Tuesday, May 19th, was a big, big day for Mr. Walt!
1. He turned 4 years old.
2. It was his last day of preschool. (Until next year, that is.)
3. His preschool class spent the day at a park.
4. That evening was the last Don & Millie’s night of the school year.
Some guys have all the luck, huh?
Walt started his birthday off with a special singing hamburger birthday card. The kid LOVED it!
We told him he could open one present before school – a set of minion figurines!
Walt and Jane played with them until Walt had to go to school.
Before leaving for school, we got to take the obligatory last day of school picture on the front porch.
Can you believe how much Walt changed between his first and last days of preschool?
He definitely has a bigger personality these days!
Later that morning, we got to meet Walt and his preschool class at a nearby park for a last day of school play day.
After play time, we took a break for monster cookies and sang “Happy Birthday” to Walt. How precious is it that the group prayed before cookies? I love Catholic schools!
We headed back to the classroom to get Walt’s birthday crown and took a pic in the legendary cupcake chair that the birthday kiddo gets to sit in for the day.
Obligatory pic in front of school.
Walt had a rainy first day of school and a cloudy last day, but he had a wonderful year! We didn’t have an emotional goodbye with his teacher that day since we were coming back the next day to celebrate Jane’s last day with the same teacher.
Then, we headed home to open presents and have lunch before Philip had to get back to work. While I was busy baking monster cookies the night before, Philip (creatively) wrapped Walt’s presents. He missed the box of tissue paper and opted for brown packing paper instead. Christmas wrapping paper was a big player, too. And you know what? Who cares?! Walt certainly didn’t! Thanks for wrapping the presents, honey!
Walt loves this minion play-doh set. You can give the minions crazy play-doh hair, cut it with scissors, and make them little outfits and accessories.
Outdoor toys like water blasters and a ball.
Awwwwww, a stuffy minion to cuddle with at bedtime!
I think he liked it.
The Sandlot! We watched it in a few sittings. Jane and Walt thought it was hilarious! “Can we watch it again and start it where the boy with the glasses tries to trick the life guard and kisses her?! He’s so silly!”
After our afternoon nap time, we met up with Philip at Don & Milie’s for the last Don & Millie’s Night (a portion of the proceeds goes back to the school). This was a BIG DEAL to Walt. Normally, Philip works late on Tuesday nights. Since Don & Millie’s nights are always on Tuesdays, we usually just do the drive thru. On Walt’s birthday, Philip took the evening off so that we could go to Don & Millie’s together as a family. Walt was so happy to be eating his children’s meal in a booth with Daddy, surrounded by his classmates’ families and his teacher in another booth nearby. Big, big deal for the birthday boy! After dinner, we came back to our house for cookie cake. Another job well done, Cookie Company!
What we didn’t tell Walt was that Mimi, Papa, and Maddy were coming over, too. Walt was so excited and surprised to see them!
First, we sang “Happy Birthday” and ate cookie cake.
Then, Walt opened his presents from Mimi, Papa, and Maddy.
And we ended the night with a bedtime story and prayers.
From beginning to end, Walt had a fantastic birthday!
We forgot to do it on the actual day, but we remembered the next morning to mark Walt’s height on our pantry door frame. I can’t believe our little guy is 4! We love you, buddy!
Tuesday, May 19th, was a big, big day for Mr. Walt!
1. He turned 4 years old.
2. It was his last day of preschool. (Until next year, that is.)
3. His preschool class spent the day at a park.
4. That evening was the last Don & Millie’s night of the school year.
Some guys have all the luck, huh?
Walt started his birthday off with a special singing hamburger birthday card. The kid LOVED it!
We told him he could open one present before school – a set of minion figurines!
Walt and Jane played with them until Walt had to go to school.
Before leaving for school, we got to take the obligatory last day of school picture on the front porch.
Can you believe how much Walt changed between his first and last days of preschool?
He definitely has a bigger personality these days!
