Thane's Birthday Day

Thane turned five last week.  Yes, FIVE, as in he-will-be-starting-Kindergarten-in-the-fall, five!  

I have another post drafted, discussing all kinds of fun things about Thane (because I often hear, "I've never met a kid quite like Thane!"), so this post will more specifically address what we did to celebrate his birthday.  

Bryce spent a pretty big chunk of his saved money to buy Thane a birthday present.  He knew Thane would love it, and it was torture for him to have to wait all the way till Thane's birthday to give it to him.  So, first thing in the morning, Thane got to open Bryce's present.  Bryce was correct - that silly (already broken) airplane toy filled with candy was indeed Thane's favorite birthday gift!

 Next we headed off for a birthday treat - we met our good friends for doughnuts.  Doughnuts are a very, very rare occurrence in our family, so this was a pretty exciting outing for the boys (poor Aubree had to go to school).

Thane and his best friend, Collin

Graham and Bryce were pretty pleased with their choices.

I told Thane that since it was his birthday, he could do whatever he wanted.  Turns out the boys are too old for such open-ended promises.  They spent most of their day coming up with ridiculous things he couldn't possibly do, and laughing uncontrollably as they presented these concepts to me.  "Hey mom, can we bounce all the way up to the clouds and then fly back down?!"

Silly, silly boys.

Like last year, Aubree had a speech/debate competition the afternoon/evening of Thane's birthday.  Thane was patient enough to wait to open his presents till we got back.

Legos, more Legos, and a new Lego bin!

No birthday would be complete without a new birthday CD from Dad!

Check out the Donkey Kong cover

We had cake and ice cream on his birthday eve, but had to wait till the next day to go out to eat.  This year, Thane chose Red Robin (a significant step up from McDonalds!).  As usual, he refused to let me take his picture.  I had to wait until he was distracted by the birthday sundae to get a reasonable shot.

Graham and Bryce had no such reservations.  "Take a picture of me!" they demanded.

 Happy Birthday, Mr. T!

Tillicum

Tis the season for Alaskan cruises.  Mark's parents and his brother, Kevin, and his family are currently on an Alaskan cruise.  Grandma and Grandpa came up a couple days before their scheduled departure so they could attend an exciting homeschool field trip with the kids and me to Blake Island/Tillicum Village.

Graham stayed with a friend for the day

Aubree and her public school class visited Tillicum last year, and she hasn't stopped talking about how much she loved it.  In fact, she and a couple friends considered the possibility of failing this year so they could be held back and be able to go on the same field trip again.  Yikes!  Needless to say, I pulled Aubree and her best friend out of school for the day so they could come with us.  

We were at the Seattle pier by 9am, and loaded onto the boat by 9:30.  On the 45 minute trip over, we were treated to a Native American play and a basket weaving explanation.  Thane huddled right next to me for most of the trip, and even consented to having his picture taken!

Once we arrived at the Island, we were immediately herded into a giant building for an early lunch.  The kids were excited that lemonade was waiting for us at our tables!

Despite the large crowd, everyone got their food quickly and easily... and their was a lot of it!

As we finished lunch, we got to watch more Native American dancing and story telling on the main stage in the lodge.  

Once the formal presentations were over, we were free to explore the village on our own.  I thought the fire pits cooking the salmon were super impressive.  

It was a lovely day to explore the totem park.  

Bryce, however, had heard the announcement that our ferry was coming back soon, and was over-eager to watch for the boat.  

Peek-a-Thane!

No one complained too much about playing on the grass and rocks as the ferry returned.  

On the ride back, we sat on the top floor of the ferry and enjoyed the spectacular weather and views. I love where we live!

When Kami Came

My sister, Kira, and her husband went on a week long cruise to Alaska and we got to watch their youngest child, Kami (who just turned one) while they were gone.  We called it, "practice for five."  

I had no idea how it would go.  Would Kami adjust well?  Kira assured me she was an "easy" baby, but it's still a big change for her.  How would my kids react?  Especially Graham.  Would he be jealous?

The first day, Kami only wanted me to hold her, and she just wanted to cuddle.  

Aubree was disappointed Kami cried when she held her.  

Kami did warm up to Aubree and the boys pretty quickly, though.  

Considering they treated her like the star attraction, I'd be surprised if she didn't!  Kami could do no wrong.  When she crawled through Bryce and Thane's non-stop War games, they just laughed.  They were over-eager to bring her toys and to give her gentle hugs and to try to make her giggle.  Even Graham straight-up adored her.  He kept commenting, "Kami's a baby.  I'm a Big Boy."  He didn't mind at all that she was sleeping in the crib he just moved out of, or sitting in his booster seat at the table.  What a relief!

Aubree took it upon herself to try to teach Kami to walk.  

 She was pretty successful!

And Kira was right - Kami is one of the easiest babies ever.  She took great, predictable naps every day, loved to snuggle, and was generally happy and calm.  She did not like Mark (or most other adults who tried to take her away from me), and cried as soon as Mark came home from work every day.  

One night we skyped with her siblings in Utah, and she laughed the whole time they were on the screen.  As soon as the session ended, however, she cried inconsolably for five minutes (a very long time for this chill girl).  

Despite Kami being so easy, five kids was a lot of work!  I've gotten used to sleeping through the night.  I'm out of practice having to feed a baby all her meals.  Graham is old enough that we don't have to worry about constantly sweeping the floor, or not leaving small toys out.  

