldn't be easier.  You can use any pretty patterned paper or check out these downloads...

This printable alphabet bunting is from Ruffled and they even have a couple different patterns for the popular letters.    

 Or sweet mini-bunting flags like these.  Just print, cut and attach to string!  How perfect.   

the almost birthday boy

We had a little early birthday party for Jake today and had such a nice time.  We decked everything out in blue, sewed bunting flags and made a few goodies.

Even the process of getting things ready was a lot of fun.  I was lucky to have some helpers; my Mom and Dad iced the cookies, Kait and Tim babysat and did all the running errands and Billy even helped ice the cake!  

We used one of his very first infant onsies as a decoration.  I can hardly believe he ever fit it, but he did.   

Jake didn't exactly know what to make of the cake.  Vanilla with chocolate icing was completely foreign to him.  He didn't dive right in or devour it, but did he enjoy a little of it.
 

This really must have been a slightly overwhelming experience for him but he was such a good sport and such a sweet, happy little guy.  His present opening skills were lacking, but he was wowed by the contents of all these pretty little packages.    

Thanks to our families, near and far, who made this a special little day and who were so very thoughtful!