Finishing up Winter (the season if not the weather)

The last few weeks have been busy for the Settlemoir family with celebrating Caden's birthday and getting ready for our summer move to Indianapolis. A "For Sale" sign sits in our front yard right now, but we hope to see a "Sold" sign within the next month or so. Fingers crossed! We have found a school for the boys (kindergarten for Caden and preschool for Cole-It's going to be a BIG year!), and we will travel back to Indy in a couple weeks to find a rental home. So many changes coming up, while we're trying to keep life as "normal" as possible for the boys.

Caden's preschool took a field trip to the Illinois State Museum this month. Here are Caden and his teacher, Mrs. Davis assembling the skeleton puzzle. Caden is fascinated with how the body works. Wonder who passed that curiosity down to him.
A benefit of being a little brother...Cole gets to tag along for all the field trips. Here he is trying on a mining helmet like his Grandpa wears.
Cole not only has the role of little brother in our family, but he is also the entertainer. This is one way Cole waits for dinner.
When not entertaining the family, Cole has been enjoying Caden's birthday presents along with his big brother. Here are the boys showing off the Super Why puzzle.
Introducing the Planet Heroes to the new astronauts and aliens
Caden is very interested in space and our world. Thanks to some wonderful buddies, Caden is learning a great deal about our world and where he would like to travel someday. The globe was a perfect gift for our curious kid!
The next picture shows what happens when we think the boys are supposedly playing quietly in their rooms. They raid Caden's pajama drawer and change clothes. They think it is hilarious when they get caught.
Cole and I enjoyed a trip to downtown Springfield with Funshop. We stopped for a snack at the popcorn shop.
Cole thought the bus ride was great fun!

Caden's Post-Party

After Caden's Chuck E. Cheese's party, we returned home for the final celebration. Caden opened presents with Grammy, Aunt Mariah, and Aunt Shannon. Our apologies go out to Aunt Mariah...Don't know why we don't have any pictures of Mariah and the birthday boy, but we're glad she drove down from ISU despite not feeling well.
Caden's possible birthday wish came true! Aunt Shannon gifted Caden with a pirate Lego set.
Caden, Aunt Shannon, and their pirate island
Cole, our party animal

Celebrating Caden at Chuck E. Cheese's

We celebrated Caden's birthday at Chuck E. Cheese's with family and friends. Everyone enjoyed games, pizza, and Grammy's Transformer cake.

Caden and his preschool buddy, Ryan
Caden and Nana taking a roller coaster ride
Cole was very proud of himself when he made it up the climbing tower.
Cole had a blast in the tunnels and on the slide. He was worn out from partying and dozed off on the way home UNTIL the Transformer theme song came on the radio. Cole woke up, named that tune, and didn't fall back to sleep until bedtime.
Caden was very pleased with the awesome Transformer cake from Grammy. Thanks, Grammy!
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you...." My guess is that Caden wished for more Legos.
Caden, Nathaniel, and Chuck E. Cheese
What a fun party for our 5-year-old!

Happy Birthday, Caden!

Caden is 5! Can you believe it?! We can't. Caden's birthday celebrations started on the Sunday before his birthday and ended on the Saturday following the big day. A good time was had by all!

Here is Caden's look of genuine surprise and joy. Nana and Papa visited the weekend before Caden's birthday, and they surprised him with his birthday presents. He had been counting down the days until his birthday, so this was a much-appreciated early birthday treat.
Papa and Caden putting together his U.S.A. puzzle
On Caden's actual birthday, Caden enjoyed being snack leader at preschool. After preschool, he ate lunch as quickly as possible, so he could get to the present-opening. Here are Caden and Cole posing with presents from Daddy and Mommy.
Nana and Papa introduced Caden to his new passion--Legos! After opening presents from us, Daddy and Cole helped Caden assemble his first Lego set. Caden cannot get enough of Legos. He follows the directions well with very little help, and he loves the process. Caden is quite proud of all his finished products--police truck and station, small fire truck, and pirate island so far. He is already saving his money for another set.
For Caden's birthday dinner, we borrowed an idea from Caden's good friend, Olivia and her family--homemade individual pizzas and ice cream sundaes. The boys enjoyed creating their dinner and dessert.
Caden and his pizza masterpiece
5 candles!

A Trip to the Children's Museum

One more post before Caden's big birthday post...

On Tuesday, we traveled over to Decatur to spend the day at the Children's Museum. We took along friends, Jess and Brady. A great time was had by all! Caden and Cole had not been to this museum for two years, so only Caden has faint memories of it. When we first arrived at the museum, the boys bounced around to all of the exhibits pretty quickly while Jess and I tried to keep up.

Here is Cole taking a quick drive in the big red car.
Caden and Brady trying to make huge bubbles
After trying out everything the museum had to offer, the boys decided on their favorite exhibits. Caden loved the car mechanic exhibit. He got to change tires and license plates, work on the engine, and slide under the car.
Cole's favorite exhibit was the airplane. Here he is with his luggage packed for Indianapolis.
The boys also enjoyed the newsroom exhibit. Here is anchorman Cole letting us know what's going on in the world.
And here is Caden delivering the weather forecast.
The museum exhibits AND trying to keep up with the big boys wore Cole out. Cole took a break with Ronald while Caden and Brady enjoyed the climbing structure.
What a fun day! Although the boys were exhausted, they were already planning their next trip. Next post WILL involve a certain 5-year-old's big day(s)!