Trenton's Seventh Birthday

The obligatory birthday pictures in the Illini shirt. 

 It was hard to get this goofball to make a normal pose...

For Trenton's seventh birthday, he ended up staying home from school! The night before he was running a low fever and had a cough that sounded a lot like croup. He just wasn't himself in the morning, so he decided to stay home and rest up. 

Oliver was thrilled. 

Bubble bath fights ensued.

 He hung out on the couch for most of the day. Many thanks to Aunt Shairna for the new books (above) and Aunt Red & Aunt Carolyn for the new games (below). Trenton LOVES to read and is very interested in graphic novels. Above, he's got "Tin Tin" and below left, the game Rush Hour- Traffic Jam Logic and Suspend. All very creative choices for a little boy with a big imagination and passion for a challenge.

The second night was also bad, so I kept him home again the following day. More reading, less fever...

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Had to share these with you. Check out Frankenstein as he creates a Play Doh pizza:

 

This week was the final class for each boy in gymnastics. They both LOVED it-- running around, jumping, balancing, trying out all of the apparatuses, going through obstacle courses... We'll be moving on to soccer (for Oliver) and baseball (for Trenton) in the spring.

 Had to take pics of these drawings that Ollie did at school today. Above, he drew himself and three friends (see them in blue in front of him?) Below, he's written "Oliver anb Trenton". Man does he love his brother...

Trenton's Seventh Birthday Parties

Ahh, the calm before the storm.

The boys were very, very excited to decorate the house for Trenton's upcoming birthday parties. Jim always does a fantastic job of putting up the streamers and blowing up waaay too many balloons ;)

So what do you do with fourteen boys? 

Feed them pizza!!!

Encourage them to play Wii! On multiple TVs! While taking turns! (sorta)

 And give each kid a box of Dots gumdrops and a few dozen toothpicks, with the challenge to create something unique. We had a few shapes, a few houses, a car-wash, and an office building. Nice!

 Further festivities included a dance party with glow-in-the-dark sticks, everyone taking a turn dancing with Trenton as they played "Just Dance Kids", and a nice round of whacking each other with punching balloons.

 Trenton had a blast.

 Happy seventh birthday, buddy.
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 Now THAT'S a Ninja Cake ;)

100th Day of First Grade

For Trenton's 100th day of school this year, his teacher asked that he dress up as though he were 100 years old. He happily obliged, even fashioning a quill pen out of a construction-paper-created feather, a pencil, and lotsa tape. Below, he wears Jim's bow tie, vest, and some funky glasses.

 "My eyesight is poor, which is why I'm squinting..."

Meanwhile, Oliver is still reading like nobody's business.

 Yesterday the two of us visited the Environmental Center. Such a nice place to hang out on a cold, windy winter day.
He likes to locate Australia on the massive globe below.

 Looking at bones with a hand lens.
Putting felt creatures on the felt board. Yes, he identified each one. ("Grampack, Grandma, baby, dinosaur, bird...")

 The two potato head creations above are supposed to be Pop Pop and Grandma Lacina. Now you see the resemblance, right?
And below, two boys getting their dress-up on.

This weekend we'll celebrate Trenton's seventh birthday with friends and family. Seventh!
His teacher emailed me today to say that his outfit was adorable... and that he lost his tooth! LOST it, as in 'can't find it'! I'm sure we'll get the whole story when he comes home later...

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Yep, he lost it. Can't find it. Was very upset when he got off the bus. "The Tooth Fairy won't go to the dump and look for it! It's too gross there!"
Ahh, but then THIS is what he found under his pillow the next morning:

She left two bucks. "Double dollar bills", said a groggy T. When asked later why he thought he got so much (she'd never left more than $1 before), he responded, "She must have known I was really upset, and wanted me to feel better."

Yup, probably, buddy.

Our Avon

My midwives are located in Avon-by-the-Sea. After my appointment this week, we drove out to the beach for the first time since Sandy.

Take a look at the lifeguard station. Completely elevated, removed from the area that was once the boardwalk. At least they were able to save it. From what I can tell in these pictures here, other buildings were completely turned upside down.

The remnants of the boardwalk's structure still remain. I would have to say that they're compromised as well, and will probably need to be removed and have new put in place before horizontal boards can be installed.

If you can believe it, this is where the Avon Pavilion used to stand. A nice outdoor cafe, a walk-up lunch restaurant, and a window-outfitted building where locals used to host yoga parties all used to stand on this part of the boardwalk.

This is looking south. You can see that the drawbridge is in the upright position-- it was like that the entire time we were there.

I used to sit under this pagoda regularly, once Oliver or Trenton fell asleep in the stroller.

 Other startling before and after shots can be found here.

I found this video clip online. Someone took it of the area just as Sandy was beginning to roll in.

There is lots of talk around here about just how safe the beaches will be this summer. Although there are plans to dredge the sand, it is still hard to say what might wash up each morning onto the beach. Millions of nails used to be in those boardwalks... lots of glass in windows... it all has to end up some place.

Favorite Avon memory (Trenton is about one and a half):


Here's hoping that May comes soon, so that we can make a trip out to these beaches-- Bradley, Avon, Ocean Grove, Manasquan, and Belmar-- and decide which one is 'ready' for us this summer.

HappyHibachiBirthday To You!

My little brother is now 32! To celebrate his birthday, we went out for a family dinner at Arirang in Parlin. My cousin David came, too! Above, Len holds up a Sumo-wrestler mug (straw hole in the front... too funny).

 
I do not think taking pictures of the kids as they catch zucchini in their mouths will ever get old.
Above, Ollie. Below, T (see the green streak?)

We somehow ordered fried rice, which added a whole new dimension to the hibachi show. The guy first created a snowman, then turned it into Lady Gaga, and then into a heart shape. He shimmied his spatula under the rice just-so, and created a talking mouth, into which he put eggs. For some reason, I found this hysterical. Should have gotten a video of that, but was too busy laughing.

Best part of the night was when they banged the gong, started the fancy-light show, and came out and sang Happy Birthday. The guy held up Len's arms, sang with his Japanese-accent, and put an ice cream cake down in front of him.

 
Len has threatened to somehow repay me on my birthday.          Hahahahahaahah....

 With full bellies and some leftovers, we capped off the end of a nice weekend.
Below, Jim shows off the bow tie he was wearing. Before this, we took the kids to MU to see a production of "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day". They love the book and we enjoyed the play. ("But there were no songs in the book, Mom." -- T)

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Earlier in the day, as I was straightening up the house, I realized that it was pretty darn quiet.

Some boys just love to read.


Find a great spot, and make it your own.
Trenton is very interested in reading graphic novels, while Oliver thoroughly enjoys "Henry and Mudge".

"Eating the rainbow" for lunch.