Smokin" Every Night....

A friend of ours decided to "upgrade" his smoker and asked Jas if we would like his old one...he didn't need to ask Jason twice.  Jas has always wanted a smoker and it was like a dream came true for him.

At this point, we have smoked something every night...the first night we smoked pork shoulder and  had amazing pulled pork sandwiches!  The next night we had chicken..awesome!  Last night we did a pizza - FABULOUS!! The boys have eaten everything each night too...so dreamy!!  I don't know what's in that little black box, but what ever it is and whatever magic it does while food is in there...YUMMY!!!

What cracks me up, is Sam will ask, "What do yo think dad will be smoking tonight?" 
We can only wait and see....

The Lego Party!!!

Finally, after all that "prep work," it was time for the party!
I would recommend a Lego party to anyone who has a Lego fan...it was the easiest party...they built the entire time!!

 When the boys first arrived, they sat down to make Lego t-shirts.  They could decorate their tee in any "Lego" manner.

I then ran downstairs, and ironed a little Lego head on the back of the tee (yes, I could have done it earlier!) 

I had purchased a Lego set called "wheels" from Amazon.  The boys kept busy building Lego cars to race down our home made ramp!

Check out Jack's tee...Luis, the One Eyed Piece!

 

Here is our homemade ramp the kiddos raced their cars down. I bet they spent 30 solid minutes racing, fixing and racing their cars some more.

At one point, I couldn't find Jason in the "race" area...he just couldn't resist!

We then played Lego bingo...

and opened presents.

 

 

A girl from Memory Bound made Jack's cake.  It was a HUGE hit!!

We split up the solid frosting Lego man...yum!

I'm pretty sure Jack enjoyed his Lego party!!

Lego Party Prep Part 2...

It's hard to believe that Jack's party was over a week ago..we have been so busy, that it seems like it was just yesterday!  Here are some more party prep photos!

I put little Lego faces on yellow solo cups...Jack was ok with this - he thought they looked more like smiley faces. Oh well.

Jack's silverware holder and the smiley faces!

I purchased two pounds of Lego candy on Amazon.  You could actually build with the candy!!

 

I filled clear little bags that I got from target.  I took a picture of a bunch of Legos, pasted it into a word document, add "thanks,"  printed the page off and we had instant Lego candy thank yous!

I looked everywhere for blue straws.  Finally found these at a party store...

So, I printed off little Lego heads, cut them out and taped them to the straws!

Sam helped out at the party, so I made him a Lego tee shirt to wear that day.

I also made jack a Lego tee for his birthday!

For another thank you, I created some Lego coloring books.

I printed off a bunch of Lego coloring images from the Lego web site.

then sewed the cover and pages all together...perfect coloring book and thank you!

I wanted to make Lego lanyards, so I bought some heavy ribbon and lanyards hooks.

I sewed the end of the ribbon, so the boys could wear their lanyards.

I then used my crop-a-dile to punch a hole in the Lego card that came with the Lego kit.  Each boy got one for a prize!

The Lego head banner hung up.

I also made a large Lego banner. I bought the plain banner at Memory Bound.

Then copied pages from Jack's Lego book called Standing Small. The pages fit perfectly on the 8x11 banner.

 

On the back of the banner I copied other pages from the book.

 

 

All the loot was put in a Lego loot bucket.  I even found a small 4 pack of Lego crayons - perfect with the Lego coloring book.  Now that everything was ready...time for the party!  Check back tomorrow for party pictures!

Lots to Share...

Have lots to share with my readers (sounds so official!)

Jack's Birthday...

Jack Lego Party...

Sam ran a race...

cha

Spending four days at CHA in Chicago with...

great friends, viewing and purchasing LOADS of new product for the store.
(to check out new products from CHA, head here.)

Hope for you to stop by next week to check out all that has been happening around here!

Minneapolis Trip Part 3...

Mom gave me a copy of her Minneapolis pictures, so I have a few more to share...

Getting ready to head to the mall after checking in to our hotel room. 

Jack and Megan on the roller coaster.  Have you noticed how happy Megan is when she is on a ride?

Mom and Meg where watching the Rock Bottom Plunge roller coaster.  I think Megan might be saying a swear word knowing that she was going to have to ride that coaster!

Breakfast the next morning...love the interaction!

I think Jack is telling Aunt a story...his little face is saying, "It really happened."

Meg looks at Sam like, "Is he serious?" 

We love our food!

Jack wanted a new tie, but just couldn't figure out which one would be the best choice....decisions, decisions.

Everyone was starting to get a little tired.

What Jack does to pass time while waiting for his mom...

and what Sam does while he waits.

Negotiating money at the Lego store...

 Jack created these little guys at the mini-figure kiosk in the Lego store. When we got home, Sam said to Jack, "Do you know that the guy with the "M" on his shirt has boobies."  They both thought that was pretty funny!!