Seth's birthday and a little bit about mine

The drawback about sharing your birthday with your 5 year old son is the fact that your birthday is almost forgotten. The positives are now that I'm older, I don't really care about big celebrations for my birthday and it gives me an opportunity to forget about myself and focus on one of the things I love most: Seth.

Seth has never had a friends party and wanted one this year, so we indulged him. Maybe too much. Although he has never seen the movies, he wanted an Indiana Jones party. (He says he saw one at home, which I have not asked Brent about yet) Maybe he gets his inspiration from his older cousins who make their own movies. There's this one and this one. Either way, he chose a fun theme and we ran with it.

Young Indy showed up and gave each of the kids paper fedora hats that Brent made. (With the instructions to not stand near an open flame when wearing them)

Then he told them about some of his adventures and that his treasure he found was stolen and he needed their help to get it back. He handed out little bags that Brent's mom sewed for all the kids. She's an angel. More on her and her visit later...

Then he showed them how to use a whip. The kids were in awe as he popped each ballon.

They followed their maps to all the locations where they could gather treasure but first they had to pass off on mummification.

Then they had to search through the "Pit of Doom"

Then go through the Indian village

Then dig through monkey brains (jello) for treasure

Several friends from church and school came and of course lots of cousins!

Does this boy look thrilled or what?

Young Indy was actually a boy from our church's ranch nearby and he was so good to come and do this. Seth and some of the other kids thought he was the real thing!

The night before as we were sewing, baking, and finishing hats I asked my mother-in-law if we were crazy. It was all worth it though. There were a few things I would have added but just didn't have the time. It will probably be another five years before his next big birthday party.

Now I wish I had pictures of me blowing out my candles but alas, there was no cake for me this year. I just realized that as I was putting this together. Sad, huh? Not really. In defense of Brent he did a lot for this party and it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun as it was if it didn't have the touch of Brent's creativity too. Also, in defense of Brent, he does soooo much throughout the year to spoil me that I can overlook this slight mistake.

But the next time? I don't know...

Where to Begin

The lack of blogging is not due to nothing to blog about, but rather where to begin.

I'll start with our church's Christmas party. I am over activities at our church which includes an annual Christmas party. We had different soups for dinner with rolls and then everyone brought a dessert to share. Brent and my nephew Adam put together a conference call with Santa live via satellite from the North Pole and the primary children sang. We did a reenactment of the Nativity that turned out well for being VERY last minute. I hope nobody could tell. I was so grateful for the talented people around me that were willing to step in and help put it together. Overall I think it was a success and I already have thoughts churning in my head about what to do next year. (No pictures. I was counting on my lovely sister bringing her camera so I didn't bring mine and I don't think I saw her taking any pics)

The ladder slipped out from under Brent as he was cleaning up the wonderful light display he had strung across the ceiling. Luckily he sustained no major injuries and Ian had walked away from that area. Phew! What a blessing nobody got hurt. I think my heart stopped for a sec when I heard the crash and everyone gasp when I was out in the hallway. I'm grateful he's out in the living room playing with the Little People sets with our 2 boys.

More to come...

Super Saturday

Ian slept in until 10:30. My body won't let me sleep past 8:00 anymore. We got to spend 2 hours laughing and playing with Seth.

I got to hear him say, "Thatsh sho aweshome!" many times and he asked me if his feet smelled like roses.

Went to a birthday party for a girl in Seth's preschool class and got to see him take bowling very seriously. Got to meet some pretty cool moms too.

Dropped Seth off at my sisters and went to eat and visit at our neighbors. They have twin babies and they were baptized at their church today. I'm grateful for good, fun, normal neighbors.

Came home to discover that someone had cut the Christmas lights in our bushes...again. Yes, it is officially a crime in my book and the perpetrator will be caught. Oh yes. He/She/They will be caught.

FHE Idea

This is what we did for our activity for Family Home Evening last Monday. I got the idea from my friend Angela's blog, but since her blog is private, here's our pics.

It's a fun idea. We didn't really tie it into the lesson but you could easily. I would suggest leaving the marshmallows out for a little bit before you build it because ours were a little too soft at first. I did take the toothpick out of Ian's mouth right after I saw it but I thought he was funny how he acted like it was no big deal he put it there. Do we have a redneck on our hands? Not that there's anything wrong with that.

So big!

Ian is growing up too fast. He's already getting his own cereal in the morning. It's actually kind of nice because now I can sleep in. :)

Big Brother Tison

My brother and his wife just had baby number four! A boy!

Hopefully his older brother Tison goes a little easier on him then he did on Ian.

3-2-1 Liftoff!

I don't know if it's because I grew up here or not, but I love to watch the shuttle go up. I never get tired of seeing it and always get a little teary-eyed. All of the launches are cool, but the night launches can't be beat. It is as bright as dawn when it goes up.

Amy planned a bonfire on the beach so a bunch of us went and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and had the perfect view. The kids had a blast digging in the sand and running around.

Halloween

I love Halloween. It's the start of the major holiday season. My plan was to do a Halloween craft a day with Seth, even if it was a small one, but we didn't quite make it. We did a lot of fun ones though and I'm geared up for December.

We kicked off the trick or treating with the Fall Festival at church. Seth was running around from booth to booth and car to car.

Then we went trick or treating on Halloween with the cousins in their neighborhood. We went to our neighbors across the street before we left and they gave Seth a some glow sticks. It was so thoughtful and Seth loves glow sticks. Seth dressed up as Obi Wan Kanobe (Star Wars fans, correct me on my spelling if that's wrong) and Ian went as a football player, in case you couldn't tell) Are they not the cutest boys?

