Tower of Chocolate

On Ben's actual birthday, we had cupcakes.  But they were just what was leftover from the cupcakes I made for his class.  They were made from a box and covered with stuff from a tub.  The real birthday cake show was today.  

You know she couldn't let it go.  You know that she couldn't make a cake called "mudslide cake", even by those who ate and loved it, and leave it at that.  If at once you don't succeed, bake, bake again!

Today was the day Mom redeemed herself and yet again attempted to make the (in)famous 4 layer chocolate cake.  A cake that Ben has been talking about all year long.  

She came.  

She saw.

She baked.

And it was amazing.

And He's 6

Well, he had a good run, but between the arrival of Isaac and actually turning 6 years old, I guess Ben isn't my baby anymore.  This year in Kindergarten he has undergone a transformation from cute little preschool kid to leggy, independent man.  He is quite knowledgeable on many topics and has theories about pretty much everything else.  He is still our introvert, but he has also made several friends which is notable since this is the first time he has had friends who were actually his age.  Ben is very particular about clothing: only one type of sock will do and he always tucks in his shirts and wears a belt.  Generally he follows suit and wants to play with whatever type of toy his older brothers are into.  And he can hold his own and doesn't let them push him around....too much.  He has recently become more interested in reading and has even started reading a little bit during family scripture time.  Ben is quick to laugh and quick to kiss the little brother who unceremoniously removed him from his position as the "youngest".  He still has that full-body laugh of a little kid.  And since we are all rather fond of him, I think we'll keep him.

Super Saturday

Yesterday was a super Saturday.  There was art.  There was water.  There was sugar.

Lots of sugar.

But just to make sure that the boys would really, really appreciate the super parts of Saturday, it started with chores.  And then I could really, really appreciate the rest of the day because laundry was put away, the boys' bathroom was clean, and the basement toy collection was purged and organized.

Hooray!

First, and I have no pictures of this, was the annual Open House at the pool.  Free swimming and free goodies from local businesses.  Jason took the older boys in the pool and I took Isaac for a walk.  

We currently practice Divide and Conquer parenting - one of us gets the older boys and one of us gets Isaac.  And that is a pretty balanced situation actually.

Next and just down the street was the public schools' Art Fair.  Both Josh and Michael had art selected to go on display.  So when everyone was dry and hydrated, we drove over to check out their art. 

Josh's sketchbook.

Michael's butterfly.

Then we had our Spring Celebration.  We try to hold this as close to the first day of Spring as possible and usually have it outdoors.  However, since the actual first day of Spring (Friday) was a wet, muddy mess and Jason and I were running out of steam for the day, we just gave them their Spring baskets in the front room and then had family pizza/movie night.  Turns out it is the goodies in the baskets rather than the outdoor activities that they remember when the talk about it anyway.

We had them sit on the couch with their eyes closed so I could get pictures of their reactions to the stuff in/falling out of their baskets.

Ben loved the peeps.

Michael loved his Ice Age 2 movie.

And Josh just about died when he found his beef jerky sticks.

This year's baskets included:
-peeps
-shorts
-beef jerky sticks
-fruit roll-ups
-jump ropes
-balls that light up
-glow sticks

Josh got a Marvel Comics trivia box.  Michael scored the already mentioned Ice Age 2.  And Ben got an Angry Birds crash car.

And there was great rejoicing and stomachs that were much too full to eat pizza later that night.

Isaac and His Peeps

Sometimes they just check things out together.

Sometimes they smile at each other.

And sometimes they wear camo together.

Three Months

I have been trying to take a picture of Isaac with Michael on the same chair with Michael wearing the same shirt every month.  Just to give some continuity to the pictures.  The idea would be to do so every month for a year.  Michael is likely to grow some during that time, but I think he will still be a good frame of reference to see how much Isaac grows over the course of a year.

This month was a little hectic.  I didn't get around to taking the picture until after church and right before dinner.  Michael had worn the shirt just a day or two ago while cleaning rocks in the tub (don't ask) so he had to dig it out of the dirty clothes and it was rather damp.  So he wasn't very happy about putting it on.  But of course, he can still fake a smile.  I made the mistake of taking the pictures right when Isaac woke up from a nap, apparently starving and with a full diaper.  Oh, and not happy.  Isaac cannot fake a smile.  The first picture I took is below and I include it because I think it is HILARIOUS.  (Yes, I may have issues.)  This is real life, people.

The next picture is more like what I was hoping for.  Nice smile on Michael and a relatively calm three month old.

After a bottle and diaper change, Isaac was in a much better mood.  Please forgive the shininess of his face in picture below.  I cover him in vaseline every chance I get to try to help his eczema.  It seems to work, but he often gives off an unnatural shine in any pictures and even more so if the flash goes off.

At three months, Isaac is a big fan of his play mat.  Here he is looking up at his favorite toy - a multicolored sun.  He had the longest conversation of his life with it yesterday.  Far longer than any conversation he has had with a human.  I don't know what they were talking about, but based on Isaac's face it was all incredibly happy stuff.

