“There are google fur holes on this peach!”
Eve’s quote of the day
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Eight year check-up!
Lex had his well-child visit today. He was pretty excited to miss an hour of school. We dropped Eve off this morning and Lex was skipping through the halls, telling everyone he met that he was going to the doctor’s office. He got some odd looks. :)
All went well at the visit. He participated fully, no fears or concerns. He even seemed to know the answers the doctor was looking for and anticipated her questions. Like he’s been there before! I brought my camera but I didn’t take any photos. I thought about it once or twice, but he just seemed too big for me to be taking his picture in the doctor’s office. Sigh. Not too big for me to post his stats though!
He’s up to 69lbs now (wow!) and 51.5″. He grew 4.5″ since last year’s visit and gained 13lbs! She said he is 86% for weight and 79% for height, which seemed higher than usual to me (I thought he was generally in the 50% area), but she said he is right on his growth curve and doing fine. Always good to hear. :)
And the best part, no shots until his 11yr check-up! Except the annual flu shot, the doctor and I were both clear to point out.
Then we went back to school and he was happy to do that as well. I love the happy days!
Three more days
Three more days left of school. Wednesday is their last day. Today is field day, a day of fun outdoor activities traditionally reserved for the 5th graders only, but this year they opened it up to the whole school. Fifth grade gets a full day and the rest of the grades get to participate in the afternoon. They even have a dunk tank and the kids all got to vote on which teachers and staff get dunked! The kids are pretty excited. They were looking for volunteers (for the day, not the dunk tank!), but I opted out. I’m just exhausted lately. I had already volunteered to pickup the yearbooks this afternoon, so I figured that was enough for me. :) Speaking of volunteering, I won an iPad for all my volunteering this year! The PTO put an incentive program into place this year to encourage parent volunteers. Each time you helped out you were supposed to sign in on the volunteer log. I did about half the time. I’m there a lot, but because I want to not because of the incentive. The school hosted the annual ice cream social on Friday night, but we skipped it because it was cold and rainy. I was working for Good Beginnings that night and Alan didn’t love the idea of rowdy, sticky faced kids running around in the school cafeteria. Instead he bought the kids ice cream and had movie night at home. At the ice cream social they did the raffle for the iPad and my name was drawn! A friend of mine who was there was madly texting me at work. :) When I dropped the kids off at school this morning the principal gave it to me. Sooo… there’s that.
I have been really looking forward to summer vacation. This year, especially this spring, has been so hectic and despite the regular school schedule I feel like I personally haven’t had any sort of regular schedule. Some days I’m subbing, some days I’m not, some days I’m at Good Beginnings, or errands or whatever. Life, I know. I’m ready for it to slow down for awhile and I’m ready to actually be home for awhile! My house is piling up, my kids are seriously regressing in the nice behavior and good manners department, and I am just hanging on. I have plans for the summer. The kids are dreading it, but we are going to do some serious work on table manners. :) I feel like I’m living with cavemen these days! Add to that the chaos in my house with the still-unfinished bathroom project and the awesome basement project (I owe you blog posts on both of those activities!) and my house is full of clutter, displaced bathroom items, basement debris, etc. Life, you know?!
On that note, I have to run. Three more days of school and they are all full. Then we are done. We breath. We relax. For a few days. Then soccer camps starts up next week and summer travel soon after! ;)
A quick hello
Hi all! I miss my daily blogging habit. Life is busy these days and I don’t even turn my computer on most days! Of course I could blog from my phone, but well, that doesn’t happen daily. What’s on my mind…
My friend Amy had a baby and he’s healthy and growing strong. That makes me super happy.
My friend Julie had a baby who is suddenly at kindergarten registration! That makes me happy. They grow up so fast.
My baby is going on a hike tomorrow to the science museum. He is pretty excited. I think it will be a really fun day for him. I’m jealous that I can’t chaperone because…
Alan and I are spending the week in the basement! Yesterday we hauled everything out and sorted into keep/sell/donate/trash piles. Today we hung drywall and bought framing materials to build a few walls down there. It is taking a lot of effort to say no to everything else this week and just focus on the basement, but I am motivated and eager to make it a functional space in the near future!
Rosy flew to Ireland yesterday. I’m a wee bit jealous about that! Her trip looks amazing!
