I have a 6 year old!!! (again)

Our second born, J, was VERY close

to being a St. Patty's day baby.

But I couldn't take it anymore...

so he didn't make it.

We celebrated his 6th birthday this week!

I teased him all day the previous day,

telling him his cake wasn't finished,

his presents weren't wrapped,

he couldn't turn 6, 

I wasn't ready!

We laughed and joked but

dern it, 

he still turned 6

on Thursday!

He is our easy going,

very docile child.

He is very easy to please

and 

very eager to please.

Daddy took the day off 

and we decided on a day full of fun!

We *were* going to 

hit a special breakfast at SeaWorld,

then spend the day there.

Then take him to

the Rainforest Cafe for dinner.

We discussed all of this with him at dinner

two nights before his birthday,

then he informed us,

nope, I don't think I want to do that.

Ok, then what do you want to do?

I want to go to Peter Piper Pizza

(kinda like Chuck E Cheese - see I do know how to spell it!)

Instead, we took him to a new place 

that had been recommended to us.

The problem was

its Spring Break down here!

So this place was PACKED!!!

But it was NEAT!

Its called Incredible Pizza

(or something like that) 

and

it had EVERYTHING.

Indoor go-karts,

R got to drive his own car


Here is my passenger


Haha - you can't even see R in the lead car!!
(Ghost driver)

indoor bumper cars,
(which we did but didn't get pictures of)

indoor glow-in-the-dark putt putt,

Our daughter has her sports mixed up, but she has great form!

BIRTHDAY BOY!!!

tons of video games

and kiddie rides for the babies,

Feeding peanuts to zoo animals.

Wishful thinking...

I let her climb up on the end of the skeeball machine - but it didn't help.

AND

duck pin bowling!!


 
Again - she has a good form.

We had to convince the baby that he

was NOT allowed to WALK 

down the lane and knock down the pins!

This was J's favorite - they played twice.

Then a pizza/salad/taco/dessert/spaghetti buffet bar.

And it wasn't outrageously priced.

So that is where we went...

we spent 5 HOURS

there.

My feet hurt when we were done!!

Then the birthday boy decided he wanted 

steak and mashed potatoes 

for dinner.

So we went home and did just that.

Like I said, 

easy to please.

I enjoy doing things for my kids

and 

for whatever reason

(I think I got it from my mom)

I make the kids birthday cakes every year.

I started off easy...

but have gotten more and more daring

and more creative.

I am not scared to try new things,

but do stress out over each cake.
(ask my husband)

I do realize at the end of the day,

as long as they like it,

that is all that matters.

When I asked J a few weeks ago

what kind of cake he wanted,

he said - 

"I don't care,surprise me,

but no pink!"

Then he later asked for a strawberry cake,
so I bought the ingredients,
then when I informed him it would be pink,

he QUICKLY changed his mind!

Turkey!

My boys are obsessed with Skylanders.

So I jumped on-line 

(where I get my inspiration)

and saw that someone made a 

portal of power cake.

So...I figured...

here goes nothin!

I decided to get creative with the inside too.

My ultimate goal was to make the cake

look like the "thing" on the left!

Using homemade marshmallow fondant!

I was pleased with how it turned out...

I think I succeeded, cause look at that child's face!

In our house, the birthday kid, gets to make the first cut.

This is a tradition that they ALL look forward to!

J had a hard time with the fondant though,

he said it was too hard

and later it was referred to as "plastic"

by my father-in-law.  

He asked if you were supposed to eat it.

He didn't...

And the innards.

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!!!

I have decided I am going to use you

to help keep me accountable on my goals.

So here goes!

This Week's Goals:

1) Get up before kids - check

2) Get workout in before kids get up - check

(only if the kids have to stay in bed longer cause of talking to early - details)

3) Start reading Dave Ramsey's book - check

(first 45 pages read so far - 200 more to go)

So far so good!

The Latest & Greatest

This has been a busy week 

and I have lots to share - 

so bare with me!!

First,

fresh from my sister's blog...

I am going to be an AUNT!!!!

I am so excited and most of the people who read

this know already.

But I am super excited and 

so happy I can finally share!

School is going well.  

We are starting to research next year's curriculum.

But otherwise, seem to be doing pretty well at this

homeschooling thing.  

The meal planning and shopping two weeks

at a time is going well.

I am still getting used to the sticker shock of

grocery shopping for 6 people

every two weeks.

OUCH!!

But the good news is

I manage to feed each 

person in this house for

about $4/day.

Yes, this is breakfast,lunch & dinner

for everyone - including daddy!

Not bad.

It is really nice to stay 

on top of this meal planning thing.

Feels good!

We also had to implement a new

energy saving plan 

around this house.

The boys were getting

REALLY bad at

leaving lights on or

TVs on and leaving the room.

So they are now charged $0.10

everytime I find a light or TV left on.

We are putting it into a jar and will

figure out what to do with the funds 

once we break the cycle.

But so far...it is adding up QUICK!

On another note - 

We have finally found a church!

We have been hunting and going back and forth

to different churches for the past few months.

Today, we finally decided on one.

I mixed up start times.  

We thought we were doing good, got to mass

and walked in.

Then started to realize that they were 

further along in the service than they should have been.

Come to find out - I was 30 min off with the start time!

So, with this in mind, we figured we needed to 

select one and stick with it.

We are joining the scout group 

at this church.

BOTH boys get to join.

Daddy will be J's den leader

I guess I will be den mom.  :)

I am relieved and happy!

We are already finding ways to get involved.

I know it is going to take some time,

but both of us are ready to get a little settled

and this is a HUGE step toward that direction.

Here is the past 10 days in pictures:

Here is a picture of a frog that A made at Co-op.

It was in honor of Leap Day.

Daddy went on an overnight fishing trip 

(this one didn't end with a bunch of stories about

the one that got away...)

So the kids and I grabbed dinner

and then they climbed in my bed

to watch a movie while I cleaned up a little.

We found some Skylander activities at 

1+1+1=1

J really enjoyed using these 

(once I got them printed and laminated)

A replenished her candy stash with some

Valentine candy we found in her bookbag from Co-op.

A is working HARD on her first big kid puzzle.

S-U-C-C-E-S-S!!

She did it with MINIMAL 

help from mommy!!

T LOVES being outside...

I thought this was a cute picture.

We did an art project. 

T really wanted to help...

and I am very proud of how well the kids

did and how they turned out!

We splurged one night and went out to dinner.

We introduced T to sushi, chopsticks and tofu...

A like the tofu too.

T literally drinking the tofu out of the bowl.

Daddy told J to be quiet...

haha!

We decided to tell them that we were celebrating a birthday.

We figured they would just bring out a little bowl of sherbet

or ice cream and sing a quick song...

oh no.  They brought out a HUGE desert

and charged us $7.00 for it!

But the kids enjoyed it.

T wasn't so sure about the fried plantain

but loved the tofu??

The next day, we cleaned up and reorganized a little

and let A decorate a mirror that one of her aunts

sent her for Christmas.

Then I caught her sharing chocolate chips with her brother.

At least she was sharing...

sneaky girl!!

And R cooked lunch for us Saturday!

Then J had to vacuum cause he made a mess.  

And apparently he liked it - 

cause I caught him doing it again today!

T was hungry and decided to help himself to the

first part of dinner that was put on the table.

A is "helping".

Got one cooking, one cleaning...

and one babysitting!

Time for another one!

(JUST KIDDING!!!!)