Extended Quote of the Day

I keep thinking I'll remember a funny thing the kids said and add it later but then I inevitably forget it so I'm not letting that happen this time. Here are two gems.

I love that my husband's only response to me saying at 10:30pm that I'm giving into obesity as I reach for yet another pint of ice cream is "Yes! Finally. Now I don't have to feel guilty myself." I think he'd love me if I were 300 lbs. But I don't plan to test that theory.

Tonight as I was putting Desitin on Jarom for the worst diaper rash he's ever had, He was complaining about me blowing on him. I apologized sorrowfully, explaining that it would feel better soon. Just doing what any mom would do when they see their child in pain. And Jarom responds, "Don't say sorry. You didn't give me an ouchie."

Wow. Men really don't grow into Martians. They're actually born there. How else is it that my 2 year old responds to my sorry-as-in-I'm-sorry-for-your-pain-not-admitting-to-any-responsibility the same way my husband does?

And the training wheels come off...

Keahi reminded Iz on his birthday that turning 5 was when the training wheels on his bike were supposed to be removed......so on Monday for FHE we talked about the importance of healthy living and the word of wisdom and then went next door to the empty playground basketball court to practice what we preach. We spent about half an hour or so laughing and falling (Keahi only) and watching as Keahi slowing got the idea of balancing himself. I missed out on his only significantly long ride (maybe 10sec) but here are a couple cute ones.

And this past Monday I took Keahi by myself (Iz stayed home with a very cranky Jarom) and he got a lot better. Of course, I couldn't record it while I was helping him so you'll have to take my word for it. He stayed on for maybe a full minute. Excellent progress.

Make a Smilebox greeting

The Birthday Weekend--a Couple Weekends later..

Sorry...wrote the thing on time but it's taken me forever to get the pictures ready.

All day long Keahi informed every passing stranger that this was his first day as a 5 year old. The school security guard. Rushing parents. People walking their dogs. I think he may have canvased the entire block.

We didn't really do anything all that special on Friday. Besides the cupcakes at class which he told me were uber important, we just relaxed and I let him watch more shows than normal. After Iz got home we played at the school playground and ordered breakfast food as requested by the birthday boy from 5th Ave Diner (plus a cheddar jalapeno burger for the parents--sooooo yummy). At first Keahi insisted that I make the pancakes and he didn't want to go to the restaurant. But when I explained that it was the playground and restaurant or no playground with homemade pancakes, he quickly opted for ordering in. But made sure I still intended to make the all important whipped cream. Don't ask me why he's holding up onions in the pictures. He doesn't even like them.

Dinner was great and then came the mound of presents. I think my mom forgot that she'd already sent his birthday gifts along with his Christmas presents because she sent even more. Jarom kept pointing to boxes and asking, "Is this Jarom's?" Eventually, I ran around grabbing books and treats that popo had sent previously and putting them into one large box which he clutched tightly and repeated declared, "This is Jarom's!" Keahi was pretty good about letting Jarom help open his presents as well. Definitely the highlights were the Leapster game consol and the trumpet. We were pretty impressed that after a few minutes he was actually able to buzz mostly correctly. This is going to be fun. Loud. But fun. Our poor neighbors.

The next day continued the birthday celebration with a daddy-Keahi trip to the Brooklyn Children's Museum for the early paleontologist lab I signed him up for. He loved digging in the sand for "fossils" and came home with a dino imprint in some pseudo plaster of paris mixture--which still hasn't hardend properly, but smells "great" according to Keahi because of the coffee grounds. Later Keahi and I went to the park early to set up for his party. He was a great helper blowing up the balloons and drawing his name in bubble letters on the table paper covering. I'd figured since it was outside with plenty of room to run and right next to the biggest playground in the park we wouldn't need many games. The kids colored on the birthday table sign and ran about, screaming about super heroes and whatnot. I tried to organize a couple of relay games with limited success. The balloon race (holding it between your legs) was hysterical and they kept popping and we'd have to run in replacements. And then with static electricity one got stuck to a girl's backside and she did a little dog-and-tail routine trying to remove it. All while trying to win the race. The egg and spoon relay was more straight forward but the kids had lost their interest about halfway through and the last kid had noone running along side him. But he didn't seem to mind. I really wish I had pics or vids of these relays but Iz hadn't gotten back with the ice so I didn't have the camera. The pinata was a success in that everyone got to have a turn. But it took the aggressive batting of one of the dads to finally shower the kids in candy. I guess I should have followed the online instructions and used a paper bag instead. Nah. I think the dad would have been disappointed if he hadn't been able to take a swing at it.

