Lucky 7

So I'm finally able to say, "I have 4 boys ages 7 and under."  That sounds much better than where we were a few years back: "I have 4 boys ages 5 and under."  Gulp.

My point here is that Ry just celebrated his 7th birthday.  Through a random web search I found the best idea for any boy's party.  Ever.  It's called Rolling Game Station, and have I mentioned it's the best idea ever?

It's a 50 foot trailer with TVs and video games inside.  'Nough said.  After the party my nephew said, "I think I only blinked 3 times because I didn't want to miss anything."

After the party we got to spend some quality time with our favorite Allentownians.  Clearly Cole was not picking up what Aunt Lori was laying down.

And how about my girl Baby Shaye?  I did her makeup and then we posed for this pic.  Aww...

So here it is in a nutshell...7 years went by fast.  And slow.  Our family motto, "The days are long and the years are short" holds up here, and I'm both happy and sad to watch Ryan grow up into the little man he's becoming.  Happy birthday big guy.

Toothie

All of my boys were/are late to get their teeth.  Dean will be 2 in a few months and we're still waiting on some of his chompers to pop through.

For this reason, it wasn't a huge surprise when Ry was late to loose his first tooth.  This didn't come as any sense of comfort to the poor kid, especially when he was the last of his friends to get a visit from the Tooth Fairy. 

So imagine our surprise and delight when he lost #1.  Only to be followed by a literal loss because he misplaced said tooth about 5 minutes after it fell out of his face.

So we wrote a note and lo & behold, the Tooth Fairy still came.  Cut to yesterday when he was eating an apple, and out popped #2.  I put it in a plastic bag so we were sure not to loose it.  And whaddaya know - we lost it.

Phil whipped up this note and all was well with the world:



I don't know where all of these teeth are going.  I figure (a) Sammie is stock-piling them for some doggie arts & crafts project, or (b) There really is a tooth fairy scooping them up. 

I calculated that we'll eventually work through 80 lost teeth (I did that math myself).  Hopefully we get this under control before the other boys get into the mix, otherwise Sammie is going to build up quite a collection.

6 Years In The Making

Here's my theory on birthday parties. When you live in a house filled to the brim with brothers, you can sometimes get lost in the shuffle. So for that one special day a year, I let them go all out.

For Ryan's 6th, he specifically requested to have his friends over to our house for a Star Wars battle.

Little did our galactic heroes know that the the Dark Side would be making an appearance. Voice box and all, Darth Vader busted into the backyard for some terrifying freeze tag and the ever-intimidating Hokey Pokey.

Ry was a little freaked out. I should have seen this coming after he met Darth in Florida and was convinced that he was going to kill him with his lightsaber. He took the character so seriously that he refused to leave the deck during the fun & games (although he tried to convince me it was because he was " 'too sweaty' from playing with his friends.")

Ry was eventually talked into getting his face painted, and in hindsight says it was his best birthday ever. May the force be with you, my young 6 year old.

Serious Business

You wouldn't know it from the serious looks in these pictures, but the boys did have a good time at the Delaware Children's Museum.

As I mentioned previously, I'm trying to let go of my ongoing hair battles. Ryan, however, is not making that easy for me.

C'mon boys, lighten up!

Spy Ry

Tonight I found Ry digging through the closet. I asked what he was doing and he told me he was "looking for some spy gear." He emerged with a cowboy hat, shades, and one of my old jackets.


After running several secret missions, he came to me in a soft whisper and stated the following:

Spy Rule Number 1: You have to be nice to the other spies.

Spy Rule Number 2: You have to be extremely quiet at all times.

Spy Rule Number 3: You have to dress in dark clothes so the people you're spying on think you're cool and don't suspect that anything is going on.

So now you know to keep an eye out for nice people who speak in hushed tones and wear dark clothes. Good tips, thanks Ry!