Later that morning, we got to meet Walt and his preschool class at a nearby park for a last day of school play day.
After play time, we took a break for monster cookies and sang “Happy Birthday” to Walt. How precious is it that the group prayed before cookies? I love Catholic schools!
We headed back to the classroom to get Walt’s birthday crown and took a pic in the legendary cupcake chair that the birthday kiddo gets to sit in for the day.
Obligatory pic in front of school.
Walt had a rainy first day of school and a cloudy last day, but he had a wonderful year! We didn’t have an emotional goodbye with his teacher that day since we were coming back the next day to celebrate Jane’s last day with the same teacher.
Then, we headed home to open presents and have lunch before Philip had to get back to work. While I was busy baking monster cookies the night before, Philip (creatively) wrapped Walt’s presents. He missed the box of tissue paper and opted for brown packing paper instead. Christmas wrapping paper was a big player, too. And you know what? Who cares?! Walt certainly didn’t! Thanks for wrapping the presents, honey!
Walt loves this minion play-doh set. You can give the minions crazy play-doh hair, cut it with scissors, and make them little outfits and accessories.
Outdoor toys like water blasters and a ball.
Awwwwww, a stuffy minion to cuddle with at bedtime!
I think he liked it.
The Sandlot! We watched it in a few sittings. Jane and Walt thought it was hilarious! “Can we watch it again and start it where the boy with the glasses tries to trick the life guard and kisses her?! He’s so silly!”
After our afternoon nap time, we met up with Philip at Don & Milie’s for the last Don & Millie’s Night (a portion of the proceeds goes back to the school). This was a BIG DEAL to Walt. Normally, Philip works late on Tuesday nights. Since Don & Millie’s nights are always on Tuesdays, we usually just do the drive thru. On Walt’s birthday, Philip took the evening off so that we could go to Don & Millie’s together as a family. Walt was so happy to be eating his children’s meal in a booth with Daddy, surrounded by his classmates’ families and his teacher in another booth nearby. Big, big deal for the birthday boy! After dinner, we came back to our house for cookie cake. Another job well done, Cookie Company!
What we didn’t tell Walt was that Mimi, Papa, and Maddy were coming over, too. Walt was so excited and surprised to see them!
First, we sang “Happy Birthday” and ate cookie cake.
Then, Walt opened his presents from Mimi, Papa, and Maddy.
And we ended the night with a bedtime story and prayers.
From beginning to end, Walt had a fantastic birthday!
We forgot to do it on the actual day, but we remembered the next morning to mark Walt’s height on our pantry door frame. I can’t believe our little guy is 4! We love you, buddy!
Jane and Walt had back-to-back last days of school, and they both had crummy weather. Jane’s day was even colder and rainier, so she went off to school in her winter coat, hat, and mittens.
I love how much you can see the transformation from her first to her last day of school pictures.
5, going on 25.
The best normal face we could get from this silly monkey!
Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!
Jane and Walt said goodbye to Mrs. King together. (Remember, they had the same preschool teacher, and Walt will have her again next year). She is a wonderful teacher, and the kids both had a great year!
We had to snap a few pictures out front just like we did on the first day of school. This girl. How do you like the little pose with the foot action?
So much bigger!
Hard to believe our little girl is going to be a big kindergartener next year! Jane wishes it would start tomorrow. Between getting to wear a uniform, eating lunch with friends, and staying at school all day, the girl can hardly wait!
Jane and Walt had back-to-back last days of school, and they both had crummy weather. Jane’s day was even colder and rainier, so she went off to school in her winter coat, hat, and mittens.
I love how much you can see the transformation from her first to her last day of school pictures.
5, going on 25.
The best normal face we could get from this silly monkey!
Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!
Jane and Walt said goodbye to Mrs. King together. (Remember, they had the same preschool teacher, and Walt will have her again next year). She is a wonderful teacher, and the kids both had a great year!
