Sam's 5th Birthday Party

We had Sam's birthday party yesterday afternoon at a pizza and bowling place nearby.  They do candlepin bowling (small pin) which is unique to this area of the country.  I found this out when I went to college in Florida and tried bowling with regular size bowling balls.  I don't have many photos, the kids were facing the pins most of the time, but they all seemed to have a good time, and only a few fingers got smashed ; ). Most of the bowling balls also stayed close to the floor unlike other kiddie bowling parties that I've been too!

Goody bags that Sam and I made.

Sam was a little too excited to take a picture before his buddies arrived.

Standing still for the photo, Vivian is saying "cheese."

Action shot of the boys bowling (it can apparently be a full body sport).

Birthday cake time.  Vivian sat front and center, luckily Sam didn't notice.

Just Taking a Shower

Neither of them are actually using the bathroom, just hanging out.  I'll miss a lot when they get older, but not sure that I'll miss the crowd in the bathroom. 

I Hope It's Bedtime Soon

After long days of standardized testing and the general feeling of teachers and students needing it to end, my kids have been challenging to say the least.  Toileting accidents, fighting, arguing back, and continued freezing temperatures that don't help their expenditure of energy.  Today is the sixth day of spring and the first one above freezing and of course I was in a meeting and got home at five, too late to take them outside.  Now they are chasing each other through the house at top speed, yelling "steam roller," kissing me on their way through the kitchen (probably so I don't yell and make them stop).

Mommy Talk

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Warming Up

Hope this trend will continue!  It's hit above freezing for the last few days and there is some melting.  In some areas you can't tell at all, but the snow mounds are slowly shrinking. 

The kids are loving being outside in the "warmer" temperatures. 

I'll find the highest point possible and balance precariously.

Playdate with one of Sam's friends.  The snow in the backyard is still feet deep as it also is the accumulation of snow from the deck and driveway.

Toilet Factory

Yesterday at dinner Sam started telling me about his day at school.
"And guess what?  I painted a painting!" he exclaimed.
"Oh, you did?" I asked.
"Yes.  A painting of a toilet factory," he told me.
"A what?"
"A toilet factory," he repeated.
I thought about how to respond to this appropriately.
"Why?" I asked, trying to figure out whether he was doing it to make his friends laugh.
"Because I wanted to," he replied.
"Did your teacher want you to?" I asked.
"I don't know," he shrugged.
"Well it seems like a strange thing to paint."
"No, it's what I wanted to paint."
"Did your teacher like it?" I asked him.
"Oh yes," he told me.  "And mom the good news is that it's for the art show, which is the same day as my birthday!"
I tried not to choke on my coffee, "great!"
He leaned forward and whispered, "I didn't tell my teacher what the painting was of."
"Good plan," I whispered back.  "It can be our secret.  We won't tell anyone at the art show either."

Dancing Girl

Vivian likes to celebrate birthdays and loves to dance.  Here she is yesterday at her caretaker's house dancing at her friend's birthday party.

"Where did the dinosaurs go?"

Sam is very interested in what happened to the dinosaurs and other people's opinions of their demise.  We have had several conversations of what might have happened to them and he was disappointed that we didn't have any friends who are scientists to discuss it with (as Curious George does, so Sam thinks we should).

His theories so far:

• mud came and covered them up and it got hard and when people uncovered it they were fossils
• they got Ebola and died out
• mean people with guns hunted them
• they got to close too the sun and got too hot
• Monster trucks ran them over

 We discounted some of the theories and I was going to get into the theory of the Ice Age.  However, as we discussed it while we were getting the car filled at the gas station, I looked around at our frozen landscape and gray sky that indicated more snow coming, and thought better of it.

Vivian's 2nd Birthday Party