James turns 6

How do I keep letting this happen? My baby just keeps growing bigger and I don't like it. The day before his birthday I was at Costco while he was at school and I got all sad when I'd see toddlers in their mom's carts being all cute and good buddies. Most of the time I like running errands by myself but that day I really missed him.

Wednesday night I put him to bed and the other kids decorated after we were pretty sure he was asleep. Then we put out his presents and went to bed. We got up dark and early the next morning so that he could open presents and have breakfast before the biggles left for school.

Henry and Sarah wrote a story just for him.

Sarah read it to him and we were all cracking up.

He got a new Lego set, Battleship game,

his favorite crackers, a bunch of his other favorite snacks,

and lightsabers.

He was most excited about lightsabers so it's a good thing he opened them last.

For breakfast he just wanted pancakes. He loves pancakes but he likes them plain, not even syrup. He did get his own container of blackberries because, "remember when I ate the whole thing in like a minute?"

Then he went to school and I worked on his cake until Erica called home "sick." I picked her up, came home long enough to get ready and then went back to pick him up and his friend Calvin. From there we went to Chickfila.

Calvin lives like 2 blocks from us and his brother is one of Erica's friends but it took me like 2 months to figure this all out. They've been playing together lots since I did. Calvin is a really nice kid and ate all his food so he's a keeper.

We ate dinner at Popeyes for some reason. James said he wanted macaroni and cheese and so I suggested Straptank in Springville that has great mac n cheese and James has never been there but he was excited about the idea. But then last minute he changed his mind to Popeyes because they also have mac n cheese. Even though he had Chickfila for lunch. Even though he was super stoked about going to a real restaurant. But the birthday boy gets what the birthday boy wants. When we ordered our food, James didn't even want mac n cheese. While we were eating, Justin asked him if he could have anything for dinner, what would he choose and he said pizza. "Then why did you pick Popeyes?" He said, "I wanted to go someplace everybody likes." He's so sweet and funny.

 He asked for a tiger cake and he can Erica came up with this drawing. The second to top layer is a video game monitor and the top layer "is where the tickets come out." I told him I couldn't make a cake like that but I could make a tiger cake with a surprise inside. He was a little disappointed

Here's how his cake turned out. Orange frosting with chocolate sprinkle stripes.

He was so happy about it so I guess it turned out okay.

He got a hotwheels set from Corey and Nadine and some cash from my parents and Great-Grandma Kendall. Then it was cake time.

Is there anything bigger than your birthday when you're six?

And the surprise inside? Tiger stripes!

Here's his birthday interview.

He is only 4 pounds lighter than Erica and just a few inches shorter than her.

Here are some more fun facts about James.

He eats a bowl of popcorn every day after school.

He used to drink so milk and then he suddenly stopped in May. One day he asked for water and he never asked for milk again. I went from buying 6 gallons each Costco trip down to just 2 gallons so you can see how much of that was James. (Our milk consumption has been gradually increasing this fall now that Henry has entered his prepubescent milk consumption phase.)

He's almost finished his first grade workbook. He gets to go get a doughnut with Papa when he does finish.

He'd survive off of doughnuts, lunchables, blackberries, popcorn, and hot chocolate if I'd let him.

He is interested in how things are built or made or how they work. He's going to be a builder or engineer or designer or something. He's always building something out of whatever he can find and anytime Justin is working with tools, James is at his side. 

He acts like Henry a lot of the time. Makes sense since he spends so much time with him. Most of that time is spent wrestling.

He loves school. He is always up and ready early and runs inside the building. According to him he has yet to learn something. He hasn't wrestled a classmate since September and he only got sent back to his seat during rug time once (it may have been for wrestling).

He still let me cuddle him at bedtime. But no kisses!

Halloween 2022

We carved our pumpkins Sunday afternoon. Erica was a champ and cleaned out her whole pumpkin by herself.

James, on the other hand, drew the face and that's about it.

Henry hogged the little carving knife.

Justin came out to save the pumpkin seeds.

Here's James's drawing.

And with him coaching me, here's how the carving turned out. "I didn't even get my hands dirty," he said proudly.

Henry carved his all by himself. He kept carving scars into the sides until I told him to stop.

Erica took the longest to finish because she was busy helping Justin and James.

Sarah joined us when she got home from choir practice. She wanted to use the drill so she finished up quickly.

Henry's and Sarah's

James's and Erica's

After dinner at Corey and Nadine's my kids sang little Rocky to sleep.

It worked! It's so fun having another baby in the family.

Monday morning the kids got their costumes on and went to school. James went as Calvin and Hobbes. The plan was to later swap Hobbes for a blue blanket and be Linus for trick or treating.

