Lucas is SIX!

 

Today my little baby turned 6! He woke up at 5:15 so he could have a full day of celebrating. Fortunately he didn't come into our room until 6:15. He had a fun morning of opening presents while he ate his breakfast in the living room. He scored some sweet Star Wars legos, some pirate ships, and of course new undies and socks. And a rad plaid shirt because today was school picture day. 

I took him to school and spent the rest of the day getting ready to have friends over for dinner and cake. I finished frosting the cake just in time to only be a few minutes late to deliver cookies to Lucas's classroom, but then a cop wanted to talk to me about the speed limit and stuff, so I was a few more minutes late than I wanted to be.

Anyhow, we eventually got home and made dinner and had a fun night. Lucas requested tacos for dinner, a chocolate cake with strawberries and whipped cream in the middle, as well as streamers and a Happy Birthday sign. He also mentioned that he wanted me to draw pictures of our family having fun. I fully intended to do this, but just didn't get around to it.

We sure love our little Lucas. He's growing into such a funny, bright boy. And he wants everyone to know that he LOVES Indiana Jones. Every day without fail I have to stop him from climbing on my car. He desperately wants to reenact the scene from The Holy Grail when Indie jumps onto the tank. He's so nutty. (PS: It's really hard to get a picture of a wiggly, excited 6 year old...)

The Duke

Guess who is in FIRST grade now? Lucas is officially the youngest kid in 1st grade. He's doing great so far and loves his teacher and his friends. It wasn't too hard adjusting to school because all summer he still woke up at 6:30 or 6:45. Lately Lucas has been back into Indiana Jones. We let him watch The Last Crusade (but not the scary parts) and he loved it. He plays his Indiana Jones video game on Saturdays and plays with his Indiana Jones legos to no end. And he also walks around the house fighting bad guys and pretends to be jumping from vehicle to vehicle like unto the amazing Indiana.

Lately I've been noticing that Lucas is indeed my kid. I always write him off as Ben's kid since he's so smart and everything, but he's totally my kid, too! I've noticed he's sensitive like me. And he worries like me (Mom, is there lots of gas in the car?)... and he's got my same insecurities. Grrrrreat. Sometimes I can hear myself in his voice when we're trying to get him to do something new and I can totally relate, and it breaks my heart just a little bit. 

The thing is, I don't think he's learned it from me, because I really try to be brave in front of him. I think it's just in his blood... So, we need to figure out how to work with that. 

Last night I put Lucas to bed and he wanted me to read, Love You Forever. I knew this was a risky book because it's the kind of book that, although a little ridiculous and creepy at times, makes moms cry as they think about their baby growing up. And Lucas was already exhausted and emotional.

I read the book and put it down and Lucas started crying. Saying he didn't want me to die (at the end of the book the mom is old and sick). I assured him that I wasn't going to die, and that even if I did die, Heavenly Father had a plan for us so that we could be together forever, and that everything would be ok. Then he started worrying about going to college. I told him that college was 12 years away, and he could stay close for college if he wanted, and that he didn't have to go away. He told me I needed to go to college with him, so I asked him what I should study, and he said, "Just be my mom!" We talked about how fun college would be, and how he could make his own schedule and take whatever classes he wanted (he was concerned that there wouldn't be Art, PE or Spanish). Lucky for him there are!

Then, he started talking about getting married, and how he wanted to live with us even when he was married. It just went on and on. Eventually Ben heard the crying and came in and assured him that he could stay with us as long as he wanted. Ben fell asleep while I continued to console Lucas. And finally Lucas also fell asleep while I sang him a song.

The experience was so weird for me because I remember having these exact same thoughts when I was little. I remember the devastation I felt at the thought of losing a parent, and the fear of moving away for college. And I specifically remember being sick with croup and worrying that when I was married and got croup, my husband wouldn't know what to do if I couldn't breathe. Because who could possibly be as loving and smart as your mom and dad? 

Well, the good news is that my parents raised me so that I could successfully be out on my own (thank goodness for cell phones), and I did find a nice, smart man who won't let me die if I get croup. I hope that I can help Lucas overcome these same fears as he grows up. And maybe someday he won't hate pinatas, and he'll be on swim team, or play soccer. And then eventually he'll get a full scholarship to an awesome college, and then meet an awesome girl. That's the plan for now... because he really can't live with us forever. :)

Here's the video of Lucas's Valentine's Day Dance at school. He had the best time ever!
If the quality is bad, try going here to see if it's better...

Bootastic!

