Last Spring Shenanigans in the Old House

In between the packing and cleaning and wall repair from 2 dirty boys and a dirty dog, we still managed to have a lot of fun!!

The Easter Bunny brought garden tools, water bottles, and a few treats!

The Easter Bunny even filled eggs with a Lego set! What a surprise!

Spencer found the jelly beans while Daddy worked on his Legos.

Sidewalk chalk craziness …

Alex, you know we are trying to clean this house, right?

Oh, just pizza and balloon popping with the power wheels.

Alex was feeling very victorious after popping almost all of Spencer’s balloons.

St. Patty’s Party

We went over to a friend’s house for a St. Patty’s Day treasure hunt and party. The kids followed clues that were written on shamrocks and discovered a pot of gold filled with candy and trinkets. What fun!

Wacky Wednesday

In honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday, Alex’s preschool had a Wacky Wednesday! Alex loved putting on crazy clothes and wearing my mom’s Dr. Seuss hat!

I think Alex’s favorite part was wearing two different shoes!

Spencer was sick, which explains the pile of tissues in his hand!

Alex’s 5th Birthday Party

Instead of the usual themed birthday party at the house, we decided to branch out and host Alex’s party in a different location this year. After a lot of looking around, we settled on a Lego party at Discovery Place Kids. It was great! Alex and his friends (basically his whole class!) met at DPK and played for an hour or so. Then we went up to the party room for snacks, Lego fun, cupcakes, and presents!! We ended the day with a dance party on the center stage. Of course, party day was after two days of family fun! Then … on Alex’s actual birthday, Spencer and I read snowman stories to Alex’s class and handed out snowman parachutes. We had so much fun playing with them on the playground! I’d say 4 days of birthday celebrations is pretty good for a 5-year-old!

In between family visits, we gave Alex his gift … an XBOX One and Lego Jurassic Park. He was SO EXCITED!

Kelsey helped with cake decorating this year! We went with Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon … Alex’s favorite movie.

Most of the party guests … getting ready to start building and crashing.

My sweet Alex … ready to blow out his candles!

Alex had a very excited crowd of friends around while he opened his presents.

Dance Party!

I’d say the party was a success!

Thanksgiving 2015

We had a busy Thanksgiving Week this year! The Tuesday before, Alex had a feast at school. He and his friends were so cute in their Pilgrim hats and Native American head bands! Then, Thursday we ate Thanksgiving dinner on Lake Norman with a beautiful sunset and all my mom’s side of the family. Friday, we attended my cousin’s wedding on a beautiful tree farm north of Charlotte. One the way home, we drove through the Christmas Lights at Lazy 5 Ranch and visited with Santa! We are thankful for good food, lots of wine, fun with family … and a Sunday to rest after it was all over!

Alex’s serious face in his Pilgrim hat.

Alex and his class made a list of all the things for which they are thankful.

Loving the tire swing at the lake (they had just gotten off their bikes).

You can see pure joy in these faces!

My cute family, watching the sunset over the lake (photo credits to Unc!)

Alex was excited to see Santa. Spencer backed away and said, “No!”

Halloween 2015

Almost exactly 4 years ago, my first blog post was about Alex’s first Halloween. I may not post as often, but I’m still going strong! This is post #462! I’m proud of my work on this blog and hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have! Here are the links to our other Halloween posts before I start on this year’s fun:

… Halloween 2011 … Halloween 2012 … Halloween 2013 … Halloween 2014 …

When Aunt Beth and Unc found out we were dressing up as a Star Wars family this year, they decided to come up for the weekend and join in the fun. We had a great time carving jack-o-lanterns and trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. We were quite a hit walking around together! Beth made the costumes that she and Eric wore. I made mine and Spencer’s and we purchased Alex’s and Tim’s costumes. Tim made all the light sabers! It’s been a long process, but they turned out amazing!

The boys drew the faces and Tim carved them out. They turned out awesome!

Anakin Skywalker meets Darth Maul.

Alex looking at a photo of Princess Leia after asking me, “Where is your costume?”

Tim tricked out the Power Wheel once again!

Princess Leia and Jabba the Hut

Anakin Skywalker fighting Darth Maul, Queen Amidala, Princess Leia, Yoda, & Jabba the Hut.

We had to pose at a house with Darth Vader in the front yard!

We played in the cul-de-sac with the light sabers after we got back.

Yoda was so happy to finally eat a treat! He had a blast this year!

Pumpkin Patch 2015

Last October, Alex’s preschool class went on a field trip to Patterson Farm’s Pumpkin Patch. You can reminisce here. We had so much fun last year, so I really wanted to take the boys back this year. Even though last Thursday’s high was 80 degrees, we went back to Patterson Farm. Since it was a Thursday afternoon, we had the patch mainly to ourselves. It was a blast!

They were excited for the hay ride to the pumpkin patch.

Alex took this picture!

My cuties and their huge pumpkin.

Making corn angels in the corn pit.

They are pretending they are stuck in the spider’s web.

Alex had a blast (again) on the huge slide.

Spencer’s Birthday

In true Strunck fashion, Spencer was able to celebrate his birthday for about 2 weeks! What a lucky two-year-old! Celebrations started off with an early delivery of his own balance bike. He’s been riding Alex’s since Christmas, and lately there have been a few scuffles. So, Spencer has his own bike now. Problem solved! Next, we took a day trip to Lexington to share Spencer’s birthday with Great-Grandma Strunck. Then, the next weekend, we had two of our friends over for a little cook-out and cake on his actual birthday. Our friend’s dad actually shares Spencer’s birthday, so it was fun to celebrate with him too. Grandma Lisa, Papa Bob, Aunt Brie, and Uncle Jared stopped by on Sunday … so we were super busy with birthday fun! Thanks to everyone for their gifts and for sharing some time with Spencer!

Opening his first birthday present.

Helping Daddy attach the handlebars.

Getting ready to blow out candles with Great-Grandma.

Paw Patrol birthday cake.

All 4 boys in the pool.

And all 4 boys jumping in Ethan’s bouncy house.

Alex, Liam, and Ethan were very impressed by Spencer’s new Paw Patrol toys.

Alex helping Spencer blow out his candles.

Testing out his new camping gear.

That is one tired birthday boy!