It's Fun Being Five!

I don't know where the time has gone this week. I really don't.

Last week we had Sam's birthday party here -- lots of fun -- and Wednesday was his actual birthday. It seems like so much has happened! I have also caught another cold! I can't seem to get rid of them this year! Hopefully I'm on the mend, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Anyway, last weekend we had 18 (give or take) people here for Sam's birthday party. I was having so much fun talking to my friends! The only picture I managed to take was this one.


And you can see I'm in the picture so technically, I didn't take it!

On Wednesday, Sam's actual birthday, Rich was able to take the day off. He and I managed to spend a few hours alone -- we actually went on a coffee date! It was nice to spend some time with him just doing nothing! We picked Josh up from school an hour early and then brought Sam home. We opened presents and played the afternoon away! It was nice!

Here is Sam sporting his new Liverpool t-shirt -- sent by Auntie Jane! Sam LOVES this!


He put it on immediately and then managed to keep it on from Wednesday afternoon until Friday night when I made him take it off so I could wash it! No doubt he'd still be wearing it otherwise!

Since Sam has turned "5" life has been oh so fun. Mind you, he's been 5 for all of three days. We discovered he had broken the limb off of one of our house plants and "fixed" it by scotch taping the limb back on to the tree.

Today has been especially fun. This morning he decided his hair was getting in his eyes so he trimmed his own bangs. Not bad considering he was standing on the toilet and looking at his reflection in the mirror when he did this.



Then, not five minutes late I look up and see this....

And I'm almost certain, those underpants are not clean! He's an odd one!

The weather here in Atlanta was so beautiful this weekend! The boys rode their bikes to the playground. Since Sam is not that confident with his bike, I walked along side him and helped from time to time -- well if truth be told, more often than not!

Anyway, while we were talking Sam said to me that I needed a bike and I should ask for one for Christmas. So I said, "Sam, will you get me a bike for Christmas?"

His response... "Mom, you have to ask SANTA for a bike, not me! I can't get you a bike!"

Then I said, "Well, how about you ask Santa for me when you go see him."

To which he was most upset and responded, "Mom! I'm not going to waste MY Santa wish asking for something for YOU! YOU have to ask Santa yourself!"

Oh Five is going to be a FUN year!

Trying to Stay Healthy & General Rambling

We've been lucky so far this year. With all the flu and H1N1 going around, no one in the family has yet to come down with it.

(Knock on wood).

I did bring the boys to the pediatrician for both the seasonal flu and H1N1 vax last week. I hope this means neither of them will get it.

Since yesterday was election day, the kids had no school. For once, I was really happy that there was no school! I seem to be on the back end of a head cold (just really stuffy sinuses, nothing too major) so it was nice to have an extra day to sleep in and not worry about doing anything much in particular (and I'm feeling much better today).

Over the last six-weeks we've had a "Family Challenge" going on here. We each picked three things we wanted to achieve over the six weeks and then we worked to achieve them. I'm happy to report both boys met and exceeded their goals. Mom and Dad didn't fare so well - neither Rich nor I met our goals, but we weren't off by much!

Sam was the winner by far so he earned $25 for winning! And Josh came in second - he achieved all his goals too, but didn't accumulate as many points. BUT he also "won" $25 for doing so well in school, winning the science fair and really sticking to his many commitments and keeping his grades up.

So yesterday I took the boys out so they could spend some of their money. Sam really wanted a new Webkinz and Josh wanted an "Action Replay" for his DSLite. Part of my plan was to bring them to Toys r' Us and have them make a list of things they wanted for Christmas (and Sam for his birthday) but once we got to Toys r' Us, Josh had to get his Action Replay and couldn't focus on anything else!

So I guess we'll have to try that again another day! I did manage to get some ideas for Sam's birthday at least!

We're busy gearing up for Sam's birthday next week. We've got his birthday party here this Saturday -- please pray that we all stay healthy and the weather stays beautiful! I want to have the kids outside as much as possible. And since we're making this a "Family Affair" it may be a bit crowded if we can't move outside for part of the evening!

Finally, I wanted to give a special shout out to our pediatrician's blog: Jerry's Jungle. We love all the folks at Kennesaw Pediatrics -- they are wonderful! We've been with them since just before Sam was born and have seen them grow from having just 3 doctors to having 6 on staff and now they are on Facebook, Twitter and have their own blog too! Check them out!

Halloween 2009 - Gobble Gobble & Goblins

As you may have heard, we've had a very wet Autumn and it's been unseasonably cold for this time of year.

Well, yesterday, Halloween, was no exception!

The day started out with the Cub Scout's annual "Turkey Shoot." Josh and I headed off, in the rain to see what the Cub Scouts had in store!

Josh had to go through the safety course. Where they spoke to the boys about gun safety, and even though these are BB Guns, they are still weapons. Each boy had to attend before they could go out on the range. When they were done, their name tags were punched.

Since it was pouring rain, they didn't have the BB Gun range open, but they did have the Sling Shot range....

and a place to make a marshmallow shooter...

(yes, I did saw all the pieces of the PVC pipe and help him put this together)

By the time we were through with all that, plus we took time for a drink of hot cocoa and a snack, the weather cleared up and the ranges opened.

Josh was very excited! He got his target all ready --

Put on his safety glasses....

and then had a go...

Each boy was allowed to take 10 shots. When they were done, they had to wait until all the boys in their "range" were finished. Then they could get the targets when the Range Master told them it was okay.

Here's Josh showing off his "after" target. He was a bit disappointed because he only managed to hit the paper once -- up in the top right corner.

However, he's decided that Grampa can take the time and really show him what to do and how to aim shoot the BB Gun at a target properly when we see Grampa next. And he had fun!

And this was just in the morning!!! In the evening we went to a friend's house for pre-Trick-or-Treat insanity.

It was wet, and cold and rainy, but that didn't stop the kids from having fun, running around the neighborhood and collecting heaps of candy! Which Mom and Dad quickly "inspected" last night!

Today is cold, but sunny and the boys are outside getting more fresh air, rolling around in leaves. Rich and I are packing up the Halloween Decorations (well, really Rich is. I'm eating pumpkin seeds). And we're getting geared up for Sam's birthday party next weekend!