Wally's 5th Birthday

Wally's birthday was a few weeks ago, but here is a blog about it. Before I get to the birthday celebrations, I wanted to include a picture of our garden, and specifically our sunflowers. Wally wanted to plant mammoth sunflowers, so we did. They weren't kidding when they said that they grow to be 12 feet tall. The top of the sunflower by Wally is actually cut off in the picture. I feel like I am in "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" when I'm in my garden. I love it! To start off Wally's birthday celebration, he and I made cup cakes for him to bring to Kinderfarm. I figure it might be his only chance to celebrate his birthday at school. Since he wanted a Star Wars theme, we made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting (think black space) and yellow stars. The red hots were the stars eyes (??). And, well, sprinkles are just cool.
On the morning of his birthday, we measured him. He is just over 47.5 inches. Quite the huge kid! And, check out those abs!

At Kinderfarm, the birthday kid gets to wear a birthday crown all day and then take it home. Wally of course had to pose with Pearl the Pig. Notice his new Star Wars t-shirt.
And with the horses. It was very exciting one day as a new horse, Cashmere, arrived.

Cashmere is a very friendly horse. but Wally was not too happy when he ate the top off of his crown. Luckily, it didn't taste very good so Cashmere spit it out and I was able to grab it and tape in on when we got home. Whew!

That night, Wally got to open presents. He loves his harp from Reder and Ruby. He can actually play recognizable songs on it now that it is somewhat in tune.

Wally was maybe a little bit wired about his birthday.

When I asked him what he wanted for his birthday dinner, he said, "Steak!" We weren't about to argue with that. How he has grown up. He used to hate meat, especially beef. Finally, he would eat chicken nuggets, so we would get him to eat beef and pork by calling them "special chicken dippers."

We had left-over cup cakes for his birthday desert.

Wally wanted a pinata for his birthday party, but they are crazy expensive! So, Wally and I made a giant paper mache "Death Star" pinata, that he painted like a rainbow. And, I just realized that we don't have a picture of the final product. He was proud and it worked well. If you don't count man-hours, it was a whole lot cheaper than buying one.

Wally wanted an X-wing fighter cake. I designed it so that the wings would be in the X position...

But, the graham crackers got soggy and the "shooters" were too heavy for my engineering, so the X-wing's wings were not spread. Wally still enjoyed it though.

For Wally's party, we set up a Jedi Training Center. We had the Jedis play in the sprinkler and then I would call them to the training center for a training exercise like "Leia, Leia, Luke" and "Yoda Says."

Their training was complete just in time as Darth Vader and the Storm Troopers showed up in the back yard (print-outs taped to trees, etc). The Jedis had to use water balloons to get the "bad guys" wet.

After Jedi training and the battle were complete, all of the kids (7 4&5 year-olds plus younger siblings) earned their light sabers in a small ceremony. Afterwards, the Jedis could color their light sabers. Then we had pizza and Galaxy Balls (aka melon salad) for dinner. The weather couldn't have been nicer, so we were able to eat on the porch.

Sadly, this is the best picture of Wally and his cake we have. It just was too chaotic to get all the pictures we wanted during the party. I guess that means we were all having a great time.

Back at the Jedi Training Center, Wally got to open his presents. The kid is spoiled. Luckily, he realizes how spoiled/blessed he is.

After presents, we concluded the Jedi training by destroying the Death Star. With 3 kids left, the rope tore through the pinata (good thing Joel had reinforced it). I volunteered Joel to hold it while the last 3 kids got a whack at it (thanks Honey!). Then it was candy, stickers, and silly bands for all.

We concluded Wally's birthday party with what turned out to be a blast...picking cherry tomatoes. The kids loved climbing through the tomato plants picking tomatoes and filling baggies to take home. This is why I have a garden, to be able to enjoy it with others.

I can't believe my baby is 5. He is turning out to be quite a big kid. Why have I been so blessed? I will never know, but I am.

Colorado blogs posted in July...

I just posted a couple Colorado blogs, but they are under the kindergarten blogs as I started the blogs in July...you will have to search. Sorry.

Kindergarten Survived!

Wally survived his first day of kindergarten with flying colors. He was a happy boy going in this morning and was a happy boy coming out this afternoon.

One of the first things he told me was that he got a golden apple because while everyone else was making noise and saying, "me me me," while the teacher's friend was talking, he had his mouth zipped shut (he did the hand motion). This made him proud (and me too). He is super excited to go back tomorrow. However, he is currently out cold on his bed. The boy was so tired while reading a Star Wars Lego book that he could barely keep his eyes open. He was out a couple minutes after laying down. I think we will have an exhausted kid for a few weeks as he gets settled. At least he currently seems to be a super happy boy (which makes for super happy parents).

Kindergarten!!!!