Joyce returned home from Korea yesterday! She was volunteering at a Cross Fit competition. Someday she’ll probably be competing. Be nice to her ’cause she can kick your butt!
I heard a rumor that Barney is no longer homeless. :) Maybe he’ll send me his new address, if I’m lucky!
Eve chose not to participate in her final soccer practice today. She is not enjoying soccer. I told her that while they play soccer I like to walk laps around the field so I can get some exercise too. She chose to join me and we spent a lovely hour walking around the field and chatting. She is such a great friend. I wish everyone the joy of having a daughter.
Lastly, it’s 9:05pm and I still have three loads of laundry to fold. Someday I’ll dig out my camera from the mess that is my dining room counter and see what pictures I have on it. I read a blog the other day the lady titled “The unblogged.” It was just a bunch of pictures that never quite got a post of their own. It made me laugh because I find myself doing that a lot as well. The unblogged. Sounds sad and forgotten.
Good night all! I’ll be back again… someday!
Death by deliciousness
To use up chocolate and peanut butter filling from last weekend’s birthday cake, I decided to make some dark chocolate cookie sandwiches. Fortunately we have a party to attend tomorrow, so I don’t have to eat these all myself! If it’s possible to die from pure deliciousness, you’re looking at it!
Then, for good measure, a strawberry rhubarb cobbler, with ingredients fresh from the farm!
A big day at soccer practice
It was a big day at soccer practice today. The long-awaited t-shirts came in!
I’ve got some weird angles on these photos. I’m not sure why they went with white for kid soccer shirts. I bet they will all be grungy soon! Eve wouldn’t put her shirt on. She’s a little grumpy with soccer lately. I think she is tired and ready for summer vacation. She keeps asking to go to the beach. :) Lex, on the other hand, LOVES soccer and is eager for soccer camp this summer!
A family affair
On Sunday we had a little family party for Lex’s birthday. Family parties feel little these days with all of my siblings away and Grandma no longer with us. It was nice, but we were definitely missing some of the big personalities! :)
We had a quiet morning with just the four of us, then Mema and Grandpa Tom came over at lunch time. When the kids were getting too bouncy and Lex was barely able to contain the excitement of another day of presents, my mom had the great idea to take them out to fly kites. The sky was dark and the wind was whipping, but we had fun for awhile. Mema brought them each a new kite and they are very pretty. Lex managed to get his up in the air, but then he couldn’t get it down again! How’s that for an unusual kite problem. :)
Eve and her owl kite
Lex flying his space shuttle kite high in the sky!
It’s time for this space shuttle to come in for a landing!
“Mom, I can’t get my kite down!!”
Eve was SUPER proud that she had a great idea and was able to help get the kite down. She’s a smartie!
Back at the house Amanda and Rachel arrived, then Grandpa and Katie, and THEN the moment he was waiting for… presents! (yep, he’s reached that age!)
They both crack me up in this picture. Eve looks like she’s ready to dive in, and Lex looks a little disgusted at the books he just opened. As if he’s not going to have them read by morning! :)
Laser pegs! Always a good time!
It’s hard to let Lex choose his birthday dinner since his diet is sooo limited. We settled on pizza, garlic bread (which he loves), and salad for dinner.
Yummy dinner.
Then, of course, cake!!! This was a chocolate peanut butter cake. Not as fancy as the basketball cake from Saturday, but sooo much tastier!
Time for cake!
Did you notice the birthday banner on the wall behind him? Eve made it just for for Lex. She also bought him two presents with her own money. They are so sweet to each other.
One happy eight year old!
We ended the evening with a multi-generational game of Monopoly. Lex got a new version with gold pieces. Oh-la-la! It was fun!!
Real estate tycoons, hard at work.
Someone turned eight today…
The birthday boy!
Lex was very excited for his big day, of course. He brought cupcakes to school yesterday and was eager for his friend party today.
Cupcakes for school on Friday. They were a big hit!
He woke bright and early, as usual, and got the rest of us up as well for an early morning birthday celebration.
I was surprised and pleased that Lex mentioned the birthday morning table last night. He said he couldn’t wait to fall asleep so he could wake up and see the beautiful presents on the table at his place in the morning. I love to hear that my traditions are taking hold in their minds. :)
It’s 6:04am, time to open presents!
