6 Years Old

I know I say this every year, but how in the world is it time for another birthday for my oldest?  Time just keeps speeding up.

The birthday boy wanted me to have lunch at school with him, so of course I did. I brought him chicken nuggets, as requested, and homemade Oreos with birthday cake frosting inside to share with his classmates. Link was wearing a birthday crown, and the class sang to him before we are the treats.

After school, I took all the kids, including Jack to concord mills mall. We had never been to the Lego store and heard it was a fun place. It was cool, even for me! There were so many displays up, plus there were building stations. We left with 3 Lego mini figures that each boy built.

On our way home, we picked up some happy meals for dinner. Yep, link had chicken nuggets for lunch and dinner! Makes me kinda want to throw up, but it made his day.

BB came over that night. He opened some presents and said, "I wish dad was here." Dave was traveling, so we saved his big present for the next day.

I told him first thing in the morning, he could come to our bedroom and open his big present. 

He took the blanket off the air hockey table and said, "Oh my! It's a 1,2,3,4 player hockey game." 

The hockey game was fun to have at his party. Out neighbors let us borrow their bounce house and we also had magnetic darts. We let the kids play with all that, before our super hero activities started.

The 12 superheroes decorated foam cuffs,

Shot silly string at villans,

 

Destroyed bombs (black balloons),

And ate Captain America pizza.

Lincoln designed the cake he wanted Dave to make. It was Radanko (Lincoln's imaginary villan) vs. Lincoln Punch. Dave also made some other cupcakes with more well-known characters.

 

I loved that Lincoln was so appreciative of his gifts. He went to find his friends before he opened the present and then thanked them right away.

Dave and I are still recovering from the preparations, as we only got about 4 hours of sleep the night before. Although we are tired, We are so thankful for our sweet, healthy, smart, imaginative little guy!!

Just Another Week in Paradise

I have been meaning to take the boys to Lego club at the library ever since school started. We finally made it this week. The leader told the group that this week's challenge was to build a statue or monument. There was a ton of Lego spread on the floor, and everyone started building. I love how the kids would say, "I found a yellow arch, who needs it?" They all worked together, and their creations are on display at the front desk until the next club. Lincoln was asking when we could come back, even before we left.

This week we discovered a new park near Lincoln's school. There was tons of equipment and things to climb on, but the favorite item was the spinner. Dorothy even got a turn (a very slooooow turn).

Dorothy is still sleeping in her rock and play. This has been the best investment for our sleep! We joke that Dave will have to build her a new one when she outgrows it. We can just picture her taking this rocking bed off to college one day!

She is getting lots of delicious baby rolls! I love chubby babies, but my arms to get tired by the end of the day. She finally got 1 tooth and I can tell she is working on some more. Dorothy's personality is starting to really shine! She plays a game with me where she comes in for a kiss, and then jerks her head away. Comes in for another kiss and jerks her head away and repeat. She and Dave play "cat fight" where they slap each other's hands over and over.

Lincoln is still doing a great job at school, but we are struggling with something at home. He is so creative and his imagination is amazing. It has started to affect his habits at home. He doesn't want to wear certain colors it eat certain things, because he thinks pictures will see him and think he is something else. This had been so frustrating and has Dave and me confused at how to handle it. Putting all that aside, he is the sweetest boy. He chooses a prizes from the school treasure chest to give to me. How I love those cheesy toys he gives me!

Drake and I enjoy our one on one time together. It has been amazing to see how much he has learned in the past few weeks. He usually falls asleep in the car pool lane. This picture makes me laugh; my tough dude without a shirt clutching his bear bear.

This weekend was busy as we had a soccer game, 2 birthday parties, a luncheon that I had to bake 5 batches of bread bowls, and a talk in church. This coming week will also be busy with a certain buddy turning 6 years old!!

