A Tale Of Two Parties: Part II

This was the boys' first big "friends party" and they were super excited about it. It was also the party with the fancy Spiderman bakery cake that everyone forgot to take a picture of. Ah well, it had light-up eyes and was pretty cool. The boys each got a piece with their name on it, which prompted one of the other kids to ask why they all didn't have pieces with their names on them.

Make a wish boys!

Seth still looks like he's busy wishing. I think I found out what he was wishing for the weekend following, but that's another story.

Again, no pictures with presents even though there were indeed gifts because the unwrapping all happened too fast once again, but at least there are a few pics before the party got too wild*.

Nate's birthday wish was that the little girl in this picture would show up to his party. He fell in love with the charming Miss E. the first week of school and has already let her know he's going to marry her when they grow up.

He's also been known to sneak her love notes on occasion (she's in Seth's classroom – and no, Seth didn't help).

She seemed fairly happy to be invited actually and picked a special dress for the occasion, which she was quite happy to show off. She is a very sweet little girl and I can see why Nate is smitten.

 

I'm pretty sure he wants to eat her right up in this picture. Cute couple, yes?

- L.

*Just kidding. Eight kids was surprisingly civilized with the exception of the boys with their presents (we have to work on that). I'd do it again.

A Tale Of Two Parties: Part I

The boys had two parties this year – a small one at home with family on the 31st and a party with their school chums the following weekend. Without further ado, the family party...

We decided to save the big cake for the party with friends, and frosting cupcakes is more at my skill level. Blue and red plus stickers = Spiderman, right?

Sparklers livened things up. Fortunately not too much since I read the warning about not using indoors after all was said and done. Nate was a little intimidated (rightly so!).

Either way, the cupcakes were a hit. Remember when I couldn't get them to eat cake? Those days are long gone.

The birthday loot. Hours of gift-wrapping undone in minutes. It was like a feeding frenzy and happened too quick for anyone to get a decent picture. Ugh.

And at the end of the day, playing "cool guys" was the best part. The only prop that was a gift are the sunglasses that were on sale. Kids!

- L.

8:54 AM

Exactly 6 years old. Happy birthday, Seth!

For Seth, my last:

Six years ago at this exact time you were born.

This year your favourite colour is most definitely green and your favourite number is eight, “because of the way it looks and sounds”.

At age 6, your favourite toys (after video games, because there is no beating video games for fun when one is six) still revolve around building and creating. You are an ace with a set of instructions and can assemble complex pieces, but you enjoy just doing your own thing with equal measure. Art is still something you take great pleasure in – paints, clay, pencil crayons, you name it – you like to sit and create (and make a mess sometimes!) as long as a person will allow it.

Planets and space are still a big hit and you love learning new things about our solar system. You surprised your teacher with so much information about space one day that she insisted you build your own diorama of the solar system and kept it on display at the school for several months. I really need to take a picture of it since it’s in your bedroom now and is rather impressive.

As much as you like playing and creating (and video games), you still require a bit of quiet here and there to do your “thinking”. This morning while your brother ran around the schoolyard telling anyone who would listen that it was his birthday, you stood in your usual spot and commented that “that’s something a five year old would do”. You told me that being six feels “different and better” and it’s clear you’re fairly proud of this milestone in life, so I didn't bother to remind you that in the picture that I took of you at exactly 8:54 this morning, you are in fact waving and yelling across the street to a classmate that it's your birthday.

You still have a quick wit and crack yourself up on a regular basis. You are more shy at school than I expected, but you manage to convey a confidence that your peers are a little bit fascinated by. I’m glad that you are not left out even if you aren’t a joiner per se. The world needs introverts too. How else would all the thinking get done?

No girlfriends for you yet, since you have discovered that girls probably have cooties and should be avoided. You let me know that I’m the only girl you like* and I am more than OK with that for now.

This is just a little bit about you at six. I hope you have the happiest of happy birthdays today.

