Garage Sale

So on Saturday, my neighborhood had its annual Garage Sale, a factoid I only remembered when I went out in my PJs to get Friday's mail!!  Brad went out to get some coffee and came back with this tractor.  Now,  I should mention - asking price was $10 and it was broken!  Not entirely, my man is rather handy & was able to fix it, but did he negotiate this price?  No - he paid the 10 bucks.  So if you have some semi-junk to sell, you should seriously consider inviting Brad over to take a look at it.  Oh and if you do, don't sing "Daddy bought a broken toy" as this will really infuriate him...

He actually made me go back over to the same house to check out the clothes.  Now, I'm all for hand me downs - Kyra has benefitted from quite a few of Mia's clothes.  But buying from a stranger????  No, I think not - just sounds gross.  I went over there anyway, because Brad said it would be a good way to meet some neighbors.  Well, let's just say that $20 later, I walked away with some adorable things for Kyra & some great play clothes for Henry (I mean, 75 cents for a Batman t-shirt?  You can't beat that).  

You're wondering if I negotiated to get this price??  Um, not exactly... although the only reason I bought any of the clothes for Kyra was because she said they were half price, so kind of!!!  

Little White Lie Update

I took Katie's advice - last night I told Kyra, "I'll be back in a few minutes to check on you." She said, "OK." I no longer consider this a lie because I'm being vague and everyone knows a few minutes can be 2 or 30... 5 was just too precise.

Henry was too tired last night to catch my slip o' the tongue. Normally he wants to know exactly how many minutes, and often wants me back in 2. I say 10, and we compomise at 5.

I'm feeling better about this... although I don't know why it bothered me so much. I mean I just fed Henry a load o' garbage about the Tooth Fairy and last month, the Easter Bunny & 3 months before that, Santa Claus!!!!

Little White Lie

Remember a few posts ago, I wrote of the bedtime routine for Kyra?  How we read, rock & then I put her down awake & leave?  This is totally true... I just left out one crucial step.  The Little White Lie.  Each night after I put BOTH children in their respective beds, I tell them I love them, I'll see them in the morning and "I'll be back in 5 minutes to check on you."  

It's a true fact that I check on both children before I go to bed - I have to turn off Henry's globe light & be sure he is under his covers.  I have to be sure that Kyra's blanket is on her and remove whatever she asked to bring to bed with her (normally a book).  The lie part is that I don't come back in FIVE minutes... depending on how tired I am and what's on TV, I come back in 30 minutes, 60, sometimes 90 minutes later.  Of course, they never know and they never ask.

But I feel kinda bad about this - because each night when I say these words, I know it is a lie and I know that I don't want to lie to my children... but is it a lie if they never find out?

The Last Party

So yesterday we had the last of Henry's birthday parties.  This one was for the family - my mother, grandparents, aunt & brother all came down from Rochester to help us celebrate.  Brad's parents, sister, brother-in-law & niece came too.  And since my good friend Jeanine, her husband & two boys (who both differ in age from my children by 6 months) were driving through NC on their way back to Rochester after having spent a week in Orlando, they stopped by too!

The party, while mostly catered by Papa John's, was a HUGE success if I do say so myself!  I made 2 beautiful salads (one fruit, one lettuce) and the cake was a hit as well.  Henry had a great time playing with Tyler and Kyra had her very first ice cream cone, which as you can see, she enjoyed too!!

When we were done opening presents, Henry said, "Well, my birthday is over."  Yes, thankfully, it finally is!!

Red Robin

To celebrate Henry's actual birthday, we took him to his favorite restaurant for dinner, "Red Robin."  We were in luck, because The Red Robin himself makes appearances on Tuesdays & Thursdays from 5:30 to 8pm.  Henry and Kyra were SO excited when RR walked around the dining area.  They said "HI" to him at least 1000 times, gave him hugs & kisses & waved to him all night long.  

