A week later....a Star Wars birthday

This time last Friday night, Glenn and I were recovering from the trauma that is having ten seven-yr old BOYS over to your house for a two hour birthday party.  From the moment Will's friends and classmates arrived, it was pure chaos and we were in no way prepared for the level of energy in the house with that many seven yr old boy brains working together.  Truthfully, I wasn't as prepared for the party as I should've been.  Work has been pretty crazy during the last few weeks, we've had all sorts of kid activities and we've been running four different ways.  But, I planned a few activities, ordered some pizza and made lightsabers out of pretzels and candy melts. 


The partygoers paused long enough to take a bite out of their lightsabers and/or whack each other with them.

For the record, Will had invited his whole class - fourteen kids all together, plus a few other boys from school and friends.  None of his female classmates joined in the festivities and after witnessing the party for ten minutes, I completely understood why.  Even brave little Reina hung back and stayed out of the craziness. The party was during dinnertime and we started off with pizza and a big feast laid out on a Star Wars tablecloth.  The each took a bite of pizza, a swig of soda and then they were off and running.  I hadn't planned any outside activities but we quickly sent them that way even though it was a little chilly.  They ran and ran and ran and ran around the front yard.  Someone would come in crying from time to time and the parent in charge inside would patch things up.  The 'outside' parent kept kids within the confine of the yard and rescued footballs from the top of the tree.  Finally, everyone was cold enough to come back inside and they took a few more bites of pizza before it was time for cake and ice cream.  The two hour party felt like it lasted two days but the most important part was that Will had a great time.  He kicked off the next year with fun friends and a happy celebration.  And nobody ended up bleeding.  For very long. 

Seven: A letter to the birthday boy

Dear Will:  This week, you turned seven.  Seven!  You told Aunt Vicky that it's just nine more years until you can drive her car, but let's focus on seven for now. I took donuts to school on your actual birthday and you were the most popular kid in your class.  I think your pretty popular on a normal day, but the giant sugar bomb certainly helped.  You woke us up that morning at 5:45 with the announcement that you were ready for your birthday presents.  You waited (mostly) patiently while the rest of the house stirred and find our way downstairs.  You opened up a pile of presents from us and your grandparents. Aunt Vicky and Uncle Matt had taken you shopping the Sunday before and you picked out a retina-piercing green hat and matching shirt which you wore on St Patrick's Day.  It was definitely green! 

Will and Reina on St Patrick's Day.  The wearing o' the green was definitely in effect. 

Will, I know I write this every year, but you have grown up so much in the past year.  You still love your Legos and Star Wars, but you also watch more sports with me and plan on hunting with your dad this spring and fall.  I love that you love football and basketball, my only problem is that when our favorite team loses, I have to comfort a disappointed kiddo and fight the urge to stomp around the house in tears.   I promise that I'll never tell you, "It's only a game!" and I hope that we'll have more championships to watch in the near future.  

Will and his birthday shirt.  We'll buy the Super Bowl version next year! 

Will, you are one smart kid.  You don't always focus on the academic part of school, not when they are so many fun things going on, right?  But let's face it, you are figuring things out in that big brain of yours.  You spelled 'leprechaun' on the first try last week when we were working on your spelling words. I was so impressed that I sat down right away to email your teacher and I had to double check that I was spelling it correctly!  You remember spelling words and math facts and you argue with me over the correct way to do your homework.  While you'd prefer school to be a bigger mix of recess, PE and swordfighting, when you put your mind to something, there isn't anything you can't figure out. 

Will and our weekly trip to the library.  Today's selection including a Lego book, Star Wars encyclopedia, an easy reader version of one of the Narnia stories and the first Captain Underpants book.  We also placed a hold on a Minecraft book because that's the newest app on the Ipad.  Yeah, I still don't know what it is. 

Will, you told me this week that you don't ever want to leave Wyoming and want to always live near your family.  I won't hold you to that because I think you have many adventures waiting for you out there but it does show what a sweet kid you can be.  You help around the house (most of the time) and have your own chores.  You are kind to your sister (most of the time) and when the two of you are getting along, you can keep each other occupied for hours playing soldier/Star Wars/Ninja/queen/whatever.  You sit next to your baby cousin and patiently hold her hand until she gets bored and then you make her smile and giggle.  You are growing like a weed and I fear I'll blink and you'll be taller than me.  Keep on going, big kid, 2014 has a lot of fun in store for you.  Happy birthday Will! 

Butler

A couple of weekends ago, the kids were running around the living room giggling and calling each other "butler."  This continued for a while.  "Hey butler...."  "You're a butler!"  Listening to this, I finally realized that they were calling each other butler because it had the word Butt in it.  During a break from all the giggling, we had the following conversation.

Me:  Do you guys even know what a butler is?

Will and Reina:  (blank stare)  Ummm no.

