Happy 5th Birthday Cameron!

 

Happy Birthday weekend to my crazy-faced monkey boy that Abbie has dubbed "Cam-a-lam-a-ding-dong".  You were so excited about the arrival of the big party day.  Yesterday on your birthday you got to go to the Mexican restaurant and choose your dinner...a big bowl of cheese dip!We had your birthday party today since Pappy and Uncle Jeff were going to be in town already for the UNC v. Maryland game.  You bowled and played in the arcade and had a super fun time with your buddies Christian and William.  You are such a big boy now.  Hardly a trace of "baby" left and that makes mommy so sad.  I got a special present last night when you got sleepy and came down to the couch and fell asleep in my arms.  It was a magical few minutes that I got to look down at my sleeping baby in my arms, when five years ago I was doing exactly the same thing.  I love how inquisitive you are, always asking questions, good questions, too.  Like you've already thought about it for quite some time and figured it out but just want to be sure.  I'm sure there are folks out there that think I give in to you too much or spoil you beyond reason, but to them I say, "Oh well, he's my baby...and you just try saying 'No' to that face!"  I love you Cam-Cam, Squirrel, Mini-Man, Cam-a-lam-a-ding-dong! 

R2-D2

My first scratch-made Halloween costume was this year's R2D2 for my 4 year old. Somehow over the last 9 Halloweens, I'd managed to get away with "assembling" costumes from stuff around the house. So here is proof that I did make at least one home-made costume!

Supplies: trash can, silver spray paint, 1 inch and 2 inch blue painter's tape, X-acto knife, silver, black and blue Sharpie pens, cardboard circles, glue gun, fabric strips, stick on door stop, duck tape, bubble wrap.

Starting with the white plastic swing-top trash can, I spray painted the top silver and the hubs cut out arm holes and cut of the bottom. I wrapped the armholes with shiny silver duck tape to smooth the rough edges.


Then the real work began, so I brought in some assistants...I wrapped the top edge of the can with the 1 inch blue painter's tape. Using the black Sharpie and a picture of R2D2, I free-handed shapes onto the can.

Next, for the "body", I used the 2 inch blue tape and taped on the 2 rectangles horizontally and used the X-acto knife to cut away the excess tape to reveal the "pointy shapes". Moving down, I used more blue painter's tape for the vertical rectangle and square. The cardboard circles were spray painted silver and hot glued on. The bottom "dial" was drawn free-hand with the silver and black Sharpies as were the additional designs on the silver top part. The inside of the swinging door was secured with duck tape and cushioned with small bubble wrap sheets.

Tim cut out another section for a "face hole" and again, I wrapped the sharp edge with the shiny duck tape. Next, for R2D2's "eye", I spray painted the white door knob stopper and hot glued it on. Then I hot glued fabric strips to the inside of the can to rest on his shoulders to support the weight of the can with out it sitting on his head. I used felt, but it stretched out after a while, so I would recommend using something different.

The Star Wars crew at Trunk or Treat...

Happy Halloween!

Halloween 2010

First Halloween in the new neighborhood went very well. We started at 5:00 at a neighbor's house (the other Cooper) to have some munchies, then headed home around 6:15 to get all the lights on. Daddy headed out with the kiddos and I stayed to hand out candy. There were not as many kids as I thought there would be, which means a lot of left over candy. Not good!

This year was a first for me.

Over the last 10 years, I have purchased many costumes and "crafted" many from dress-ups we already had. This year was the first made from scratch costume. Cameron has had only one Halloween costume request this year, R2-D2. He never wanted anything else. The only ready-made R2-D2 costume I found was for toddlers, a t-shirt and toboggan cap that wasn't very impressive. So I Googled a little and found some homemade R2-D2 ideas. So I got a swing top bullet style trash can, some duck tape, spray paint, painter's tape, sharpie markers, and 8 hours or so later...voila: R2-d2!!! Cooper was Darth Vader and I was hoping for a Star Wars Trifecta, but Abbie wanted to be a Dragon Warrior Ninja.

Boy stuff

From the decibel level of Cooper's scream when he saw this big truck-a Dodge he tells me (above), I thought I had run over someone in the parking lot. Would you believe this was at Wal-Mart? Really, I swear!

Tim took Coop to the 24 hour sale at the Ford dealership. He found lots of contenders for his list of coolest trucks. On his list of "must-haves"...a crew cab, because "I want to have a family" he told me.

