Party photos!!

Ethan's Spiderman Party

Ethan had a great day on his birthday. He woke up really excited, and got to open his presents from Tyler and us. We didn't wrap his present from us - a big boy bike! He loved it, especially the batman bell I found at the Warehouse for $4!! :-)

The actual party wasn't until 2pm which gave me heaps of time to make and decorate the cake. I was pretty happy with how it turned out. When Ethan saw the finished product on the bench, he just looked at me and said "I can NOT believe it!" .... so I guess he was impressed!
Mum and Leah came over before the party started and Ethan opened his presents from them. Mum got him a Spiderman costume (along with a HUGE bag of other goodies), so of course he wanted to put it on and wear it for the party.

I can't believe how much Spiderman paraphenalia that boy now owns. He had a whole lot already, but now he has even more! I could open a Spiderman museum one day!

The party itself was a great success. 7 boys (Ethan & Tyler, cousins Eli & Jet, and 3 of his friends from preschool), and one girl. Poor Emily! But I think she had a good time despite the boy overload! We had party games, which was a first for me. I didn't bother with them last year since the party was at an indoor playground. But this year we had Pass the Parcel, Musical Statues, Duck Duck Goose and a game I made up called Match the Pairs. Once the kids were completely worn out, we had the party food and then cake & icecream.

**The photos will have to be in a separate post because Blogger is giving me grief and won't let me upload them all. Grrr.

My baby is 4!

I really wanted to post this on Ethan's birthday, but didn't get time. So please pretend you are reading this on May 27th, 2006.

Happy Birthday Ethan! I can't believe you are 4 years old today. The time since you were born has flown by so quickly and you have grown up really fast. I'm so proud of you and the person you have become. You're still my baby in some ways (and you always will be), but you are a boy now. You're not a toddler, and "preschooler" just doesn't seem like the right word for you anymore. You're simply A BOY.
You're my firstborn child. I am a firstborn child. Every single day when I look at you, I see myself. You and I are so alike. We are smart, stubborn, impatient, contrary, almost obsessive about things that are important to us. We're affectionate and talkative, we learn quickly and we aren't afraid to ask questions. You get me and I get you. I love that we are so similar and that makes our relationship really special. You're such a wonderful little guy, and I'm so blessed to be your "mumma".
I love you so much. Have a fantastic 4th birthday! Mumma xx

I haven't yet downloaded any pictures from his party so I will do a separate post tonight.

Ethan & Mummy are sick

Well actually, Ethan is better now but Mummy is still feeling like crap.
Just colds, but nasty ones. He's been coughing like a chimney sweep with asthma, but we *may* have finally found a cough medicine that works! Woohoo!
Anyway, we both stayed home yesterday - him from preschool & kindy, and me from work. He watched a lot of videos!! And I didn't even get to watch all of Dr Phil ... isn't that supposed to be the best thing about having a sick day? Anyway, I did get a lot of scrapbooking done since I dragged all my stuff out into the lounge and did it in fits and bursts while Ethan watched TV.

At one point Ethan came over and said "What are you doing, Mumma?" and I told him "scrapbooking". He said "I want to do some scrapbooking too" so I got out his crayons and some cardboard and he made a birthday card for Devon. He wrote his own name but he got me to write everything else. I asked what he wanted me to write, and this is what he said:
"To Devon. I love you. You're cute. I like you. You're my friend. From Ethan."
How sweet is that??!

Anyway, here are the 3 layouts I did yesterday. My first Wild Asparagus layout (Christi, are you proud of me?) and 2 others using the new Crate Paper. I love the stuff!!
If you want to read the journalling and see a list of products, go to My Gallery and don't forget to post a comment!

My boy is really growing up!

