Soren's Ball Pit

Soren's First Birthday Party

Our sweet boy is coming up on his first birthday, and we just had to celebrate! Soren (and Mama and Daddy!) have grown and changed and learned a lot this past year, and we wanted to share our joy with our family.

Aunt L made some delicious cupcakes, and with the help of Grandma S, they looked pretty tasty, too! Aunt L also helped Mama make Soren's birthday banner out of cloth from his weekly photo backdrops (a la http://www.younghouselove.com/ and http://www.soulemama.com/)



 Group photo time!

Soren got lots of fun toys, including a rocking horse from Grandma Ann and Grandpa Tom and a monster tractor from Uncle John! But do you know what is most fun of all? Wrapping paper!



Surprise!!!

While Jason was gone to class Monday night, I baked him a birthday cake, wrapped presents and decorated the house with balloons and streamers. After I sang "Happy Birthday" and he blew out his candles, he started opening presents: Dove chocolate, a pumpkin dessert and a calendar.



His favorite present was the calendar. Fist pump for Goats in Trees!

Jason's Birthday Weekend

Jason just turned the big 2-7 and his only special request for his birthday weekend was a trip to the art museum. Nothing special for dinner, no gift he was yearning for, just a trip to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Definitely a do-able request.
We went to Kansas City on Halloween and spent a very nice fall afternoon admiring sculptures on the museum lawn. We also caught a tour of works by American artists such as Thomas Hart Benton and George Caleb Bingham and then explored a little on our own.
At home, we finally did something with the pumpkin we picked out from the store. It had been sitting in our garage for days and I was feeling a little sad for it. Jason and I agreed that it was too late in the day, and we were too lazy to carve something clever into the pumpkin, so we took a friend's advice and drew a Pi sign on the pumpkin. (Get it? Pumpkin Pi(e)?) It kind of represents Jason's school experience these past months.

Apple Festival festivities

Mom and I went to the Apple Festival play on Friday night. It was "Annie." The next day, Lauren and I went to the parade, walked around, hit the corn maze outside of Columbia and had dinner and fun with Erin Ross. It was a full 24 hours.

Happy Birthday Week to me!

Surprise! I went to the gym and when I came back there was a birthday cake waiting for me! I tried to blow the candles out, but they kept coming back on. Jason had put trick candles on the cake. They almost burned all the way into the cake before we got them put out!