Busy Busy Busy....
The end of....June is such a busy month. If you have children involved in any extra curricular things this is the month most of them end. So that is some of what we have been experiencing.
Both the kids finished gymnastics. They both really enjoyed themselves and learned that they can do alot of things with persistence, effort and a "can do" attitude. The gym was close to where we live and both of thier classes ran at the same time, so I only had to watch and entertain Aaron for an hour. This is Megan going into a cartwheel.
Evan showing us his "sticky bug" abilities.
As part of Megan's gym circulum the grade 3 went for swimming lessons. She was able to finish off the last few requirements need to pass off her Level 2 in the Red Cross swimming program. Way to go Megan.
Megan also finished her first year of piano. I think that I can safely say that she is thoroughly enjoying learning to play the piano. However she doesn't enjoy me standing behind her ,while she is practicing, counting outloud. She has progressed very nicely and is currently into her second level book. She breezed through the Primer and Level One book this year.
Now I look forward to the break from all the organized activites that we participate in. I do enjoy being able to have my kids do all these things and develop thier talents. The summer is unstructured for us for the most part. We do lots of outside/festival/holiday trips and try to enjoy any and all warm summer days that lay ahead. Resting up for the on slaught of what is to come in the fall again.
Mid June
We saw these little cuties at the Strathcona Farmers Market and I thought that it would be fun to make with Megan and it was and they are fun and tasty. Recipe: 2 Nilla Waffers, 1 peppermint pattie, Green dyed coconut for the lettuce, Icing -- red for ketchup, yellow for mustard and just a dab of icing on the bottom of the pattie to hold in place. It is definately a sweet treat.
June 17
Father's Day....due to the mail strike our own father's didn't recieve anything but phone calls this year....however after a long day I managed to drag myself out and pick up some gifts for Spencer at Wally World. (I'll never do that again, it was so busy, ugh maybe next year I'll be better prepared).
He recieved this snake pencil/pen holder from Evan. This was an in school field trip that they did. They had a someone with a clay company come and teach the kids how to make them. Spencer was excited about all his homemade gifts, he currently has them on this desk at work.
We love Spencer and he is such a wonderful father to our children. They literally run to greet him at the door at the end of the day. He guides and directs our family, reads, plays, dances, takes us on outings and helps us all stay active and busy. We think that he is super. Just like his new Superman/Super Spencer shirt. He is my "Hot Lips" and got his favorite...Dad's Oatmeal cookies along with the Little Critter book, Just Me and My Dad.
Megan made him a collage of sorts that she made at school this was one of her art projects. She loves to be crafty and loves art.
June 24We celebrated Evan's 5th Birthday and had a pirate party! Arrr! Ahoy Mattes' We had a swashbuckling good time. So much fun you can have with that theme. Since he was turing 5 he got to invite 5 friends. Good fortune for him....all were able to attend. (We even had to move the day and time, due to my Grandmothers funeral, which we had to travel to later that same day).
We have been starting out each kids birthday with a box of a new sugary cereal that I don't usually buy. So of course he recieved a box of Captain Crunch. Which he did share so we all enjoyed a taste of the sweet goodness.
It felt like I drove all around town looking for predone invitations (trying to lighten my birthday planning load by buying somethings)...could I find any...No. So I gave in and made our own. They turned out really good. I had fun trying to make them look authentic by burning the edges. Those little pirate boys are some stickers that we found at Micheals.
I found this excellent and very doable pirate cake on the internet that I copied and this is what I came up with. The kids were all ohhh and ahhh when the cake came out all lit up. That was the best part. 
All the kids played really well together and a two hour party is enough fun for this mom.
Some kids even came dressed up as pirates....we dressed up to a bit.
We played:
- Pop up pirate....where you stick the swords into the barrel and the pirate in the top pops up...
- Hallway bowling
- Hot Wheels
- Sword fighting (each pirate that came got their own foam sword)
- Un-wrap the present game (wrap a small gift in mulitple layers of wrapping/paper, then the kids have to roll a 5 with a die, if they do then they get to use two wooden spoons to try and unwrap the gift, before someone else rolls a five...etc.)
- Pinata treasure chest. The kids had a blast each taking a few wacks at that. It lasted for quite a long time....we finally just took it inside and I broke the rest of it open and the kids scrambled for the treasure.
Of course opening the presents is always the highlight. He got some great new toys to play with and to add to his collection. A book, puzzle, hotwheels and a track, K'nex, and transformers galore. He specifically asked me for some gum...which against my better judgement I gave him...at 5 he doesn't get the concept of gum....he chew, chew, chew, swallows or throws it away then gets out another piece.(I've already given him the lecture about me finding gum where it should not be...namely on the carpet!)
He has some really good friends and they helped him celebrate.
Some things about Evan...
- He finished preschool and is so excited for Kindergarten (to go to Megan's school)
- He can write the letters of the alphabet
- He is learning some of the 100 sight words
- Likes to be outside running/playing at any park (must be a boy thing)
- He can joke and tease his siblings.
- When he needs to be he can whisper and be super gentle.
- He has a big heart and sensitive feelings
- He loves his older boy cousins, he use to call them his brothers
- Still has ultra blonde hair and bright blue eyes
- He loves snacks and sweets
- Is a bit of a picky eater and has a strong will
- We love him and are so glad that he is part of our family.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVAN!!!