Costco's sheet cake was surprisingly tasty and moist. Keahi had picked out a carrot cake with apricot mousse filling (and he giggle a lot about mousse and how funny it would be if you took out an S and had mouse filling) instead of the chocolate one with balloons that I was sure he'd want. And since I forgot to make the veggie platter, this cake provided us with both fruit and vegetables. Birthday style, anyway.

Afterward, we carted all of Keahi's new presents home and had another Christmas morning moment. Jarom and Keahi tore through all the purple tissue paper (was there a sale on purple gift wrappings I didn't know about) and got all ecstatic about the new games, cars, and action toys. We've already used the growing crystals kit from Sadie and we're watching it grow on our window sill. We've also used the tv microscope from Popo to look closely at the crystals forming as well as Keahi's hair and up daddy's nose. We've made a borax crystal snowflake and recorded our observations in Keahi's new journal. It's been a fun week.

Oh, and on Monday the present extravaganza continued with one of his friends giving him a late gift at school (some kind of Japanese cartoon card game with action figures that I'm never going to learn or teach Keahi how to play) and a box from popo and Kervin and Mary with battery operated Donald (which goes with the Douglass from Jack) and bathtime squeeze trains that have made bathtime equally more fun and more difficult to end. Wow, this really is the birthday that never ends. Yesterday was his first day not opening presents. And it'll be a while before he's read and played with everything he's gotten.

I think back to when we first moved to Grenada with our 4 books and 4 toys and how content Keahi was rotating through them all every single day. And then how joyful he was when he turned 2 and his book/toy count more than doubled. Now I can't even begin to count in my head all the toys and books they have and sometimes I think life was simpler with just the 4. But, don't get me wrong, we're all grateful for the generosity of our family and friends. Last year the only thing he requested besides a caterpillar birthday cake was homemade cards from his friends. How cool is it that this year Keahi received birthday cards in the mail (Aunty Robbie--just arrived, so cute!), by email (grandma and pa) and by text message (Uncle Kervin). What a lucky boy.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I Have a 5 Year Old!

I know, trust me to make the title all about me and not about this fantastic little man who's been counting down the days till the big event. Yesterday he told me "This is the last day I will be 4 years old." And this morning he didn't greet me as I'd expected with an announcement of this being the first day he's 5. Instead, in true Keahi fashion, he led with an observation of how he saw green sparks when he rubbed Hadda (the pink hippo Jarom got for Christmas from popo) and how that was electricity. Which then led to Jarom asking for a Sparkle--meaning the Wint-o-mint Lifesaver that I'd given to him weeks ago to show him the "lightning" in the dark when you crunch them.

I love watching my boys grow and seeing what's important to Keahi as he stretches himself into his new 5 year old status. Leading up to the big day, he reminded me about how important it was to bring cupcakes to his class because everyone gets cupcakes on their birthday. He had previously decided that the training wheels would come off his bike when he turned 5 and then he would then need a helmet because that's what it said on his bike. And he's expecting to now receive 5 of everything he used to get only 4 of before. Like 5 smartie candies. Or 5 jelly beans. And whatever treats we ration out like hypocrites as we gorge ourselves in semi-secret.

