I'm officially a soccer Mom!

This is T Jay's first soccer practice. He had a great time and he even has 2 of his friends on his team.
Summer enjoyed playing while T Jay was practicing. We made a birds nest with grass clippings, ran around and watched T Jay. What a dutiful sister.
Matthew loved playing in the bird's nest with Tanner. Oh and by the way, Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a tooth!! 10 and 1/2 months is a great time to begin teething, right?!!
T Jay was really proud of himself for stopping the ball with his foot.
Time for his super soccer kick! I really enjoyed cheering him on! Such a cutie!!

Birthday preparations

Ya gotta lick the bowl!

T Jay is 5 years old today!

T Jay woke us up really early to ask us if he could open his present from Grandpa Riggs! Notice it's still dark out! This car came with a little orange box that plays the General Lee horn song. TJay told Jess that his remote control car came with an Ipod! He then proceeded to show Jess the little orange box, played the music and danced to it! Ha! Ha!
Doesn't Summer look silly?! She had a hard time not being the one to have the presents, but TJay shared with her. I can't believe my baby is 5!!!

T Jay gets roller skates!

T Jay's 5th birthday. from Kelli Melin and Vimeo.
FYI, the "leash" for us to pull him with is actually a carrying strap for the roller skate bag! What a great boy assumption, though!

Bouncey Castle Fun

The kids enjoying the bouncy castle.
"This is great fun!"
"Let me in, let me in!"
"Thanks, Mom! This is the best!"

Games

We had a moon rock hunt. What's a moon rock hunt, you say? (They didn't know either!) I put prizes in tin foil balls and threw them in the field by our house and sent the kids off!
The kids took off! T Jay was one of the last ones to run, so he didn't get a single "moon rock." he started crying. Helping Dad with the pinata helped ease the pain for him!
How many Melins does it take to hold a pinata? Concentrating very hard to make sure that no one broke the pinata too soon.
TJay taking a mighty swing at the pinata.
The loot!

Cake and presents

Here is T Jay's "cake." I used cupcakes for easier distribution. The marshmallows are supposed to make it look like the moon. It was supposed to have a moon lander type toy on it and an astronaut or two. Astronauts are not popular anymore! I couldn't find anything space related at all! T Jay still liked it, and the kids thought it was yummy, so success.
Yummy!
This is the first present that TJay opened. His friends pulled him aside early on in the party and whispered to him what they were giving him, "but don't tell anyone!" He loves "Lego Star Wars."

The after party.

T Jay is all tuckered out now that he is man of 5 whole years! Boy, aging really takes it out of you!! I took a turn bouncing with the kids after TJay's friends went home. It was a lot of fun.
Matthew also really enjoyed jumping. He is my little adventurer.
Daddy and Matthew watching from the sidelines.