february 10 on 10 {cheater style}

Last month I totally missed it.  So I wrote it on the calendar for this month, reminded myself as I crawled into bed the night before.  "10 on 10 tomorrow...10 on 10 tomorrow..."  And then I forgot my camera when we left the house in the morning.  And after running around town for a couple of hours sans camera, I got a call from school telling me to please come and pick up my sick kiddo.  So instead of 10 pictures taken on the 10th, you get 10 snapshots from the past three weeks, since I also can't seem to remember to blog regularly any more...

1/23 - another doughnut date!  This kid has had a lot of days off from school recently (and another one next week).

1/26 - happy birthday, Kiddo!  (I'm still trying to figure out how to take a good candle-blowing pic).

2/2 - For Baby Girl's nursery.  Happy happy happy.

2/2 - making valentines (copied from here).

(I love that tongue that appears whenever he's working on something)

2/2 - copying hymns out of the hymnal and teaching himself how to play. 

2/4 - first-ever "friends" birthday party.  I will admit to being a little nervous about the social aspect of things, but he was a kind and gracious host.

(and yes, there were boys at the party, too, although you wouldn't know it from most of the pictures)

2/5 - our house (or at least the living room) is being taken over by LEGOs.

2/6 - the "story kit" Kiddo made for my birthday.  Only he couldn't wait until my actual birthday (yesterday - happy birthday to me!), so I got it several days early.  Since then, he's added a few "expansions" with extra scenes, characters and props.

2/9 - LEGOs again.  The ducks have come to town.

I already shared this on Facebook, but couldn't resist documenting it here, too (paraphrase of a conversation between Kiddo and Mom Mom while playing with LEGOs):

Kiddo: The mean ducks are coming to your house and they're going to take all of your stuff!
Mom Mom: They can't get me, I have a great big wall.
Kiddo: The mean ducks knocked down your wall!
Mom Mom: But I have mean duck repellant sprayed on my house.
Kiddo: The mean ducks dug a tunnel under your house and came up through the floor!
[and on and on as Mom Mom tries to keep the mean ducks at bay and Kiddo thwarts her defenses]
Mom Mom: Well then, I'm going to send Jesus to the mean ducks.
[long pause]
Kiddo: What would that do?
Mom Mom: Well, Jesus could change their hearts and then they would be nice ducks.
[longer pause] 
Kiddo: Yeah, that should work.

2/10 - the one picture I actually took on the 10th - sick Kiddo crashed on the couch (he was much better the next morning).

And now I'm off to go write it on the calendar for next month...

almost 8 {and a date}

Kiddo and I celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day by going on a date.

First stop:  Dunkin Donuts.  Strawberry frosted with sprinkles for him.  Plain old glazed for me (but it's my favorite).

Second stop:  thrift store.  His choice.  And where he excitedly spent some of his savings on a giant duck.

I have an aversion to buying stuffed animals at thrift stores, but when you have a son who collects ducks and is absolutely tickled when he finds one so huge and soft and fluffy and irresistible, and for the bargain price of $3.50 instead of $27.99 (or whatever), you are willing to make a few concessions.  Or, at least, I am. 

We also spent $7 (of Mommy's money) on a stack of books that should keep him busy for a while.

Actually, at the moment, they are keeping me busy instead, as half of them are favorites of mine that I haven't read in more than 20 years, and I've been having fun getting reacquainted.

Final stop:  Staples.  Also his choice.  Really.

 

And then we were home, where Kiddo built a giant blanket fort in the middle of the living room and busily organized important papers (like grammar worksheets and old spelling homework) with his new office supplies.

And, speaking of this child of mine, he turns 8 next week.  EIGHT YEARS OLD.  How can this be?  

It has been so fun to watch him grow and learn, to see glimpses of the little boy of the past, the bigger boy of the present, and the you're-growing-too-fast-please-slow-down-but-wow-I-like-who-you-are-becoming-grown-up boy of the future.  

This morning on the way to school we were planning his birthday party (I'm starting a little late.  Oops).  In the past, we have always had small informal family parties here at home, with grandparents and occasionally a few cousins.  But this year he wanted a party with friends.  I asked him who he would invite.  He listed some kids from church and two or three kids that he plays with regularly at school.  "And I want to invite [boy from school]" he says, "because some days he doesn't like me and I want to see if I can be better friends with him."  

I am one proud mama.  Friendship comes so effortlessly for most kids, and he has to struggle and work hard every day to feel included and to figure out the complex social ebb and flow of his classmates.  And yet, because of that, he is willing to go the extra mile to make a friend.  Where I would be happy to ignore the boy-who-doesn't-like-me, he is willing to reach out and risk himself to make a relationship better.  Sure, I'm scared of him being hurt if it doesn't work out, but I am so stinkin' proud of him for having the courage to try. 

He may have trouble making friends, but at 7 almost 8 years old, he sure knows a lot already about how to be one.

happy {belated} birthday to me!

