Wordless Wednesday-Birthday edition

Since this is the birthday edition, I'll throw in a few more pics with some words for a bonus!


A coupon book with coupons for free meals, and free cleaning services...can't wait to cash them in!


Doesn't he look like a real bunny? He had me take about 50 pictures until I got one that satisfied his attempt to show just two teeth like a bunny. He's quite proud of the fact that he made the bunny ears by himself.


The indian...when I came out they were all standing together and yelled "surprise". I said, "What's this?" and Rocklin whipped out his "gun" and said, "it's the indian shooting the rabbits" then immediately made shooting noises and all of his siblings/the bunnies fell to the ground. I always wanted dead rabbits for my birthday...


Parker no-cottontail, hopping down the bunny trail...he made sure to show me he had ears, but no tail.



**Other wordless wednesday posts can be found here**

Math is fun!

Parker loves all things numbers and counting. I shared in this post that he is further along than I thought. He is adding, subtracting and even a few times multiplying on a regular basis and often expresses his love for "numbers and math stuff".

So, it came as no surprise a few weeks ago when he requested "math stuff" as a birthday gift. Upon further questioning we discovered that what he really wanted was Saxon 1 Math.

He was thrilled to pieces to receive those two blue workbooks from Kev's parents on Saturday. Thrilled.

He requested water ice instead of birthday cake, so we spent some time at the park and then headed to the local water ice place. While there, he asked if he could please, please, please do a math page as soon as we got home.

He fell asleep on the way home and yesterday was a busy day, so today finally brought the beginning of Kindergarten for Parker.

I'm a little sniffly, I can't believe my baby is now a kindergartener.

While I was typing this he came back inside and asked to do another page, so two pages down.

Such concentration...




I asked him what he thought about doing math and he said, "GREAT!"


Having to write his name on every page is almost as thrilling as doing the math work.


He chose to draw spiders as his "animal". Some of them only have five legs. I told him spiders have 8 legs and he said, "Not these spiders, they got their legs chopped off in a fight".

Happy Birthday Parker!

Parker,

You are such a gift to me and I'm beyond blessed to be your mama. It's hard to believe that five years have passed, I am certain it was just yesterday we were snuggling and just getting aquainted!

Thank you, Parker for five years of a life full of kisses that make me melt, laughter that brings indescribable joy, and energy that both exhausts and exhilarates me.

Happy 5th birthday! I can't wait to see what adventures this year of 5 holds for you!

Love,

Mama

Growing up

Sometimes it's hard to let go.

I often lament that they are growing too fast.

I wish at times these days could last forever.

Sometimes though,







Sometimes this growing up and taking on more responsibilities can be a good thing.

Yay, for sons (and daughters) that can take over the mowing!


*Jerald is older than Rocklin, but for several reasons, (one being severe allergy to fresh cut grass) mowing is not in Jerald's future. However, Rocklin recently asked to learn and he hopes to completely take over the mowing soon.

While daddy is away...

...mommy and the children will play.

Jerald and Kev spent the day chasing birds all over parts of New Jersey while the rest of us held down the fort at home.

Soccer was cancelled because of the weather, so we enjoyed a lazy day.

We watched movies on netflix.

We played webkinz on the computer and/or played the wii.

We ate junk.

We napped (well, mommy napped)

We did chores, but just a few.

Then, I decided to try for Mother of the year...

we got out paint and paint brushes and had a great time.

We started off simple by painting suncatchers.





Then added in drawing and painting on canvas.









From the start, Parker could hardly contain himself at the possibility that I might let him finger paint.

Parker cannot ever get enough of sticky, gooey, messy, slimy, wet, cold stuff running through his fingers. Playdough, mud, paint, glue...he loves it all.

His mama on the other hand, well it's sticky,gooey,messy,slimy,wet,cold stuff...did I mention it's messy? How about gooey and slimy?

Yeah, the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree. Mama has sensory issues too and well, sticky, gooey, messy, slimy, wet, cold stuff is just ick.

To give you an idea how often I allow finger painting, I'll tell you that we are using up the last 1/4 of the bottles of finger paint that I bought when Jerald was a baby. Most of that has been used in the past year.

Jerald HATED finger painting, we did it once and that was once too many times. I brought out paints with Rock and Mag once in a while, but I don't think we did the finger paints.

Along came Aaron and I found the paint when cleaning out the basement. I thought that Jerald HATED finger painting? Well, Aaron hated it a million times more (and still does). So, I put the paints back in the basement and we didn't try again.

A year or so ago someone found the paints and brought them upstairs. I decided to try it again with Aaron and discovered that time and absence had not made the heart grow fonder in his case.

Parker?

Parker was a different story altogether. The boy cannot get enough. We've gotten the paint out a few times since discovering his great love for the stuff. It's been a while though.

So, here we are on Saturday afternoon and I decided to get over myself and my issues with the paint.

The pictures say it all...







He was having so much fun. He invited Aaron to join him and this was Aaron's response.



I intended this picture to capture Parker, but afterwards realized that it captured both boys enjoying themselves in different ways. I love how it shows the contrast between their personalities.


I'm not sure that this secured that mom of the year award...it always seems to be beyond my grasp.

That's okay, because Parker says I'm the best mommy in the world even if I won't let him tickle me with paint covered fingers.

Hearing that and knowing they had a fun day, even if it wasn't anything super extraordinary is worth more than money can buy. Besides, there is always room in my heart to keep these treasures...beats needing space for a trophy anyday!

Wordless Wednesday

I couldn't narrow it down to one picture...sue me.

**You can find other wordless Wednesday posts here**

Sam

Meet Sam.

Sam and Rocklin are friends.



It's always good to have another driver in the house.



Especially when that driver owns a trash truck. This really comes in handy when I'm trying to de-clutter the house a bit.



You never quite know where Sam will turn up.

In his free time, he likes to just hang around the house a bit.


It seems that even Sam can appreciate a tall glass of water on a warm day.



Some days I think Sam has overstayed his welcome.

Having someone sick pretty much since Thanksgiving, coupled with trying to maintain all other areas of life, housework has taken a backseat. We are doing well with maintaining things like laundry and dishes,straightening up and keeping the bathroom clean. However, dusting, vacuuming, mopping, etc has been a little lacking lately.

I think Sam has had enough and is trying to encourage me to get it in gear and clean this place.



Bootcamp for Lousy Housekeepers?

Yup, I think Sam is trying to tell me something and I think it's time for Sam to take a hike.

(I first found Sam trying to steal a sip of Kev's tea and then a while later, I found him here on the bookshelf outside the bathroom. I'm not sure where Rocklin gets his humor, but he often cracks me up)



*If, like me, you struggle to keep on top of things (regardless to if you have a good excuse or not) you might want to check out this book. It's written by my friend, Heidi and you can find it here.
Please note, I am not being compensated in anyway (other than her friendship) for posting about this book. I bought a copy and gleaned many useful things from it, although I don't follow it completely.