Peppermint Fence Gingerbread Houses

I went & volunteered at Porter's preschool class today & helped them make their gingerbread houses. It was so fun!

Someone was a little excited that I was there:


Porter got to wear the birthday crown since it was the last day of class before his birthday. Super exciting...


















Circle time:


The other project they worked on after they finished their gingerbread houses, was to make gingerbread men cut out of paper & decorated with colored shaving cream:

Five Year Check-up

Porter had his five year check-up today...He had to endure 3 shots, which I failed to warn him about ahead of time. Big mistake. He cried & cried in anticipation. I felt so bad. Turns out, the anticipation was far worse than the actual shots themselves & he took it like the big boy that he is.
He weighed in at 40.5 pounds (50th percentile) & was 43.5" tall (64th percentile).

What happened to the 7 pound, 7 ounce baby boy we had five years ago?

Birthday party day! ... Take 2.

We redid Porter's birthday party at Adventure Peak today! The snow stopped, the plows did their part & most of our guests were able to make it today. Everyone had a great time. Our day in pictures:

Birthday party day! ... or maybe not.

Today was Porter's birthday party day! Hurray!
Except.
We.
Got.
SNOW.



Lots & Lots.
of SNOW.
To the tune of 16 inches in a 20-hour span. They were calling it Snow-mageddon or Snowpocalypse...it was INSANE.
We got several calls asking if the party was still on & we just kept saying OH YEAH, YEAH, NOTHING WILL STOP US. We'll just leave early & go slow.
Until.
I left to go pick up the cake & saw with my own eyes how HORRIFIC it was out there. I saw cars stuck on side streets, buses stuck on main streets, semi trucks that couldn't make their turns. By the time I got back home, I was thinking we should cancel. THANKFULLY Blair had the same idea & had already broached the subject with Porter.
He was soooo understanding. I truly was never more proud of him. He just accepted it & moved on. We quickly called all our guests & said we were calling it. About an hour later, the park called & said they were closing for the day & cancelling all parties scheduled for the remainder of the day.
The forecasts were calling for the snow to stop that evening & a clear Sunday, so we decided to try to reschedule the party for the next day. Banking on the fact that the plows would be out in full force the next day & everyone could dig out, we went for it.

Since we were snowed in for the day, we did let Porter open some of his birthday gifts this day...

He did it!

Last year, Porter was too scared to go anywhere near Santa when we saw him at the mall, but this year....well, this year...he was ready. He just marched right up to him & never looked back. He told him he wanted a guitar for Christmas & then sat on his lap in a frozen smiled pose until the guy behind the camera was ready to snap his big moment. What a difference a year makes.

Santa's Workshop

Porter & I had a fun "mom-son" afternoon today...We went downtown & had lunch with my besty Tara & then went to see the 8th floor Macy's Christmas display. This year it was Santa's Workshop & like all the other years I've gone, it did not disappoint. What a wonderland for kids! So much to look at! This year, they also had a puppet show & we happened to be there 10 minutes before the next show started, so we while Tara went back to work, P & I took in the show. It was short & sweet, but fun. To top the afternoon off, we went stopped in at the infamous CandyLand candy store which has been in downtown Minneapolis since 1932. We got some giant gummy butterflies & some gourmet cheese popcorn. On our way home, it was just beginning to snow & it just capped off the perfect holiday afternoon.

My Mr. Potato Head