Happy 6th Birthday, Cole!

Yesterday was Cole's 6th birthday, which means that yesterday was also his first big friend birthday party. (We stopped doing birthdays for 4 year olds after Josh's, mainly because 4 years olds really don't care.)

Cole was so excited. So excited that he had been counting down the days since before we went to Disney World. So excited that he had been driving me up the wall with all of his talk about the birthday party during the last week. So excited that he was up at the crack of dawn. Fortunately, so was I. (Dang loud birds outside!)

Birthday pancakes were of course the first item on the agenda.

Pancakes always taste better with sprinkles. And just a leeeetle bit of melted blue wax.

Notice the balloons on the chair? There's also streamers around the kitchen. Even though I had spent the previous day doing last day of school treasure hunts and getting everything ready for his party (including the cake, always a battle), at 10pm I remembered the streamers in the kitchen. And I knew, just knew, that if I didn't put them up there would be a sad little boy. So up they went. I have started to question whether or not all of these traditions are a good thing... (But only just a little. And only because I really was tired!)

Quite a while ago Cole had declared that he wanted a chocolate party. The boy loves chocolate, and who can blame him? A couple of weeks ago I had an epiphany and made this invite.

HAHAHAHA! ChoCOLElate!!! I felt pretty clever.

I decided to only invite 4 friends, mainly because at the time I was planning the party I decided I really didn't want a house full of 5 and 6  year olds on my own. Instead, I would invite their moms to come with them, giving me some much needed back up. But then I remembered that school would be out, and I couldn't expect the moms to get babysitters. So, siblings were invited, too. As it turned out Lance ended up taking the day off from work, so I could have gotten away with just a bunch of 5 and 6 year olds, but it turned out to be really fun.

First, the cake. And for once, this cake was not too stressful! Cole declared he wanted chocolate with chocolate sprinkles, so that's what the boy got.

It was extra chocolatey and pretty good, if I do say so myself! The piping is a little bigger than I planned, but whatever.

In fact, this was a fairly drama free cake. I had to make a second batch of frosting, but that wasn't so bad. Hooray for easy cakes!

We decided to have the party outside because who wants a ton of kids running through the house if you don't have to have them there? We used and decorated our new canopy; it was way cuter in person, I think. The weather was great; a little warm at times, but there was a good breeze.

And of course we had a pinata. Dang pinatas. I kinda wish I'd never allowed one at Josh's 6th birthday, but I did and here we are. So in the past I've just used paper bags to make the base of the pinata, and while that made it easy, it was really hard for the kids to break. (Lance always ended up tearing them apart.) So this time I did the paper mache route, which is why this pinata looks like a balloon because that is exactly what it was in the beginning. Cole had no requirements for how it looked other than it had to be orange and had to have a big blue 6 on it. Done and done.

First we had lunch, which consisted of pizza, fruit kabobs, chocolate milk, and banana-cicles. When I was first planning the party I had grand designs of an all-chocolate lunch: chocolate pizza, chocolate zucchini bread, everything dipped in chocolate... and then I came back to my senses and just went the easy route. Although, in my defense half of the fruit did have chocolate drizzle on it. Oh, and the banana-cicles? They were pieces of banana dipped in chocolate and frozen. Great idea in theory, and still a great idea for the first 30 minutes. But once they started really melting? Um, gross. Lesson learned.

I'm kicking myself for not taking pictures of them, but one of our games involved punch boards. (You know, like on the Price Is Right.) Each child got to punch the hole, take out a piece of paper with a number on it, and then get a wrapped gift with the corresponding number on it. The gifts were fabulous prizes that I had found mostly around the house. (Like old Dollar Spot finds, bags of marshmallows, and, my personal favorite, a bunch of candy canes left over from Christmas. Josh got those!)

We also did corn hole, only we threw bags of M&Ms into Cole's mouth instead.

We also played musical chairs. It was intense. (And by intense I mean that even though I really, strongly, blatantly hinted to the older kids that they should let the younger kids win, only one really got the hint. Poor younger kids...)

Then it was time for the pinata. I didn't get many pictures because I was the blindfold and bat girl. But here's all the kids lined up, oldest to youngest. I thought for sure we'd get through the line, but we only made it to Josh and it broke. My pinata actually broke - without adult help! Hooray! (But also, boo. Because this means that my pinatas will be paper mache from now on. Not exactly the easiest or cleanest method.)

Finally it was time to blow out the candles and serve the cake. Cole was super excited and happy. What a handsome boy I have!

I'm not quite sure what he's doing here. Contemplating the mysteries of life, probably. Oh, and do you like his shirt? I totally made it. Love my Cricut!

