Cake try #2

So going with Kaden's Star Wars theme I attempted to master the Death Star for his cake....

(note to self....do not attempt to create something you have no idea what it looks like
for it will NOT fool 7 year olds)
I know seriously how hard can a round ball type thing with a laser coming out of it be?
Well apparently pretty difficult! So bad infact I hurried to cut up the cake
and did not even take pictures....Darn!
So instead Matt (Gregg's brother-in -law) requested this little number.
Matt along with the entire Petersen family are enamored with fast cars!
Naturally he requested a race car cake. Gregg was in charge of the purchase
of the frosting (since part of the horrible mess-up with the 'death star'
was the frosting) Therefore I take no responsibility with the Christmas looking
color scheme we have going on!
Anyway, Kaden thought it was cool. I was much more pleased
with it than the tragic Death Star.....
Happy Birthday again March birthdays at the Petersen's!!!

Kaden's Birthday

Kaden Turned 7!

I swear it seemed like he has been 7 forever anyway!
My boys LOVE StaR WarS!!! They live and breath everything
Star Wars! So naturally he wanted a star wars party!
Kaden has been to star wars parties before and me being the
stupid person I am (I always have to be unique and difficult!) I
wanted to do something different! I don't think the time Kaden
gave me was enough to accomplish that!
Kaden has a friend HADEN!


He is adorable! They were born on the same day in the same hospital!
They wanted to have their 7th birthday's together. For a long time
I was elated to know they wanted it at a bowling alley or something like that.
I say elated because, that is so much less planning and work for me(is that
so selfish or what?).
They both wanted that until like a week before their birthday.
Then all of a sudden they both wanted their own parties and Kaden
wanted his here as well!
So, I pulling things together. I laughed when I googled suggestions indicating
'works best when planned 4 - 6 weeks in advance'....um ya how about
4-6 days!!!??? To make matters more difficult Kaden has been off track
for a month. This made it so difficult to round up the friends information
as it was! Anyway, I have to keep reminding myself, 'boys don't really care!!!'.

This is such a 160 from what I grew up with. Every last detail put into everything we did!
Was it because we were all girls and we tend to make EVERYTHING more difficult
than necessary? I don't know! I tend to think so!
Anyway, I came up with some less than unique games and the boys had a BLAST!




When they first got to our house we properly robed them as Jedi.
Their quest while they were here was to become MASTERS!!!
My wonderful Mom helped me to whip these little puppies up!
They were so easy! And the boys couldn't believe they got to
keep them at the end of the party!


In an effort to hone in on their Jedi skills we practiced using the
force to suspend balloons!




I was so shocked this kept them entertained for about a half
an hour! They were having so much fun with it.



Then of course every Jedi needs to go on a secret mission.
We had those boys going all over working diligently on finding the treasure
at the end of the hunt! They were also surprised at the end to find light sabers!

Then we had to destroy the death star (pinata). But first we had to decode a secret
that would tell us how to best destroy the death star. This was put together by
popping dozens of balloons to try to word the message! Anyway, Kaden had a blast the boys thought they were tough masters and everyone ended the day happy!

Kaden is such a good boy! He is adorable and such a tough boy at the same time!
We are so glad he is a part of our family!
Happy 7th Kaden!!

LUCK O the IRIsh!

I LOVE St. Patrick's day! I don't really know why....We don't guzzle the green beer, we don't kiss or know anyone Irish.....I think I just like it because it is another fun holiday to share with fun traditions!

Every year, the Leprechauns come and visit us! Yes, they do! The boys leave a package out for them (it has to be green...this year it was a pillowcase...okay I forgot to get the green paint for the boxes!--Truth be told, I forgot St.Patrick's day...the boys didn't they were waiting for the little green guys whether I was ready or not!) Anyway, the leprechauns come out in the light of the moon! They find the box/or green whatever fill it with their treasure and hide it so you can't find it. Little do they know, they leave a trail of green clovers so you can! This year the Leprechauns were so tricky it took a while for the boys to find the treasures! It is always so much fun and the boys just LOVE IT! They find the treasure which is sometimes coins, this year tons of green treasure...
Another thing I try every year...and every year I forget it doesn't work!! I try the green pancakes! NOPE they won't eat them! And as for the green milk! NO WAY! There is no way I am going to mess with a good thing! SeriouSLy! Jaxon wouldn't eat them! Gregg begrudgingly ate the green eggs I made for us?! :) But quickly left the house for work after that! I don't know what the problem is! It is just for fun! There is no fun to be had when it comes with messing with a good thing!
Also, this year there are so many opportunities to take advantage of on St. Patrick's day that are free! WE had two baseball practices so we were limited to time this year, but we stopped (I use that term loosely!) by Chick-fil-A. Okay so you got a ticket to get a free duplicate of whatever your order was on St. Patrick's day to use any other time during March! I promised Kaden after I dropped him off to baseball I would come back and watch the last half hour of his practice....I stopped by Chick-fil-A to get the boys their dinner and it took 45 MInutES! YIKES! Kaden was so mad at me when I picked him up! That was until I told him there was Chick-fil-A in the car....then it was all okay! So here is the line! SEriOusLy! This is just part of the line!

Happy St.Patricks Day!!!

KaDEn and BoreDOM!

So when the boys are off-track, some afternoons are hard to fill with excitement! Try as I might some days you just have to make your own fun! This day, Jaxon was at a friends house, Zeke was taking a nap and Kaden and I well.....let's just say we were bored! So what did we do? We tried to get a shot of his AWesOMe paper airplane he made (one of the off-track to do projects!). Let me tell you, it is a little harder than you think, trying to focus in on a spot you think the plane will fly and not having a consistent throw! :) It was actually pretty fun! And Kaden and I were both laughing really hard!
We finished off the cOlD afternoon with a baseball practice! It was so so cold! He is really improving this year a lot! I think sometimes you just need to be older and get the hang of the game sometimes!
More to come on Jaxon's baseball soon! He always practices after Kaden and by then we are all too cold to sit outside and snap shots! He is so tough though!

SpRIng!!!

I love spring! I love the change of seasons! I love that it is super warm one day then really cold the next! Don't get me wrong, I love the summer and the warmth. I just love it that We can be out in the sun playing in the sand one day. Then the next it snows and we can be cuddled up inside in a blanket watching a movie and sipping cocoa or reading a book!

Happy Birthday to mE!!!

So I have the BEST husband in the world! He totally scored this year! Thanks to my friend and co-worker of his, he knew just what to get me! I have really wanted to learn more about photography this year and what better way than to get a new lens! YEAH! It has been so much fun!

One of the best things about it was that he is always so excited to give me stuff he can't even wait one night! He gave it to me the night before. He also scored on an awesome strap for my camera! Brown and blue .... Of course!

A few of the sample shots. He got me a 50mm f/1.8. It has been fun. A lot different to use than my zoom lens.

Baseball is coming and the boys have been practicing ! OOOHHHH SO COLD!!! I will never understand how it can be so fun that your hands are frozen! So when you get in the car after I pick them up they are crying because their hands are so cold, yet they are still having fun?! Go figure!

More happy 'ROAR'day!!!

Zeke wanted a 'Dinosaur cake with spikes!'....we'll I tried. What do you think?

I think he liked helping me make it more than anything! Although when the candles were blown out he sure did run off with his plate and sit down and chow for a while.
When I gave him the batter to lick and the spoon to lick he finished it off then said, 'Mom, this one needs more chocolate!' Then I caught him just before he was about to scoop the spoon right into the unbaked cake! He is so funny!