Ethan has just left with my sister-in-law Sarah on his first solo playdate ... as in I am not there with him. Granted, it is a playdate with his cousin, but it is still a big deal for him. He's quite a shy child at times.
Sarah emailed me the other day and asked if Ethan wanted to hang out with Jet (who is 4 months older than Ethan) today, so I could have some one-on-one time with Tyler. I asked Ethan and he said YES! ... then no ... then yes again :-) He wasn't sure about me not being there, but I assured him he would have fun and that Auntie Sarah would look after him. He said "but what if she doesn't like me?" LOL! Where does he get these ideas from?
Anyway, Sarah came and picked him up an hour ago. Jet was waiting in the car with a "special treat" (Rolo chocolates) and was so excited about giving Ethan his! I know they'll have a great time playing together. Sarah & Greg have a new puppy, chickens to feed, a trampoline, etc. All things that we don't have, and Ethan loves :-)
I just can't help thinking Ethan has met another milestone today, as small as it may seem to others. And I'm proud of him!

Fun family evening

We had a fun family evening on Tuesday. Our local video store has $3 movies on Tuesdays so we decided that we would rent "Chicken Little" and eat takeaways for dinner while we watched it. So I got the DVD and picked the boys up from preschool just before 5pm, and Rob got Wendy's from the drive-through on his way home from work. We put a blanket on the lounge floor and had a "picnic" while the movie was on. We started watching at 5.15pm and it finished around 6.30pm, just enough time to get the kids ready for bed.

Can you believe that BOTH my boys sat and watched the whole movie?! I knew Ethan would, but I figured Tyler would lose interest. After all, it really is aimed at older kids. But he sat with me on the couch for most of the time, often with his head resting on my leg (VERY unusual behaviour for him, let me tell you!) and then sat with Rob for the last bit. I think he's actually coming down with some kind of cold or something, because he was unusually placid, and Melissa and Kristie said he hadn't been himself at preschool that day.

Anyway, it was really fun thing to do together. Since it was so successful, we might end up doing it on a regular basis, like once a month. It was such a change from the usual stress between 5-7pm … rushing home from work/preschool, keeping the kids away from the pantry, struggling to get a good home-cooked meal ready before 5.45pm, dealing with "food issues" at the dinner table, then the bathtime/storytime/bedtime routine. The usual. Most parents will know what I mean. But Tuesday evening was the most unstressful evening we've had as a family in a long time.
And the movie wasn't half-bad, either!

First day at Kindy!

Today was Ethan's first day at Kindergarten. I took a few photos before we left, he was pretty excited! When we got there he saw Flynn, a boy who used to go to Hannah's House (preschool), so the two of them started playing with the toy dinosaurs together. I stayed and talked to Flynn's mum Sarah for awhile, and then Ethan's friend Devon arrived with his mum Lissa. The boys' faces just lit up when they saw each other! They ran outside to play on the swings and yelled "Bye, Mummy!" at the top of their lungs to Lissa and I :-)

Rob, Tyler and I all went to pick Ethan up at 3.15pm. He was sitting on the mat, and didn't realise he wasn't allowed to get up until the teacher had called his name (a safety thing, to make sure kids go home with the right people). He ran over to me and hugged me, and got a bit upset when he had to go back and sit down again. He didn't really understand, but hopefully next time he'll realise the procedure. He also didn't eat any afternoon tea because the teachers don't remind or encourage the kids to eat, they just leave it up to them to decide if they are hungry or not. So Ethan was really thirsty and hungry when I got there. I told him that next time he could just help himself to his drink and lunchbox if he wanted to. There were quite a few little things like that he didn't know or understand, and I thought the teachers would have helped him a bit more considering it was his first day and he didn't know how things worked!! Oh well, he wasn't too upset by any of it. He had a really great day and is excited about going back tomorrow.

I'm hoping to be able to finish work a couple of hours early each Tuesday (and work from home for a couple of hours at night to make up for it) ... because I really want to be able to pick him up at least once a week. Rob will do it on Mondays (that's his day off) and Nana will be doing it on Thursdays.
As we were walking from our car to the Kindy gate, watching all the mums & dads picking up their kids from the primary school next door, I said to Rob: "This is going to be our life from now on!" ... it was a really strange but nice feeling. Like we're moving onto the "next stage" and although I'm sad that my baby is growing up, it is nice to see him change & mature. I'm so proud of him!

