Happy 5th Birthday Son!

 My son's 5th birthday was just a couple of days ago, and I can hardly believe that he is already 5! He asked for spaghetti for dinner, so I made spaghetti in my gorgeous new pot that I got for Christmas.

 Birthday prayer!

 Here he is opening his present from us (he'll get more presents at his party).

 Blowing out the candles. He asked for a confetti cake with the icing that has the rainbow sprinkles in it.

 Gotta lick the candles!

His present from Nana and Papa

C,

You are the most amazing boy that I know. Just like your physical strength astounds me so does the strength of your heart. I have never known someone to give so selflessly of themselves. This year for Christmas you gave your Snuggie (the animal you've had since you were born) to Andy as his present. It made me cry. It's your favorite thing in the world, but yet you gave it up without another thought because you wanted to make someone else happy. Your love for your sisters astonishes me. You take such care with them, and love to see them laugh. You bring so much joy to our home! You're the "funny kid". You're always making everyone around you laugh. You just love to see people smile.

Thank you God for the blessing of my son. I love you!

Around our home...

This is my idea of the perfect meal. : ) Everyone has those comfort foods that they love. Well, this is mine. Some fabulous chicken n' dumplins and a glass bottle coke. Yum. It doesn't get much better than that. This year I added something called better than boullion to my soup and it was so yummy. I've used the same recipe for years and it's always been delicous, but this took it up a notch. I've been eating leftovers for days now. : )

Here's a picture of some superheroes that have been wreaking havoc in the neighborhood:

Uhhhh....really?

So, the other day my son's cousin came for a visit. They were playing superheroes and disappeared to play downstairs. At one point in time the boys came upstairs asking for masks for their costumes. We didn't have any masks so I sent them back downstairs to play. After awhile I went downstairs to check on one of my other children and noticed the cousins playing behind the couch. Playing behind the couch didn't seem out of the ordinary to me with their pretending superheroes game they were playing. I thought nothing more of it ...until....  I asked them to come upstairs and they didn't want to....then...I was even more suspicous when the boys came upstairs wearing coverings over their heads. Yep. You betcha. Apparently, they had wanted masks so badly that they decided to makes them themselves..... scroll down to get the full affect.

They had also colored the INSIDES of their ears and their toenails. Don't ask me why they did their toenails. :) Boys will be boys. Won't they?

Thanksgiving 2010

This was honestly the best thanksgiving that I have ever had. It was simply perfect. I thought that I would share some pictures from our turkey day. This is how the day began:

And a little bit of this:

 (My bread maker)

 Table set for snacking throughtout the day while waiting on our evening Thanksgiving meal.

Cousins help Papa put up the Christmas tree

Add in some:

Fort building with the cousins

And:

A nap with Papa

Thanksgving Story

Then, we're finally ready for:

Round out the day with:

And that makes for the best Thanksgiving EVER. :)



This week around our house....

I thought that I would post a few pictures from last week. Our week started off with "C" giving himself a haircut. Oh, joy! He's done this before, and Daddy told him that if he did it again Daddy would shave all of his hair off. Guess what happened? Even though Daddy shaved his head "C" still managed some how to get gum stuck in his hair the very next day. Go figure.

Wedgits. Oh, how I love wedgits. You'll notice how engrossed even my 2 year old is in these fabulous blocks. I love them, and will be buying more soon.This is the set that we own:

WEDGiTS Deluxe Set - 30 Piece Set

Our oldest learned how to peel potatoes this past week. She did a fabulous job! She really loves helping in the kitchen, so this was the perfect job for her.

She's Reading AND Spelling!

Last week my oldest child started spelling! We've been working regularly on learning all of the phonograms as well as working through a Handwriting Without Tears workbook to correct some bad techniques that she had picked up, but last week the lightbulb went on for F. Suddenly, she could see it. In my philospophy of education, I don't push my children towards reading. I wait until they are ready and eager for it. She is defiantely ready!

We weren't working on reading or spelling or anything of the like. She simply started putting together the phonograms that she knew into words. Her first word was "fox". Now, she is asking to spell every day! I'm excited that she is excited. All of my patience and not pushing, I believe, has finally paid off. There were days where I honestly was a little scared that if I didn't push her she would be 12 and still not know how to read. not because she is of the age that she should be spelling/reading, but it's hard when you hear about 3 year olds reading and you wonder if maybe you should be pushing your child. I'm learning more and more to trust those Mommy Instincts.