Happy Birthday Jack! May the Force be With You...

The BIG 1-0. 

 

TEN!

 

It was deserving of a mighty awesome celebration.  The birthday boy was a bit fickle about what kind of party he wanted, it took a while to put things together.  Two extra months, to be exact.  But on the last weekend before school started, we managed to pull it all together! 

 

The invitation will explain it all...

 

 

I'd been pinning a bunch of ideas I found online as inspiration, but I was pretty proud that the entire design from start to finish was my own - I even m - ade the starry night background using an online tutorial I found (which of course I can't find now to share, even though I swear I pinned it!)

 

Here's how we carried it all out...OUTSIDE, because inside is not an option -  I've been there and done that, and it ain't pretty!

 

We set up the party table in the garage, and I hung up a black fabric backdrop to make it look less garage-like.  (I bought this black muslin at Joanne's a few years back when we had a Halloween party in our garage in Pembroke - it was such a great investment!)

 

The food was just simple party food; pizza, drinks, cookies and cake.  But I spiffed it up by adding  names that went with the Star Wars theme. 

 

 

How awesome are these Pizza Hut party boxes?  They have a whole deep dish pizza in them, PLUS breasticks with sauce and cinnamon sticks with sauce.  All for TEN BUCKS! 

 

 

 

Some of the boys who came to Jack's party were vegetarian, so I went with pizza, but I thought it would be really fun to do a slider bar and call them "Han-Burgers"  Get it?  Han Solo...Han Burger...Hamburger??

 

Totally campy, I know, but I must be channeling my inner 10 year old boy because they all LOVED it - they were totally geeked out about it and kept coming up with their own ideas for Star Wars themed food!  All that Pizza Hutt got the boys thirsty, so they washed it down with some of this...

 

 

The recipe couldn't be more simple.  Scoop a container of lime sherbet into a punch bowl and just before party time, pour on a 2 liter bottle of Sprite.

 

 

It was gone faster than you can swing a light saber. 

 

 

 

And so were these...

 

 

Our grocery store sells these HUGE containers of store-baked cookies for $5 every Friday. 

The "chewie" idea came to me as if by divine inspiration during one of my pregnancy-induced-insomnia episodes.

 

 The boys pulled up some cement on the driveway and enjoyed their lunch...and more importantly, my house stayed intact!  Score one for Mom!!

 

 

 

 

 

Miss Priss coordinated her outfit to the party theme...I was kinda proud!

 

Before the entertainment arrived, we had time for a quick project.  Someone once told me that when it involves girls, it's a "craft" and when it involves boys, it's a "project".  Our project was the favor that I'd run out of time to make, so I had the kids make it themselves!

 

I bought some cheap pool noodles at American Sale and cut them in half.

Let me warn you...August is not the time of year when you want to go looking for pool noodles.  When I finally found them, they were 90% off.  But it took about twelve stores before that happened!

 

You take your pool noodles and wrap the end in silver duct tape to make a hilt.  Then you decorate your hilt with black electrical tape and red duct tape circles and shapes.

 

 

And VOILA! You have yourself your very own DIY light saber.

One that won't cause head injury!

 

 

Although trust me...they'll try.

(to cause head injury that is)

 

If it was a bunch of girls, they would have spent twenty minutes perfecting their hilt with buttons and stripes.  But the boys?  The boys ran off down the street battling each other with strips of duct tape stuck to their shorts and fingers because fighting is CLEARLY more important than decorating....duh!

 

There was only one thing that was going to bring them back to reality....THE GAME TRUCK!!!

 

 

They came a'running!

 

 

I told them admission to the truck cost a picture apiece...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 They got into it a little, don't you think? 

And then it was game time!

 

 

The Game Truck is outfitted with comfy leather seating and all the video games a kid could ask for!  Theres XBox, Playstation, Wii, you name it!

 

 

We got to choose, and told the game coach that the kids could play anything rated E for Everyone. 

 

You can imagine, that EVERYONE had a great time!

 

 

 

 

Does he look like he likes it?

 

 

Even the littles got in on the action!

 

They got to play for TWO HOURS! 

Usually, the Mallett kids get cut off after 20 minutes, so this was a BIG deal!

