The Three Days of Birthday......

Spidey's birthday came and was celebrated for 3 consecutive days. Sounds like a lot, but usually the celebrations last for a weeks time - we all got off easy because at the end of the weekend we were all EXHAUSTED!! Fun was had though. The event started in the afternoon the Friday before his actual birth day (which was Saturday). I showed up and we served up cupcakes to all his school friends. His teacher offered him 7 Smacks on the Lips or 7 Smacks with the Hand. For a moment I feared that Spidey was going to get an old fashioned spanking with a pinch at the end because I knew he was NOT going to choose 7 kisses from any of us in a public forum such as his classroom. And I was right. He picked 7 Smacks with the Hand Lucky for him it turned out to be his whole classroom clapping 7 times and then pinching the air. I asked him later if he knew what was coming with the 7 smacks thing - he said "no", but that he didn't want anyone to kiss him (told ya so). One little kid had the nerve to tell me that the cupcakes were gross and tasted like old gross hotdogs. I think that was the ugly head of jealousy being raised and I told him his tastebuds were broken and he should go to see the doctor. After school it was home to get the house ready for the sleepover.

Yes, we did allow Spidey to invite a bunch of little 7 year old boys to stay overnight at our house. Yes, we have gone insane.

Overall the sleepover went well. There were 8 little boys - SuperStar had CO to stay over and Babers had his friend CC over until bedtime came around. We have had several sleepovers before - only they were primarily little girls staying over. Small groups of 4 - large groups of 12 - some boys scattered in, but never were boys the majority.

What I learned about little boys and sleepovers (BigGuy will say this is sexist and that it is not fair because little girls can be the same way - only in my personal research they have NOT been the same) -
* Boys are much louder then girls when worked up (girls can be louder, but boys are louder)
* Boys fight a lot. One would be standing there saying something nice to the other and all of a sudden that kid would punch him. No reason. Then the other kid would laugh and hit him back. They tried this on SuperStar - she hit the kid hard and then got mad and walked away complaining. Basically the girls stayed very far away from the boys most of the night.
* Boys cry a lot - I mean A LOT. One would say, "You aren't my bestest friend anymore." and the one being spoken to woudl burst in tears. I have heard little girls say these words to one another, but the little girl spoken to turned around and said, "So what." and walked off.
* Boys make up weird games. Okay, every group of kids make up their own games by twisting a bunch of things together. I get that. However, these boys made up some weird games.........they were watching Star Wars and I hear someone singing the "I Kissed a Girl" song - then they changed it to "I Kissed a Boy" - then one of them said "try to kiss me" and someone did kiss him - then another said, "try to kiss me on the lips" and someone did - then another said "let's play Star Wars Kiss a Boy" and they did until someone said, "I kiss girls" and then another said, "I am dating a girl" then Spidey said, "I'm dating a teenage girl" and another said, "I am dating a super model named She." Then I stopped listening. Boys play weird games.

Everyone was asleep by 11:00pm - except the girls who stayed up until past midnight. The next morning families showed up to claim their kiddo's and we went back to semi normal. Only -------it was the actual birthday and we still had to keep going with the celebration.

We had the O's over for a bit when they came to pick up their kiddo's. They brought their new puppy, Wilber. Very cute little (well, not really little) guy. The kids ran about and we drank coffee and beer (not mixed) with donuts. Once they left we had some quiet time - then started the events again. First up - shopping at Target for a new Spidey Bike - then to Make a Mess (a local kid center that we really never take the kids because it is an expensive rip off) - to Chili's for dinner (Spidey's favorite place) and finally to the hotel for swimming, a movie and some cake. This last part was a total surprise for Spidey. He was NOT expecting it. We had present hidden in the room and the cake (gooey butter - he is a smart kiddo). I think he thoroughly enjoyed his Birthday!!

Spidey Turns 7!

We have been partying it up for Spidey since Thursday night when we ate icing and decorated cupcakes for his class. However, none of the pics are up because we just got home from the hotel (yes, we really did stay at a hotel to celebrate, but only because we had a gift certificate for a stay that was expiring - otherwise the room would have been used for romantic getaway purposes).

