Happy Birthday, Hun!

Today is The Man's birthday!

We celebrated on Friday and Saturday. 

Friday night as a family!

 After visiting the zoo on Friday, the boys and I headed to the Bass Pro Shop to shop for the Man.

 Buddy got him a nice long sleeve underarmor camo shirt. Babe got him some smartwool socks. and LG got him the BassPro Hunting Game for the wii. Imagine that! I had ordered him a Mariners polo for work and he loved them all!

We had a yummy dinner and cake- sung Happy Birthday - blew out the candle - and watched a movie as a family.  I hope it was a good birthday. 

ON SATURDAY

I had made reservations for us and a bunch of friends to go out to eat for his big FOUR ZERO!

We were again blessed with overcast skies, cool temps and no rain, so we were seated on the patio and 16 of our closest friends ate, hung out and shared our celebration.  The waitress even brought him a little cake with a candle.  I thought he'd be upset, but he just laughed and let us sing and celebrate. 

It was indeed a good night! 

Happy Birthday, Honey. I love you!

ZOO

We had a three day weekend this weekend and the weather was mild and almost chilly at times. It was so refreshing from the massive heat of summer that continued until last week.
I decided to take the boys to the zoo on Friday.  It occurred to M.E. that Buddy hasn't been to the zoo expect maybe once in his life and he couldn't remember ever going, so I was determined to take him. The Man was wondering why I'd add one more thing to our already pack schedule, but we had all day and no plans so we made a great day of it.
We got up and it was 55 degrees and drizzling. YES! When we arrived at the zoo, we were the seventh car in the parking lot, another YES!
The boys had so much fun and stayed right with M.E. All the zoo keepers came out to talk to us because they were bored and all the animals were up and about, talking and roaring - it was awesome.
I've got lots of pictures.

 LG the monkey.

 Buddy the Monkey.

 It was really funny trying to get a group shot of us, but we did it.

 It was so cool to see all the animals out and about moving and playing.

 We saw this free range peahen several times. Babe kept trying to catch it.

 The petting zoo was really cool for Babe and LG. Buddy's like M.E. and not really into animals, so he just kinda hung out taking care of Babe.

 3 Little Monkeys!

At the end of our loop, we were still all smiles and happy.  We had a really good time and such a wonderful day. We loved the overcast skies and cool temperatures and it never really rained on us which was a bonus. 

Another adventure worth having! 

Little Surprise

Tuesday night, as I turned down my bed after a very long day, I found this.

LG had found a old Christmas catalog under my bed and cut out two pages then circled all the items he liked.  I knew he was up to this earlier in the evening and with M.E. busy with the evening routine, I forgot all about it.  He too realized I was busy and knew to put it in the one place I'd see it - on my pillow.  He's a smart one.
Looks like he wants legos for his birthday - message received!

Random Thoughts Edittion #9

Several things on my mind today!

1- Its Friday which are always nice!

2- LG is feeling much, much better! I wound up taking him back to the doctor Wednesday morning, because his fever returned and after a negative strep test, a negative mono test, a negative west nile test - it was concluded that he had the flu.  THE FLU!  Needless-to-say, I've been a bit stressed out.

3- He missed Wed thru today of school and the homework is piling up!  Not fun for LG.

4- Reading is a real struggle for him and we are meeting with lots of professional to help us and him. More on this another day.

4 - Babe is starting earn *gems* (money for chores).  One of his favorite chores is taking out the compost.  He is so funny when he gets to the edge of the compost pile, he takes his time, concentrates and begins to the swing the bag so it'll have some momentum when he tossed it.  It pretty cool to witness.

5 - Babe was able to go back to school on Wednesday and Thursday and had a really good time. They say he is just a peach and they have already spoilt him. seriously.

6 - A big shout out to our friend Judy who came to my rescue this week and sat with LG while I worked.

7 - I had to work this week because Sunday is our Fall Kick-Off of youth group and we are not only doing middle school but have added the high school component.  I've really worried, planned and worked very hard and I'm still not satisfied with where we are.

8 - I think I might be a control-freak!

9 - Buddy has had a fantastic FANTASTIC week.  He started the week by getting to go dove hunting with the Man and some friends and even got to shoot his hand-me-down 410.  (Thanks Grampa and Nana for bringing him the Man's youth gun).

10 - The experience put him on cloud 9 and it spilled over into the week.

11 - Wednesday he gave his first oral report to his class and had his first big science test.  You may be wondering what's the big deal.  Well, its just that school work has always come easy for him. He's never really had to study or spend any extra time on any concept taught to him.

12- Fourth Grade is introducing him to things he has to work at. He is required to research, write and give a one-page report every month on a given topic.  This month he research and wrote about the Julian and Gregorian calendars.  It wasn't really difficult, but definitely new, definitely not his favorite thing and hard for the Man & M.E. not to help.  We were given strict instructions not to help. THAT WAS SO HARD TO DO!  We did break down and critique that a sentence didn't make sense and basic formatting like indention.  He has zero fear of public speaking (gets it from M.E) so giving the report was no biggie.

13 - His Science test was over food webs including ecosystems and such.  He had to study 15 minutes every night for 3 weeks to prepare.  The first week he didn't do very well with his flashcards, but eventually got the hang of it and afterwards he said that he only thinks he missed one!  We get the results today. I can't wait.