 

Jack had to take a few breaks because he was overstimulated or because his "fairness' gene was activated.  (this is why he has a hard time with team sports and games - his sense of fairness and justice is so intense that he has a hard time getting past any perceived bending of the rules - something that is pretty commonplace in the under 10 set!)

 

But he worked through it, and with Dad's help, got back on track to enjoy the rest of the party.

 

Then we said goodbye to the Game Truck, and it was CAKE TIME!

 

Don't ask me what happened to the cake...

I was attacked by a rogue band of Ewoks on the way from the fridge...that's my story and I'm sticking to it!!

 

 It didn't matter what the cake looked like though.  The birthday boy got to celebrate with all his friends, and in the end, he said it was better than his wildest dreams! 

 

 

 I can't ask for any more than that. :)

 

Happy Birthday Jack!

We love you!

Fifth Grade Spelling Sentences



image from: http://www.pps.k12.or.us/schools/rieke/380.htm



Jack got his first homework assignment for fifth grade today,

He had to write spelling sentences including the following words;

activity

building

heavy

biscuit

purpose

astonish

symmetric

cyclical

abandon

subsequent

expository

abundant

accomplish

mishap

extraordinary

trophosphere

stratosphere

mesosphere

thermosphere

exosphere

Jack hasn't had to write sentences like this since he went to second grade in Pembroke. 

Back then, it would take me two to three HOURS to get him to write 5 sentences, and you can only imagine the drama and gnashing of teeth (his and mine) that went on during his hours long attempt to get out of writing them.

So when I found out this was his assignment, LEERY doesn't even begin to describe the fear I had in the pit of my stomach.  I was shaking in my boots!

However, I was pleasantly suprised when Jack jumped into his sentence writing with enthusiasm, a smile on his face, and couldn't wait to read each one to me, all the way through to the end.

Hold the phone. 

Let me repeat that.

Jack jumped into his sentence writing with enthusiasm!!!!!!

When you have a child who is so consistent, determined and persistent in homework aversion that it makes you seriously consider boarding or military school, a moment like this is something that needs to be CELEBRATED!!! 

I grabbed my firstborn and hugged him so tight I think I may have scared him!  And I may or may not be doing a happy dance as I type this. (okay, I admit it, I AM!!)

I think there were three keys to tonight's success

and I pray I am right and they continue to be successful:

1.

Jack is 10 now, and is finally, blessedly starting to mature

 into someone who thinks beyond his immediate, self-centered desires.

 

2.

Jack's teacher told him that he could use more than one spelling word in a sentence. 

This challenged him to find a shortcut to less work, and he was hooked.

 

3.

I believe I have sufficiently convinced him that if he does NOT do his homework on time and without grumbling, that he will be transported directly from school to an after-school tutor and will not be allowed home until his homework is done.  

Period.  End of story.  Even if it takes until midnight.

(and I am serious - I am 100% DONE with his homework shenanigans,

and I've got pregnancy hormones to back me up if I lose my nerve.  This game is OVER.)

 

But the best part?

 

The best part is the QUALITY of the sentences he wrote.  I am completely dumfounded. 

 

Wanna hear them?

(you know you do!)

 

"Yesterday, I had an extraordinary mishap subsequent to bedtime."

 

"I accomplished writing an expository writing piece about the exosphere and how it affects Earth."



and the best for last...

 

"The stratosphere, the mesosphere and the thermosphere are all part of Earth's atmosphere and affect the Earth in many ways such as blocking radiation that the sun emits and can be harmful to humans by causing sunburn and other things such as radiation sickniss witch happens when exposed to radiation for long periods of tim."

 

Seriously?

 

Whose kid is this?  And more importantly...can we keep him????

Summer 2012, An iPhone Pictorial

Most of my summer has consisted of

 

Cooking

Cleaning

Feeding

Chasing

Chauffering

Schlepping

Cajoling

Disciplining

Referreeing

Packing

Unpacking

Laundry

Exhaustion!!!

 

Notice that "blogging" was not on the list. 

And with the exception of our time in Massachusetts "photography" was also not on the list.

 

But thank goodness for my trusty iPhone! 

 

All along I've been thinking that it would hold the story of our summer safe and sound until I could find time to blog it all.  That time needs to be now, because tomorrow, unbelievably, is the very LAST day of summer vacation.

 

So here we go!

 

The Last Day of School!!

(courtesy of my iPhone)

 

 

 

 

Little brothers at the ready with silly string!