Then it was time for presents. As per usual with kids, Cole tore through them, barely taking time to look at the one he just opened. His friends were very generous and he spent most of today playing with them!

I had party favors all ready for the guests - and then completely forgot to hand them out. So now I have 20+ Hershey bars with wrappers like this. Perhaps I'll get around to handing them out during the summer. Perhaps they will be sacrificed to the s'mores gods. Either way, I'll be a happy girl.

After clean up we all took a long, well-deserved nap. Ha! I wish. No, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the neighborhood pool. It was a pretty warm day, but that water sure was cold! Not that it stopped the kids at all. I swear Cole jumped into that pool at least a hundred times. That boy loves water.

At six years old Cole is still definitely my hardest child. He can be very belligerent, demanding, and angry. But he can also be very loving, very mindful, and really, really funny. (He still refers to Mars as that planet we went to at Disney!) When he makes friends he really makes friends. His two best friends are Evan (from preschool) and Ruth (from church). He loves them both and will behave if they are around to keep him in line!

I know all parents think their kids are geniuses, but Cole really is too smart for his own good. I think school will be really good for him this year on many levels - academically, socially, and behaviorally. He has a fun, quirky personality. He has a hard time sitting still. He's a stickler for rules - unless I'm enforcing them. I joke that he's our little super-villain in training because he has all the characteristics for making one: really smart, really motivated, really stubborn, and really interesting. I have yet to find his weakness, which is a little alarming...

Cole is a GREAT traveler. He loves to go anywhere. He loves to run errands and loves to play at the park even more. He loves to read, although if I ever catch him reading he throws the book and runs away. I have no idea why. He knows all the words to all the songs from Frozen. I catch him singing pretty often, but heaven forbid if I ever sing around the house! He's recently become obsessed with the planets; his favorite is Uranus because "it has a summer and a winter". Cole is the king of non-sequiturs. He's always coming up to me or interrupting conversatiosn with totally random facts or statements, about half of which make sense. Yesterday he claimed we HAD to go to the pool because "when there's a ring around the moon that means it's gonna rain". He said this as if he were really angry about it, too.

Cole is slightly afraid of the dark, but getting over it. He sleeps with a ton of stuffed animals and other random (and hard) toys, all of which MUST be covered by the blanket so they don't get cold. He's still not a huge fan of church, but getting a little better. (Although last week I had to take him out - twice - before the actual Sacrament. The joy.) He has memorized everyone it our family's birth dates, including grandparents. He's working on birth places now. Because, you know, that's useful info. (If he asks for your SSN, don't give it to him. Re: Super Villain in Training.)

Cole would spend all day outside if he had kids to play with and games to play. He's convinced that sunscreen gives him sun burns, which makes putting it on him pretty fun. (But we must. Have you seen how fair that kid is?!) He's really proud about the watermelon he planted in the garden. He LOVES to eat watermelon. He's a watermelon eating machine. In fact, he's an eating machine, often easily eating far more than his bigger brothers. (Which is not hard since Josh still refuses to eat most of what I serve for dinner.) I'm pretty sure he's going to be the biggest brother.

Cole is curious, almost to his detriment. I caught him playing with knives today. And then he got mad at me for making him stop and there was a big to do about it. He wants to do everything his brothers do and gets really upset when told he's not big enough. He's an adrenaline junky and I can't wait to take him to Cedar Point for the first time because I know he will lurrrrrve it. He wants to be independent and brave, but his mommy was always his first choice for who he sat next to on the big rides at Disney. (Kinda made my heart smile.)

Cole is a struggle and a joy. He is hard work. But I find that those things you work hardest for are those that you appreciate and love the most.

Last Day of School

Yesterday was the boys' last day of school. Huzzah! And there was much rejoicing! (Especially from this mom, who was probably more tired of the homework and projects than the students were...)

Here are a few "first day/last day" pics of the boys. I kinda felt compelled to make them because I saw hundreds on FB yesterday, and you know me, always doin' what everyone else is.

Holy cow, I can't believe this kid's gonna be in middle school next year. MIDDLE SCHOOL. I love his stance in the last day picture; he was feeling like hot stuff the last few weeks because he was in 5th grade and they totally rule the school. (Or so I've heard...)

And then there's Josh, who also decided he had to strike a pose. He'll be in 3rd grade next year - does that make him an upper classman? In his mind it does!

Well, we started the morning with a definite treat: doughnuts from Mary Lou's, a Lafayette institution. I think it's fair to say that I know good doughnuts, and these, my friends, are good. Especially their apple fritters. They will kill you, but you will die happy.

It was a LONG day, mainly because Tess and Cole were so anxious to have their brothers home from school all summer. It's really quite sweet. But the constant "Are they going to be home yet?" was also quite annoying.