Going to the grocery store was an adventure.  I regularly go with all three boys, and never care if we get funny looks or comments.  However, with Kami in the cart, I was suddenly self-conscious.  Having a 7 year old, a 4 year old, a 2 year old, a 1 year old, and an obviously pregnant belly left me walking through the store with a permanent blush on my face.   Strange, eh?
When we picked up Kira and Stew from their ship, Kami was ecstatic.  Kira and Stew were able to stay and play with us for an extra day, and everyone delighted in their company.

Overall, I'd say our "practice for five" was a resounding success.  Obviously our baby won't come as a one-year old, but I also won't be pregnant any more once she arrives!  I was so pleased to see how well all of the other kids adapted to having another little person around, and how eager they all were to help out.  Hopefully, real life with five will be equally successful (but we're in no hurry).

Costco Tour

A friend set up a Costco tour and invited us to tag along.  I had no idea Costco offered tours, but I knew it was something my boys would love.  They adore trips to Costco. Bryce especially pays careful attention to all the interesting things he sees when we're there - the temperature on the freezers, the forklifts and vacuum sweepers, the way items are stacked...  This was an adventure not to be missed.  

To make an exciting outing even better, our tour guide suggested the kids take a ride on the flat cart through the store!

 Our first stop was the bakery, where the kids donned hair nets (ever so stylish), and got to see huge buckets full of frosting and watch the professionals speed through their decorating.  We learned that at the height of graduation season, they make 400-500 cakes a DAY!  Consider my mind boggled.

 Next we visited the stinky meat cutting area, where the kids seemed most interested in the sharp knives and the mill chain glove the meat cutter wore.  We also stopped by the deli and watched them mix up a batch of chicken alfredo.  Check out that huge "bowl!"

Bryce specifically asked to see the freezer, and his request was granted.  A couple kids ventured into the sub-zero room, but most came running back out.  Brrrr!

Our last stop took us to the pizza kitchen, where the most interesting detail was the automatic sauce dispenser.  

The kids received tons of comments as they were towed through the store; everyone kept saying, "Oh, you have to take a picture, they're just so cute!"  

Well, since they insisted....

Teal Appeal

I recognize that I've been quite the Debbie Downer on my blog lately: the Tulip Festival wasn't worth the effort, potty training is a pain, I don't like pets.... 

I promise I'll be better.  Well, after this one last post.

You see, last week I painted Aubree's bedroom.  I've had people tell me that they "LOVE" painting.  I'm pretty sure there's a DSM category for those people!

I do absolutely love the outcome of painting.  The process, however, is so daunting that I have to face immediate deadlines in order to be willing to make it happen.  This time around, I of course have the looming arrival of our little girl who will be sharing a room with Aubree, but more specifically, I knew I'd be watching my baby niece and that she'd need to sleep in the crib.  Problem.  Graham was still in the crib and had NO desire to move out.  I needed to create a situation where he didn't have an option of sleeping in the crib.  Thus, the push to paint.

Aubree and Bryce turned out to be surprisingly good little helpers.  We worked all day Saturday to get the room cleaned and prepped.  It's pretty gross how dirty a room can get in just two years.  We also managed to paint the ceiling (shoot me now) and edge the rest of the room.  

I was grateful for a day of rest on Sunday.

Monday night I tried to convince Aubree that a brown room, with teal edges was good enough.  She didn't buy it.  She's one of those funny people who "love" painting.  She was super eager to help as much as possible.  

Eventually, though, I did have to send her to bed.  I managed to muster the endurance to finish the room.  Phew!

My "I'm SO glad it's finished, I'm exhausted" face

As I said, I love the end result of a painted room.  Which means (someday), I just might be willing to pull out the paint brush again (but never again while pregnant!).  

Oh yeah, my broader plan worked beautifully!  Graham went to the toddler bed in the blue room (next door) with nary a whimper and seems to enjoy sleeping in the famed Blue Bear Bed.  

4 down, 1 to go...

Potty training is definitely not one of my favorite parenting endeavors, but I'm thrilled to say - We did it!  

Honestly, little G deserves all the credit.  Here's a little background that I'm pretty sure is TMI: Graham learned how to toot on command when he was super young (maybe 15 months?).  Around 20 months old, he wanted to sit on the potty.  I set him on the toilet and said, "toot!"  He promptly pooped!

Over the course of the next 6-9 months, he got pretty good at peeing and pooping on the toilet whenever we set him on it.  I knew he could be potty trained, because he obviously understood the mechanics and was always happy to do his business on the toilet, but the boy couldn't talk!  Potty training a kid who couldn't tell us if/when he needed to go potty didn't make a whole lot of sense.  Plus, I was lazy.  Did I mention I don't like potty training?

By the beginning of the new year, Graham's communication had improved and I knew it was time I stopped procrastinating.  

Graham was a champ from the beginning.  He required no outside incentives (no stickers or treats or rewards).  He's always willing to go along with a "let's go potty" suggestion.  I'm not sure if that's just his personality or one of the benefits of potty training on the younger side (I'm leaning towards personality).

I know it's now May, and I don't mean to give the impression that it took us 4 whole months to get to the point where we could say he's officially potty trained.  For a long time I did put him in a diaper whenever we were going out (refer to earlier admission of laziness).  Even then, he almost always came home dry.  

By the end of March he was in underwear full time, including during all of our mini-vacations.  He has rare accidents, but is doing a great job of telling us when he needs to go potty.  We're a diaper-free household (at least for a few more months)!

 Okay.  I admit it.  Graham still wears a diaper to bed.  So much for being diaper free...