 

 

Gotcha!!!

 

 

First day of summer and where did they want to go??

Back to the school playground - go figure?!!

 

 

June was full of activity - too much if you ask me

(but whose fault was that?  MINE!!)

 

Ben went to "Sports Camp" and got to try out a new sport each aftenoon

(he's the one in the red hat)

 

 

Sporting agreed with him...

 

 

There was A LOT of driving around to all of those activities...

 

 

See the tennis racket on Molly's lap?

She complained incessantly from the second lesson onward.

By the last lesson, we just gave up.

It was the bees.  She is terrified.

It was a match made very FAR from heaven.

(You live and you learn.  Note to self: NO MORE TENNIS!!)

 

 

He may have gone to Sports Camp, but he certainly earned the "good sport" award for trucking all over creation for his siblings.

 

 

Jack went to 3 weeks of local parks district camp and one week of

Ballistics Camp at the SciTech Museum one town over.  No biggie right?

Turned out it was a 40 minute drive.  Each way.

It was a TON of fun.

(but a ton of driving!)

 

I would do it again if we could find someone to carpool with.

He was in heaven, blowing up new things every day!

Rockets and blasters and cannons, oh my!

 

 

To celebrate the end of the week, we went to the GOLDEN CORRAL.

It's a buffet.

They likey.

 

 

They likey A LOT

 

 

 

 

They likey ALOT ALOT ALOT!

 

 

 

Did I mention it was hot?

 

IT WAS HOT!

 

 

 

Just about then it was GARAGE SALE time!

It was a

herculean,

gargantuan,

MONUMENTAL

effort.

 

But we managed to turn  THIS...

 

 

(Yes, this was my basement.  DON'T JUDGE!!!)

 

 

INTO THIS....

 

 

 

 

 

 AND THEN INTO THIS...

 

 

What are you more jealous of?

My pudgy belly?

My fanny pack???

Or my MOOLAH!!!

 

 

Operation Purge and Sell

(or risk Marc setting fire to everything in the font yard)

netted us nearly $500.

 

$500!

 

But almost better, it gave us back our basement and cleaned us of some soul-crushing clutter.

 

I thought and thought about what we should buy with our windfall.

A new rug for the family room?

A built in griddle for the stovetop?

A weekend away?

 

In the end, the money used itself to buy TIME.

While it sat in the laundry room drawer waiting for me to choose a big ticket item...

I used it to pay my Tuesday/Thursday morning babysitter all summer long.

 

While she was here, I got to do

THIS....

 

 

and go for walks and bike rides through THIS....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Which led to maintaining THIS...

 

 

 

Which is 20 pounds LESS than I weighed in January!!!

 

I actually got the scale down to 130.5,

 but I was greedy and was waiting for it to read 129.5 before I snapped a picture.

(Note to self: DON'T BE GREEDY, SNAP THE PICTURE!!!)

 

And then we went to Vegas.

 And came home with a few extra  pounds, and THIS...

 

 

Hi Baby!!

 

 

So the 135 is here to stay for a bit.

Happily so!

 

Because NEXT January, we will have something really precious and adorable to cuddle,

instead of my love handles.

 

But forget about January for now!  Back to SUMMER!!

 

Did I mention it was HOT???!!!

 

 

We did our best to stay wet as much as possible.

We don't discriminate.

 

POOL.

 

SINK

 

 

 

CENTENNIAL BEACH

 

 

 

Look who got brave and went on the water slide this year!

 

 

 

HOSE

 

 

 

SQUISHY BAFF

 

CAR WASH

 

 

 

 

 

LAKE MICHIGAN

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you have time for a "Ben Story"?

(who am I kidding, there's always time for a Ben Story!)

 

I had walked about 20 feet away from our 'spot' on the beach to take pictures of Molly and Abby collecting shells.  Emily was going to keep an eye on Ben, who was happily playing in the sand.

 I warn people all the time that he's an escape artist, but they just can't fathom the depth and breadth of this statement until they experience it for themselves.

 

Five minutes later, I came back to find Emily walking baby Madeleine around our spot in circles trying to get her to sleep.  I notice Ben is not there.

 

Right off the bat I know that

 

a. He is not drowning because I purposely made him wear floaties

 

b. I purposely brought the orange floaties so he would be easier to spot when he ran

 

c. Emily is going to need therapy over this, even though the child could elude Scotland Yard.