14 - Speaking of test, LG got his results from his very first spelling test ever.  He got 100%!!!!!!! You have no idea how awesome this achievement is!  We didn't really get to celebrate because he was sick. Perhaps we can tonight!

15 - Babe is obsessed with big floor puzzles. We have three of them and he LOVES them!  I know what he'll get for Christmas.

16 - 109 days until Christmas! 81 days until my birthday! 64 days until LG's birthday! 10 DAYS UNTIL THE MAN'S BIRTHDAY!

17 - Giada's club sandwich! Buddy's new favorite. Pesto, egg crepe, provolone, turkey, bacon, egg crepe and more pesto all on a croissant.  His words, "the best thing I've put in my mouth - that you've made".  Buddy is a foody and teases M.E. about my limited cooking ability.  But I wowed him with this one. NOTE: I originally made it on a think Italian bread and he suggested a croissant would be better.  It was.

18 - Its been over 100 degrees again this week. I seriously do not like 107.  Its just yucky!

19 - I've only managed to do two loads of laundry all week - things LG touched or slept on.  You can imagine what's ahead for M.E today and why I'm writing such a long post.

20 - The Man loves his new job!  Thanks to everyone for the prayers while he was unemployed!  A door was opened and its a really good thing.

21 - Last week, I managed to do two scrapbook layouts. Yeah, for real. I just decided to forget about house work for an hour and did them. It was refreshing.

22- Did I mention that our youth program kick-off is Sunday?

23 - Buddy had a soccer scrimmage on Wednesday night and his team won 3-2!  Awesome for him.

24 - Two dozen random thoughts is enough for anyone!  Here's to a calmer week, but I'm not holding my breath.

25 - One more thing, thank you to all my readers!  This blog officially surpassed 20,000 page views. Yes, 20,000 times someone open my blog! Wow that's pretty cool to M.E.

They lasted 14 days!

I decided that I wanted a family outing this long weekend and really wanted to take the boys to the zoo.  We have only been there once as a family (and Babe's never been) and knew LG and Babe would love it, especially the train, but its 105 degrees.  I'm not exaggerating - its for real 105 degrees outside, so we are not going to the zoo. So it was to the aquarium.  The boys have been there like a 100 times with our family pass, but its probably been a good 6 months since we've been and Babe didn't remember it.
Watching him was amazing, he ran from exhibit to exhibit with such enthusaism and awe.  It was wonderful.  LG of course acts like a tour guide and tells everyone around him, what he knows about certain fish - that's funny too!

 We also went out to lunch and both Babe and LG were acting very tired and didn't want to eat. Seriously an hour after leaving the aquarium they both had fevers.  Babe took a nap and when he woke up at 3:30 he was burning up - so off to Urgent Care I go with both Babe and LG.

3 hours later, I'm home with a very sick Babe whose has a fever of 103 and strep throat! and LG with a fever of 100 and an ear infection, but I also believe he has strep (they didn't do a test)!  They made it to school 14 days before getting sick.  That might be a record!
LG will likely return to school tomorrow, but Babe will not!  They are both feeling better today with the antibiotics in them and Mortin and are begging M.E. to play legos, so I need to go! Here's to the adventure!

Saturday

LG's not feeling great today and I even think he has a low grade fever, poor little bugger. So we hung out around the house all and did very little.
The Man wants to show you his duck.

 He shot this duck last season or maybe the season before that and its beautiful.  I've seriously got to learn how to use my camera so I can take good indoor pictures. The coloring on his head and wing feathers are unbelievable green and purples.  He's very majestic and is currently hanging on our bedroom wall, but the Man says he is going to take him to work on Monday!
And speaking of duck and hunting, the Man has been obsessing about this year's duck season.  He and two buddies have leased two different pieces of property way out in the country that they think are going to be prime duck ponds.  They have been out there scouting, planting millet and now have decided to Dove hunt until duck season starts (still 2 months away).  Its been quite the adventure so far.  And he has even got Buddy into it.

 Yep, Buddy in full camo!  They are going for real Dove Hunting on Monday morning with a bunch of guys and other little boys!  I pray they are safe! And I have to admit, Buddy looked pretty cool in his camo!

And here's a random pic of Babe being silly!

 

Getting Ready for the Weekend

We love Friday's around here!  Its a chance to not worry about going to bed before dark or getting up early.  

As you can see, we don't like getting up early! I'm loving Friday's because the Man has agreed to take the big boys to school for M.E. and Babe doesn't have school so I can stay in my pajamas til 2PM if I'd like - not that I do! (okay, some days I do!)

This Friday was even more special because LG was having his first afterschool playdate. He was so excited. He made and hung up decorations. He lined up the wii games and movies he wanted to play/watch. He even told M.E. what pizza he wanted ordered and said that they must make cupcakes.  So afterschool, we did just as he planned. 

They played the wii for an hour, ate a bunch of cheese pizza and then helped M.E. make the best cupcakes, I've ever ate. Seriously, they were sooooo good. They finished the playdate with a movie.  LG had so much fun.  
In the meantime, the Man took Buddy and a friend to the local high school football game, where they ran around and acted like big kids and watched little football. 

Unfortunately LG started sneezing about 7:30 the time his allergy medicine wore off and had a pretty serious bout of sneezing, coughing and drainage.  Maybe it was the dust from the hurricane - but whatever it was he had a pretty rough night. At least he waited til his friend when home!