I will upload the story of his birthday celebration soon enough - for now here are some Boy Scout pics of him doing fun things last weekend when we went to the Blast Off. And a short video of him making the rocket take off - he was trying soooooo hard!! Sorry it is sideways - I didn't know I couldn't change it.

Going to the Chapel - II

It took me awhile, but here are some pics from my sisters wedding. We had a great time. There were so many out of the box things that they did for their celebration that it made the day pretty unique and special. One of our personal favs was the Guest Book. Instead of the book everyone writes their name and a note in - AuntB and our new official UncleR decided to switch it up a bit. There was a scrapbook table. Filled with squares to mount pictures one and squares to write a note - a few 6x6 books, stickers alphabets and pictures, scissors, tape - everything needed was there. Guests took their photo - IN A REAL PHOTO BOOTH!! - and then chose two pictures to scrap into the guest book and put the other photos either in their silver picture frame holding their name at the table they were seated - or I am sure some tucked them in their pockets so no one else could see them (there was an open bar and people certainly got loose while in the booth). It was a lot of fun.

Babers went home a bit early, but SuperStar and Spidey made it most of the night. They were both dancing fools - and Spidey got a great deal of positive feedback from other guests. Papa has some of those pics and as soon as I get some I will share. For the moment I have narrowed it down to a lot of pictures........

Remember November

I was looking at some favorite blogs I peek at (that aren't listed below) and June Clever After a Six Pack had a very funny clip from SNL. Thought I would borrow it and share.



What were the Rep.'s thinking? (sorry my Rep. friends - well, I am not terribly sorry because this is really funny).

** Remember to turn the music off before watching the clip **

My Favorite Place

a homework assignment by SuperStar

My favorite place in my house is my bedroom. In My Room I can feel my bed which is warm as fresh cookies and as comfortable as a million pillows. I hear lots of noisey cicadas and birds chirping. It's nature's symphony. Every now and then I hear cars, but otherwise it's quiet. When I look out the window I can see a lot of things. I see plants and animals of all shapes and sizes, I see runners and bikers and cars. When I open the window I can smell trees and flowers and everything good. My room is my Favorite Place to go if I want quietness.

The Middle Guy

Lately I get to brag on the kids a lot. Today I have a quickie about Spidey. He forgets EVERYTHING!!! His teacher and I email each other almost daily trying to solve this trait he has inherited (not from me). Yet he is incredibly smart - he can even spell Principal!! So today when I went in to talk to his teacher about something we got to joking about his forgetfulness (her hubby has the same trait). Then she said something else - there was an incident with another student not getting on the bus. Spidey was assigned to help her get there because she is a neighbor of ours. Only she never made it. His teacher told me she had assigned him because he is the most trust worthy and bright student in the class. She said that in her ledgers she has written that he is the "Go To" student for questions any sub might have.

How Cool Is That? He is the Reliable Kid!!

What happened with the little girl? Well, Spidey started to take her to the bus, but she said her parents didn't tell her to ride the bus. True, her mom emailed the teacher and asked her to make sure she rode the bus. So Spidey told her the teacher asked him to make sure she was on the bus. The little girl said no and Spidey let her go - she is a very strong willed girl, much like our friend Tata in STL. The little girl was fine. She ended up back in the teachers room and her parents were phoned. There was a convo later about why she needs to listen to what her teacher has told her.

In the Woods

This is my first Officially Built By Me camp fire since I started camping with BigGuy. Prior to being with him (11 years married, 14 years camping together), when I camped with my friends I was the fire maker. Since camping with BigGuy I am no longer in that position - and now I know why. While I was starting the fire my co-leader fell into the role of organizing the girls and keeping them "behaved". I now think that BigGuy builds the fire so he can be "without child responsibility". Tricky tricky.

Anyway, we hadn't mentioned it prior to this (that I can remember), but last weekend SuperStar and I went camping with our Girl Scout troop. Yes, seriously they trusted me to lead a bunch of 3rd & 4th graders for an overnight in the woods. Why would they? Not sure, but we had insurance through GSUSA just in case it didn't work out perfectly. Through the whole 24 hours there was only one casualty - and that was only one of the girls being so homesick she went home in the first 3 hours. No, it wasn't SuperStar - although she apparently snuck in 2 phone calls to BigGuy because she "missed him just so much".

