Patrick Loves Horses!

I am working on getting us caught up on our photos and activity posting.  I'm not much of a scrapbooker, so maybe someday I'll print this blog with photos...

Anyway, so last year Patrick took a horseback riding lesson.  He LOVED it.  Below are a few pictures of Patrick with his horse, Chippy.  Chippy was not the most cooperative horse, but Patrick eventually got him to trot, slow down, and stop.  We're hoping to get him into another class soon.

Great Wolf Lodge 2011

This May the Hooligans made the voyage to Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City.  Gwen went with us and we had lots of fun.  Lots of swimming, eating yummy food, howling with the wolves, and zooming down the slides.  We'll let the photos do the talking here...

Great Wolf Lodge 2011 - make sure you view in full screen, comments in bottom left corner.  :)

Photo Card

Joy Plus Peace Christmas

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Our Sweet 5 Year Old - Patrick Joseph

Patrick’s 5^th birthday was momentous…I can’t believe that we have a 5 year old.  This was tough mentally because now we’ve got a “big kid,” not a little boy.  How did this happen?!

Anyway, Patrick was very excited about all the fun stuff we had planned.  He first celebrated in Mrs. Cannon’s class with a cookie cake.  He’s really into being a cowboy right now, so for this party, we did a horse.  They loved it!

Patrick celebrated his birthday with his friends at the firehouse in Alton.  They got to tour the firehouse (except they didn’t get to slide down the pole, sorry Katie B.).  The kids thought this was super cool.  We did a piñata.  Patrick went first.  Eva went last.  All the kids got to take a wack.  Fun stuff…except at the end I was left holding a headless dog.  Anyway, then we went back upstairs and opened presents and had cake and juice/milk.    Awesome party.

Finally, we celebrated Patrick’s birthday with our family and close friends.  I have to say, this is one of my favorite things we do.  Having our closest people with us to celebrate my kids is so special.  There is so much love, it makes my heart happy.  We had this party at our house.  Sam got out the bounce house -and all the yard toys.  Patrick, Casey and Eva had lots of fun playing.  All the grownups visited and played too.  We had a nacho bar…yummy!  Sam made a Buzz Lightyear cake that was a ton of work, but looked cool.

Overall, our big boy had a lovely birthday with lots of special people. 

Lots of Birthday Photos Here!

Jammies - 2nd Generation

Above is a photo of Eva wearing a pair of pajamas that I had as a little girl.  My grandparents got them for me in Hawaii.  Sissy looks so cute and sassy.  :)

One last kiss...

So tonight I kissed my pre-schooler and tucked him in one last time.  Tomorrow he will wake up a kindergartener.  How this happend, I have no idea.  He was a baby just a few months ago.  He still needs me to kiss his boo boos and needs lots of loving at night.  He was scared tonight, a little nervous.  He said, "but I don't even know how to read yet mommy."  I assured him that the other kids probably didn't know how to read either.  That's what he's there to learn.  I told him it would be a lot like Mrs. Cannon's class. 
We went to his classroom today for the first time.  Met his teacher, played with kids in his class, many of whom he already knew.  He was more comfortable afterwards.  His classroom is beautiful.
I know this is a new phase for Patrick.  I can see that he's apprehensive and a worrier, but once he gets to know people, he has so much fun.  He is smart and well spoken.  He is so sweet and compassionate.I'm so proud of him and know he'll do great. We love him so much.
While being the mom and dad of young children is hard and sometimes exhausting, I know I will miss these sweet, sweet days.  I love those two little turkeys so much.

A Day at the Park, April 27, 2011

I swear I'm working on getting caught up.  Patrick starts school next week and our summer fun is winding down.  I, Mama Hooligan, hereby swear to get our summer blogged before Halloween.  Not so ambitious sounding, but trust me, we've been busy! 
On this day, Sam and I took the kids, the human ones and the furrier ones, to Gordon Moore Park.  While Sissy is only two, she is riding a bicycle like a pro.  Patrick LOVES riding his bicycle. 

Click Here to see our afternoon of fun!