Birthday eve

If you've seen Rowan lately, then you're probably VERY aware of the fact that he's turning 6 tomorrow. He has shared this information with EVERYONE in our town that he's come into contact with (store checkers, school secretary, people in stores, etc.) He is just beside himself with birthday excitement, to the point that he's been calling today his birthday eve and giggling and skipping everywhere he goes. Since we knew there was absolutely no way he was going to be able to make it until Paul got home from work tomorrow to open his presents, we let him open them tonight. He was quite happy about that change in plans!

For a long time now Rowan has been very clear about wanting a Wii game for his birthday. You see his parents and Santa all blew it when they didn't get it for Christmas, they just didn't realized it's importance. But today, on this magical 6th birthday eve, his wish came true. Hugs, kisses and squeals of delight followed.

And there's still tomorrow, which will bring with it: birthday cereal, ice cream cake, pizza with Uncle Jim and Aunt Enid, a birthday crown at school, and who knows what other birthday magic may occur.

Here are a few facts about Rowan- at 6

-Favorite food- Hawaiian pizza
-Favorite restaurant- Dominos pizza
-Favorite TV show- Bugs Bunny
-Favorite movie- Bugs Bunny
-Favorite thing to do- Play Wii
-Best friend- Landon
-Favorite game- Chess
-Favorite toy- Wii
-What makes you laugh? Uncle Jason's "Fremos" joke
-Favorite color- green
-Most important thing you learned when you were 5? how to count to 100
-What do you hate?- hair cuts
-What do you hope to get for your birthday?- Super Smash Brother's Brawl

Completed Projects

After a brief post holiday lull in craft productivity I'm back at it. Here's a little peek at what I've been up to.
A shopping tote, made for my sister in laws birthday.

A baby kimono, made with super soft corn fiber yarn- so fun to work with.

And most recently, a pair of toasty warm wool slippers for me. Boy did I need them, it's been so cold here lately.

Hopefully today will involve a trip to the fabric store, so I can start something new.

The answers

Thank you to those who played along with my little quiz. Here are the answers

1- "Pajama day? ...weird."-FULLER
2- "I had to sleep in my clothes since I was wearing pajamas during the day"- ROWAN
3- "You NEVER help me!"- ALL THREE SAID THIS AT SOME POINT THAT DAY
4- "I think we should redecorate my room."- GRAYSON (what can I say, that boy loves HGTV)
5- "I LIKE MY ROOM DIRTY!"- GRAYSON AND ROWAN
6- "That's not fair! I want a salad too!"- ROWAN (he LOVES veggies)
7- "Goldfish crackers ARE healthy." FULLER
8- "We have to go back! I forgot to put on underwear!"- ROWAN (he actually did have underwear on, I think he just felt funny going to school in his PJ's)

And the winners are......Shannon M and Shannon B- who both got 4 answers correct! A surprise will be coming your way very soon!

TWELVE

How can it be that my first born is 12? I just don't know where the time has gone. It seems like just yesterday I was getting him ready for kindergarten. Now he's got feet as big as mine and pre-teen angst. Like most kids his age Fuller has his "moments", but he really is a fantastic young man. Fuller is a hard worker, a good student, a sweetheart and a total crack up. We love this boy, and are so blessed to have him in our family. Fuller spent his birthday demonstrating his very best self. In the morning he volunteered to come along and help the cub scouts pick up bags for Goodwill/Goodturn. He worked hard lugging heavy bags and walking many blocks with no complaints. And in the afternoon while we were celebrating at "Safari Sams" he was a patient and helpful older brother, lifting and pulling Rowan through the advanced climbing course. As sad as I am to have him grow up, I sure like seeing how he's turning out.

As is our tradition, he started off his special day with a healthy dose of sugar cereal.

After our cub scout activities we took the kids to "Safari Sams", which is pretty much like Chuckee Cheese on steroids. They have an arcade, glow in the dark mini golf, bouncy houses, a gigantic jungle gym and really overpriced food. The boys loved it! Once the kids were exhausted we headed home for a family party with some of our favorite grandparents.
Fuller and Grandpa showed that sometimes rivals can get along.

Presents were opened. My parents thrilled Fuller by getting him the Star Wars Wii game he wanted.

We were happy that my parents and Paul's dad were all able to join us for dinner and cake. Fuller picked ice cream cake this year.

Happy Day sweet boy! Hope your wish comes true!

Since Rowan's birthday is this Friday we went ahead and celebrated his birthday too while the grandparents were here. Although we will do something on the real day too.

He was very excited to get to open presents early.

The lego power miners from grandma and grandpa were a big hit!

Rowan was really good at giving everyone hugs after he opened his present from them.

Fuller's new game has quickly become a favorite at our house. I think it has something to do with the Wii light saber that you get to play with.

So far we've only had one injury.



Here are a few facts about Fuller- at 12

-Favorite food- potstickers
-Favorite restaurant- TODAI
-Favorite TV show- anything on ESPN
-Favorite movie- Napoleon Dynamite
-Favorite thing to do- Play sports
-Best friend-Dylan and Trey
-Favorite game- Cribbage
-Favorite toy- Wii and legos
-What makes you laugh? -Uncle Jason's "Fremo's" joke
-Favorite color- green
-Most important thing you learned when you were 11? locker combination
-What do you hate?- When Grayson says "your being a parent" and cleaning
-What do you hope to get for your birthday?- Duck clothes and Star Wars Force Unleashed

A little quiz

Guess which child said what- actual quotes from today

1- "Pajama day? ...weird."
2- "I had to sleep in my clothes since I was wearing pajamas during the day"
3- "You NEVER help me!"
4- "I think we should redecorate my room."
5- "I LIKE MY ROOM DIRTY!"
6- "That's not fair! I want a salad too!"
7- "Goldfish crackers ARE healthy."
8- "We have to go back! I forgot to put on underwear!"

Go ahead....Take a guess...You might win a prize.

The boy who loved numbers

Rowan loves numbers. When I say he loves them, I mean he REALLY loves them. He talks about numbers day and night. He loves seeing numbers, whether it be on a clock, a cash register, or anywhere else he may find one. For a while he counted. Everywhere we went I heard counting behind me in the van. Soon after, he began asking for math problems. Simple addition satisfied him for a time, but then he wanted subtraction. Now simple problems aren't enough, he needs 2 digit numbers. Paul was quite surprised one night to have Rowan correctly solving 2 digit addition problems in his head, even ones with regrouping involved. Rowan says problems like 16+16 are easy. "You just add the two tens, and then 8+8 is 16, so you have another 10, which is 36." His latest fascination is negative numbers. He just loves doing subtraction problems where the answer is a negative number. He especially likes ones where it's a big negative number, like 1-100. Rowan asks people to ask him math problems all day long, and not just family. Today he was asking the school counselor and his teacher to please give him a hard math problem. He really liked showing his teacher his knowledge of negative numbers. It really is wonderful, but he does drive me crazy. I feel really awful when I just have to say "no more math Rowan." For the last few weeks this is pretty much the last thing I've said to him every night at bedtime.

If only he felt the same way about words and letters.

Little bits of fun

Happy Birthday Dr Seuss! I hate to imagine a childhood without Horton, Yertle and Things 1 & 2.

Fuller's new shoes, a very exciting early birthday present. He's super psyched about how well they go with the Oregon Duck shirts he wears almost daily.

And cub scout cake decorating. Grayson entered his first ever cub scout cake decorating contest. He won an award for the "grassiest" cake.