Marcus's spring pops concert 2016

For your listening pleasure....the 7th grade band.  What an improvement over the past year.  And, Marcus got to introduce the first piece.  I gave up sleep between work shifts to attend this performance, and I'm glad I did.  Honor Band played, too, but my phone died at the beginning of that group's performance.  Rest assured, they sounded great, too.  And, Marcus made Honor Band again next year!  1 of 3 trombones chosen-an honor, for sure.

Let's hear from Liam! The 7 year old edition.

Our tradition continues of asking our kids the same questions every year.  Liam has the privilege of being first in line.  Let's hear what our new 7 year old has to say....

Liam, what is your....

...favorite color?  blue and red

...favorite toy? stuffed BB-8

...favorite stuffed animal?  stuffed dog

...favorite thing to sleep with?  stuffed BB-8 (surprised he didn't say his blankie, which he still sleeps with every night)

...favorite fruit?  apple

...favorite cereal?  corn squares

...favorite thing to eat for breakfast?  bacon

...favorite thing to eat for lunch?  corn dogs

...favorite thing to eat for dessert?  cake

...favorite drink?  milk

What do you want to eat for your birthday dinner?  cauliflower (mission accomplished.  Liam loved it)

What is your...

...favorite animal?  Ponyo

...favorite book?  When Is a Planet Not a Planet:  the Story of Pluto

...favorite song?  Tik Tok (*sigh.  This song is on our Just Dance game that Liam was playing last night.  He really does like dancing to it and doing all the moves.)

...favorite game? Mousetrap

...favorite TV show?  Animaniacs (And, Netflix has all the seasons for us)

...favorite movie?  Jumanji

...favorite thing to do outside?  jump (on the trampoline)

Who is your best friend?  Gam

What do you want to be when you grow up?  inventor

What college do you want to go to?  M.I.T. (of course)

Here is Liam's 6 year edition so you can see what's the same and what's changed as our boy has turned a year older.

Stuff Cale's been doing

Cale, our 5th grader, is in the midst of end-of-year project.  Currently, he is working on some kind of project that involves Paris and possibly London.  A perfect chance for him to build and use his Eiffel Tower kit from Lanny from Christmas.  Cale was excited to be able to contribute the tower to his group project.

Also, the 5th grade had their was museum.  Each class was assigned a different group of people.  Cale's class got "famous musicians of the last 50 years" (my title, since they were all current people).  Cale was assigned a country singer, Luke Bryan.  We knew nothing of him since we do not listen to country music.  Turns out, L.B. was a pretty easy singer to dress after.  And, we had a guitar to complete the outfit.  Cale was pleased with the outcome.

Also, Cale has decided to play the French horn in 6th grade band.  

Busy, busy.

Happy birthday to Liam!

Liam turned 7! years old on the 24th of April.  He was counting down the day till his birthday.  He decided on a Big Hero 6 birthday theme and I think he was pleased with his party.  Anything for my littlest boy.

Some simple decorations, done by Andy and the other boys.

Found a "pin the eyes on Baymax" game.  The kids thought that was lots for fun.  We also did a Frisbee throwing game outside.  Pinterest came through with these ideas.

Happy on his birthday.

We made English muffin pizzas.  A food Liam likes to eat.  We also had broccoli and "white broccoli" (cauliflower).  Liam ate through those veggies, too.

One of our newer traditions is to hide the kids presents and then write clues to where they are.  The bigger kids like to take charge of this.  

Present opening.

Sporting his new Baymax hat.  Awesome find by Andy that Liam loves.  Liam likes wearing hats and this has become his new favorite.

My little scientist.  One of the things he wanted for his birthday was a Venus fly trap plant.  "You got me a piece of the prehistoric period!"

Andy made Liam's cake per Liam's request:  a Neapolitan flavored cake (yes, there are recipes for this!) in the shape of Baymax, the robot from the Big Hero 6 movie.

Planting the Venus fly trap.  It sits in its little terrarium and, hopefully, grows in several weeks.

Liam was even able to get Andy to give him a ride around the neighborhood in the bike trailer that he barely fits in.

Finally, a picture with Daddy....

,,,and Mommy.

Liam, you are sweet and clever.  You have a unique way of seeing things.  I can tell you are always thinking.  You love science and space.  You love your family.  You are perfect for us and we love you so much!

Happy birthday sweet son.

Happy Mother's Day!

g

Got what I wanted-a new picture with my crew. #Blessed

Happy birthday to Andy!

Happy birthday to Andy!  We got to celebrate his birthday on his birthday-which is a big deal for someone who is busy with work during the sports seasons.  Well, Sunday was definitely a day of rest-we didn't even have any soccer games.  We got to spend time together and celebrate this guy who is an awesome husband and father.  Since Andy said he didn't "need" anything, I took some of the kids to Goodwill to find some fun gifts.

Ooo-Life-another game to make the children cry

Cale found this wooden paddle, which was given as a gift, but I think will find it's way to Cale's possession. 

Another random game, a book and a card game.

Trying to guess what great surprise is in store.

A new coffee mug!

Probably, what Andy wanted most was a good steak dinner.  Done.  He got to go to the market and pick out his meat to bring home to grill.  Yes-he had to make his own steak-I wouldn't trust myself with it.

Then, we had pie and watched the latest Star Wars movie, which was another present, and one I know that Ewan was looking forward to.  So, a great night for a great guy.  Andy works hard for us and I'm excited to see what this year brings.

There's always a first...

Well, it's been a long time coming.  Liam has filled the position of "first child to break a bone in our family", although he will be the first to tell you, "it is a fracture".  Yes, spring break time in Illinois was made extra exciting with a slide down the slide from the tree house to the trampoline and a trip to the ER after putting out his left arm to brace himself for the landing.  This all went down at our friends' house where Andy was visiting.  Fortunately, Liam was in great hand with Andy, who has more experience with broken bones than I do.  I got to get text and phone updates of the excitement since I was home in between work shifts that weekend.  Liam was in a splint for a week before he got this awesome blue cammo cast.  Now, he gets to rock this cast out until the beginning of May, and, if all looks well, will get it removed then.  He is still able to play soccer, run around and be a kid.  But, in school, he does get a "scribe" to write for him since Liam is a lefty and it's his left arm he broke.  Liam is also a left thumb sucker, so it will be interesting to see if he goes back to that habit when the cast comes off.