10.26.2008

our first slumber party

After 4 years of hosting big birthday parties, I decided that this year JT needed to downscale. A month ago the idea of having 4 of JT's tball buddies come over for a slumber party sounded perfect. The plan was simple, have 4 boys come over, order pizza, watch a movie, eat cake, sleep in a tent, wake up, and send them home. It sounded so easy and so relaxing for Rick and I.

The pizza part was fine, the movie part was okay but it didn't last long as 8 kids never want to sit and watch the same thing. We completely skipped cake until the next day. The tent was fun for awhile but we went through several people placement issues before calling the whole tent plan done around 10 PM. Waking up started at 6:15 despite some people not going to sleep until well after midnight. I think the only part that went as planned was the parent pick-up.

We had a good time but needless to say, it will be a long time before we have more than 2 kids spend the night. If you are planning any sort of slumber party, call and I will give you my tips. My best piece of advice is to be sure you wear them out and I mean really wear them out before you put them in a tent or room together.

10.24.2008

SIX part 2

I forgot to add one of my most favorite photos. This one is of JT and Emily at age 2 (or almost 2). We went to the Pumpkin Patch in Lexington.
We went to the pumpkin patch and bought a big bag of small pumpkins that the kids painted at JT's first real birthday party. It was also his first Halloween-themed party. I recall Rachel and Wayne bringing over pizza Friday night and helping me decorate cookies, cupcakes, and make a zillion peanut butter sandwiches.
And to think 4 years later, we are celebrating tonight with JT's dinner choice of homemade mac 'n cheese, corn on the cob, and ice cream. Tomorrow after two t-ball games and William's birthday party, JT will have about 5 t-ball buddies over for some flag football (his birthday present request), a visit to the Haunted Trails, and then a slumber party in a tent on the deck. I'll have a full report, if I surive.

SIX

I have no idea how this happened but somehow JT turned 6 today. 6?! Where in the world have 6 years gone? I am sad and happy all at the same time. It is so much fun to be around JT these days. He has so many questions and a fabulous sense of humor. He is always moving and always has big plans of what he wants to do next. I wish I could keep him small but I know that the next 6 years and even the next 6 years after that are going to be just as much fun as these first 6 have been.
I've pulled a few JT shots from the past few years. I tried to get some baby photos but I am having problems getting in to my Shutterfly account. Oh well, these are just as cute.

JT and Bella at a birthday party.
Asleep after studying his first Playmobil catalog.


JT plays soccer


JT's first race.



JT's first time at tball.


Just about a month ago in his new shirt from Nana Juju.

Just JT!


JT hamming it up in the tub.


Tball this past spring.


Tball Fall 2007





























10.23.2008

cupcakes




We have a big day tomorrow and this is the treat he requested for school. My tip is to not let your child get his cupcake ideas from Martha. I think they work but the arms start to droop after a while.
In case you have no clue, I think they are some sort of swamp monster.

cookies

Fall is here, which means it is time for me to break out my mad cookie decorating skills that Michelle and I learned from Central Market many years ago. The pumpkin faces were harder than I thought, which was a bummer because I made a ton of pumpkins. I wish I would have stuck with the owls and tombstones.
I also tried a new recipe for sugar cookies that had some fall spices in them. At first I wasn't sure and was surprised that the boys wanted to eat them without frosting. They weren't too shabby and a good twist on the standard sugar cookie recipe. If you have a good sugar cookie recipe, send it my way; I am still searching for the best one.

10.13.2008

Hiatus

"I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult."E.B. White

I realize I haven't been a stellar blogger of late. I feel like we've hit a lull where we have nothing exciting going on yet we are also swamped. My to do list just keeps growing and I honestly feel as though I get lots of small parts and pieces done but never actually get to complete a task. It is all very frustrating.

All that said, I am going to take a short break. Not long, I promise as we have a birthday coming up as well as Halloween. I'll be back in full force and hopefully I will even have a photo or two of my completed Halloween quilt.

WARNING: Halloween Spoiler

You all have been warned that this posting is going to ruin Zachy's Halloween costume surprise but the kid is way too cute and obsessed with Star Wars to not post these photos.