Our baby started kindergarten today (August 18, 2011). He was so excited as you will see. We met his teacher, Mrs. Smith, Tuesday night and got to see his classroom. He was given some homework that he worked very hard on. Below is a picture of it (I'm not smart enough to figure out how to rotate it, sorry). He was to fill the star with things about him. In the middle we put a picture of our family. He then proceeded to draw Brother and Sister so that they could be in the picture with us. Amazingly, Brother and Sister are never far from his thoughts.

Wally's first day of school...a little excited.

Oh, I should mention that he doesn't have glasses on because he needed a new perscription and our insurance wouldn't cover new frames. He'll have them back in a week or two.

Proud Mama...

And a proud Daddy... the walk that usually takes us 15-20 minutes took only 9 minutes today.

Though Wally hadn't started kindergarten yet, he already knew a song about kindergarten.

(video to come shortly...)

While everyone was waiting out front to meet their teachers, I snuck around a took a picture of Wally's class room. He will be sitting at the table closest to where I took the picture from. Luckily, he will be flanked by his buddies Althea and Sam - two wonderful kids. And, I also took a video (I was being a true kindergarten mom, but I didn't cry!)

Waiting in line in front of school with his buddy Althea and a new friend Dawson.

Some of his class mates. I'm pretty sure Wally was the most excited of all of them. That made it easy for me though.

One last shot of the kids as they marched in. You can see Wally's swirl right by Mrs. Smith's elbow.

Now, I just need to find something to do with myself. I'm actually going to lunch today with 2 other moms who just dropped their only kids off at kindergarten today too. Should be a good time. How did Wally grow up so fast?

Colorado Trip: Part II

Wally, Grandma Mary and I got to make the short drive to Boulder to visit our good friend Missie. Missie has been a special part of my life since middle school (though my parents and her have been friends since Pennsylvania before Jason and I were born). She had never gotten to meet Wally, so it was great. Wally often is shy of new people, but he walked right into Missie's house and gave her a big hug. He is a good judge of character. Missie gave Wally a squirrel that Wally promptly named Acorn.
Wally took this picture of the three of us. I wish we could get together more often.

My uncle Dave and aunt Sandy let us stay with them at their house during our stay in Colorado. Wally had a great time feeding Uncle Dave's Koi.

We all went up to the cabin for a picnic. Papa and Dave got to ride motorcyles together and the rest of us just enjoyed hiking around the cabin.

Long's Peak, and especially this view of Long's Peak, has always been special to me. It was so rejuvinating to be able to breath that air and look at that view.

Growing up, Mom, Dad, Jason and I spent a lot of time in the mountains climbing on rocks. It was special for me to get to do the same with Wally. Once we got the cabin, Pot Hole Rock became our favorite climbing rock.A little Wally original ditty about Pot Hole Rock...OK, so we got a slower internet service to save money. We don't really notice that it is slower, but apparently it is too slow to upload videos...I guess you will just have to come visit if you want to see Wally in action.

Wally didn't seem like a flat-lander on the rocks, which I loved to see. Admittedly, I did have to turn away a few times because I would get nervous that he would hurt himself. He didn't though.

Aunt Sandy and Uncle Dave.

Grandma Mary and Papa Randy...what are they giggling about?

Another fun thing at the cabin is playing the ring-hook game. There is a hook in the tree trunk and a string with a ring hanging from the branch sticking out. You have to stand where Wally is and swing the ring to hook it. Wally thought that was great fun, but had more fun just throwing the ring than actually trying to get it hooked.

Chocolate chip cookies in the mountains...life is good!

Wally disappeared during lunch and I found him sitting on the potty with no toilet paper. I had to run and get my camera because really, how cute is that! He'll likely disagree in a few years though.

Wally helped Papa straighten out the potty.

Papa of course couldn't visit the cabin without digging up a few aspen and cedar trees to bring home to the Reder Ranch. It was fun hiking through the forest with my daddy looking for the perfect tree to bring home.

A stroll down Aspen Avenue as I did so many times as a kid.

Wally's imagination is great fun to watch. Here, he was on his space ship flying to an alien planet.

This pot hole on Pot Hole Rock has always been a favorite of mine because it fits me perfectly as a recliner. However, in shorts and a tank-top with a 45 lb kid on you decreases the comfort, as does the pine tree that continues to grow.

Ah, Bear Poop!

After the cabin, we drove through Estes Park to my cousin Chris's house. It just happened to be Sage's 5th birthday that day, so we got to have a little party with them. Last time I had seen Greta, she was still in Abby's tummy. What a cutie!

I don't think an outsider would have guessed that these kids didn't really know each other before that afternoon. They had a great time together and needed no time to warm-up. I just wish we lived closer together so that we could all get together more often.

Long's Peak from Longmont. A view etched in my memory for ever.