The BEST part was when RR brought out a sundae and the staff sang Happy Birthday to Henry.  He initially commented that he didn't like cherries, which prompted a mini-lecture from yours truly on manners & being grateful... but as I was paying the bill, a much smaller amount compared to the 250 I gave to Monkey Joe's last weekend, my precious son said and I quote, "Mommy, this is the best birthday party I ever had!"

When we got home, I let him open one of his presents (he'll get the other one on Saturday, when we host both sides of the family for his family party).  It was a Tar Heel football outfit, complete with helmet, which he immediately put on and then staged a Carolina vs. Michigan football game in the hallway!!  

I still can't believe my first born child is 5 years old!!  I don't know where the time has gone.  When I put him to bed last night, he said, "Are you sad that I'm getting big?"  I told him I sure was, to which he said, "That's OK Mommy.  I'll always stay with  you.  I'll be a painter when I grow up and I'll paint you something ever day and never leave."  Do you think he'll remember telling me that?  I know I will.

The Boy is Turning 5!

I can't believe Henry is going to be 5 tomorrow.... here are a few pictures of him through the years.

April 17, 2003

Sometime in 2003 - is it bad that I can't find a picture of him from his first birthday?  I think I used a real camera as opposed to a digital!   What was I thinking!!!

April 2005 - ignore the beer can in the background.  This was actually taken at his birthday party for the family... right before he had a meltdown from sensory overload and I had to put in a Thomas video & feed him french toast!  Good times.

April 2006 - his baby sister was only 5 weeks old and asleep in her car seat.

April 2007 - spent at Disney!!

Fizzy Tub Colors

So last week, I bought some new Elmo Bubble Bath & it came with 3 "Fizzy Tub Colors."  The tub colors come in red, yellow & blue and are these big tablets that dissolve in the water, and turn the bath water into whatever color you want to make.  My kids LOVE these things!!!  Every night I ask, "what color bath do you want to take today?"  We've made purple, green, orange plus the primary three and they are beyond excited to pick out their tablets & drop them in the water! 

I took a few pictures of bath time today so you could see - tonight was blue.  

The last pic was taken at an angle to avoid any inappropriate nudity!  :)

So then I put Kyra to bed.  Our routine is that we read a few books while sitting in the rocking chair together, and then we turn on our Baby Einstein Classical Music and "snuggle" for 2-3 songs (ie., I rock her).  Then I put her in her crib (awake mind you) and out I go.  Tonight after we turned on the music, she said, "Put Kyra in bed."  I said, "You don't want to snuggle?"  And she said, "No.  Put Kyra in bed."  

My heart as you can imagine, was broken... she didn't want to snuggle with me?  How is that possible?  She's only 2!  Or was this a sign, I wondered, that she was ready for a big girl bed?  She is after all, 2 years old & still in a crib!  As I put her in the crib, and covered her with the quilt that Mrs. Withee had made for Henry over 5 years ago, she said, "Kyra nuggle Mommy."  Then got up and reached her arms out to me.

And the world was once again as it should be!

Monkey Joe's

Today we had Henry's birthday party at Monkey Joe's for 10 of his closest friends!  If you've never been to MJs, well, you're lucky.  

It's an indoor bounce house!  A bunch of inflatable slides, and things to jump on, crawl through and jump over.  I do hope all the kids had a great time - I know Henry did and he was SO EXCITED when Monkey Joe himself showed up for some cake... Even Kyra enjoyed the festivities!

Mommy Weekend

So this weekend, Brad went up to the mountains with some friends to play golf and it was just me & the kiddies.  We had an interesting weekend to say the least.  It rained all day Saturday and that evening, Henry's friend from pre-school & his parents came to visit.  We ordered pizza as we all know I don't cook well... the visit turned in to Henry's first sleep-over as Jeffrey's dad fell down the stairs in our house & had to go to emergency to get checked out!  Thankfully, Steve was all right!

Sunday was much nicer of a day and after we all took a nap (Saturday was a late night and even though Henry fought me like I've never seen, even he feel asleep for an hour), we went outside to ride bikes.... well, some of us rode anyway.  Kyra was VERY happy to see her Daddy as you can see from the last picture!