Happy 6th Birthday to Zachary! Since my last post, we hosted a birthday party for Zachary at a local children’s museum. It was space themed and included a small craft/activity and a private planetarium show.
Despite a schedule conflict with a school activity, we had a pretty good turn out …44 people. I was prepared to pay additional admission, but the museum was very flexible about the number of guests. For lunch, we served Costco turkey rolls (didn’t go over well – lots left over) and cheese pizza (crowd pleaser – we ran out!) Capri Suns triumphed over bottled water – which I should have expected, but didn’t because Zachary’s not a fan of juice.
The hit food item was the custom made cake … my sister Sophie (and her friend Denise) made an outer space themed confection that got rave reviews from both adults and kids. And for party favors, we handed out glow-in-the-dark stars and fruit roll-ups. On the way home, Zachary said it was the “best birthday party ever!” Thanks to everyone who came … especially the out-of-towners!
In the evening, we went to Alex and Nicole’s for an impromptu playdate and brought the leftover rolls for dinner (because we are shameless like that.) We also brought a salad to justify eating extra portions of the homemade dessert Sam made.
Some fun work stuff … this month, I started a weight loss program at work. I haven’t exercised for about 7 years, and shortly after Calie was born, I plateau’d at ~150 pounds. I love food and I used my kids and working fulltime as an excuse to not exercise. I also used nursing as an excuse to eat more. In summary, I had a lot of excuses. My weight loss team at work is led by my manager – so I actually send him my weight every Friday (remember I am shameless?) My goal for the first month is to go to at least 3 classes (aerobics, Zumba, P90X, yoga, doesn’t matter) a week. No pictures here, and you should thank me for that!
Friday night, James and I left the kids at home with a babysitter (one of Zachary’s after school teachers) and went to a work celebration. It was really well done! There were 2 chocolate fountains, a huge cheese tower, a grilled vegetables tower, carving station (tri tip and barbecue pork sandwiches), as well as a table of Indian and Asian food. Yum! I think I over ate (okay, I KNOW I over ate) because I didn’t lose a single pound at the 2nd weigh-in. No amount of exercise could have made up for the number of spring rolls I consumed – I’m just glad I didn’t gain!
There was a raffle for super-upgraded computers and gift cards, but we didn’t win anything. They also set up a photo booth area and a room of gaming consoles to show off the new systems .
The next day, Zachary wasn’t feeling well, so I took Calie out for a few activities. Since Melissa was stuck in Europe on an extended business trip (Iceland volcano caused flight cancelations), Sam was playing the role of super dad. We met up with Alex and Nicole at the library for storytime and a Frisbee craft (with permanent markers!). We then went to Lowes to build a planter and bought some herbs to plant at home. By then, it was lunch time, so we headed to Kabob House.
The original plan was to come over to our place for a playdate, but with Zachary’s not feeling 100%, we didn’t want to chance getting other kids sick. Fortunately, he recovered in time for a daytrip on Sunday. We drove to Sebastapol to visit James’ parents. His sister was also visiting the area (for a wedding), so it was a chance for the cousins to play together again. The boys loved playing ball outside in the big grassy yard. Brandon was quite good at soccer, and Zachary had fun trying to keep up!
Midweek, we had Sam (with kids) and JP over for dinner. It was cold and rainy, which made for perfect soup weather. I made a lower calorie Zuppa Toscana soup based off the Olive Garden recipe. I used half/half instead of cream and quadrupled the amount of kale. Zachary thought it was a special treat to have a weekday playdate! And here is a bonus picture of a bow holder I made for Calie. It’s basically a frame minus the glass/backing, with strips of ribbon stapled in the back. Simple, matches her room, and holds her clippies … I’m pretty proud of my creation. 
This past weekend was busy and a lot of fun! The weather could not have been better either … sunny without being overly hot. On Saturday, we met up with Alex and Nicole at Lowes to build a bird feeder. Lowes marketing success story! We ended up buying a new refrigerator from them, as our old one is leaking. We were already there, so we looked at their models, asked if they would price match Sears (they did) and their customer service is much better anyway. After Lowes, we joined up with Dylan at Michael’s to make a Mother’s Day magnet using Pluffy clay.
For lunch, we went to Old Spaghetti Factory (Zachary had a free kid’s meal birthday coupon) and played a round of mini golf. We made it back home just in time to catch the musical Cats with Dylan and Jessica. The kids really enjoyed it, especially the more dramatic second half.
Ended the day with a fun barbeque playdate. The weather was awesome, so kids played soccer and basketball outside until it was time for dinner. We ate on the patio – chicken caeser burgers, salad with homemade dressing, pesto pasta, hotdogs and watermelon for dessert. It totally felt like summer. When it started getting dark, we went inside to talk while the kids raced MarioKart. It was actually pretty exciting to watch! It’s really great to have friends you can just hang out with.
Sunday morning, we went to Alex and Nicole’s house for breakfast (which included chocolate chip pancakes)followed by playing at the park. The kids had a fun time racing around the playstructure and throwing balls around. Adults did not fare so well … Sam felt nauseated after the race and James donked his head on a low bar.
(Bonus picture of an art project Zachary made using the kit he got from Alice/Sebastian. I bet they never imagined it looking like that.)
It was so nice outside that when we got home, we played in the backyard some more and went on a family walk on the bike trail near our home. The kids carried a bag to collect “interesting” items to put in their backyard museum.
From a milestone standpoint, Zachary has now taken his first standardized test (SAT). I don’t really agree with kindergartners taking scantron style tests … especially since it was for a few hours every day the whole week. I can see how it might be useful in identifying kids that aren’t keeping up, but ideally the teacher should know that. Anyway, I think the most stressful part for Zachary was getting to school on time (they lock the doors after 8am); the beat on the street (hallways) is that the test was really easy. Zachary also went to his 6-year-old checkup today. He’s 21% in height and 25% for weight. As for Calie … she continues to use her potty 1-3x a day. She’s not consistent, but she definitely has control because she’ll sit to “bee-boo” (pee-poo?) and go right away. Very results oriented. 
She’s also now speaking in phrases and some complete sentences, which is way ahead of Zachary at this age. She’ll say,”Guh-guh read book” and “Where’d dada go?” She knows/says basic body parts and makes lots of animal sounds too. She will oo-oo-ah-ah on every. single. page. of a Curious George book. I think with her communicating more (and sleeping a bit better too), we’re finally at the point where it’s getting easier and we’re hitting a groove. I distinctly remember feeling that way when Zachary hit around a year and a half too. Now let’s hope they don’t get sick!
