May the 4th Be With You

What kind of family would we be if we didn't celebrate May the 4th in some shape or form!! Unfortunately, we didn't all get dressed until after Grant went to school (he was also wearing his Star Wars t-shirt) but we missed the photo op with him- sorry Bub!! Levi and I put on our t-shirts and Wyatt just continued wearing his Star Wars pajamas ALL DAY LONG! Wyatt declared it "May the 4th Be With You Game Day!" He gathered all our Star Wars games, which is surprisingly more than I thought we had, and he set them up all over the living room. We spent the morning rotating from game to game! 

We did watch some Lego Star Wars mid-day after we were gamed- out! 

Such fun celebrating with my Star Wars fellas!

Star Wars Movie

The boys have been waiting for this day for over a YEAR!! The new Stars Wars movie release!! Literally, over a year of waiting! And I am so thankful that it came out after Levi got home! Star Wars movies aren't my cup of tea, so I'm glad they got to go with their daddy to enjoy this big milestone!!

The boys got into Star Wars about a year and a half ago, after they discovered all the Lego sets. It turned into loving all Star Wars legos, to all Star Wars toys, to every-single-thing-ever-made of Star Wars. When Levi was home last Christmas, they watched every movie start to finish for the first time. They couldn't get enough!! They've watched both trilogies a few times over this past year as well. So this new movie was a BIG DEAL! They bought their tickets in advance, got decked out in their favorite Star Wars apparel (not pictured- Wyatt's Star Wars socks and Grant's Star Wars undies) and off to the movies they went!

When they got home, they were all a buzz about when this happened and when that happened. Levi declared it was "the best movie he's EVER seen." And that's huge considering Levi is pretty critical of movies, so it must've really been the best movie ever!! Grant couldn't stop talking about! Wyatt seemed to like it, but really seemed indifferent. Levi said throughout the movie, Wyatt kept tapping him on the shoulder saying, "I miss mom." So I think he was just wanting it to get over so he could see me. Guess maybe if I went, he would've enjoyed it more! 

About 5 days after the first time they saw it, Grant and Levi went again to see it! Wyatt said he'd rather stay home with me! Silly boy!!

So now that this movie was a success, let the countdown begin for the next movie!!!

Star Wars at Church

Our church has a wonderful children's ministry and the boys get so excited to see what fun activity or song or project they will get to do! They actually get sad when we can't make it to church, such a great problem to have!! 

So when we found out the month of December was going to involve a Star Wars theme for children's worship, the boys were ready to bust down the door to see what was going to happen!! The premise of the curriculum was that The Magi were on a quest – following a star to find the child king foretold in prophecy. Along their journey, they encountered both the dark and the light, both good and bad. In the end they met Jesus, the true star of their trip, and light of the world. It was a neat way of making the Christmas Story come alive for these guys!

Upon walking in to church the first week, it was like a Star Wars flood of the coolest decorations you ever could imagine! Lots of "look at this!" and "Oh my gosh, look at that!" and "Wow look over here!" Everywhere we looked, there was something else amazing!! 

Sadly, we only made it to church twice in December because we were out of town the other two weekends, but no doubt they will remember this for a long time to come!!

 The imperial starship pulled by AT-AT walkers!

 There were hundreds of these paper snowflakes! I can't even imagine cutting those out!!

An imperial starship made into a Christmas tree!

Oh it was so fun!!! 

Star Wars Birthday

 The boys usually start planning their birthday as soon as Christmas is over. So for all of January and February, they were in party planning mode. They'd think of something they would see at a store and say, "We could use that for our party!" or they'd scour my Pinterest board and want to do EVERY idea I pinned. They were over-the-top excited for this party!!! So even though it was a small party, we had big plans!! (PS- We are so thankful that the Broeckelman and Harris families could come spend the weekend with us! And Mimi and PawPaw too! But we missed you VanAllen family!)

We had fun decorating the "party room" together! I printed off a banner and found a poster and tablecloth. They gathered some of their toys to use as decorations and they just went to town!! And after a trip to the grocery store, Grant spied the perfect balloons! They were so proud of the decor!!

 They were probably most excited for the food!!! They probably came up with 25 different food ideas incorporating a Star Wars word into the phrase. But since we were only having our families here, we didn't need that much. So we whittled it down to our favorites and our menu was made!

In tradition, I made their cakes again! Although this year, Grant chose cake pops instead of a cake!! He was missing out on our dear friends in Enid, who always have the best cakes pops at their birthdays. I have to say, they were mighty delicious! Thanks Lori for the recipe!!! They were initially going to be Death Star cake pops, but since they didn't resemble that whatsoever, they were Meteor cake pops. Grant was happy just the same!

 Wyatt wanted a Stormtrooper cake and I feel like if you know what a Stormtrooper looks like, you could probably tell what the cake was, but if not, it probably looked like one of those illusion pictures where you try to find the real picture in it. Anyway, he liked it, and that's all that matters!!! I just love giving them a special cake each year!!!

I also made their invitations as well, as usual!

After all the family showed up, it was time to get started!! We rolled right into presents and then cake! Because after they opened their presents, they needed to get outside and enjoy them!!! 

 Enjoying their cake with their cousins on their new picnic table from Grandma and Grandpa! It was enjoyed by all the kids, that's for sure!

 It was a special celebration for our special boys!! It was filled with family, outdoor fun, basketball (thank you Big XII tournament!), new toys, and lots of love and smiles!! 

More birthday posts still to come!

Star Wars Gallery

It all started with an extra pumpkin carving template. While I carved the pumpkins, Grant made a storm trooper from the extra template. Then he asked for a Darth Vader. Fast forward a month later and we have an entire Star Wars gallery in the playroom!!

Wyatt is even on the action now, requesting to me to print off a new Star Wars helmet everyday!! I print off the helmet/face, they make the bodies!! 

And since I took these pictures, I think we have a good 6 or 7 more adorning our walls! We are having to move them out into the rest of the basement! I have to admit they are pretty darn adorable. And it makes me not feel so bad about not hanging up the art in the playroom I've been sitting on since we moved in!!

And I just had to include this adorable Star Wars picture Wyatt drew! Just too cute!

Star Wars

Star Wars is all the rage in our house!! Grant went from loving all things Lego Ninjago to all things Lego Star Wars, and that turned into just everything Star Wars!! We have accumulated quite the Star Wars arsenal when it comes to toys! Legos, naturally, light sabers, costumes, action figures, games! You name it, we probably have something like it! They role play alot, and also set up battles with their action figures (post to come!), watch the shows, read the books (I'm pretty sure Grant has checked out every Star Wars book our public library has to offer!). It's been wonderful seeing them play together and enjoy a common interest!! I only wish I knew something about Star Wars to share in their interest...well, actually I don't because Levi made me watch the movies back in the day and I really could live my life never watching them again. But, I'm happy they can relate to each other about it, and I can sit back and take pictures of it all! :)

This was their X-Wing and Tie Fighter jets... 

Grant made the storm trooper from an extra pumpkin carving template I didn't use, so then he asked me to print out a Darth Vader mask and he made the body out of a black poster board! Good stuff!

I have a feeling Christmas will be bringing alot more Star Wars stuff into this house!!