We do treasure hunts on the last day of school. I write up 20 clues and the kids roam around and figure it out and at the end find their "treasure".  (An old treasure chest-like box full of dollar store finds and candy. Marvelous.)

As we waited the last 30 minutes for the bus to come we decorated the sidewalk with signs for the boys.

At last! At last! They were home! (I wish I had gotten all of Tess in the shot.)

Sweet success! Cole scored a BlowPop from one of his brothers. (The bus driver always gives them candy on the last day of school.)

Josh loves school, but he also really loves summer break.

Last day of school forced picture. (They were anxious to start the hunt!)

Last year we started to include our neighbors, Justin and Madison. Madison will be in 8th grade next year and Justin will be in 5th. (Josh and Justin are best, best, BESTEST friends.) ((Justin is like the 4th son I never had... well, he's at our house enough for that!)) (((I'm not complaining. We love Justin!)))

This clue involved a puzzle. Other clues involved audio clips and taking selfies. Because I'm a 21st century kind of mom.

Can I just say that it's a bit difficult to write riddles and clues for such a wide age range? I'm not quite sure how I'm going to do it next year. Perhaps I will have to change tactics a bit some how. (Let me know if you have any ideas.)

The treasure was at last found and divvied up. One of the treasures was a thing that you put on the hose and use to fill up and tie water balloons. It was great for filling the balloons and really did tie them for you, but we found it was still way faster to just tie them with your fingers.

Much water balloon carnage ensued. I tried to get the kids to ambush Lance when he came home, but Tess kinda gave it away when she greeted him with "We have a supriiiiiiise for you, Daddy! We're going to throw water balloons at you!" And then he saw Cole standing with a water balloon. Apparently children do not understand how important the element of surprise is in an ambush.

So Lance went inside and put his stuff away, and I distracted all the kids until Lance came around the other side of the house with the hose on, just as I knew he would. You aren't married to a person for close to 15 years without knowing a thing or two about them and what their next move is going to be. The kids were thrilled and Lance was wise enough not to spray his loving wife.

It was a pretty great last day of school!

Early Bird

Cole was out of bed by 6:45 this morning, although I suspect he was awake much earlier.

Me: What were you doing up so early, Cole? Did something wake you up?

Cole: I woke up early! I woke up before the world was orange!

I'm assuming this means he was up before sunrise. Although he is my child who seems to like to watch the world burn...

Extra Disney

I found a few pics from Disney on my phone that I forgot to include in my other blog posts that I thought were worth keeping.

Here's all the luggage the morning we left. Lest you think we overpacked, one of those suitcases is full of food, which we used for breakfast. Another one was full of shoes - I just didn't know if my kids would want tennis shoes, their sports sandals, and then we also had to bring flip flops for the pool. Six people = lots of shoes. And of course everyone had their own back pack for the plane. Everyone (except Tess) was in charge of rolling luggage in the airport, including Cole, which was pretty cute.

Here's Spencer just after we got our first snacks at the resort. The kids were all SOOOO excited! I'm assuming that's the reason for this face. :)

Tess had the same Mickey ice cream, but wouldn't hold still so I could keep it in the shot. She was more interested in the stickers someone gave her instead. See the cup there? Each of us got one and we could have unlimited refills at any of the resorts while there. Pretty cool. (All 6 of those cups are now sitting on the counter in my basement, waiting to be used. I never remember to use them, but I can't bring myself to toss them, either!)

The kids on the shuttle on the way to Magic Kingdom for the first time. Notice their awesome shirts? I totally made those. Even Tess's super-cute Cinderella shirt. I meant to blog about them, but never did. I made a shirt for each adult and 2 for each child. Hooray for Cricut iron-on vinyl!

Classic Tess at Epcot, waiting for the fireworks. A charmer, that one.

Poor Spence on the afternoon of day three.  He couldn't find a souvenir he wanted, and was really upset to be the only one not to buy something. He was also a grouch. And hot. And mad at me for taking pictures. And mad at life in general. And eleven.

He sweetened up a bit when he got to sit next to a headless princess on the train.

The only picture I have on the Monorail. Coel was in HEAVEN. I don't know what it is about him, but that boy luurrves public transportation. Perhaps he will be a civil or transportation engineer when grows up. Or maybe he'll be a super villain who uses public transportation. One of the two.

A quick picture I snapped in the Animal Kingdom resort. It was just beautiful and nice. Too nice for my kids. I mean, I know Disney is all about kids, but if we stayed there I would've been worried about them behaving all the time, especially in this nice lobby. (This was where I practically dragged Cole and Josh by the ears after their terrible behavior at dinner.) Old Key West was perfect for my wild, feral children.