All my love,
Mommy

*Grandmas Rita and Leslie get a pass too.

8:53 AM

Exactly 6 years old. Happy birthday, Nate!

For Nate, my first:

Six years ago at this exact time you were born. I took a picture of you on our way to school this morning.

Your favourite number is 7. Somewhere in the past year you ditched 1 and 4, but your favourite colour is still bah-loo by a landslide. After this long, I don’t expect that will ever change.

At age 6 you are still the life of the party and will happily chat anyone’s ear off. This morning in the schoolyard you ran around and let everyone know it was your birthday and that you need two hands to count your age now.

You still love maps and calculators, but this year you have also discovered computers and video games, so maps and calculators sometimes take a backseat. I can already tell the walkie-talkies and the remote control truck you got for your birthday are going to be popular with you. If it moves or lights up and has buttons or controls of some kind, you are pretty much into it.

Your favourite song is still Livin’ On A Prayer and you still love to dance. You have a hard time sitting still, so keeping you moving in a constructive way is always a challenge – dancing serves both ends nicely. You also like to show off and entertain, so really it’s a winner all around.

When you grow up you want to sing or dance for a living. Big surprise.

You are still very much a boys’ boy, but this year you have discovered girls and fall in love daily. Most of your guest list for your party with friends is girls, including one very special girl that I haven’t stopped hearing about since school started. You even convinced your teacher to help you pass love notes to her in the next classroom, so I know it’s serious.

You are very generous with affection in general and I always know how much you love me because you tell me all the time and are not stingy with the hugs and kisses. I hope you always stay that way. Last Sunday you said, “I love you Mommy, but I really like you too”, and I said the same back. It’s easy to love you and to like you. You are growing into such a young man, a little more every day.

This is just a little bit about you at six. I hope you have the happiest of happy birthdays today, Nate.

All my love,
Mommy

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Merry Christmas from the OP – I think this is the first year our picture with Santa has (almost) everyone looking at the camera, so that is something!

We also packed two boxes for Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child. We've done boxes in the past, but I think this was the first year my boys really "got it". They decided to pack a box for a boy AND a girl, which both surprised me and made me proud. They had a fun time picking out everything and helping to fill the boxes and seeing them sent them off.

We decorated some gingerbread houses.

We decorated some cupcakes.

And, of course, we decorated a tree.

Christmas Eve, we opened our traditional Christmas PJs and watched The Grinch. Everyone was pretty tired by that point so Nate needed a little "direction" when it came time to look at the camera. Seth was happy to help.

The gift unwrapping on Christmas Day was (as usual) a frenzy. I managed to get a couple of quick pics of my boys digging into their stockings and that was about it.

– Hmm... this looks like pretty good stuff.
– I got some good stuff too.

 

– Is it better than mine? I'd better check.

 And last, but not least, a picture of the three of us. Merry Christmas everyone!

 

- L.

Rollin' With The Big Boys Now

– Hi everyone. It's me, Nate. I lost my first tooth and I've been making this face at everyone for the past month.

– I'm not too cool to brag a little. It's a pretty big deal.

- L.

In Remembrance

"O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land, glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee;
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee."

"Did you put water in there, Mommy? Those aren't
real poppies, you know."

Er... yes, I did know, but thanks. M. and I were able to watch the boys at assembly this morning as they sang both the National Anthem as well as reciting a poem they had learned along with their classmates:

Poppy, poppy, what do you say?
– Wear me on Remembrance Day.

Poppy, poppy, what do you tell?
– Many soldiers in battle fell.

Poppy, poppy, what should we know?
– That peace on earth should grow, grow, grow!

They also made some crafts and wore poppies (reluctantly at home, willingly at school - go figure!). The pictures were taken at the end of the day so please pardon our tired/overly excited expressions and blurry poppies. It's hard to sit still after observing an entire minute of silence earlier today.

- L.