So we really roughed it - in the Camp Lodge!! This past spring our scheduled camp trip was tornado'd away, so to be safe we decided to book this one in the lodge so we could follow through regardless of weather (although a tornado would have kept us home again). It did rain - all the way up to the time we got there. Then it all cleared up and we had a very nice time. It even warmed up enough for our crazy girls to dip their bodies into the lake to swim.

With BigGuy being the Cub Scout leader Spidey is already making plans for when he can take their troop camping. Well, he actually is making plans for his troop to go with our troop - he doesn't get that Cub Scouts can go alone - or he does and he just figures that if they pretend to work on the fire the Girl Scouts will do all the work - hmm.......

What are you doing Mommy?

We're so busy at the moment that I find I am not so much stressed - as really just kinda overwhelmed. All of us I think. So where is the balance? Not that I want to find a balance so much - I guess what we are really looking for is how to cut the fat and stream line the important stuff.
SuperStar wants to do the following -
Swim Class - perform in the Musical - Piano Class - Volleyball - Girl Scouts - Living Green group - Student Council - Flag Football - Basketball - Cheerleading camp
Spidey wants to -
take Swim Class - be in Boy Scouts - play Football - Basketball - Baseball - Piano
Babers wants to -
be in preschool (okay, maybe that is us) - go to the gym to play - go to Chuck E Cheese - go to Make a Mess - have us rewind every video that needs to be rewound
Jake wants in and out and in and out and in and out
BigGuy is -
Going to the gym - taking extra classes to earn something that helps him at work - the Boy Scout leader - volunteering for something at school - helping with the website Then there are the many things I volunteer to do and participate in because I enjoy them......

And we are all doing them in the same 24 hour periods of time.

Because of this - BigGuy and I have begun to find ways of diverting our attention. Webkinz. Yes, I believe we talked about this before - it has become a habit. We have SuperStar's login info now. We each do a job a day for their animals - we search for gems - and then we play games to keep the animals in moolah. Spidey has a balance of $18,000 and SuperStar has a balance of $21,000. Why are we doing this? Basically because we just don't have the time.

On the bright side - it is certainly nice to hear that their animals can now afford a $500 trip to the spa!! Just wish it were us!

BigGuy goes Cub Scouts

Ever since last spring when SuperStars Brownie troop had the Fly-Up event at their school and I spoke on the microphone to announce things Spidey has been ready to join that kind of excitement and be a Boy Scout. Then this summer we went to a few family events at the GS Camp. He loved every minute of them and told everyone about what we had done - with the exception of the fact that we were at a GS Camp when we did them and it was a GS organized event. These activities only made him even more excited about being a Boy Scout and as school came closer he talked about it even more. He also talked about how BigGuy was going to be his troop leader - excuse me, I mean Den Leader. Tuesday Spidey brought the meeting flier home and we put the meeting date on the calendar under his instruction. BigGuy came home and Spidey told him the plan and that BigGuy would have to volunteer to be the leader. BigGuy was hoping there would be some parent dying to be the leader and he could be the helper guy.

Only there wasn't a parent wanting to be leader - and now BigGuy is the Den Leader. He has made Spidey so happy. Even SuperStar was totally excited about him being Ben's leader. It is very sweet. Last night BigGuy came home from the meeting with his book and pamphlets - reading them, trying to figure things out. They have 5 boys so far (enough for a pak in BG's eyes) and I am sure a whole lot of energy!! Now BigGuy is officially a registered Boy Scout and Girl Scout!


Spidey and two of the boys in the troop - er, I mean Den

Labor Day

It has been awhile since we have been boating in the big boats. Row boats, Kayaks, Sail boats - done those a lot recently. BigGuy grew up boating on Speed Boats, Pontoons, etc. and that is what we did this weekend. With long time friends the "S's". They live on a lake near STL, but in IL and have all the toys. While our kiddo's have all been boating with the S's before - they had never been on a SeaDoo or Tubing - and they had a blast!!