And my new favorite discovery of Keahi's growing awareness of his place among his equally mature peers: nosepicking. He'll pick his nose till it bleeds at home but never does it at school in front of his friends. I think he saves up all his picking urges to indulge himself in the privacy of his own home because his mother telling him to stop is far less embarrasing than his teacher saying the same thing. It's nice to know where I rank.

But I digress. My nosepicking, brilliant, daring, budding scientist of a son is now 5. What a trip.

I'll finish this post tomorrow after his party. I'm praying for good weather and that my first attempt at a pinata functions as intended. I hope Keahi is happy with the end result. It took me hours and I didn't even add on the pectoral fins as he'd requested because I was just done. And I was out of tissue paper. So there.

Thank You Aunty Tammy!

The boys have definitely enjoyed their Christmas present of Thomas train tracks. I have to say I'm pretty impressed with Keahi's designs. You can't tell from the picture but there are 3 bridges, one of them pretty long which he supported with blocks.

And while I'm giving thanks, there's a secret Santa out there that read the blog about Keahi wanting to play the trumpet and then went ahead and sent us a trumpet that arrived today. There was no note so I don't know who to thank--except that I know it can't be from my mom because there was no QVC logo. Whoever you are, YOU ROCK!

Cold Spell

So right after having 50 degree weather, we got a late season snow storm on Monday. Tons of school were even closed. Including Keahi's, whcih I didn't discover until after getting the kids ready and out the door and realizing that there was no crowd on the sidewalk as usual and then seeing the lack of footprints from the gate to the building and then finally when we watched a lone mom and daughter try the locked door. But the kids still had a blast making snow angels on the basketball court and stumbling about in the snowdrifts. Later after Iz got home, we packed up some hotdogs and went to the park for our second sledding trip. This time the place was packed with tiny toddlers up to grandparents and every age in between. It was awesome. Jarom was quickly tapped out but he regained his enthusiam toward the end when he saw Keahi come down on daddy's back. And he loved wandering about by himself and eating as much snow as he could get away with. Keahi's one solo run didn't go as smoothly as our first sledding experience, but it didn't deter him in the least.

It was so much fun, it made me realize what people were talking about back home when they'd tell me how they missed the seasons on the mainland. Now I get it. Snow is magical and beautiful and every other sappy, cliche description I'd ever heard before. So we can't play in the sand anymore. We still burried Iz. And I suppose eating snow is better for Jarom than eating sand. Oh, and did I mention that they use the old Christmas trees as mulch in the park? Pine scented snowy hills. Color me happy.

Jarom's new school

Well, now that it's been a month since it started, I figured I ought to write about the non-joy school (in that we aren't doing the official Joy School thing that you pay for online, not that it isn't full of joy....most of the time) that some of us moms organized and how much Jarom loves it. Thursday is officially his favorite day of the week.
There are nine of us participating which means we each only have to teach or be the assistant occasionally and simply drop off our kid all the other times. I'm actually pretty excited for my turn. I have the letter J and we're doing jumping jacks and a jellyfish craft. Plus J-arom ought to love that day as well. He certainly loved his first day. For the rest of the week--and yes, he still does it now, a month later--he kept saying he was an Ant and crawling around looking for the anthill and wiggling his antennae. He still can't remember what the welcome song is--which is bad news for me because that means I don't know it for when it's my turn to teach--but he sure got fixated on ants, thank you Julie very much. And he can't stop talking about "his" preschool and he feels like such a big boy. I would have thought he'd enjoy Barns just as much but somehow that didn't make much of an impression. This week's Catterpillars was another big hit. Maybe it's a boys and bugs thing. He didn't do his craft at school so we did it together at home. I think it turned out pretty well. Of course, his big brother helped out as well--dictating the color pattern and the use of wacky tac to adhere the puffs.

I don't have any pics of the preschool (which we hold at the chapel since none of us has a place big enough for nine kids), but here are some from people who actually remember their cameras. One mom took solo pics of each kid to use in the school welcome house and the job chart. I can't wait to see them. These kids are so bright and adorable and I'm so glad Jarom gets to be a big kid with his buddies.