Eli's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Party

Yesterday we had our super-mega Mickey blowout at the Wilson house!  :)  We had Eli's birthday party a bit later this year because Jeremy has been so busy with concerts and tours thus far.  It worked out well with everyone's schedules though because everyone came that we invited!  We had around around 30 people total at the party - half adults and half kids.  I am really proud of the decorations, so please forgive me while I show off a little bit.  :)

 

I found some cupcake toppers on Etsy that I copied in my own documents program.  I wanted to be able to reuse the template, otherwise I would have just bought the ones on Etsy!  Luckily Mickey Mouse is just three circles, so it was pretty easy to make.  And a giant circle hole punch was my friend when cutting these out!  :)

We had character signs for all the food.  I got that idea off of Pinterest...I'm pretty good at knocking off other people's ideas!  Ha!  I made a Minnie's Mix (or snack mix), Pluto's Pizza, Clarabelle's Cupcakes, Donald's Drinks, and Goofy's Goodies.  Alliteration is fun!

 

The view of the dining room.  And FYI, I strung the balloons on regular thread using a needle...so easy!

Another Pinterest inspired idea...painted styrofoam balls to form an awesome Mickey centerpiece!  Eli loves these so much, I think I'm just going to set them on his dresser in his room!

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!

In the hallway I had the goodie bags and subway art I made for the party.

Jeremy's parents gave Eli some reusable wall decals for Christmas that really came in handy for the party.  We had 30 of these things all throughout the house!  (By the way, I just took these down, and Eli was really sad.  Looks like I may be moving these to his room too!)

The view of the living room.  Dani and I made the sign last year for Eli's second birthday party.  Yay, for primary colors!  :)

Another idea I got off the internet was making a Toodles for the games.  Each Mouseketool coordinates with a game.  Pluto = Hot Pluto (or hot potato), Balloons = a balloon relay race, Jelly Beans = bean bag toss, and the Mystery Mouseketool hid a picture of Mickey holding a present = Present time!

Lots of kiddos chowing down on pizza and cupcakes!  (Note my little goofball cheesing it up)

 "Happy Birthday" time!

He really gave his all when blowing out the candle!

This angle cracks me up because it really looks like he's eating the flame!  :)

He basically just licked the frosting off and asked for more.  A boy after my own heart. :)

After eating, it was game time!  We played the "Mouskedoer" song to get all of our Mouseketools, then we yelled, "Oh, Toodles!"  I let one of the girls pick our first Mouseketool, and she choose Pluto!

Eli really liked "Hot Pluto."  Probably because it was the easiest!  His expressions in the pictures are priceless!

Back to Toodles for another Mouseketool...Jelly beans!  You better watch out...Eli has really good aim for a 3-year-old.  :)

The only Mouseketool left was the balloons.  For the relay race I had the kids get on their hands and knees and hit the balloon across the floor with their nose.  Eli just did it the easy way!  Ha!

The Mystery Mouseketool revealed it was present time.  This picture cracks me up because it shows how children have no concept of personal space!

Present opening is serious business, folks. :)

Thanks to all my planning it was a relatively stress-free day!  I'm so glad we were able to celebrate our little man's special day with so many wonderful friends!

 

I also want to thank our good friend, Jerry, for taking all these awesome photographs.  He really helped me relax and just enjoy the party.  Since I'm a bit photo obsessed, I would have ran around like crazy taking pictures!  Thanks, Jerry!  If you'd like to see the rest of the pictures from the party, Click Here.

After everyone left, we finally got to set up our gift to Eli...a keyboard with a microphone!  I'm going to have to teach him to not crowd the mic!  :)  (And yes, I already hate the bossa nova beat that Eli is so fond of)

We have a busy two days ahead of us as we prepare to go to the States on Tuesday morning!  Luckily, we have some wonderful friends who agreed to take us to the airport at the crack of dawn and to look after our house.  I might not be updating the blog very much over the next few weeks.  Please keep us in your prayers as we travel! 

A Snow Day & A Birthday

Well it's the end of January, and we finally got our first snow of the season in Vienna.  That's insane considering Tennessee has gotten multiple snows!  I was interested in seeing how Eli would like it this year now that he was a bit older.  I think he may have watched a TV show that featured snow because he immediately opened his mouth, stuck out his tongue, and said, "Gonna catch a SNOWFLAKE!"