Remember a month ago when it was Halloween? Well, it was so good, I wanted to make you wait for it. Friday night we went to a party at Ben's work. Lucas dressed as a pirate and Evan was Cupid. And they were both very cute. Ben's coworker got the only pics from that night. After the party we went to the church trunk or treat and Evan fell flat on his face immediately and got a fat lip. He and Ben went home shortly after. Lucas enjoyed sword fighting with some sort of monster and really enjoyed the candy. He and I stayed until the very end.

Saturday was Fall Fest at Lucas's school. Once again he wore his pirate outfit and played fun games for the afternoon. All the moms were so happy to have Fall Fest over with! It's a lot of work for the parents and is the biggest fund raiser of the year.

Monday, Lucas decided to wear his Storm Trooper costume. Drew was also some sort of Storm Trooper. Neither one is an actual Storm Trooper, but there are so many kinds that I just have to call them Storm Troopers. Oh, and Ben was Mr. T.

Surprisingly, Evan had a great time on Halloween. He rode in the wagon with Miles, but wanted to get out and go inside every house. He made it into one, but luckily they were our neighbors across the street. Evan threw a fit at the end of the night and finally Ben figured out that the poor kid only wanted a sucker. Just a sucker.

We have about 4 pieces of candy left. I threw a couple away yesterday. I think the rest will be gone by the weekend.

The Party

We had Lucas's birthday party on Labor Day at a super-cool splash park. After all, you can't have a Summer birthday party outside in Austin, unless there's water involved. Well, at least that would have been the case the day before. Labor Day just so happened to be the first day in 80 days, that the temperature was below 100 degrees. The poor children had to play in the water in 90 degree weather. Their blue lips quivered as they sat tightly wrapped in their damp towels eating their cake. Poor kids. There was a slight breeze to make it even worse. Really, the weather would have been perfect for a day at the park, but oh well.

Despite the frigid temps, the kids had lots of fun, and Lucas had a wonderful time. The added bonus was that he got to eat chips and drink soda. For food I decided to bring pulled pork in the crock pot and make sandwiches. I made cookies and cream cupcakes - vanilla or chocolate cupcakes with smashed Oreos in them, with the best frosting I've ever made. It was just a cream cheese frosting with smashed Oreos mixed in. YUM. I could eat it plain. Lucas, however, ran away after we sang to him and left his cupcake for me. Apparently playing in the water was even better than the best frosting on Earth.

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Thanks to all our friends who made the trek all the way up North for the festivities. Lucas had a great time and was so happy his friends could join him running around like a wild beast.

Week in Review

Last week was quite the week! Tuesday I got to go on a field trip with Lucas's class to the Pflugerville Fire Department. Lucas thought it was great. He answered all the questions about why a firefighter needs an ax, oxygen, and a hat. He would also clarify what the firefighters were saying a lot. If the firefighter was talking about the hoses on the truck and how big they were, Lucas would say, "So, it's just like the hose in my backyard, but bigger?" His teacher said he does this all the time and she loves it because maybe he's helping other kids understand by putting it in a kid's perspective.

After the Fire Station we went to the park and ate/played for a while. A long while. It was hot and Evan and I were sticky and ready to leave when the time came. Lucas had a lot of fun and was exhausted after school that day!

Tuesday night I was heading out for my run when I realized the house was getting hotter and hotter. Our AC was broken! We managed to survive the night with the house reaching 86 degrees. The next day was pretty disgusting. I tried to go on a couple adventures with Evan. I got pulled over by a cop for speeding on a street I drive ALL the time, in a speed trap I see ALL the time. Luckily he was impressed that I hadn't gotten a ticket since 1998 and set me free with a warning. As I drove away I started to cry. I hate getting in trouble.
The AC was finally fixed at 6:30 that night. I think the max temp the house reached was 91. It was gross. I am thankful for air conditioning. Evan was fortunate enough to get to play in the hose that day to cool off.

Thursday... well, Thursday I did some laundry since I didn't get to do any Tue or Wed. When I did the laundry I found a yellow crayon in the bottom of the washer. I thought I was so fortunate to find it before I put the clothes in the dryer. When I got the clothes out of the dryer everything was RED. It was horrible. The dryer was red, too. Through the miracle of 1+ bottles of WD-40 and 4 rounds in the washer I got the clothes pretty much clean. I threw away Ben's basketball shirt/socks immediately and my tan shorts perished in the accident as well, but everything else is wearable!

And that is how my week went last week. Here's to a better week this week... if only these ants would get out of my house!

I think I owe you some pictures:

Ben put up an awesome backsplash while I was out of town.
We had a little fine tuning to do when I got back.
You can see my piping skills came in handy.

