"I'm not tired!"

Camden, crying and stumbling towards Aunt Amy: "I don't know why everybody says I cry when I'm tired! I do not cry when I'm tired! I'm not tired!"
Then he climbed up into Aunt Amy's lap and promptly fell asleep.

Ninja Boy

I'm going to tell you a secret. Please don't spread it around - a superhero's secret identity could be at stake.
Are you ready? Here it is... Jake is a Ninja Boy. There's something special in his blood.
I first learned about this special component in my son's blood at his last doctor appointment. See, the doctor wanted to do a blood test. Jake, of course, flipped out. Nobody was surprised. This is the same boy who brought us the famous flu shot incident, after all. The doctor left the room so that I could "help him calm down." And then Jake shared with me his secret...
The Ninja Boys (Jake and two of his Kindergator buddies) have something special in their blood! It's what makes them Ninja Boys, you know! He just could not let the doctor test his blood. It would compromise his secret identity!
I totally understood. But I had to explain to my sweet (and very serious) Ninja Boy that his health had to be our first priority. Without his health, how would he be able to perform his Ninja Boy duties? Maybe we'd have to trust the doctor...
Well, Jake wasn't convinced. He decided that he'd just have to explain to the doctor that his blood was special and could not be tested. When the doctor returned, he was met by a calm(er) Jake, who explained, "There's something you need to know. My blood has something special in it."
The doctor was convinced! (Okay, so he had decided before returning that having the screaming child pee in a cup would be sufficient, but the Ninja Boy doesn't need to know that.) We were able to get out of there without giving up the secret. Apparently, Ninja Boy DNA doesn't show up in a urine sample.

Mere qurismis

(Mere qurismis: Jake's phonetic spelling of Merry Christmas. I love it.)

Let it Snow!

This morning, Dan discovered that Camden's pockets were full of crumbled-up styrofoam peanuts. Any ideas...Aunt Lisa...

Camden's House

Camden got a gingerbread house kit from his preschool teachers. Thank you Miss Courtney and Miss Mary! I love you! You have no idea how much you helped me with that gift. I had just decided to cross the gingerbread house off my to-do list. Without doing it. I'm sure you get my drift...
But even though his mommy wasn't together enough to get that house made, Camden still got to enjoy one of the best parts of Christmas - the consumption of candy that was originally intended for the house. He was a happy little boy!

The Morning After

This is the scene that greeted me when I came into the kitchen this morning. I was baking last night. Can you tell?

I've been really busy. I mean, really busy. This past week we have been going non-stop, and on top of that I totally overextended myself. I agreed to help out/cook and bake/etc. for way too many things. It's been a lot of fun! And I promise I'm not being all sarcastic when I say that. It really has been fun. I'm exhausted, but happy. And if I can convince myself to clean my house and make 4 dozen cookies for tomorrow, I can go to sleep - and really enjoy it!

P.S. Dan cleaned it all up while I was helping in Jake's class today. I fell in love all over again!

Teacher Gifts

Oh my. My children go to school. I'm still not sure how they got that old. But that's really not the point. The point is, that my children have teachers, and therefore it's time to think about teacher gifts. Okay, so maybe the time to think about those teacher gifts was a month ago. But I like to do things my own way. And by that I mean I totally procrastinated, again.
Luckily, last week we went with the Young Women to a local nursing home - and had a great time singing and chatting and laughing with the people there. I could go on and on about the evening. So, as we were leaving, the residents gave us all a gift they had made. So sweet! There we were, trying to do something nice for them, and they just showed us up with a sweet treat! The treat was a train made of candy. So cute, so fun, and so easy... I immediately had visions of little boys making their own teacher gifts!
So tonight the boys and I dedicated our FHE activity to candy train making. I got to use my hot glue gun. The boys got to build AND taste lots of candy. I promise the tasted candy all ended up in their tummies and their teachers will be getting the wrapped stuff. Everyone was happy (well, except that we missed Dan, who is out of town this week).
And now I feel prepared. We have teacher gifts. They may not be much, but they were fun - and definitely made with love.

Photo Session

So here's the conversation I imagine our teenage photographer must be having tonight...

Photographer's Mom: "Hi Honey. How was work?"
Photographer: "Well, it was going great until this one family showed up. When they walked in I thought, 'This is going to be so easy! They look so nice and those two little boys are so cute!' Boy was I wrong!"
Mom: "Oh no! Did the kids cry?"
Photographer: "No! The little one kept making this horrible face and closing his eyes. When I'd tell him to smile he'd get all upset and tell me he was! The big one couldn't sit still. His hands were always in front of his face...and sometimes up his nose!"
Mom: "Were you able to get any good pictures?"
Photographer: "Well, I got one pretty good one. Lucky shot! I was posing the dad and one of the kids when the other kid just started climbing on his dad like he was a jungle gym or something. The mom just grabbed the climber and threatened everybody to stay still and smile. I think she said they'd better smile or they wouldn't get any of the cub scout popcorn she had stashed in her bag. I guess it worked... Of course the cheapskate had a coupon and since there was only one good picture she almost got out of there for free."
Mom: "Almost?"
Photographer: "Yeah, she was totally embarrassed by her family's terrible behavior, so she bought another sheet, too."

Every Party Needs a Pooper...

That's what we invited [Camden] for...

Yesterday we had Jake's birthday party and it was lots and lots of fun! He had six friends over, and they all went through Jedi training. By the end of the party we had eight (including Jake and Camden) Jedis who were able to navigate their way through an obstacle course, keep balloons in the air using their light sabers, and summon an R2D2 cake using the force! They handled a thermal detonator and (drum roll please) destroyed the death star! A fun time was had by all...and Jake got some seriously cool presents, too. I've got three boys who are really enjoying all the tiny pieces. Me, I'm just obsessing over not vacuuming them up...

He's 6! (and I'm eating my words)

It seems like just yesterday that I was holding my brand new baby boy. But it wasn't yesterday. It was SIX YEARS AGO yesterday! That's right, Jake turned six, and I still can't believe it! He is really turning into a big kid - and a good one!

So it only took six years for me to eat my words as a parent. Okay, so it's happened before. You know, I used to have such high ideals when it came to parenting. I believed in things like making one dinner for the whole family (I promise you, my kids WILL starve themselves - I don't care what the experts say) and cleaning up toys before more came out (I haven't seen the playroom floor in weeks). Needless to say, I've learned to bend a little. But there was one thing I would never give in about. Until yesterday.

Yesterday, we gave Jake a skateboard for his birthday. It was all he wanted. We've heard about nothing else for the past three months. And he is a very happy boy.

Have you figured out yet what I was never going to give in on? That's right. My children were never going to have skateboards. I mean, come on, my dad - a grown man - fell and broke his arm while trying to impress some pre-teen girls on a skateboard. My children were not going to be doing that.

Jake has to wear a helmet, elbow and knee pads, and wrist guards if he so much as thinks about that skateboard. He thinks it's a small price to pay. And me? I still cringe a little (okay, a lot) when he gets that thing out. But it's a small price to pay to see my boy so happy. And you know what? He's actually pretty good at it!