Tess slept in the master bedroom closet - with her pink pig and princess hat, of course. It was really the perfect spot for her, and she loved it! (She slept on a couple of couch cushions, lest you think we're totally mean parents.)

One last shot on the shuttle, on the way to Hollywood Studios. I think Josh was the only kid who didn't have a melt down the entire trip. Kudos to you, Josh! You win the prize of my eternal admiration and love!

Currants and Honey Berries

For the past few years I have really wanted to get rid of the ugly bushes on the east side of our house. They were el-cheapo box woods and some other kind I can't remember the name of - you know, the cheap kind you can get at Wal-Mart. The boxwoods started to die, so last summer I helped them out with some Round Up. I also sprayed and cut back the other bushes, but that only seemed to make them grow back even stronger, like some sort of mutant-zombie bush. Seriously, how in the world did they survive my 2-part hack/Round Up attack?

Anywho, I never did get around to removing them last summer, partly because I couldn't decide what to put there instead and partly because I knew that it would be a job-and-a-half, what with all the rocks and the monster bushes.

But today was the day.  We finally got those dang bushes out! Turns out that one of Spencer's Scout merit badges included being in charge of and working on a big family project that benefited the whole family. This was the perfect thing!

Here's the before shots.

I know it doesn't look that bad now, but those bushes get outta control by mid-summer. And I just don't like them. Blech.

The empty spaces inbetween were where the already-killed boxwoods were. Their stumps were still there, but proved to be pretty easy to remove.

Those other bushes though? A nightmare to remove! So many roots, so much clay soil, so many rocks in the way. Three hours later, and our new plants were in - red currants and honey berries! Hooray! They'll look good and provide yummy fruit in a couple of years. I'm so much happier with them!

Not the greatest picture, but trust me, it's better. Spencer did pretty well with this project. I'm not say he was exactly fun the entire time, but he did help and do some of the work. (For an 11 year old, not bad.)

Fingers crossed we have a decent summer and these little bushes can really settle in and survive the winter. Because I don't know that I could ever get Lance and Spencer to help me move bushes on this side of the house again!

Happy

The clematis on the west side of the house made me particularly happy today.
The sun was shining, there was a gentle breeze, and kids were running all around the neighborhood playing games.

There's one more week of school, no more projects or homework due, and swimming lessons start again soon.

Life is good.

Spring Fever

The weather has been a bit quirky lately - 80's one day, low 60's the next. Lots of rain and sprinkles and wind and sunshine, all in one week. In other words, spring in Indiana.

This has been driving Mr. Cole nuts. Several times this week he has been outside an exclaimed "But it was hot at Disney World! It was HOT in ORLANDO!" (He loves that he knows the name of the city we were in. I've caught him looking for - and finding - it on our map downstairs.)

Despite my best efforts, he refuses to believe any of my explanations about how and why Florida and Indiana weather patterns are so different. Who do I think I am - Al Roker?

All too soon it will be hot and muggy, just like Florida. Then he'll find something else to complain about and compare with our trip. (The food was better, there were more rides, Princesses just walked around the place...) ((Well, we do have a princess. Not that Cole will ever acknowledge that title...))

History Fair 2.0

The Tuesday after Disney World was History Fair. Again. (Because Spencer is in the multi-age class he got to participate in this twice.) Considering we were all still pretty worn out from our trip, he did an amazing job!

This year Spencer's project was on President James Madison. I learned more about this guy than I ever wanted to know. That's because when a child has a history fair project, so does the mom. Let's just say that besides the War of 1812, Madison's presidency was pretty dull, which made for a hard time in getting a certain 5th grader to write his timeline, his report, make the poster... pretty much all of it. Although, let's be honest: he could have had a project on the most interesting man in the world I would have still had the same problems.

One of my biggest concerns going into this was the fact that he had to dress up, and I have zero colonial costumes around my house. (I know, weird, right?) Fortunately, Gigi to the rescue! Logan had been George Washington for school a couple of years ago, and we figured what was good enough for George was good enough for James!

Gigi really did help me out with this one. It was one less stressor I had to deal with before/after our trip. (We had to get all of the project done a bit early since Spencer was out of school for a week, in case you were wondering.)

Here's President Madison holding a copy of the Bill of Rights (which he wrote), standing in front of a very impressive tri-board. (Notice that Cricut action going on there!) Spencer did a great job giving his presentation and got an A+ for all of his hard work. I am really proud of him!

Since I was so intensely involved with the poster (read: I FORCED him to make things look nice) I thought it deserved some recognition.

I know these projects are good for the kids and that they learn a lot. Hey, I learned a lot, too! But I have to admit that I'm really looking forward to Summer vacation just so we won't have to deal with anymore projects!