 

So I did what I always do.  I started walking in the direction I imagine Ben would.

The farther I went without seeing him, the quicker my pace became.

When I rounded the corner of the beach, I finally spotted him.

 

FAR away.

 

And still running.

 

It took me at least two or three minutes to catch up with him.

Take a look at the picture again.

 

 

If you look as far as the jetty behind him,

Our "spot" was on the other side of that.

By at least 100 yards.

 

FIVE MINUTES.  That's the time I wasn't looking.

 

F-I-V-E

 

At least this time he was a smidgen alarmed that he didn't know where I was.  He was looking for our 'rainbow' umbrella, but someone down the beach had one too.  So he just kept on going.

 

Like I said...until you see him in action, you wouldnt believe it.

 (don't even ask about the time he got lost at Nannie's house and we found him on her ROOF!)

 

Okay, back to SUMMER!!

 

So it was HOT, right?

 

 

And the next coolest thing to water is

ICE CREAM!

 

We at a LOT of ice cream...

 

 

And frozen custard

 

 

And snow cones

(even learned how to make them in the Vitamix at home!)

 

 

And more ice cream

(this was our annual pilgrimage to Sweets in Lake Forest - YUM!) 

 

 

 

And when we just couldn't take the heat for ONE MORE SECOND,

we hibernated inside.

 

There was lots of  TV watching

Transformers, Avatar and Star Wars (the animated shows) were favorites

 

 

Lots of baking...

 

 

 

 

 

 (these were the brownie pops we made for the Vacation Bible School Potluck Dinner)

 

 

 There was some organizing...

 

 

 

 

 Some housekeeping...

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a whole LOT of foolishness and fun...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the mess? 

It knew NO BOUNDS.

 

In the midst of the fun we took care of some important business.

 

Like dentist appointments for everyone

(including a crown and filling for Mommy who may be toothless by the end of this pregnancy!)

 

Saw Dr. Leazzo for our physicals.

We took bets on who would weigh more, Molly or Ben.

It's been neck and neck for four years running.

Molly has edged out Ben by a hair until now.

 

Because this time.....

 

 

It was a TIE!!!

They weighed EXACTLY the same - 40.8lbs. 

 

 

He was pretty pleased.

 

Jack on the other hand was NOT so pleased

with the five teeth he had extracted...

 

 

 

Do you have time for a funny Jack Story?

 

 

When we got home from the pediatric endodontist he was LOOPY from the meds they gave him.

He could barely walk, but I caught him crawling across the kitchen floor.

I asked him what he needed but he just waved me off,

reached into a drawer, grabbed something and crawled back to his perch on the couch.

 

I asked him what he had, and after some prodding, he finally showed me.

It was a pair of nail clippers.

 

 

 

He told me...

 "I've got a string stuck in my mouth and I just can't pull it out."

 

 And I told him...

JACK, THOSE ARE YOUR STITCHES!!!!!

 

Interestingly enough, the oral surgery recovery was ROUGH

because the referred swelling gave Jack an ear infection that knocked him out of commission for a week.  We couldn't figure out where his high fever was coming from and were worried that he would end up in the hospital with an infection, but luckily, Nana diagnosed him over the phone.

 

Too bad she can't write prescriptions too!

 

But I digress. BACK TO SUMMER!

 

We really weren't terribly adventurous with any field trips this summer.

Mostly because I was in my first trimester and motivation was hard to come by.

But also because in all honesty, the kids just wanted TO PLAY.

And how can you say no to that?!

 

We did get to the Library...

 

 

The Colonial Restaurant

 

 

The playground

 

 

 

 

On bikes, no less!

 

Steak 'n Shake

 

Another playground

 

 

 

Oh, and Massachusetts, of course.

 

We've spent the last few weeks just enjoying summer,

swimming at the pool,

hanging out with friends,

taking it easy.

 

And now...

it's T minus 48 hours until we are back in school!!

 

 

The backpacks are hung in the mudroom with care,

New sneakers are shiny with wiggle room to spare.

The teachers are prepped, just yesterday met.

We've sussed out our classmates

and homerooms, and yet...

 

I'll be happy to have my routine back, I know.

But I'm sure sad to see summer 2012 go.