Eight is GREAT!

Eight years ago, I became a mom! Time sure flies. Logan is old enough to enjoy stories about the day he was born, so Shawn and I shared several with him, reminiscing about our amazement and aw of having a baby boy, so tiny, so alert, so adorable. Logan's favorite story was the one about how Shawn often poked Logan when he was sleeping, just to make sure he was OK.

Logan had a weekend full of Birthday festivities. We started early Friday morning with a family celebration, followed by brownie cupcakes at school to share with classmates, sushi dinner with the fam, and ice cream sundaes back at home.

the coveted Lego grail (the goodness for Ebay!)

Saturday brought us LEGO MADNESS 2010 Lots of Legos, lots of boy craziness!

We built with candy legos, played all sorts of lego games and raced custom lego cars.

And on Sunday, we had our family party...meatball subs, chips and cheesecake were requested by the birthday boy.

The evening quickly evolved into Nerf War, not sure who was having more fun, the kids or the adults?!?

This years Christmas Card, what do you think?

Last Call on Legoland, for now

Our passes for Legoland expire this month, so we went for one last hoorah...

take note of Caden's PINK sparkly sword and shield he picked out to take down the dark side

A pumpkin patch made out for bricks

Geared up for watching Bob the Builder in 4D

"Look! He's 4D"

Caden Loves this Pirate Band...I think we spent about a half an hour her while Logan and Shawn were off on a roller coaster.

I'm sure we will be back again, but what a great day to soak up some Lego fun.

Go Climb a Rock

Karen took Logan climbing again. He really loves this and he's getting pretty good, thanks to his great teacher.

Caden and I joined them after about an hour. Logan was still going strong and Caden couldn't wait to get in on the act.

Thanks Karen, for inspiring Logan to challenge himself and try new things.

Homework Time

Caden has to sit and "do homework" with Logan.

Ewok vs. Wookie

It's seven thirty something this morning, Logan's alarm is going off and Caden asks if he can go say good morning...off he goes, down the hall. The next thing I know, there is SCREAMING from the other side of the house. Caden is holding both of these minifigs, yelling at Logan with all of his might, "Chubaka is an Ewok!" Logan responds with equal force, "He's not an ewok, he's a wookie!" This goes back and forth for a while...escalates in emotion, so I step in to settle things..."Caden, Logan's right, Chubaka IS a wookie, not an ewok." Caden accepts my answer for a while but then came back with "He's a grown-up ewok" Nice try.

Puurrrrrrrple

It's belt test time again, this time Logan was working towards a full purple. Full belts are always more difficult than jr belts because they are comprehensive, you are tested on EVERYTHING you have learned in your study of karate. It also means we are at the studio A LOT! The week prior to testing, the kids are encouraged to go to EVERY class for review. That means everyday, for a week, EVERYDAY! do you get my point! And the test itself is over 2 hours...2 hours of forms, self defense techniques, sparing and endurance. So this is a BIG accomplishment! At the end of testing, they invite parents in for the belt ceremony. It's a cool thing. Mr. B talks about the meaning of the belts and emphasizes the hard work put in to get to this point.

After they place their old belt behind them (it's in the past), they take their new belt and recognize the amount of learning that took place to get to here and how much more is needed to continue.

Then they place it on their waist to signify their strength and hard work.

And then over their heart to represent their dedication and commitment.

A little time to meditate, reflect and focus.

Hooray! Congratulations Logan, we are very proud of you.

"When I go in, you stay out"

Caden was SO EXCITED about going to school. On our drive over, he told me, "When I go in, you stay out, ok?" So much for separation anxiety! He jumped right into the toys, barely looked back as I walked out.

When the hour was up, he was sitting at the snack table and when he saw me, he ran right over to the play kitchen to show me all the pretend food he played with and to tell me "don't eat it, ok?" Lessons learned on Day 1.

This is what Caden looked like about a half hour after school...so much fun equals total exhaustion...we'll be back for more of that!

Can he build it?

Yes he can!! I've heard of the kids workshop at Home Depot but we've never gone til now...for a cub scout outing. Fun Stuff!! Think we'll be back again, to make more cool stuff! Maybe Logan will learn how to replace our kitchen counter...I can dream, can't I?

Childish Fun

The Children's Museum is always fun...this time we had the place practically to ourselves, which made it all the more enjoyable!

Nothing like an impromptu jam session...

under a GIANT Trojan Horse.