Tagged

Janet tagged me with the 6 Random Things About yourself blog, so here it goes...

1. I like to read and learn about nutrition and the human body. I don't incorporate the things I learn into my life but it's fun to read about what I should be doing.

2. I have celiac disease. Not fun, but not the end of the world. In fact, I don't like to call it celiac disease because people may feel like they need to avoid me. It's a gluten(wheat)allergy. I'm no fun to go out to eat with (unless you just want me there for conversation and not to watch me eat) and I don't do well at dinner parties. I feel amazingly better than before my diagnosis and it is really a healthier way of eating. Hence, my obsession with learning about health and nutrition. 1 in 133 people have it and most don't know it.

3. I love rice! I eat it at least once a day sometimes twice or thrice. Low carb diets don't work for me since my favorite is beans and rice with a tall glass of almost frozen milk. Sometimes I like to add ice cream to my milk, so no low carb for me thank you very much!

4. I am an entrepenuer at heart. I have so many million dollar ideas I can't decide which one to do so I don't do any! :)

5. I've attended 4 colleges and working on a 5th.

6. I want to be a motivational speaker. I don't know in what capacity yet. Perhaps I could speak on nutrition, starting up a million dollar company, the many ways to prepare rice, or how to get the most out of a college education without getting a degree.

I tag Gladys, so she will finally give us an update, Heidi, since she's new on blogspot, and Jennifer, since she's new too and only has one post. :)

Mommy Gut

No, I don't mean my stomach literally but that instinct mom's have about what's best for their kids. I didn't listen to mine recently but it all worked out and I was reminded that I need to go with that instinct.

I removed Seth from his previous preschool after many difficult mornings and having to peel my child from me to leave him in his class. I know it's normal for kids to have separation anxiety sometimes, but I knew it wasn't just him. He never brought artwork or any papers home and they hardly played outside. What do they do with a class of 4 year olds for 4 hours? Before we decided to send him there, I had a lot of reservations. They seemed really big on being very proper and they were very strict. They had to wear a uniform and if you know Seth, that was a BIG deal! The orientation meeting before school started was over 2 hours long!

I almost just pulled him out of school to stay home with me but thought that may not teach him a very good lesson. I don't want him to think if he doesn't like school he can decide not to go. I felt like I was pushing it just switching schools. So now he is at a new school that he LOVES and we love it too! His teacher is so nice. You know the type that does the exaggerated excited reaction which makes the kids feel like what they just told her was the greatest thing she's ever heard. I love it! He stayed home today because his back hurt. I am suspicious of his motives since I was babysitting one of his cousins and eventually the pain moved from his back to his shoulder to his arm and then eventually it was gone. But anyway, his teacher called to talk to him and she had the whole class yell, "Hi Seth!" It was so sweet. He was very shy on the phone, but he couldn't wipe the smile off his face for a long time. He wanted to call his daddy right away and tell him how cool it was. Of course, that may given him motivation to want to stay home more often.

Our mornings are much happier now and I am grateful I was reminded to listen to my instincts.

So?

Seth and I watched a cartoon about a little boy who was being teased by a bully at school. His brother gave him some advice, which in a life with no commercial interruptions, would probably make things worse. He told him when someone says something mean to him he should just say, "So?" Shortly after seeing that, Seth was going to play with some kids and he said, "If they are mean to me, I will just say "So?" and if they are mean to me again I will just say "So?" Then they will punch me in my stomach and I will just say "So?"

I thought, "Yes, Seth. They probably will."

Jedi Training

Our activity for Family Home Evening tonight was Jedi training. Ian initiated it and Seth jumped at the opportunity to teach his little bro some moves. He was a natural. Except for when his hand got cut off holding the wrong end of the lightsaber.

First Day of Preschool

As you can see, Seth was just thrilled to be starting up preschool. His main beef was the fact that he had to wear a uniform. Don't get me wrong. Seth is all boy, but there is a little diva in him. What would be the male term for that? Divo? He loves "cool/sweet/awesome" shirts that his cousins hand down to him, shoes that are two sizes too big (or too small if they're cool enough), and shorts that hang down to his ankles (which you can barely see beneath the calf length t-shirts he receives). I personally think it's fun to watch him parade around in that except in some circumstances. I'm bracing myself for the inevitable question that I myself have asked my mom. "How could you let me look like that?"

Flowbee

Ian had his first haircut awhile ago. I'm way behind in my blogging so I'll be playing catch up for a little bit. My parents have this nifty little invention called the Flowbee. Kind of redneckish (not that there's anything wrong with that) but it is awesome for boy haircuts and I guess women with short hair. You attach it to the vacuum and the clippers cut the hair and it is immediately sucked into the vacuum. No clean up required! I plan on getting my own. Especially now that I have 3 boys in the house. I had my dad(Granddaddy) cut it to carry on the tradition of him giving my boys their first haircut.

Before

During

After with his cousin Justin who also got his first haircut that day

Seth was in desperate need of a haircut too. In fact, he was in desperate need of another haircut a week later. That boy has some thick hair and it grows fast! He needs the scissors in addition to the Flowbee sometimes. And no. this didn't happen in October despite Seth's shirt. I pick my battles and who am I to stifle my son's free agency when it comes to picking out his clothes? Except when he has to wear a uniform to preschool. More on that drama later...

Whoa dude! What just happened?