Happy Birthday, Oliver!

(Has it really been a month since I posted something??? How does that happen?) Anyway, Oliver had his FIFTH birthday last month!!!! How is that possible?? I remember so clearly (with the help of video) the moment he was born! It really does seem like yesterday. Sadly, our camera died during the birthday party, so I don't have any photos to share about the birthday party itself. Suffice it to say that fun was had by all, and that a mother needn't stress over a 5 year old's birthday party. But let me reflect on my little boy. Lately I call him "mijo" (which he says he likes) or "hombre". Since he's a boy, he has all kinds of special effects noises that are innate, and he loves to "replay" things for me in slow motion (cars crashing, Legos fighting, that sort of thing). Usually, first thing in the morning, I can count on him to be a cheerful little boy who wants a little cuddling with momma (and then for me to play Legos with him, of course!). He doesn't like to eat first thing in the morning (he has to play first!), and he frequently is so polite when I ask him if he'd like eggs or oatmeal for breakfast...."no thank you, momma..." He loves going to school, and he loves playdates with his friends (even if he has major meltdowns when leaving...). He has recently developed a real love for coloring, and is asking more and more frequently what things say (that are written down), and "Momma, I know how to spell 'hot wheels'" or "cars" or "dvd" (I love that last one!). And so he's growing up pretty quickly. I'm sure that first and second grade will come and go before I know it, and then he'll be in THIRD grade, and not so little any more. But I have made him promise that he'll always cuddle with me, even when he's in eight grade, or 18 years old, and he says he will. So that's good enough for me. :)

Lego man

Oliver loves Legos. I've stated this already. I love Legos because Oliver does. They really are great, though--great for fine motor skills, great for creativity, and also great for developing that much sought after skill of making sound effects. I do believe that making sound effects is innate in all boys, and I love it. Nothing gladdens my heart more than hearing Oliver shooting, lightsabering, or crashing with Legos or other toys. And so we will give him Legos upon Legos for his birthday. And let the sound effects continue!

The makings of a birthday party

So, I realized about a week ago that Oliver's birthday was FAST approaching, and unless I wanted to throw something really haphazard together, I better get on it. We had Eva's first bigger birthday party when she was 5, so unless we want the kids to compare notes down the road and have evidence that we love one child more than the other, I decided to actually do something. Oliver LOVES Legos. I mean, the kid could truly play with them all the day long. I have pleasant memories this summer of slowly waking to the sound of Oliver fishing around in his Lego tub, entertaining himself before everyone else woke up. So, we decided that a Lego theme was just the ticket. And, since I'm not the most creative person around (more on this later), I did what any creatively challenged person would do: search the internet. And, indeed, I was not disappointed. I came up with some decoration ideas, game ideas, cake ideas, party favor ideas, and invitation ideas. There was one really creative mom out there who had fabulous ideas: for snacks there was Yoda soda, Wookie cookies, Obi-wan tons (apparently a BIG hit), and Light and Dark side party favors. Alas, I knew that I would not be able to achieve this level of creativity in just a week and a half (maybe for his 7 year birthday party?), so we're doing this a bit more simply. But, just to document that I can make a cute birthday invitation (although I really wonder if I have a creative bone in my body), here is a photo of the invitation. More to follow on the birthday party.

Fall in the Keweenaw

Jared and I seized a rare opportunity to have a date night a week or so ago. We had driven to Copper Harbor and along the shoreline a couple of months ago with the kids, and decided to go again by ourselves to see the fall colors. So we drove north and took our time. We drove to Eagle River, then Eagle Harbor, and finally to Copper Harbor. We also drove up to Brockway "Mountain" and were on top of the world (the Keweenaw world, that is). It seemed like you could see forever! The views were spectacular, particularly right when we were there, as the sun was setting over Lake Superior. We took some photos, though I'm sure they hardly do justice to what we saw. It was actually rather chilly this particular day (low 40s), and the wind was gusty, so we would've stayed out longer, but man, I was cold! (I'm sure it won't get much colder than that this winter, either....) :) We went to dinner afterwards, and, thank goodness, the BYU football game was on a big screen TV so we could watch. ;) I am somewhat relieved that BYU is not having the best season thus far because Jared isn't quite as much of a diehard then (so he says as well). Anyway, enjoy the views!