I didn't go to the Halloween parade because I don't need to fight the parking and the crowds to see my kids in their costumes. But my sister who works at the school sent me these pictures and I'm so glad she did.

For lunch I made our traditional ghost sandwich for James.

And then he played with the toys and treats he got from the class party. The entire time at school was a party. He told me the Bugles in his bag were witches' fingernails. I asked, "What are the marshmallows? Ghost poop?" He did not think I was funny.

"No one even knew who I was," he lamented about his costume. So he changed into all-black and asked me to tie his shirt into a ninja mask. So basically what he wears about once a week. Are we going trick or treating or to the grocery store?

Henry and Sarah were going with their friends so I got a group picture before we left. Henry is a candy bandit and Erica is a gumball machine.

First stop, Nana and Papa's

From there we dropped Sarah and Henry off at their friends' houses which coincidentally were across the street from each other. "Cute!" I teased them. "Be sure to say hi to each other while you're trick-or-treating!"

And then we went to my sister's house for trick or treating with cousins. It was a smaller group this year since kids are growing up and all that nonsense.

They ran and knocked and got tons of candy until they were too tired to go any farther. Then that night James threw up twice and missed the next two days of school. Good times. 

Sarah's Birthday, etc.

 We had to spread out the festivities for Sarah this year. I'm usually all about doing all the things on their actual birthdays so that it feels big and special. But Sarah had a school dance the evening of her birthday and the student council had to be there early and stay late so that ate up the whole evening of her birthday. So we had to celebrate a little the day before, a little the day of, and a little the day after.

Wednesday evening we had her birthday dinner and cake. We really had to squeeze this in between Erica's piano lesson ending at 5:45 and Sarah going to YW at 7. She chose French dip sandwiches.

After dinner all her grandparents came and Dallin and we had birthday lemon cheesecake and opened presents.

She got cash from my mom and a jewelry stand and earrings from Nadine.

Thursday morning was her actual birthday. We got up early so she could open her presents and have waffles for breakfast.

She got mostly clothes. I took her shopping a couple of weeks ago and she picked out 2 pairs of jeans, 2 tops and a dress. I also gave her a sweater I bought online. She also got a shelf for her room and lots of her favorite treats.

I took her Chick-fil-a for lunch. I forgot to ask what exactly she wanted but I guessed right with a chicken sandwich, fries, and Dr. Pepper.

While she was at school I finished the poodle and ribbon on her skirt. Then that afternoon she watched Studio C and hung around until it was time to set up for the dance at 5. 

Then that evening at 7 we went to Erica's dance performance. This was a weeklong clinic put on by the high school dance team. It's all Halloween music so it's fun to get into the Halloween spirit.

Erica and Delaney do everything together.

Friday Justin was hunting all day so we had leftovers for dinner and then got ready for Sarah's friend party. We had the idea of a cookie bar. We made some cookie dough and had bowls of different chips and marshmallows and oreos. You take a dough ball and stuff and top it with whatever you want. The kiddos and I did a pan for ourselves, you know, for testing.

Looks yummy!

Then the littles and I took our pan up to my room where I set up an extra TV.

They watched Megamind while I read in my chair. We let Sarah and her giggly friends have the run of the kitchen and the rest of the house while we hid out upstairs. Henry bounced between my room and pestering the girls. I didn't get any pictures of Sarah and her friends but Sam, Rylie, and Maria came over.

I don't have Sarah' 14-year-old pictures yet. She wants to wait until she gets her braces off in November.

Here are a few things about Sarah at 14

1. She loves to do hair. She watches hair tutorials online and is always trying out new stuff with her hair. She gets lots of compliments.

2. She wears her glasses all the time. The pair before this one she rarely wore. But she still wants to get contacts in the spring when she's up for an exam.

3. She's a pain to get to stop reading and go to sleep. And she's a pain to wake up in the morning.

4. She wants to go into Human Resources because she likes people and solving people's problems for them.

5. She's still doing the violin and piano. I think she likes the violin (1 year) more but she's better at piano (5 years).

6. Even though we've moved and she is in junior high, her best friends are still the ones she's had since elementary school.

7. She talks about lots of kids at school and always says, "my friend Erin" or "my friend (insert anyone's name)"  She really is friends with everyone.

8. She's serving as class president of her young women's class and loves it. She's one of those people that thrives on responsibility.

9. I saw her get a little stressed a few weeks ago with all her obligations (student council, church calling, homework, piano & violin). I offered to do just one errand for her without her (I think it was pick out the fabric for her sewing class project) and then she was fine. 

10. She's been hunting a lot this fall with Justin. She's often the only kid and female at camp and it doesn't bother her at all.