Pictures

Kindergarten

We finally got the phone call!
The one to say that Ethan has a place in Kindergarten!

His name has been on the waiting list for almost 2 years. Initially they told me he would get in around the age of 3 ½, but that didn’t happen. Then it was 3 years 8 months, then 3 years 10 months, and finally at 3 years 11 months, he got in.
He’s really excited about going to Kindy. His friend Devon from preschool will be turning 4 the day before Ethan, so he should be starting around the same time. We’ve got a meeting there on Friday afternoon, and the teacher said one other parent would be there with their child … so I’m hoping it is Devon!

Logistically, getting Ethan to and from Kindergarten is going to be nightmare for us. The days and hours are so weird. Mon, Tues and Thurs afternoons from 12.45pm until 3.15pm. Then after about 6 months, he will go 5 mornings from 8.45am until 11.45am (12.45pm on Wed & Fri). Mondays shouldn’t be too bad as Rob is home. Tues and Thurs both the boys are at preschool, so Rob will have to pick Ethan up from preschool after lunch and take him to Kindy, then pick him up from Kindy at 3.15pm and take him back to preschool until 5pm when I pick them up. Luckily his boss has said that’s no problem. Also, Devon’s mum has offered to pick Ethan up sometimes and take him back to their house to play with Devon until Rob finishes work (they live just around the corner from Rob’s work). Actually, both Ethan & Devon were pretty excited about that idea!
It will be tricky, but we’ll make it work. It will be really good for Ethan, and a great “transition” period before he starts school next year – yikes!

Our weekend getaway ...

Rob and I celebrated our wedding anniversary with a night at the Duxton Hotel in the city. The kids stayed at my parents’ place on Friday night and all day Saturday.
We got to the Duxton at 2.30pm, then we hit the hotel gym and had a swim in the pool, then a soak in the jacuzzi (both outside, but luckily the rain had stopped so we didn’t freeze our butts off). Later on we had free drinks in the bar, then walked down to Aotea Square. We had dinner at The Playhouse, saw a movie, had dessert/coffee & watched the end of the Hurricanes game.
In the morning we slept in until 8.30am (woohoo!) and then walked into town again for breakfast at Stark's. We browsed around Smith & Caugheys and Borders. Then it was off to Victoria Park Market. We got our anniversary present there - a huge copper gecko that hangs on the wall, with a space at the back for a tealight candle. [The traditional 7-year gift is copper or wool and we’ve always given gifts according to the traditional list].

The highlight of my weekend:
On Saturday afternoon Rob organised with our friend Eddie to borrow his motorbike and take me for a ride. I'd never been on a motorbike before but Rob used to own one “back in the day”. Anyway, it was unreal. We had so much fun and now I want him to buy another bike! And new helmets. Rob likes his helmet but his spare one doesn’t fit me properly – it was too tight across my forehead. It also had no visor, so by the time we got back from our ride I had a headache, chapped lips and a runny nose! But I loved it anyway.

I'm home ... and it's our anniversary

Well, I'm back from my conference. I got back Saturday night, but haven't had a chance to blog until now. I wanted to spend Sunday with my kids because I missed them SO much! Honestly, it was really hard being away from them. The second night was the worst, I had to leave one of the sessions early and go and sit out in the foyer because I was so emotional.
On Sunday morning I woke up to find Ethan's face right next to mine, he was just looking at me and waiting for me to wake up. He had the biggest grin on his face, he was so happy to see me. Then when Tyler woke up, he was calling out "mamma" so I went in to get him up and he literally jumped up and down in his cot!

Today is May 1.
Our 7th Wedding Anniversary.
Like I wrote in Rob's card, it feels like only yesterday that we got married, but at the same time it feels like we've always been together. The last 7 years have been so wonderful, I look forward to the next 7 ... or should I say 70!?