We had to snap a few pictures out front just like we did on the first day of school. This girl. How do you like the little pose with the foot action?
So much bigger!
Hard to believe our little girl is going to be a big kindergartener next year! Jane wishes it would start tomorrow. Between getting to wear a uniform, eating lunch with friends, and staying at school all day, the girl can hardly wait!
One of our current favorite books from the library, Pirates Don’t Change Diapers, by Melinda Long and David Shannon.
-2-
Does your baby retrieve things out of the trash? Harry loved this pineapple core. On top of teething, he’s been battling an ear infection, so I was happy to let him gnaw on something that kept him happy for a few minutes. After snapping this pic, I relocated him to his booster where he could enjoy his pineapple core without Monty bothering him.
-3-
“Jane, can’t you share that ice cream with me?”
-4-
I caught Jane reading (singing) her own version of Dinosaurs Love Underpants to Harry. For Jane, all of life is a musical!
-5-
These two kept me company while I cleaned out my drawers and closet earlier this week. At one point, I ran downstairs to grab more trash bags. When I came back up, Jane had positioned a book in front of Monty. “He’s reading a book, too, Mom!”
-6-
The busy-ness of the month (and his ear infection and teething) got the best of Harry. He passed out on the family room floor before afternoon nap time yesterday. Poor sweetie pie!
-7-
We’ve been enjoying evening family walks after dinner. A few nights ago, our shoes were filthy from walking through puddles and wet grass after the week’s rainstorms. Philip suggested we sit on the front stoop so that the kids could enjoy the leftover ice cream cups from our Mother’s Day celebration. Isn’t he brilliant? It was a sweet moment as a family.
* * *
To read more 7QT posts by other bloggers, head over to the link-up at Kelly Mantoan’s blog, This Ain’t the Lyceum!
Walt celebrated his 4th birthday with his preschool classmates last weekend. After considerable deliberation, he finally selected the party theme:
Walt’s party was all about Despicable Me!
Well done, Cookie Company! They did a great job decorating this chocolate chip cookie cake for the party. Isn’t it adorable? It was equally delicious!
Have you ever seen the movie? I kept the party decorations relatively simple, but we had to have our own Box of Shame from the movie like this one:
We transformed a garment box from our move into a Box of Shame. The kids LOVED it! Walt tried it out before the other kids arrived.
The rest of the minions in the Box of Shame:
The kids mostly entertained themselves for most of the party. It was fun to watch their individual personalities shine through.
Monty was happy to have so much attention from his new buddies!
Note to self: No more balloon bouquets at a 4-year-old boy’s birthday party. They will get destroyed. This started as 3 separate balloon bouquets.
Things got pretty quiet when it was time for lunch. All of the playing wore ’em out–temporarily. Then the sugar ramped ’em up again!
We suggested Duck, Duck, Goose. The kids brilliantly changed the game to Yellow Minion, Yellow Minion, Purple Minion. There was so much giggling!
Look at Walt’s face. The joy!
One of my favorite pictures from the party. I love how happy he was to watch his friends having a great time at his party.
All good things have to come to an end, so we came upstairs to wait for parents to arrive. Meanwhile, the kids had fun playing with their treasures from their goodie bags.
Harry especially loved the party blowers. He thought they were HILARIOUS!
The next day, I helped Walt to create his own thank you notes for his buddies. He drew each one a picture on the front. Here’s one:
Very serious work, people. Look at that concentration!
After he finished his cover art, I transcribed whatever message he wanted to include on the inside, thanking the friend for coming to the party and for bringing a nice birthday present. Walt especially loved getting to sign each card.
Walt had a huge grin plastered to his face when he went down for his afternoon nap after the party. It’s a beautiful thing to watch your child forming friendships with children who will be a big part of his life for the next 12+ years in elementary, junior, and high school. I’d say the party was a success because the minions were exhausted at the end–just in time for parents to bring them home for naps. Love you, Walt!