Me and Eve, when Alan has the camera. :)
I got him Twister for a present and we had a GREAT time playing!!
It’s fun when big and little people play together.
We took turns being the spinner and photographer.
Eve is in there somewhere!
Lex got creative with the photography.
When we were all done and laughing on the floor, Lex suggested a family picture on the Twister mat. What a great idea!!
Then Mema and Grandpa Tom came over with bagels and coffee. After awhile we packed up and headed to the Competition Complex for Lex’s friend party. He had five friends, plus he and Eve, and we had a great time!!
First things first, climb that rock wall… all the way to the top!
They have a mechanical bull that the kids all love. I think it’s a little weird looking, especially here with no horns (the kids kept pulling them off). Eve enjoyed her turn.
Happy Birthday Lex!! Not only did he endure the birthday song this year, I think he may have even enjoyed it a bit. :)
Blowing out the candles! (the candles are huge and the cake is small. funny.)
Party people
Cake smile! :)
It’s hard to take good “opening presents” pictures, but I love this one because of Eve in the background.
They played many rounds of mini-golf. This place has tons to do!
This is a blurry picture, but I loved the scene of the boys playing mini-golf while Mema and Grandpa Tom sat on the bench, waiting their turn.
We got home a little after 4pm and crashed! Lex immediately went to work on his new Lego sets. Eve and Alan settled onto the couch for some TV time. Mema invited us out to dinner but we ended up having dinner in the living room, watching Bill Nye the Science Guy instead. Bath, stories, bed. The usual.
I had the good fortune to be cuddling with Lex at exactly 7:41pm, so we chatted about his actual day of birth for a bit. He said, “I can’t believe I waited eight years and right now I’m finally eight!!” He’s so funny.
I can’t believe he is suddenly eight. I am so fortunate to have been blessed with such a smart, funny, friendly, caring, rambunctious, sometimes obnoxious, always amazing little boy! Not a day goes by that he doesn’t make me smile. I am in awe of the person he has become and so proud to call him my son.
A Lego Treasure Hunt
A few days ago Lex came across a Lego sticker book that he got for his birthday last year (or maybe the year before?). There were still tons of stickers left, so he decided to make a treasure hunt. The logical thing to do with lots of stickers, right? Just moments (or so it seemed) after I got all the blue painters tape off the walls that Eve used for a game last week, Lex proceeded to put Lego stickers all over the house. The treasure hunt didn’t make much sense to me, but it kept him busy so all was good.
After the sticker placement he grabbed a piece of paper and his clipboard and went to work. It took a few days, but this afternoon he said he was done and asked if I would do the treasure hunt. How can I say no to such an industrious boy just a day before his birthday?!
The treasure huntn – page 1 of 4
The treasure hunt – page four. Have Fun!
As it turns out, the treasure hunt was fun! Eve and I worked together and found the treasure at the end!
Eve, reading the clues.
Lex eagerly followed along every step of the way.
We found the treasure! :)
If you find yourself in my neck of the woods some time, stop by for a treasure hunt. :)
Water!
The water is on at the science museum! We went today, despite the lack of sun and heat. Plenty of humidity though!
Lex built a pretty cool “shower” with the pipes and fountains. It was actually a pretty COLD shower!
They sure are growing up!
Flashback – check out this post from 2008!
BEGIN STREAM OF CONSCIENCE: Sorry I’ve been pretty MIA around here. I’m trying to do it all and barely eeking by! I painted the bathroom and am now working on decorating (hopefully a blog post for that someday), I’m subbing a lot, trying to get my teaching placements worked out for next year, trying (and sadly not succeeding) to eat well and exercise. The kids are in soccer once a week and I always wonder how so many families do hockey and lacrosse and other 4-day a week sports plus games on weekends! Lex’s birthday is this weekend. We are making party plans and the baking will begin soon. :) I’ll be back around these parts again some day. These days I rarely even have my computer on! I took pictures off the camera tonight and found only five! I don’t even remember the last time I did it. I guess my kids are no longer adorable babies worthy of photographing constantly. :/ Sigh. I’ve got more to do tonight. Love to all.