These boys got to go shoot each other with paintballs the day before Father's Day. Ben came home the most abused. Apparently he ran out of ammo and made a run for it. He looked like he had 5 nipples and he had some awesomely colorful bruises on his legs, too. Then there was a nice gash on his knee... my fault - I put him in holy jeans for his "surprise."

Summertime is awesome. Lucas is working on mastering the cannon ball.

Evan loves the water, too.

I made this shirt for Lucas to wear to school today for their 4th of July party.
Also, Lucas likes chocolate ice cream.

Evan was pleasantly surprised by some bubbles the other day.
He also thinks it's perfectly acceptable to sit on the table.

Our summer break is almost over. Lucas starts Kindergarten in three weeks. I can't believe it. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself. We're going to have to start waking up earlier, going to bed earlier, and being organized. Ugh. Plus, I'll miss that kid like crazy!

Kiddie Triathlon

Today was the annual Kiddie Triathlon that our friends put together. It was in our neighborhood, where the kids first ran around a retention pond, then biked around the block, then swam in the pool (and not the pond thankfully).

Lucas was pretty excited - he wanted to run fast like a cheetah and swim like a shark (thanks to his swim lessons he had in ABQ-post coming soon). As far as the biking, Lucas hasn't learned to ride a bike. He has been more interested in picking grass to put in the back of his trike, then pedaling the trike. And the bike we have is a little big, but we got it out last night to practice and he tried really hard. He put forth a good effort and was pleased with himself, but we knew today would be hard.

Lucas did a great job on the run. He ran the whole way with me and was a total trooper. His little pale face was bright pink when he hopped on his bike and headed off with Ben. He was so cute. I got ready to get in the pool with him while he rode his bike. And he took a while... finally Lucas and Ben came around the corner, I gave him some water and he ran to the pool with me. He did a great job in the water practicing his pulls and kicking to the wall and back. He was a happy boy when he finished.

He was even happier when he dug through the cool loot in his goodie bag. Thanks, Jamie and Sandra for all your hard work!

Update: Ben just told me what happened while they were on the bike ride. First of all, Ben took him on the long route, which I wasn't planning on doing. So, he started out leading the pack, then Ocean zoomed by and Lucas said, "Good job, Ocean!" Kids kept passing Lukie, and Ben was worried that Lucas was going to be upset. All the sudden, Lucas said, "I hope Jamie is taking good care of Evan." (Evan was still asleep when we left and Jamie R. was really nice and stayed home with him). How sweet that he was thinking of Evan while he was working so hard on his bike. And finally, Lucas said, "I wonder how many kids are behind me still... I might be the last one." Ben said, he might be, but Lucas was ok with that.... he must have known he would still have the chance to swim like a shark. Love that kid.
Also, they just got back from the library. Lucas came home with five educational videos. Ben suggested "Pinocchio", but Lucas said, "No, I want the one about mammals instead." He's so funny. And obsessed with animals right now, fyi.

When we got home Evan had some fun of his own in the water. He's so cute.

Tee Ball and Chocolate

The weather here has been fantastic lately. We had a beautiful weekend and tried to take advantage of the picture-perfect evenings outdoors. Ben bought Lucas a little tee ball stand, so we played a bit of that and then some badminton, of course.

After day two of enjoying the wonderful outdoors, I decided we should also enjoy something wonderful indoors - chocolate fondue with strawberries. See, we had these pesky strawberries aging in the fridge, as well as an annoying bar of dark chocolate taking up space in the pantry, then there was some whipping cream and some marshmallow cream that was bugging me. So, really, I was doing some Spring cleaning.
It.Was.Good. Evan loved it! In the first picture below you can see his frustration because I am holding his fork full of chocolaty goodness instead of him. In the second picture you can see how happy he was once I gave it to him. Lucas was also a fan. He thought it was plate-licking good!

You know another great thing about this weather? Evan gets to visit the hose a couple times day. A few weeks ago E-man had a couple blowouts. You know - the kind where you don't know how you're going to clean it up because the kid is such a mess you wish you could just dip him in the annoying neighbor's jacuzzi? And you know when you attempt to change the diaper you'll have to pin his arms down because he'll try to imitate a steamroller, ruining your entire house?
Well, I decided to try washing the kid off outside. Guess what? Worked like a charm. The water in the hose was nice and warm from the sun. Evan gets to play in the water dripping from the faucet, and I don't use wipes, thus saving the environment. Oh, did you catch how that suddenly changed to present tense, instead of the past tense? Yeah, well I kind of got addicted to the baby bidet and now when we have a stinky diaper, I head straight outside. Don't judge.