weekend fun with old friends

This past weekend, the stars aligned and we were actually able to coordinate schedules to allow for a mini college reunion. We met up with the Skinners and the Hons at COSI in Columbus for a fun, hands-on learning experience for the kids and a scatter-brained, frantic, counting-kids-every-two-minutes experience for the adults. :) It was fun, but if we could ever plan that venue on a weekday, I'd probably be a little more calm about getting all seven kids together at once! Thankfully, at least one of them in not mobile, yet!

The Grossology exhibit:

Grace simulating poo...yup, gross...hence the name of the exhibit.

She also thought this was pretty funny.

Sam was VERY excited to strategically climb the skin imperfections.

The Ocean exhibit was a fan favorite:

Oh the patience and attention span of girls... Grace was determined to sit in the submarine, as were the Hon girls. They stood in line for about 25 minutes just to sit in there for about a minute and a half. None of the boys thought the wait was worth it. Sam did try to join his sister in line at the last minute. I promptly told him that he was not allowed to cut in front of the other kids who had been waiting patiently and that he could go to the back of the line and wait if he wanted a turn. He promptly threw a fit and Daddy took him out of the close quarters of the submarine room. Tough lesson...

Laverne & Shirley (aka. Wes & Sam)

An easy way to keep track of children...

Then it was on to the hotel for pizza and an evening of chair spinning and playing for the three-three-year-olds and the three five-year-olds...I was really hoping that we didn't have downstairs neighbors for the evening!

Spending time with baby Tate

I find it funny that I only took pics of the kids when it was the adults who were having the college reunion! Oh well! Next time I'll attempt to get some more of the old friends and a few less of the new ones. Thanks for a fun time, Hons and Skinners!

I wonder how bad they'd freak out if I e-mailed these photos to Santa

Once again, someone got ahold of my camera and caught some MORE incriminating evidence...

Here's Molly...awakened from her naptime in her crate to find Grace snapping photos of her.

Then my well-behaved, rule-following children decided it would be a good idea to let the dog out of her pen without asking, coax her onto the couch and play tug-o-war with her with one of the couch pillows all while taking photos with MY camera. Number of rules broken: 4.
Oh yeah, let's not forget about Sam sitting on the back of the couch. That's one more rule broken, but, in the midst of the others is pretty minor.
Ugh...what to do with these children...

Southern boy

It seems living in Kentucky is finally having an effect on Sam's accent. Just kidding! This is actually a line from the movie, Monsters vs. Aliens. Sam is our little actor...goes into character at the drop of a hat. :)

heritage lesson

Grace: "Mom, who are the Buckleys?"

Me: "You know who the Buckleys are. Name some of them."

Grace, being silly: "I don't know...who?"

Kris: "Grandma Donna, Uncle Bruce, Aunt Sherri, Meaghan... And Grandma Sharon was a Buckley, before she married Papa Mike."

Grace: "What?!"

Me: "And that means you are part-Buckley."

Grace: "What?!"

Kris (nodding at Sam): "And you, too."

Sam: "No, I'm a wirepond...all the boys are wireponds, not Buckleys."

Grace: "And all the girls are cegas. That's what I learned at school."

I give up.

Kitty!

Occasionally, Gordon decides to venture downstairs. You know, after he's checked to make sure each kid is asleep and then sat at the top of the stairs for at least 20 minutes and listened for any sound that might indicate that the dog is awake and alert. Once it is established that Molly is most likely passed out on her bed in the basement, he gingerly creeps down the stairs from the bedrooms to the main level then seeks me out in the kitchen to beg for a treat, which I put on the floor in front of him only to have him sniff it then turn on heels and marches away, wildly swinging his tail and backside as if to say, "You think I need your treat? You added two children to my world, moved me to a new, strange house, then brought home a dog...I don't need a treat...not from YOU." And off he goes back up to the bedroom. [Sigh] At least he's still cute, even if he hates me these days...

movie watching on a cold day...

Just the three of them...

the birthday weekend

Last weekend, we celebrated Sam's 5th birthday! Grandma and Papa arrived for the milestone on Wednesday night. On Friday, Sam's birthday, Grandma insisted on letting Sam open the first present of the day immediately upon waking up (she's awful about waiting!).

After that and a quick breakfast, they took both kids to the Explorium to keep them busy while Kris and I were at work. Luckily, since Mom is horrible at waiting to give gifts :), Sam had already opened his card from them, too, and placed his giant "I am 5 today!" sticker on his shirt to wear to the Children's Museum. And, as luck would have it, he ended up getting into the museum for free because of that sticker...a nice little surprise for Grandma and Papa. It pays to have a birthday!

When Kris and I arrived home from work, we all hustled back out the door to Monkey Joe's to meet up with Sam's friends, eat pizza and cake and play!

Meeting Monkey Joe himself! Sam was not too sure about Monkey Joe...you'll notice him to the left of the throne, bent over with his tongue out! He really didn't want to give Monkey Joe five, but Grace and some of the other kids were all about it :)

The cake! Made by our friends, Liz & Erin...thanks girls! Sam had pretty big expectations and was sure to go over them in great detail with Mrs. Erin. He was thrilled with the end result :)

Everyone had a blast at the party. Even though it ended right around bedtime, and we had originally planned to let Sam open his family presents on Saturday, we decided to just stay up late and keep celebrating when we got home. Sam was totally spoiled by his family (and "family") and has been engaged in a variety of play with all his new loot since last week.

Grace went with Kris and me to pick out the bike and helmet on Thursday night and, surprisingly, she kept the secret the whole day on Friday! I was so proud of her...and she was so proud to give her brother his new bike. Too cute :)

We love our 5-year-old!

FIVE

Seriously, where did the time go?

Sam, 2 days old, ready to head home from the hospital

Sam, 1st birthday

Sam, 2nd birthday

Sam, 3rd birthday

Sam, 4th birthday

Sam, 5th birthday

At times, I miss that tiny baby...but then my giant 5-year-old reminds me with his hilarious stories, quick reasoning, endless energy, amazing imagination and, yes, even his sassy attitude, that it's just getting better and better with each year. I'm so happy you had a great birthday, little man!

wow

Just checked out this article featuring a young designer who landed a job with a design firm armed with no experience, but photos of his tiny apartment:

I think I need to have him come work on my bedroom! For more photos of his space, click here.

and the winner is...

...my mom, for worst reference while teaching a kid how to yo-yo. "Just throw your arm like this, Sam...like you're pumping a well."

Haha! I'm cracking up all over again as I type this... :)

More from Sam's 5-day celebration marking his 5 years in existence to come as soon as I get my butt in gear and finish going through the photos.