Me:  Well, in olden times a butler was someone who helped people get dressed, helped them serve their dinner, things like that.

Glenn tried to interject that butlers usually worked for wealthy people in big houses but the wheels were already turning and some people were losing interest in the conversation.

Reina:  (thinking for a minute). So are you a butler?

Just call me Carson.

Catching up



We are blissfully boring over here right now so I haven't had much to blog about.  Well, not really boring.  Both Glenn and I are swamped with work, Will is playing basketball on Saturdays, Reina has her dance class and there aren't many lazy days in between.  But I guess we wouldn't have it any other way?  Reina did tell me last week that she didn't to go to dance class anymore because she had learned everything.  Five weeks in a pre-dance class and she's an expert ballerina.  That bodes well for the future. 

 

Will's birthday is just around the corner and I'm in the midst of planning a Star Wars extravagana for fourteen first-graders.  Will wanted me to put on the invitation that guests were asked to arrive in all white - all the better to portray Jedi's and Clone Troopers - but I thought that dress code was a bit restrictive.  

 

Speaking of birthdays, Aunt Vicky sent me a few pictures from Reina's extravanganza and I have to put them on here - when was the last time there were at least three Pauleys in the same picture?  And look at the birthday girl's face.   

 

Would Madame like a selection of fromage to go with her tea? 

I think my Grandma would approve of her blue dishes being used for such a lively group.

Glenn went goose hunting this weekend so the kids and I were on our own.  The three of us went to a high school basketball game on Friday night to cheer on a friend's son. That night, Will woke me up  with a fever and general malaise.  He missed his basketball game but we did run a few quick errands, mostly because the amount of edible food in the house was shockingly low.  And by 'edible' I mean that we had no milk and a scarcity of snacks approved by Reina.  The rest of the weekend involved some housework, laundry, lots of couch snuggling and more animated movies than I care to admit.   Will is feeling better today and fingers crossed we all make it through the week without having to use sick leave. 

Skiing

Last weekend, we finally took the monsters skiing.  I had planned to take Will last year on one of the random school holidays but the day that we picked ended up being super windy and cold and I wasn't excited about the drive to the mountains.  This year, we planned to go a few Fridays ago but then Reina had been sick all week and I didn't think she'd have enough energy.  So, I waited a few days to see if Will was going to come down with the bug and when he didn't, we booked our reservation.  Saturday morning was cold and snowy, but this is Wyoming so we hopped in the car.  Glenn doesn't ski but he came with us to help corral everyone.  I was so glad he was there! 

 

I signed both kids up for a morning lesson. I thought they could learn a few of the basics from someone they weren't related to and I could have a few hours to ski on my own.  I hadn't skiied in many years, at least since Will was born and probably even a few years before that. I felt a little wobbly at first but it's just like riding a bike, even if the bike rider is no longer a flexible early 30-something. 

 

In line for the rentals.  Both kids were pretty excited to wear helmets and Reina particularly liked her goggles.  The ski boots took a little getting used to but these two were troopers. 

All suited up and ready to go.  It was cold but these tough Wyomingites didn't let a little wind stop them.  Reina wasn't having a meltdown in this picture - just stretching or folding herself in half or something like that. 

Lunchtime!  Look at those rosy cheeks!  It's not a sunburn - it's a windburn! 

 The kids' lessons wrapped up around lunchtime and we all met inside for a little while.  The wind was really howling at this point and I thought we'd probably have to head home soon.  The kids didn't ride the ski lift during their lesson so I asked Will if he wanted to try it once.  Well, Reina wanted to go to so I took her first and Glenn waited at the bottom with Will.  As Reina and I got off the lift and started to head downhill, she let out a loud and joyful "YEEEEEHAWWWWW" and we sailed down the bunny hill.  I took Will up the next time and when we came down, Reina wanted another turn.  So did Will. The lift only holds two riders at a time so I found a nice teenager to ride with Will and I took Reina up.  Will headed down the hill before I could even get off of the lift (who needs parents!) and even ended up riding the lift by himself one time (not sure my heart has still gotten over that one).  After a few more turns, Reina was officially cold so she went inside with Glenn for hot chocolate and Will and I took the lift up the big mountain for a few runs.  On our last trip down, Will and I had a wreck and while it was relatively minor, it was a good time to call it a day. 

After skiing - smiles from most everyone although everyone was in a good mood.  Reina had just had a glass of hot chocolate, french fries and a cookie while waiting with her dad.  Quite the negotiator, huh? 

Why can't we all smile at the same time?! 

The next day, one of us was very sore but we all had happy memories. I hope that we'll be able to go again before the snow melts.  With the way this winter is going, we may still be skiing in MAY so we'll probably have many opportunities.  In the meantime, we'll just keep finding new uses for our ski accessories.