He liked seeing how the snow moved when he kicked it, just as long as none got on his hand!  He would scream, "MOMMY, GET IT OFF!  TOO COLD!!"  It would appear that Southern blood still runs through his body even though he's never lived there!

Last week, Eli and I had to celebrate his birthday sans Daddy.  Jeremy was on tour in Germany, but I still wanted to make the day special.  I decided to take him to a local indoor play place that Eli loved last time we went.  It's half price in the evening, so I thought it was perfect!

I was shocked at how confident he was at climbing and balancing this time around.  It's amazing what happens in a year!  

Peekaboo!

I had my small camera with me, so all my photos are sub-par.  But you can still tell in this photo how much he loved sliding into the pit of balls!

Balls, balls, everywhere!

 

On the way home, we stopped at Mickey D's and got his favorite meal...chicken nuggets, french fries, apples, and apple juice.  Then we topped it off with a little cake!  He could hardly wait to blow out the candles while Mimi (on Skype) and I sang "Happy Birthday."  :)

Nom, nom, nom.  :)

I wish I could say that our evening ended there.  One of the reasons we hadn't been to that play place in over a year is because we're pretty sure that's where Jeremy caught the virus that landed him in the hospital back in 2010.  It's official...that place is on our black list.  Eli woke up the next morning throwing up and had fever the rest of the day.  Then 12 hours later, it attacked me.  I'm just thankful that Eli didn't get it as bad as I did.  I almost had to call an ambulance (since Jeremy was on tour) because I couldn't stop passing out.  Very scary!  We are just now getting back to normal after that awful virus.  Definitely not the miracle diet I wanted for the new year!  Luckily we'll get a do-over for Eli's birthday this weekend and Daddy will be present.  I'm in the process of turning our home into Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse!  :)

3 Years Old!

Today my sweet boy is three years old.  THREE YEARS OLD!  Where did the time go?  I have to say that I love this age.  Yes, he has tantrums, and yes, he says "mommy" a million times a day...but it's awesome!  :)  He is talking and learning and exploring so much, but he is still so innocent.  Sometimes I ache with the knowledge that one day that will be gone, but I'm going to enjoy it while I can!  We did a little photo shoot today at home to commemorate this momentous occasion, and here are some notes about what Eli has been up to lately!

 

The biggest difference between this year and last year has been the talking!  We're using full sentences now, people, and it really throws me off guard sometimes.  He comes out with the most random things, and I love it.  Jeremy and I laugh all day at his "observations."  :) 

I've also noticed he has started to develop problem solving skills.  When he wants a ball that is under the entertainment center out of reach, he gets his plastic golf club to knock it out.  When he wants to play on the iPad, and mommy feels like she has intelligently put it on the counter out of reach, then Eli gets a stool to reach it.  If I wasn't so impressed I might be upset at him.  Stinker.  :)

With all the talking and mimicking Eli does, we really have to watch what we say.  It's not like we are cussing like a sailor in front of him, but we say certain words or phrases repeatedly out of habit.  For instance, I pretty much call Eli "honey" and "sweetheart" all day long.  Well, you can rest assured that has not gone unnoticed.  Just today Eli said to me, "can I have some chicken nuggets, honey?"

Eli loves to sing!  He picks up songs really quickly...I have even heard him humming the Albinoni Oboe Concerto that Jeremy has been practicing lately.  Unfortunately, I can't get him to stop singing Christmas songs.  How do you tell a 3-year-old  that those great songs are only sung a certain time of year?!  Anyway, I love his voice and adorable made-up songs.  I hope he never loses that.

One of Mommy and Daddy's favorite things of late is he will say "I love you."  Nothing melts your heart quicker than that.  With the exception of praying...he'll even remind me when I forget at mealtime!   He'll close his eyes, murmur unintelligible sounds, you'll hear random names thrown out, then he'll say "in Jesus' name, Ah-men!" 

Yes, I will be the first to say Eli is a complete sweetheart...I have it easy, really.  But he has definitely reached the age where he is pushing boundaries and getting into everything.  He'll do things, and Jeremy and I will just stare aghast and say, "What were you thinking?!"  Sometimes it means jumping into the bath fully clothed, randomly licking things, or even shaking a cup up and down at mealtime to see what happens to the liquid.  I'm gonna have to keep an eye on that kid.  :)

Eli has officially and completely transitioned to a big boy bed.  We did this a few months ago, and it was tough for a about a month.  He would get up and just roam around instead of sleeping.  And instead of sleeping later, I just got a grumpy toddler!  He's now gotten over the "newness" of it, and he is even back to his daily 2-hour naps.  Joy!