Unplugged, Part II

Well, my first post on this topic talked about how we had decided not to subscribe to satellite tv when we moved here. Mostly because we didn't want to waste all kinds of time watching tv, and because Oliver would really turn into a beast when it was time to turn off the tv. (I'd like to say that that's a characteristic of a 4 year old--having difficulties with transitions, but I think he's like his momma and could watch tv endlessly...). Anyway, the kids started off doing really well, playing with toys that hadn't been played with for a while, and generally being more creative with their play time. And I'm VERY HAPPY to say that things are STILL going very well!! The kids run downstairs and instead of whining to watch something on tv, they get out Legos or books, or some other toy. And they play together so much, and come up with (I think) very creative things to do with their toys. Pretend play has reached a whole new level. Here are some examples...

This is in the girls' room. There were 3 different "fort" areas going on. Eva had a restaurant and kitchen, Oliver had a garage and bedroom, and Lucy had some little area. Eva had her cd player over in hers to provide "mood music", and all kinds of little plates with play food on them. This fort, however, doesn't hold a candle to ones that we did a couple months ago, and I wished I had taken a picture. Oliver's whole room was a fort! I loved it. I think I would've thought that so neat as a kid!

Eva and Oliver had taken a lot of the dollhouse furniture and set it up on the stairs by the window and for some reason it was more fun to play with it there. They made separate little sections of living area. I loved it--I told them to leave it up for a while (and fortunately, no one biffed it on the stairs while it was up).

Ah, play doh! I try to bring it out every once in a while, because boy, it occupies them for quite a while. This time they made a whole bunch of little villages and cars that they put on paper plates.

Here is their restaurant. They had spaghetti, cherries (lots of cherries, for some reason), tacos, and burritos, too. Again, Eva had her CD player to provide mood music, and at one point, everyone had aprons on while cooking. Behind them is the fort Eva made. She had a small stool in there with a napkin on it (for her table--she then had a little snack there), and some books to read (with a flashlight, of course!), and of course, some stuffed animals to share the time with.

Needless to say, I don't think we're going to be going back to TV anytime soon. Granted, we do have a Netflix account, (and I LOVE it!). We use it for our family movie night on Fridays and the kids do watch a Diego, Dinosaur train, or SuperWhy! now and then. Sanity does need to be preserved, after all!!

Spiders, anyone?

So, here in Hancock, there are a lot of spiders. Not just itsy bitsy spiders (ha! I couldn't resist that one!), but REALLY BIG, HAIRY spiders. At first, we just saw them in the basement. My basement resembles a dungeon, I think mostly because it has a stone foundation, so none of the walls are perfectly flat--there's curves all over the place, but also because the ceiling is low and there's more than a couple of dark corners. So I wasn't surprised to see spiders down there. But I was surprised by the sheer SIZE of them. I've really never seen spiders this big (except for tarantulas, but who has seen them in person?--okay, BESIDES the one at the library?). The spiders in my basement have to be 2 inches big, which doesn't sound like much, but when you see them every time you go downstairs, they can be pretty intimidating! But still, I wasn't too much bothered by them...until they started to creep upstairs! We saw one in the dining room, and then the biggest one yet in the girls' bedroom (he later became Oliver's pet for a while, named Spikey), and then now we see them almost EVERY DAY! Yikes! I still can't quite get used to the sight of them, though. There's just something creepy about seeing something crawling on the floor out of the corner of your eye. Even creepier--a friend who has lived here for a while (and who is fond of these critters, if you can imagine that!) said the other day--"they'll disappear for a while, but I think they start hatching in February, so you'll see more then,"....gulp! More?

This was Oliver's pet spider, Spikey. I know he doesn't LOOK that big, but really, he was! Anyone who saw him was really creeped out!

Surprise day #3!

We got the idea to do letterboxing from some friends of ours and decided to give it a whirl on Labor Day. Letterboxing is similar to geocaching (sp), except it just uses good old fashioned clues instead of a GPS (which is good since we don't have a GPS to start with!). I think you are supposed to find a box at each location with a theme related stamp of some sort. You then use this stamp in your own notebook or binder to document your journey and I think leave a stamp of your own. So we looked up a place to hike and were on our way. It was amazing how much more interesting a hike becomes when you're following clues and searching for a park bench or a swamp or a pond with lily pads. Everything takes on a whole new meaning! It was really a lovely hike--nice soft path, and tons of birch, pine, maple and oak trees. There were even a few plaques with tree identifiers, so now I can tell the difference between a red and a white pine. I'm sure you're dying to know--just ask! Here are some photos of our first experience

Arriving at the trail head

I love this picture..

...and this one, too.

Searching for the box (which was supposed to contain a bear stamp, I think). But, sadly, we never found it!

General horsing around (actually, Daddy was giving me bunny ears in the hopes of getting an authentic smile...I think it worked!)