6 - The Year of the Sith!

Making sure to squeeze every possible moment out of his birthday, Jake hopped out of bed at 6 am on Thursday. Jake has been counting down the days all month for his birthday, and the big day had finally arrived.  For breakfast Jake had a special #6 pancake with whipped cream. It was so good, he had a second one.

Then it was off to school for a day full of birthday fun. Apparently he had been talking up his birthday to his friends because Thursday and Friday at least 3 different parents stopped me at the school to talk about Jake's birthday. We've always had spring or summer birthdays for the school age kids, so I guess a September birthday is big news to a kindergarten class!

At drop off, I went into the classroom for DEAR time (drop everything and read time) and read a couple of books for Jake and his friends. Then I saw his teacher crown him with a special hat he wore all day ("except at PE & recess because it was too sweaty").  Later I came back with a special lunch, a tradition he has seen happen with his older siblings & couldn't wait for his turn.

When everyone got home, they were excited to see Jake's cake. Jake loves Star Wars & has had a green and a blue lightsaber cake in the past. This year he decided to turn to the Dark Side and go with the red lightsaber. I made the Darth Maul's double bladed sword for fun. It was ginormous & I had to pull out the long folding table because it was too long to fit on our kitchen table. Jake loved it!

You might be able to tell from the corner of the cake, Luke also loved it.  Every chance he got, he would sneak up to the edge of the table, stand on his toes and reach up to grab the end of the cake.  We gave up trying to fix the corner after the 3rd time.

One of Jake's birthday wishes was to get McDonald's for dinner, something he has been vying for months to get.  Lucky us, McDonald's just happened to have Star Wars toys in their Happy Meals.  Jake was in heaven!

After the "Happy Meal", we headed home for more fun and treats.  Jake opened some great presents.

Then it was on to the business of the cake. 

We also had to have Yoda Sodas.

After the cake, it was only right to end the day

with a major lightsaber duel. 

Happy Birthday Jake!

School Days

A typical morning will find Michael & his friend waiting for the bus...and waiting... and waiting... After 3 weeks, a time change and multiple bus drivers, who may or may not have ever heard of the high school that they are trying to find, and a lot of fun adventures, including getting to ride the short bus (just what every freshman wants to do!), it looks like things are finally getting into somewhat of a routine. At any rate, it is always an adventure!



Being in 3rd grade, Hayley now gets the option of having a rolling backpack at school, which she loves!



Trevor is hard to catch for a picture. He has started back on Safety Patrol this year and does a great job keeping us safe...and early to school everyday.



After a rocky, tearful start, Jake has decided he likes school after all & hasn't asked to be home schooled for at least a week now. He goes to school with a "lucky penny" in his pocket & every time he feels sad or misses me, he sticks his hand in his pocket & holds his penny. Most mornings last week, he walked up to the school with his hand in his pocket, but no tears. And every afternoon he came out smiling, with both hands free to go run and play.



One fun thing about picking up at the kindergarten gate is the chance to run and play for a couple of minutes before heading home to start homework. It is always fun to hear how many times Jake sees Hayley or Trevor at school in the hall or outside. It is great they have each other there.



While the older kids are away at school, Luke keeps busy with his 2 year old friend Ian, who I babysit during the week. He has learned all sorts of "fun" tricks, but best of all, they have actually started playing and laughing together during big stretches of the day. They love to look out the window and see people, big trucks and dogs go by.




At the end of the day, Luke is ecstatic to have his big brothers & sister come home. He always gets a huge smile on his face when he sees them. One of his newest tricks is dancing crazy. It makes us all smile and want to dance too!



At the end of a long week, we like to relax with a fun movie night or watch a favorite show on tv together. Don't forget the popcorn!

Back to Normal

Last week the kids were sick. I couldn't believe it - sick for the 2nd week of school. Pretty bad for some the of kids who weren't sick at all last school year.

Luke started it..only his developed into hives too. Lovely.



Everyday a different kid came home sick from school, like clockwork. Headaches, fever & stomachaches. By Friday all the kids but Michael had gotten it.



Of course, they were all healthy in time for the long week-end :)
It was great to send everyone back to school on Tuesday!