This all started innocently back in March when I bought the Wii. Had I known then what was to come, I would have skipped the Wii. Last month being misguided by a Toys R Us ad, I took the boys to get a Wii game. I thought it was basically buy one get one 1/2 off but it was really buy any $19.99 game and get another $19.99 game 1/2 off. We didn't know this until we made it to the counter with Lego Star Wars and PowerPros. It was a back and forth and finally the boys agreed that LSW was the best pick. JT was hooked immediately and Zachy would just watch him play. Eventually Zachy took at a stab at it and now the child knows how to play the game better than Rick and I.

Then he went to the Clone Wars movie, which meant Target started selling Clone Wars toys. And then Josh lent the boys the movies and it basically has all gone down hill from there. Not a day goes by that Zach doesn't want to discuss some aspect of Star Wars, be it the game, the movie, or the Clone Wars cartoon. Since he tortures us daily we retaliate by calling Count Dooku, Count Doodoo, which causes Zachy to put on his angry face and remind us of the proper pronounciation.

Which leads me to his Halloween costume and his whapper. He wanted to be Obi-Wan but I wasn't real thrilled with the $30 costume so I offered to make him a Jedi robe and tried to convince him he could be Yoda. He said yes to the robe but no to Yoda as he had only seen movie #5 at that point and Yoda wasn't all too thrilling. Thanks to movie 3 and the Clone Wars, Zach has discovered that Yoda has electric and is the most powerful Jedi.

I had some muslin that I bought for some craft that I never did and thought I'd try to make a pattern. The robe turned out well and we are going with this one although I am going to dye it brown as there have been many a Klan reference when the hood is on. The Yoda ears are on loan from Josh. I live in fear of Zach hurting them as Josh's mom made them at least 25 years ago. I try to keep them hidden until I have time to make a set of my own.

The Whapper is on loan as well. It was Zachy's reward for pooping in the potty and as you may guess it appears and reappears based on Zachy's decision to use the potty. He will at least get to have it for Halloween as I have no hopes of being diaper free in two weeks.


Whapping dad to work harder at cleaning the kitchen.
The Yoda ears (on backwards).

What Kinder Parents Need to Know


What I think would be nice is a small handbook of things every new kindergarten parent should know. For example, a POPS Rally (and no I do not know what POPS stands for); Brookhollow had one last Friday. Apparent they give out awards to students. JT received three of them as well as two gift certificates for miniature golf. Rick and I felt like horrible parents for not attending after JT gave us a full report of the event and that most of his friend's parents were there. At the end of it, he was nice enough to say that "it was really boring so it is okay you didn't come."
We also had our first parent/teacher conference. Turns out what we thought is true, JT is a genius and they are moving him to 5th grade. Actually he knows his numbers really well, can identify most letters by sight, has no clue what a rhombus or parallelogram are, and doesn't know all of his letters phonetically. All of that basically means that he is a normal kindergartner. I did ask the teacher if he pays her as he comes home every day with Beary Good Student in his folder (the kids get animals to represent their behavior for the day, you do not want Disrespectful Dinosaur). Her response was that JT is a very well mannered and polite child. Rick and I are not sure if aliens invade JT's body when he is at school but we are very pleased to hear that he is well-mannered in public.
In other kinder news, JT has successfully mastered the monkey bars. He can go all the way across via the middle and on the side. This is big news and he often asks if we can go on the weekend to practice.
TBall is almost over; two more weekends to go. It has actually turned out to be a fun season and JT is having a good time.
And no, I have no idea what "Bobcats Fight Free" means. Another thing to add to my "What Parents Need to Know About Kinder Book."

10.10.2008

politics

this blog is supposed to be about the boys and sometimes about the parents but since i haven't had time to come up with anything witty or entertaining, i am providing some sarah silverman. i can't figure out how to embed the video so you have to make an effort and click the link.

http://vimeo.com/thegreatschlep

there is some language and if you don't know sarah, you may be offended (maybe?).

anywho, i promise a kid update some time this weekend. safe to say, they are both alive and still living with us.

10.02.2008

cutest baby update



Lauren is working on two teeth and crawling. More importantly, check out those super cute pants!

update to rick's cooking blog

rick says that i just threw down the gauntlet.
i guess he didn't like me oohhing and ahhing over this recipe blog site. i think it was the homemade crackers and hummus that made me cry out "why don't you ever do this."
maybe he found that offensive...

even rick blogs

i know i dominate the blogging world at the lucas house but it appears that once in awhile rick breaks away from his sporting news, fantasy league, facebook, and whatever else he does online and discovers a gem of a blog. now we both feel inspired to get in the kitchen and cook (or bake in my case).

http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/