7 Quick Takes: Book and cakes, and dirt - oh, my!

 1. A slight change to my mornings...

The little stinker. He calls for me around 6:30-ish some mornings. I get him his drink (which...as of 2 days ago, we have now gotten rid of the bottles!! WOOT!) while he yanks a book out of his basket. We snuggle on the sofa, for what seems like just moments, before the boys come out after waving goodbye to the school bus.

After everyone has breakfast and their clothes on for the day, they get their reading time out of the way. And, I swear... Andrew could point at Woof's Tail all day long... I will never be able to find it again. Those Waldo books are HARD. But he finds EVERYTHING. Every character, every missing item, every note to get to the next page. I have no idea how he does it... It's amazing.

 2. McWane Center

We have once again entered this crazy place...as members. But, it is so much fun now that Austin can play with the boys. And, super fun since we have some pretty awesome friends we talked into becoming members, as well!

3. Presents

Austin (and the bigger ones) got 2 surprise boxes in the mail the other day from Nana and Papa! Austin now has his own Batman/Gotham City and a Knight! Which meant, that Mama got a BUNCH of stuff done that day. I didn't care how messy the living room got... We had the castles, Pizza Planet, and Batman stuff all over the place, along with every person and accessory thrown all over the floor by the end of the day. Good times! 
 

4. Oh, the weather outside is frightful (and sometimes delightful)!

This may have been our coldest day of the week - around the 38-degree mark, I think.

 While this day - just a few days later - was much nicer at around the 65 zone.

5. Silly weather...and boys!

They just love rolling down this hill! I can't wait to watch Austin do it one day!

 

 

This guy thinks he's one of the big boys now... I refuse to believe such nonsense. Dat's my baby boy... Sigh... 

 

 6. The Art Museum is awesome - if you ONLY stay in the kids zone. I don't have money to pay for a gazillion antique chair they just place out in the open because preschoolers would never touch such a thing... 

 7.  My Cake is the "coolest" cake around! 

So, I made this one last week for a friend's daughter's Frozen-themed birthday! How awesome, right?! I wish I had gotten a picture of the inside!! It had 2 layers - one purple and the other a brighter blue than the frosting. Fun!!

 So much fun! What another great week!

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Take Your Kids to the Art Museum

At least to the hands-on area made specifically for kids! We have heard about Bart's ArtVenture at the Birmingham Museum of Art for a while now. Honestly, I was really nervous to take them. Yes, they are quiet (for the most part) at the library and Andrew understands to use his very quiet voice at Mass, if needed. But, I don't know...this was just different, ya know? But, the good thing (in case all went terribly wrong...) was that it was FREE!! 

 Alex chilling in the comfy oval

 Andrew (and Alex off to the left) playing with the giant peg board

Andrew and Alex having a blast with the giant touch screen. Pretty cool!

 Love what they made together

 Andrew and our friend's son, Gerald, playing with the magnetic sticks (not sure of the actual name, but they are very cool)

 Alex at the chalkboard table

 And. clearly, you can see that they had so much fun at the museum!

If you have an art museum that has a hands-on kids area, I highly recommend checking it out! 

Our #1 tip: Get there RIGHT when they open! Amanda and I were so happy to see that it was a slow morning. All 3 boys had the place to themselves for about an hour! It was great :) Also, it WAS 1/2 price day at the zoo - which we stay FAR away from on those days - so that may have added to the slow morning. Most importantly...have fun!!

 

Southern Museum of Flight

We went on a little adventure a few weekends ago to one of our museums - Southern Museum of Flight! I have wanted to take the boys here for a while, but it is a not-so-great part of town. It's over by the airport...in a neighborhood. So, going with Jason was a MUST. When we got there, I felt bad for the museum. Other than us and the museum staff, there was just one other family. This museum is in some need of love from its locals. So, if you live close by, check it out! It really is a great little place for families with little kids. It is there perfect size for those guys that want to be big kids and walk on their own. However, if you want a bigger place to check out, head south to Pensacola, FL for the National Naval Aviation Museum. I'll have a post on that the next time we go visit my family. But, for now, check out all the fun we had right here in town! And, again, make a little visit out there with your little pilots :)

One of the pilot statues as you enter the exhibits to the Tuskegee Airmen and the Korean War Jets. 

 

Crop Duster Exhibit

 Andy looking at the smaller models and listening to the history of aviation in Birmingham.

 Andrew being Mr. Big Kid....walking in the General Aviation Hanger. They LOVED this place!

They got a chance to "fly" an airplane!

"Flying" and pushing as many buttons as possible!

 Loving every moment in the cockpit - we could barely get them out of there! But, like I said, we were the only ones there for good while. They sat in there for, like, a half hour until they saw the next cool thing to do.

K'Nex!!! Jason was pretty excited about that, too! And, again - we spent another good while here! So fun! Oh, and now Andy wants K'nex...the box says "ages 7 and up" Sorry, buddy. Another few years...maybe ;)

Alex, of course, loved it, too!

Now, we need a vote LOL This is Jason's airplane he was working on in the pictures above. And...

And this one is mine :) Neither one of us have played with K'Nex is so long. We had a blast! 

Alex thought mine was pretty cool. We all made some fun stuff. But, we need to move along since we had another wing of the museum to see. 

Vietnam War Exhibit

One last time to "fly" some more planes - er - jets!! 

We had a great time! We hope some of you have a chance to visit the Southern Museum of Flight, too!