Nathan is Six!

Nathan waited patiently for his belated birthday party, and enjoyed it thoroughly when it came!

Remind me never to do red icing again! It took three vials of red to get them that bright, and we had red on everything! I had lots of wipes handy when we ate, so we kept the staining to a minimum. But the icing had a nasty bite to it--sorta like eating M & Ms. Now I know what food coloring tastes like! One kid only ate the icing, so obviously he thought it was still great. ;)

Notice how the family members are all as close as possible...so as to get first dibs on any cast offs. Daniel is contemplating soaking Nathan with his own water weapon if Nathan won't share.

One year I suggested we do a family outing at the zoo instead of a party but Nathan quickly said he'd rather have all his friends come over and give him presents. :p He thought we could go to the zoo for Melanie's birthday instead, or Daddy's. ;)


Having a birthday in May means getting lots of outside toys. Which are perfect for sharing!


The younger party goers thought the frizbee games were ideal in letting them have the monopoly on the sandbox!

Sure was nice to have a sunny party!

Six years old. That's two hands old (if you show the answer "by fingers" still, that is). Nathan isn't really a preschooler anymore. He really is maturing--though he has a lot of immature moments yet too. ;) What a blessing he is to our lives!

Sanitizing

As I'm hosting a belated birthday party for Nathan (6 already!!!), and I'm feeling energetic, I thought I'd spend my day going nuts and purging any last lingering flu germs that might be hiding in the house. Linens were attacked first. Then the floors.

(Some helpers have more fun than others.)


Then any toys that were played with recently--and any toys that I knew have been in mouths for the last month.

If the kids hadn't been so helpful, I probably wouldn't have been so ambitious. I even gave them wet cloths to wipe walls and doorknobs with, and they worked hard at that too! Nathan was definitely the hardest worker though. (Part of his motivation was to empty the bathtub before suppertime so that he'd be allowed a bath after we ate!)

Last of all was giving the kids baths. (That never happens often enough around here!)

I don't know what's wrong with me. I've never done this kind of frenzied cleaning before, for flus or otherwise. Maybe it's because the flu took so long to get over, and I just feel so ichy that I need to clean clean clean. Or maybe it's because of the party, and I'm (for a change) feeling conscientious about germ spreading. Maybe I'm growing up (NO!!!). Or maybe I'm just getting more paranoid with age.

Nobody had better get sick again for the next few days so that clean feeling can sink in for a while.

Sick Week

I got the flu Monday night and Tuesday.

Daniel got his turn on Tuesday night and Wednesday.

And last night and today is Matthew's turn.


Thankfully the last few days (except this afternoon) have been perfect outside weather days, so sprawling on the lawn on a blanket was a very pleasant thing to do. This morning wasn't sunny, but still, it was warm enough for me to be in bare feet. Yesterday was warmer and sunnier, but I was in a sweater and slippers! (It feels good to feel better!)

Daniel is tired today,

but otherwise, recovering well. He had amazingly good humour through the entire ordeal--something I hope his older siblings will imitate if they get a turn.

(Although they don't have to be as mischievous as him!)

Nathan and Melanie haven't been hit by the flu yet...but I'm not feeling too optimistic about tonight and tomorrow...

For now, they are chumming together. Doing almost everything together, including getting socks on for playing outside, so we ill ones can watch them while we veg in the grass.

(Melanie is much too accommodating to her brothers whims! Nathan said his hand was full so he couldn't put his socks on. Personally, I'd rather hold his banana, or better yet, wait for him to eat it, then put his socks on for him--even if they're clean ones!)

Even though the "fort" is rather unfinished still, that doesn't mean it can't be used yet!

Melanie and Nathan decided to play a type of "anti i over" game. Then when the ball didn't come off and needed to be nudged off with a hockey stick, that became a new game. I guess you'd call it "see if you can get the ball stuck on top, then get it unstuck".
Both games were highly entertaining.

Keeping the kids in line

When kids are particularly troublesome, there are always simple solutions.

Although, they don't always solve much for long!


The kids like playing in the sandbox even more, now that it has a sort of covering over it. Makes it more interesting again, and they can imagine all the fun they'll have when the rest of the fort gets finished....some day.

Nap time!

With almost every one in a separate room for an hour, peace reigns in the house for an hour. Guess when my favorite time of day is? (Hint: my favorite time of night is bed time.)


Nathan does all manner of things during nap time. He's restricted to staying downstairs and not being too noisy. Yesterday he discovered lizards tails came off. He thought that would hurt a lot!


Daniel is unbelievably well behaved during this time --the best of all kids!


Melanie can colour, "read" or whisper with her imaginary friends. Her only trouble is restraining from telling me all about it until she is out of her room and away from sleeping Daniel.


It's rare now that Matthew sleeps, but he's usually happy with a book and a window to look out of. There was a big yellow lawnmower at the neighbours this time, which was very captivating!

Flowers

SPRING!

Bounty from our gardens.

Anyone know what small white flowers are?