Weekends

It seems like ever since school started weekends are packed with activities. This past Saturday, we only had to go to the soccer field for pictures. There weren't any birthday parties or church events, so the kids and I took off to Hickory. BB and Pawpaw were in rare form this weekend. The day started out with McDonalds. Of course the kids got happy meals; I think they have had more happy meals than I have had in my entire life. The lady who would never buy them for me, now freely purchases them for my children!!

The Science Center was our next stop. Drake and I tested out the Hurricane Wind machine. It goes up to 80 miles an hour! My hair was whipping around so hard, it stung my eyes.

Dorothy was happy with the toys at the Science Center.

I took off to meet a couple friends, and the boys went with my parents to see a movie. Well, they did have some time to kill before the movie started, so of course they went into a toy store and bought a toy rocket. I had such a lovely time visiting with some old friends! The boys had a lovely time at the movies, except when Drake ate a wild berry and mom had to call poison control and when Lincoln got scared when one of the characters in the movie got hurt (he is so sweet; he was still concerned about the character long after the movie.).

Mom and I were just about to make some PB sandwiches for the boys, when Dad comes walking in with pizza for dinner. It's no wonder all they have been talking about is when we can go back to Hickory!

Earlier in the week, our preschool music class started. Jack and Drake had a blast playing red rover, red rover, throwing snowballs, dancing in the dark with flashlights, and learning new songs. When Jack came over a few days later, he asked if we could go to music class again.

We also made edible play dough with peanut butter, honey and powdered sugar. The boys decorated it with chocolate chips, raisins and nuts. They made all kinds of shapes and then had a delicious snack when they were done playing.

My sweet neighbor watched Drake, so Dorothy and I could go have lunch with Lincoln at school. I told Lincoln that I would be coming and he asked if Dorothy could come too, because he wanted to show his teacher his baby sister. Then he asked, "Was that sweet?" I told him it was very sweet, but it would be ok, if I just came. Nope, he was insistent that Dorothy came too. We had a really nice time with him, and oh my goodness, all those kids are adorable!! The kids were all eyes on little Dorothy, and before I left Lincoln raised his hand to ask if I could come back tomorrow. Mrs. S told me how great Lincoln was doing that day, so I was surprised when I picked him up at school that he was on red. When I spoke to Lincoln about it in the car I told him, Mrs. S wouldn't want me to come have lunch with him any more since he changed so much after I came. I didn't realize how much that would affect him, but he LOST it. He was sobbing that he wanted me to come back, so I had to retract my words to calm him down. He is such a good boy, he just gets riled up around lots of kids. I guess he was laughing because some boy was being silly. It really had me thinking about homeschooling again. These adult decisions you have to make when you grow up are the pits!

Organized

With Lincoln starting school, my calling in church, soccer games, and babysitting schedule, I am determined to get organized.  One  of my friends inspired me to make a daily, weekly,  monthly dry erase chart. This has changed my world the past few weeks! It is amazing how much space those charts clear out for my brain. Instead of constantly thinking in my head over and over what I need to get done, I can see it on my chart. Plus, I get to check things off in a daily basis, which is a great feeling!

One of the things on my weekly list is to  blog. Nothing totally extraordinary happened this week, but it is the small things I want to remember. Like showing Dorothy the fish at Walmart; she was so amazed!

Or Lincoln's first soccer game of the season. He is on the "Blue Thunders" with his good buddy Ethan.

Or when we went to Jack's teenage mutant ninja turtle birthday party , and I made a  Leonardo pillow. It is pretty rough around the edges, but Jack thinks it's the best. Drake wants one now too.

Lincoln continues to love school and told me he wants to live there! He is such a sweet boy and has only had one day when his behavior hasn't been  good. One day when I picked him up, I noticed that he was talking to a lady. I found out that he told her all about Dorothy and mentioned that she makes the cutest noises and how much he loves her. How incredibly sweet for a big brother to speak so kindly of his baby sister!!

Drake and I have been enjoying our time at home together. He lights up when he learns something new; like how to write letters.