We have never had a problem with Eli learning things.  He is a smart boy.  The end.  :)  But seriously, I'm amazed a what he can memorize in such a short amount of time.  Jeremy discovered the other day that Eli knows the names and locations of like 30-something States!  What?!  I'm not even sure I know that many.  So knowledge is not a problem, but we do have to encourage fine motor skills work.  He doesn't like coloring or detailed finger-play.  Luckily, Play Doh is always a winner!

Mickey Mouse is still top dog in our house.  Eli loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and I'm kind of a fan myself.  Who doesn't like something that's educational and cute?  In fact, we'll be having a special Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party for him in a week!  If he keeps this up, we might just have to blow his mind with a trip to Disney.  :)

Eli has obviously been going through a growth spurt recently.  He has been eating like a horse!  One day, I kid you not, he ate three adult-sized bowls of cereal!  THREE!  I try to expand his palate, but I'm not having much success.  His favorites are chicken nuggets, french fries, apples, bananas, yogurt, and of course, cereal.  At least there is some fruit in there...french fries can count as a vegetable, right?! 

Batten down the hatches, we have a climber!  Yes, Eli is testing his physical endurance on anything of height lately.  I've found him on shelves and tables.  And more recently, he likes to see how high he can jump off of things.  Boys.  Sigh. 

I'm sure I'll say this every birthday, but despite any burdens or trials we've had this past year, Eli has been a light in our lives.  I can't imagine life without him.  God blessed us with a loving, tenderhearted, sweet little boy, and we'll always be grateful for him.  We pray everyday that he will become a great man of God and trust in Him above all things.  We love you, little man, and happy 3rd birthday!

Happy New Year's!

Happy 2012, everyone!  I hope your festivities were wonderful!  We had a pretty low-key New Year's Eve...in fact, I went to bed at 10:30!  It was glorious until the bombing began at midnight.  I mean, these Austrians are serious about their fireworks!  It seriously puts 4th of July to shame in terms of the sheer amount of artillery normal people purchase and shoot off.  Crazy stuff.  And on New Year's Day we had several people over to watch Jeremy live in the Wiener Philharmoniker New Year's Concert!

A picture of my TV screen!

I know several of you commented on how much Jeremy was shown on the American broadcast.  Maybe they knew he was the only American in the orchestra?  And no, we did not pay off the cameramen!  :)

Eli would get so excited when Jeremy would come on the screen.  He would run up to me and scream, "It's Daddy playin' trombone, Mommy!  Yay!"  (In fact, you can see Jeremy blurred in the background of the first picture!)  And since then he has asked to "watch Daddy playing on TV" multiple times!

We had fun day hanging with friends after the concert, and we had our fill of black eyed peas, ham, and cornbread!  That's my kind of eating! (FYI, Jeremy did a whole blog post on the concert at Back Row Perspectives.)

I took Eli to the grocery store for the first time in a long time this past week.  I try to go when Jeremy is home because I know it's hard for a little one to sit still for so long.  I rewarded him for his good behavior with a Play Doh set that lets you press out shapes.  I didn't anticipate how great the plastic scissors that came with it would be!  Because there was no blade, I could let him practice cutting without swooping in to save him.  He did so well!  I highly recommend this!

Look at that form! :)

Today was an odd day in Vienna for wintertime...the sun was shining, and it wasn't too cold!  After I got home from an appointment, we all headed outside to run off some steam.  Vitamin D is a good thing for morale, people.

Daddy helped Eli with some golfing.  Hmmm...maybe Uncle Jacob can work on his form when we come to the States in a few weeks!

 

Seems like he was pretty proud of his shot though!

For some reason he decided it would be a good idea to slide down face first.  Oh well, it was a good lesson to be taught on the soft, wet ground!

Eli's pre-kick faces are hilarious.

Apparently even though it was warmer than normal, it was still a bit chilly.  After a while Eli yelled, "IT'S COLD!" while making the face below.  I'm so glad he's not dramatic or anything.  :)

 Happy New Year's to you and yours!