Party On Dude! Boys fishing weekend :)

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?????!!!!! Just being silly on a boys night out at Dick's Sporting Goods.

ouch

I didn't know The Biggest Loser premier was on tonight. I'm sitting here watching the agony on their faces knowing that's what I must've looked like last night in my first aerobics class in five, maybe 10, years. Buttz and Guttz. I about hurled my guttz. I can hardly walk after I sit for a few minutes. It's mainly my thighs. Right now, my thighs hate Tracey the aerobics insructor. The timing was bad on my part. Tim is out of town this week. The kids' bedrooms are upstairs. Bedtime is torture...I really don't know if they brushed their teeth or not. And I think God is laughing at me. Tonight and last, there have been huge crashes in the kids' rooms around 10:30, of course, requiring investigation. So I sprinted up the stairs as fast as my legs could possibly go. If someone had been stealing something, they'd have had the truck filled by the time I made it up the 16 steps.

Last night a large picture tumbled from Abbie's dresser knocking over her lava lamp and everything else on the dresser as well. Tonight, Cameron fell out of bed and was already tucking himself back in when I got in there. The cruelest part is that going down the stairs hurts even more than going up them.

Grateful Friday

It's late on a Friday to be getting to my post, but at least I actually made time today to post. Today was a good day...lots to be grateful for this week

• It was great last weekend to spend a long Labor Day weekend on the boat with all the family. It was a beautiful weekend and we had a nice time doing a bunch of nothing.
• I got things done today: made the bed, 3 loads of laundry (and put it away, yay!), cleaned up the kitchen, cleaned the bathrooms, paid some bills, vacuumed out the car, went for a walk, whew!
• Cameron took a nap today...WHAT??? Which is why I was able to get all of the above done!
• The Fall crispness in the air..woo-hoo! Hanging up my new fall wreath and flag :)
• The house has been crawling with kids since school started. So happy that the kids have made a bunch of friends in the neighborhood. One day after school this week Abbie bounced into the house and announced, "I'm really having a lot of fun at my new school!"
• Cameron finally started pre-school yesterday. And one of his teachers is good friends with my neighbor. We are starting to know people who know people :)
• Making Pumpkin Spice coffee with vanilla caramel creamer...in the Keurig...mmm, right now I'm wishing it was decaf :(
• My best friend is moving closer, only 40 minutes away! Much better than 2.5 hours :) She closes on the new house next week.
• We got the 108 inch long curtains hung up on the 14 foot wide curtain rod with only one or two little "arguments". Love them!!
• Taking steps to get the basement and spare room finished, starting with the electrician adding 20+ recess lights in the basement!

Happy September!

Grateful Friday/Happy Birthday Cooper

Another Grateful Friday, another Grateful Birthday. Today I am grateful for the second of my babies. Cooper turned 7 this morning at 6:24...I think! Anyways, he is my sweet boy!

Yes Cooper you are still as sweet as ever. Just so innocent and kind. Always remembering your Please's and Thank You's. The only time I ever see you worked up is when you are fighting with your brother or sister. I do think that you have finally figured out that when you cry, I will do whatever you want. But even so, you don't take advantage of it. I can't say that I have figured you out though. You are kind of shy and introverted so sometimes it is hard for me to figure out "who you are".

You are currently obsessed with Ford F series trucks. I hear about every F250 and F350 that we see on the road. I also know that there are up to F750's and also an E series commercial van. And if by chance it is a dually, well kiss my grits, there's gonna be a party!

You love to draw and right now your subject of choice is Ford pickup trucks, see previous paragraph!

I am excited to see what kind of man you grow into being.

I hope you stay as thoughtful and gallant as you are now. Always holding the door and wanting to help out. You love to help me cook dinner. The other night I needed the step stool to reach the flour on the top shelf. You got it for me and steadied it with your foot while offering your hand so I wouldn't fall. I nearly did fall trying to see through the tears welling in my eyes.

You have become quite the fisherman this summer. You and daddy and Pappy have spent lots of time on the boat, you like to call her The Red Pearl, but unfortunately I think daddy vetoed that name. We are headed to the beach house later tonight because you wanted to go fishing for your birthday.

You are so excited about starting at your new school next week and meet some new friends. You want to have a sleepover so badly. You have seen Abbie have sleepovers with her friends and you get so sad.

This fall you want to play basketball. Right now that is your favorite sport, other than fishing of course. We have to get a new basketball goal because we had to leave your old one behind when we moved. You were not at all happy about that.

I Love You my sweet boy! Happy Birthday! Time to go to the Beach!!