Tent!

I bought a tent for my son several years ago because it's supposed to be a great developmental toy. Now he and my daughter love playing in it together...and around it...well, just running in and out and around the tent is great fun. The best part is to see the hair-dos created by the static electricity that builds up running through the material. Apparently, there's just nothing better than a tent.

Busy Week!

Drumming! My daughter running around at my son's kiddie party with her "Minnie"... she calls all animals, stuffed and real, "Minnies" after our cat Minnie. LOL

My son coming out of a jumping toy at his party.

My daughter coming out of the same toy.

Well, since my son's birthday, we've all had colds. We were feeling particularly miserable Thursday and Friday, but by the weekend, we were feeling a little bit better and still did the things we were planning for my son's birthday weekend.

My son LOVES drums. Our baby sitter's boyfriend plays the drums. We're very blessed to have found a babysitter who loves our kids! She told her boyfriend about my son, and he offered to bring his drum over. So, I thought that in return, I'd cook dinner. I told my next door neighbor about it, and she said she'd love to come over with her husband and daughter. So, it turned into a regular little party.

My baby sitter's boyfriend and my son played duets, and my son followed his rhythm. My daughter and next door neighbor's daughter also played the drum.

I made a lasagna for dinner with salad and garlic bread, and my next door neighbor made Emeril's Chocolate Cream Pie which was TO DIE FOR. Here is the recipe.

It was a great night and everyone had a wonderful time.

Sunday we went to church as usual (well, lately anyway we started going again before Easter), and the children were HORRIBLE...the worst they've ever been. We were even locked up in the back of the church behind closed doors, but when they opened the doors to let people go up for communion, my son booked up the center aisle right up onto the altar. So, I had to chase him down and retrieve him. Well, it's a children's mass, and by now everyone knows my son because he's impossible to miss seeing and hearing, so I doubt anyone was terribly surprised.

Then in the afternoon we had a little kiddie party with some boys from his class at a local place that's filled with inflatables to jump on and climb on and slide down...the perfect place for a bunch of hyperactive boys. Everyone had a great time there too. My son refuses to take off the participation bracelet they gave him when we went in. LOL

It was a great weekend!

My Boo is Five Years Old Today

The fire engine cake I planned to make for my son for his birthday.

My failed attempt at the fire engine cake...the poor thing disintegrated and collapsed. :(

My son turned five years old today, and we had a great day. My husband and I woke him up by singing happy birthday, and he loved it. I baked cupcakes for his friends in school, and he was so excited by them! There have been so many times when he didn't pay any attention to gifts or birthdays or Christmas or any other holiday, so the fact that he was excited by the cupcakes is a huge deal! He even counted the M&M's on the cupcakes...there were three on each one. He was adorable. Then when he came home from school, there were a couple of cupcakes left over, and he wanted one!!! So, he and his sister had cupcakes for snack. He didn't eat it, but he did lick the frosting, which is also a big deal!

I had planned on making him a fire engine cake, and found what I thought would be an easy one to make by Betty Crocker. However, it was not easy, and my cake disintegrated into crumbs until it collapsed. So, I called my husband and asked him to pick up a cake on the way home, and we had ice cream cake instead.

My son wasn't feeling very well because he has a cold, and in fact, we all have colds. My husband feels worse than any of us, poor guy. So, we didn't have the neighbors over for cake like we planned, but I did bring them over a few pieces.

My son loves having happy birthday sung to him, and he tried really hard to blow out his candles. He even opened up his birthday card and present...which he also never does. So, we were so happy! He loved listening to his happy birthday song message from my mother, and Then my brother called to wish him a happy birthday, and he said, "Hello Uncle R..." and thank you. Wow. It was a great night. :) What a great birthday for my Boo.

Happy Birthday sweet boy. Mommy loves you.

A Serious Case of the Giggles

With all the toys and other items of amusement my kids have, who would have thought that this shirt hanging on a hanger on the coat closet would be what the kids played with most tonight.

They had a serious case of the giggles. My son was making my daughter laugh until she couldn't breathe by spinning this shirt around the doorknob. She would count to three, and he'd give it a whirl, and oh boy, was that funny. If it spun off the knob and fell on the floor, well, that was just too much. My husband videotaped most of it. The video is all shaky because he was laughing so hard.

It's moments like this I remember when things get difficult. :)

Walk Softly and Carry a Big Stick

We went hiking yesterday. It was a little windy and cool, but it was still a beautiful day. My son did not want to go. He wanted to stay home. So I forced him to go. I had to nearly drag him down the trail...after about five minutes, he was just fine, and then it was nearly impossible to get him to leave afterwards. As any typical boy, he was always on the lookout for a good stick to carry, and so long as he didn't swing them around, I let him. He found a pretty large branch that he dragged behind him like a rake. His little sister, always looking up to her big brother, also found herself a suitable stick to carry. They had a lot of fun, and how cute!!!!!

Daddy Was a Very Good Boy

My daughter loves stickers. Since we got to a lot of doctors for my son, she also gets stickers at the end of the appointments for being a good, patient girl while we pay attention to her brother. So, whenever stickers are available, she loves to put them all over us and herself. She just loves my husband, and even has a little "Daddy Dance" that she does when he gets home. I just got one sticker, but Daddy must have been a really good boy because he got lots of stickers. How cute is she? I can't stand it...ohhhh and those curls!!!!!!!!!!

Annual Reports/ CPSE/My Silly Kids

CPSE stands for the committee for preschool special education. Each year they are required to meet with the parents using the annual report prepared by the teachers and therapists to discuss services the child is eligible for during the following year. The first meeting I attended was during the transition from early intervention, where my son received therapy at home, to preschool, where all of his services would be provided in an educational institution. Now we're already working on the transition to kindergarten.
Reading the annual report is always difficult. By necessity, it focuses on the negative because all of the problem areas (or as Avis Rent a Car always used to call them...areas of opportunity) must be identified and strategies must be suggested.
Progress is painfully slow with my son. In two years he progressed from being 12-18 months developmentally to being 18-24 months developmentally. Everything is difficult for him.
However, he's still my little boy, and while I was feeling all upset about his report, he came over to me, leaned his head on me and said, "Ahhh Mama." That made my day.
I just love him so much. I always tell him "I don't know what to do with you" followed by, "I guess I'll just have to kiss you." He thinks that's funny.
He has such a wonderful sense of humor and loves to laugh. He and my daughter are always cracking each other up until they are absolutely hysterical. Today we went out to eat at Applebees with a gift certificate my husband received for his birthday, and the people in the booth next to us were laughing. So, my son became hysterical just enjoying laughing along with them. This of course made my daughter laugh too.
My daughter is picking up words left and right, and also has an incredible sense of humor. We're laughing here all the time. Everything is funny. Today when we asked her where we ate, she said, "Applebees". She loved the big apple on the sign and exclaimed, "Apple! Apple!" She's a pure joy.
Someone walking by our table in the restaurant said we had such well behaved children. They really were very good. We were grateful.