My birthday was on Friday.  I turned 35.  35 used to seem a whole lot older than it does now.  Actually, sometimes it still seems old (like when I stop to notice the wrinkles and cracking joints, or when I talk about college and realize it was 15 years ago already).

Hubby treated me to a THICK new book - and then played with Kiddo all weekend so I could spend my time curled up on the couch, reading.  Kiddo wrote me a story about a duck and his mommy on a paper wheel that he fastened down with a brad - I had to turn the wheel to see the story.  It was very cute and creative and special.  And on the back, there was a pocket with a blank wheel stuck inside, "so that you can write a story for me, Mommy."

I treated myself to a Starbucks raspberry scone for breakfast, my mom took me out for lunch, and Hubby and Kiddo took me out for dinner.  What a great day!

Now that I am a year older, I am a year smarter, right?  That would be a good thing.  Maybe then I can avoid embarrassing encounters with local policemen, like I had on Thursday (when I was 34).

We have a U-shaped driveway, which is wonderful - until we get over a foot of snow and we have to get out the shovel (we keep telling ourselves there IS a snowblower in our future).  When the snow is that deep, we only shovel half of the "U".  The snow has slowly been melting over the past few weeks, so now there are only a few inches left on the unshoveled portion of the driveway.  So Thursday, on the way to drop Kiddo off at school, I decided I was going to drive through it (you can see where this is going, can't you?).  As soon as I had driven a few feet, I knew I was in trouble.  I made it to within about 10-15 feet of the road before I got stuck (FB friends, you have heard this already - feel free to skip to the end).

I resigned myself to getting Kiddo to school late, called my dad to come help me out, and then started digging.  While I waited for my dad, a policeman drove by and stopped to see what was going on. Our conversation went something like this (him with a tone of incredulity, me with high-pitched squeaks of embarrassment):

Him: "do you need help?"
Me: "um, no, I'm okay, thanks, someone is on there way to help me out."
Him: "are you stuck?"
Me: "yes"
Him: "do you live here?"
Me: "yes"
Him (looking at dry half of driveway): "seriously?!"
Me: "yes"
Him: "what were you trying to do, take a shortcut or something?"
Me: "uh huh"
Him: [stunned silence]
Me: [furious blushing] "stupid, I know."
Him: "but you don't need any help."
Me: "no, but thanks for stopping."
Him: [drives slowly away shaking his head]

I can just imagine myself as the topic of amused discussions around the coffee pot later that day.  Ah well.  I did manage to dig myself out - just as my dad drove up.  The school secretary got a good laugh about it too when we showed up half an hour late.

Kiddo was tickled by the whole incident.  When I told him I had learned my lesson, he said "Yeah!  NEVER drive on the snow...at least when you are trying to get me to school." 

seven

Kiddo's birthday was last week.  He's seven.  Seven!

Last time I blinked, he was this big (with a tired, tired, tired mommy):

And now he is this big.

So big that, in this picture, I am actually wearing his spare hat.  And I am not nearly as tired as I was back then.

He is not my snuggly little peanut anymore.  Well, he is still snuggly (I am savoring every moment while I can!), but not so little.

I briefly posted about the crazy day that was his birthday.  The weather was unpredictable, with very poor timing.  The snow had just started coming down that morning, so there was no delay for school.  I drove Kiddo to school through the increasingly heavy snow, took some pictures on my way home...

...and shoveled the driveway.

Schools all over the area started closing even before noon, so I headed back out to pick up Kiddo.  He was a little discombobulated by the utter lack of routine, but once home, he eagerly helped with his birthday cake.

We used Meg's rainbow cake recipe.  Easy-peasy.  And from a box.  We heart Betty Crocker.

Only, Meg has five kids and used two boxes of cake mix.  I have one kid, so we used half a box of cake mix.  Itty bitty cake, but that's all we need.

While the cake was cooling, we were getting cool, too.

When our cheeks were nice and rosy (and our mittens were soggy), we came back in to decorate the cake.  Kiddo was in charge.

We will not win any awards, but Kiddo was tickled by, and proud of, his creation.

(Erm...  Need to work on candle-blowing-picture-taking skills)

Pretty cake.  I did not get layers like Meg.  I got swirls.  Which are still cool.

It was a cars and Legos birthday.

And, oh by the way, check out his momma who was stylin' while he unwrapped his gifts: 

I was more focused on being warm than on fashion, apparently.  Ouch.

It was a quiet, but good day.  We are not a big birthday bash family.  We try to make each other feel special on birthdays, but there are no big piles of presents, no parties with swarms of kids.  We are, however, having cake and ice cream with cousins and uncles and aunts and grandparents this weekend.  We will need more than half a box of cake mix.

happy birthday

My hubby is amazing.  He's the best partner, friend, husband I could ask for.

He's the captain of my ship.

He's the light of my son's world.

And today is his birthday.  Which means I get another year of him to love.  Which means it's really a day for me instead of him.  Hooray for me!  :)

Happy Birthday, Hubby!