We are in a much better place sleepwise these days.  Although, I hate to actually say it and jinx us.  Funny how superstitious I get when dealing with a baby as there is no way to predict what he is going to do.  In many ways, we have hit a brief golden spot of baby life - he is very smiley and loves people and yet is in no way mobile yet.  When I look around our townhouse and think about him being on the move, I cringe.  In the meantime, the boys still enjoy smothering him with love (emphasis on the word 'smothering' - we are still working on the concept of personal space) and they mutually entertain each other.  I love that they love him and I hope it lasts when he reaches the Dr. Destructo phase.  

I would like to say that life is returning to something resembling normal over here, but I have to admit that is probably a long way off.  I have discovered that four children may be one or two too many for me.  (Ha!)  In the meantime, we'll just enjoy our not-so-much-a-blob-anymore Isaac.

Bloopers

I recently got a new toy.  I use it to torture my children.  Because, yes, they do consider it torture to sit still and give me nice smiles when they'd rather be playing.

But don't worry about my kids,  They get their revenge.  My SD card is filled with pictures like those below as my kids let their not-so-inner crazy out for the camera.  

I think Ben is casting a spell on Isaac in this one.  Or getting ready to massage his face.  Either way, Isaac doesn't look too thrilled at the prospect.

I asked Josh to smile like he would for a pretty girl and got this charming shot.

Ben wanted to rest his arms on the railing like Josh, but it looks like both of his shoulders have been dislocated.

I can only assume that Michael is trying to imitate the face on his shirt here.

And then there is this sweet boy.  He doesn't know how to be anything but cute for the camera.  I hope it lasts.

Pinewood Derby

Last night was our pack's pinewood derby.  Josh's last.  Michael's first.  And after last year's debacle (Josh's car didn't even cross the finish line when it raced), Jason vowed that things would be different this year. 

The Miller Guide on How Not to Come in Last Every Time:

Step 1: Start working on the cars earlier than 2 days before the race.  Somehow making pinewood derby cars has never made the priority list.  Even for the boys.  We would ask Josh to work on his, but he never seemed interested.  Coming in last in every race last year fixed that.

Step 2: The internet (more specifically, YouTube) is our friend.  Jason found some videos on how to make your car faster and we watched them for a Family Home Evening activity.

Step 3: Buy tools/hit up friends who have tools for help.  I am sure Jason would love to have some wood working tools.  But, we have no garage.  What we do have is a kind friend with tools who cut the cars for us.  Jason also bought a battery pack for a drill Grandpa gave him.  I am not entirely sure what he and the boys did with the drill, but I believe sand paper was involved.

Step 4: Use your snow days wisely.  If you can plan to have snow days right before the pinewood derby, you are golden.  Even more so if Daddy has snow days with you.  You are stuck in the house anyway, why not be productive?  This way the prep doesn't actually cut into your otherwise busy schedule of playing Pokemon, Bakugan, or Legos. 

Step 5: Functionality over aesthetics.  The boys did decorate their cars in a manner pleasing unto them.  However, we don't have a scale at the house, so the extra weights to get them up to 5 ounces couldn't be added until race day.  At which point, Jason glued the weights on the cars in the best place for speed regardless of what decoration was underneath.  That strategy definitely paid off and the boys had no complaints with the results.

Some pics from the evening's festivities:

Jason with the glue gun of power.

Michael and his BFF,

Our pack.  Yes, Josh is wearing a mask.  We are currently experiencing a never ending cycle of the stomach bug.  That morning it was Josh's turn (in the school clinic no less), but he was feeling much better by the evening.  It was killing me that he would have to miss his last pinewood derby, so we compromised by having him wear a mask and giving him strict instructions not to touch anyone else for the evening.

Our awesome leader made these very cool prizes for the races.

A snazzy collection of cars.  Ours are the ones with the washers glued on top.

Michael cheering on his car.

Ben watching his car lose the sibling race.  Jason made some changes to the distribution of the weights after this race and the car was much faster.  It turns out that, despite the best laid plans, we did not bring enough weight to bring all the cars up to 5 ounces.  So, Jason ran out to the car to find any loose items he could to glue on to Ben's car.  It was a bit of a hodgepodge.

Tie breaker race for 2nd and 3rd place.

Michael proudly displaying his First Place award.

Josh took Second Place.  This far surpassed our expectations.  Jason said afterwards that his only goal had been to help them so they wouldn't come in last.  We were all thrilled when they took First and Second.  Here is a picture of the top three and the cubmaster.

After all the official races were done, we raced all the boys' cars together.  From left to right: Ben, Michael, Josh.

This is the only picture I got of all three of them and it was at the end of the race of their cars together.  Sadly, I caught Ben's hand in an unfortunate and inappropriate position.

The boys all had a great time.  We were so lucky to have great leaders who put together a wonderful evening and a great daddy who spent lots of time helping the boys.