Our new church!!

Basically since we became parents I've been wanting to start going back to church, I just didn't know where.  John was raised Catholic, but isn't a practicing Catholic anymore.  I was raised Methodist and haven't been to a Methodist church in YEARS.  So, where do we go and what do we do?? When we got married we even went so far as to have a non-denominational minister perform the ceremony since we were both raised in different denominations.

Anyway, we checked out a church a few years ago, and it just wasn't a good fit, so that was the last time.  But, then back in May my friend and neighbor invited us to her church to check out a children's program that was going on one Sunday afternoon.  So we went .. and I was pretty much hooked!  We started attending McLean Bible Church on a regular basis from then on.  The kids started going to Sunday School.  Jacob and JD (my friend/neighbor's son) are in the same grade in school, so therefore they're in the same Sunday School class too.  Henry started out in the nursery still, but in July during their promotion week he moved up to the Preschool class.  He (Henry) had such a hard time adjusting, but finally in mid-August he stopped crying and having a meltdown every time we left him.  That made me feel good.  We've been so busy during the Fall that we've barely made it to Sunday morning service, but that's about to change because the holidays are almost here and I can't wait to take the boys to their first Christmas Eve service!!

Back in September, Jacob also started going weekly to Awana at the Loudoun campus of McLean Bible Church.  He's in the Sparks class and is learning so many scripture verses and seems to really enjoy it, so I'm glad we got him signed up.  Next year Henry will go too and be a Cubbie.  We didn't sign him up this year because of how harsh the transition to Sunday School was, but I think next year he'll be ready and he'll really enjoy it.

Jacob's 6th Birthday Party

I love to entertain!  It's just that simple.  I love throwing parties .. planning them, shopping for them, making the invitations and decorations ... ahhhh, it's just so fun for me!

So, now that Jacob is in school full-time and has a little crew of friends, we figured it was time to throw him a big party with all his friends present.  THEN, John got the bright idea, and it was nice, don't get me wrong .. it just made me realize our house is not as big as I thought it was, lol ... anyway, he got the bright idea to invite ALL of Jacob's class AND their families.  WHOA!  That was a lot of people because we also had our entire family there as well.  But, everyone had so much fun, so I really wouldn't change it for anything!!

I went with a Lego theme for his party.  He likes legos, yes, but he's not obsessed with them like some kids are his age.  I just thought it was a fun theme and something I could do rather easily.  I found a lot of the ideas on Pinterest .. check out some of what I made ...

The banner was a lot of fun, and the goodie bags were so cute!!

I also made a really cute invitation, but for security reasons I'm not sharing it on my blog.  Sorry! :)

Then, I made these adorable lego brownies that were a huge hit:

I also found this bin that was perfect for holding snacks in the $1 spot at Target, so a little hot glue and legos and it fit the theme perfectly:

To round off the decorations, I threw a bunch of random legos in this glass candle holder I have and I used legos and a green lego base to make a utensil holder.  Perfect!

We had a few games planned for the kids.  A water balloon toss (and I can't remember who won!), a pinata, and then ... we threw the rest of the water balloons at the kids. Lol  It was chilly that day, but they didn't seem to mind.

After all the fun, games and food (and, btw, we just had burgers and hot dogs, nothing special, lol) it was time to sing to the birthday boy and have a little cake.  I got him this adorable Lego cake!!  Love it!

As you can see Jacob isn't much a fan of being sung to, but oh well. Lol And a big thank you to my friend and neighbor, Heidi, for taking pictures for me, so I could be IN them and also so I could take care of the birthday stuff. :)

By this time, most everyone was starting to leave, and Jacob finally decided to take a break and open his presents.  He got so many awesome things!!

I slacked so bad on getting "thank you" cards. :(  They've been made and have been sitting in a drawer for months now.  So, here is your "thank you" ... thank you to everyone who was able to come and help us celebrate Jacob turning 6!!