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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!

Hooligans go to The Magic House

In April, the Hooligans made their inaugural trip to The Magic House.  Lots of fun!  First, we hit the area of the "house" that was specifically meant for "the wee ones."  Age appropriate, easy to understand, not easy to break activities there.  You'll see photos of some of us standing in an authentic Blues hockey goal, Sam playing a shape game with rubberbands, the kids having loads of fun, and the water play table.

Then we visited Bob the Builder, and his cat.  Apparently we aren't avid fans of Mr. the Builder, because I didn't know he had a cat.  Anyway, the kids built and destroyed many things in this room.  Eva "drove" a bull-dozer; how appropriate, right?  They had their photo taken with Mr. the Builder and Eva was riding on the cat.  Niiiice.

We made it up to the rooftop "garden" where Patrick plucked lots of veggies and made stew for us.  Then Sam and Patrick disappeared behind a wall in the mystery area.  I'm not kidding here.  I couldn't figure out how to get the darn wall to open so I could get back there!  Eva and I were laggards because we had to make a bathroom stop.  The Magic House really made her comfortable and if I remember correctly, she pooped (in her pull-ups) 3 times.  Oh what fun!  Sorry if that's TMI, but I know the ins and outs of every bathroom at that place now!

Then we visited the governemnt section.  They had an oval office, a Senate room, and a court room.  Although my kiddos were a bit too young to appreciate much of this, Sam and I thought it was very cool.  My children both got their photos taken behind the presidential podium.  When they become POTUS, I'll get one of those two part frames and label it "at 5 years old" and "at 45 years old."  It will be a crowning jewel at my house (you know, the White House where I'm living taking care of my grandchildren).

Finally, we found the ball that makes your hair stand on end.  It was in an old closet!  Sam and I clearly remember this from our own childhood as the pinnacle attraction at The Magic House and here it was shoved in a back room. I thought that was mighty disrespectful.  Until I found out that it hasn't moved since it was placed originally.  I guess we were wee people back then and the whole experience was large, so the room was remembered that way too. 

We were exhausted by this point, and hungry too.  We found a nice patch of grass in the "backyard" of the House and enjoyed a picnic lunch.  Beautiful spring day.  We created some great memories and got some great photos to hold onto for future reference.  :)
Photos of our Day

Chalk on the House

A while back, we let the kids play out front. They enjoy "chalking" on the sidewalk and driveway. Well on this day, that was not good enough. I left them unsupervised for a few minutes...and boy did we pay for it. I'll let the pictures explain...

We laughed about the mess and tried our darndest to scold the kids in between our own giggles and smiles.  It was hilarious.  I was taking the kids out of town for the day for a baby shower the following week.  I asked Sam to have it gone by the time we returned from our day trip Although it was still pretty chilly outside, he hauled out the hose that had been put away for the winter and got all the chalk off the siding.  Surely our neighbors enjoyed our artful display for the week though...right?