Yesterday afternoon, while driving to my mom’s he screeched “I pulled my tooth out”. He was so incredibly excited. It was like hitting the jackpot for him. I looked back to see a bloody mouth! Pleasant.

That evening, I went to a meeting at Charlie’s school and when I returned home he was fast asleep. He stayed home sick from school that day and went to sleep pretty early. The next thing I know, we hear Charlie talking. I could not make out what he was saying. When I reached his room, he was saying “What about my tooth fairy thing”. He has this really cute ‘Tooth Fairy Helper’ that we purchased from my friend Koz’ Etsy shop when she was fund raising for a walk. Then he said “DADDY forgot my tooth fairy thing”! I went in and helped him get it all ready. Let me tell you, that made the Tooth Fairy’s job much easier.

Later that night the Tooth Fairy paid him a visit and left him a bottle of Jones Orange & Cream Soda, Orange Tics (Tic Tacs), Fingerboard and a little cash. A few of his favorite things!

As for Charlie, he made “Fruit Ke-POPS” with his teacher. Fruit Kebobs as others would call them. He really enjoyed making them with pineapples and strawberries. Don’t even try to correct the Ke-POPS to Kebobs because you are totally WRONG. Trust me, I found out the hard way!

Charlie: “Do you have a recipe?”

Me: “Nope.”

Charlie: “Just go print one. From corndog.com !”

Me: EXITS, trying to keep a straight face.

As for the corn dogs. They need some tweaking. The batter was good. Hot dogs are kosher. Just need to adjust the cooking times a bit. Reduce temp and cook longer.

Cool presents…

Awesome dinosaur cake…

with Erupting Volcano!

And it’s not a party with out the Pinata. I think that’s a dinosaur limb flying?!

Birthday boy incognito!

Visiting Harmony Farm

The kids were able to brush the animals

Charlie was able to “drive” the old tractor

Tunnel exploration

Then we played in the tree house! Wouldn’t it be cool to have one of these in your back yard? I don’t think our orange trees will work to create one for our kids. When I was a kid, my sister and I had a tree house of sorts. In our yard there was a cluster of Creosote Bush and it created the perfect hideout for us to play in- right in the middle of them all. Even though it wasn’t up in the high branches of a large tree it was still our tree house. Where we lovingly made mud pies in old pie tins.

The next morning as we were getting into the car to take him to school he said “Don’t walk me to my class. I know where it is”. Standing at the garage door with Katelyn, Chuck heard that and said “Now make sure you walk him to class”. Charlie did not like that and started up again “Just drop me off! I KNOW where my class is”. He’s hilarious. We’re already embarassing him and he’s only five.

He seems to be having a good time again this year. As long as we don’t walk him to class!

Donna, if you are reading this. You might want to take a deep breath before you scroll down. I know the kids have a lot of toys, but I  just had to have this. :) And, I will take this opportunity to blame it on my mom right now! She called me when she found this on Craigslist for only $60. Then she sweetened the deal by offering to pay for part of it. Deliver it. Help set it up. IT’S ALL HER FAULT!!! Right, Mom?

 Look! There is my mom in the blue shirt. All her fault.

If you haven’t had a coronary I will let you jump on it when you come to visit for Halloween. I promise you will like it. Remember the water slide? I know you had fun on that but this is better. You can use it when it’s cold (Halloween) and no swim suit required.

Five years? Where has the time gone? I can’t believe how much he’s grown. He cracks us up on a daily basis. Which is a good thing because there are times this kid just about drives us to drink. He’s intelligent. Imaginative. Active. All of those things equate to a 35 pound limit testing, death deifying ball of energy. It’s a pretty good balance of cute and ornery!

I’ve been taking him swimming. He loves it. He’s a fish. I took him today actually. For 3 HOURS in the blazing 107 degree heat. Do you think that child was tired after that? HECK NO! Tired is for sissies. He was swimming hard the entire time. There was one time he went under and got a little water. He came right up, coughed and said “I just drowned a little” and went right back for more! When we finally did leave he was so upset. We are cruel parents to only let him swim for 3 hours, you know.

She was playing Peek A Boo.

Look ! A shot with no hair in her eyes.

Hair is getting a little longer.

LIttle daredevil.

Kate loves her big brother.

Me and the kiddies.That’s right, Amber hasn’t had much time to post new stuff so she has entrusted me with being able to update and add stuff.

Another scary face but in the end everything is  A OK

Sometimes that kid kills me with laughter. And sometimes he just kills me!

Check out more of the pictures HERE.

We were very lucky to have a local photographer, Andrea Whittle, take some beautiful pictures of the kids this week. She was awesome! Especially working with Charlie who was less than cooperative that day, to put it VERY nicely. Actually, I was very surprised that she got any shots of him because of his poor behavior. That was a true test of her abilities. Her rates are very affordable so please check her out the next time you need pictures done! You won’t be disappointed.

Sharing a snack on the Desert Train.

We’re RICH, we’re RICH. Not really. Turns out those Gold Nuggets Charlie panned for are FAKES!!!

Petting a cute little baby goat. Those things jump like cats!

Katelyn snuggling with the Mini-Horse.

Let’s just get rid of this hair clip right now . . .

Ahh, MUCH better!

Charlie lovin’ on the Mini-Horse, his favorite part.

Charlie waiting for his turn to ride the Donkies, but the cowgirl scared him so he decided not to ride.

And caught nothing but a glimpse of these ducklings!

Going on an EGG hunt!

And the most memorable part of the day? 

After most everyone left, TT and I were sitting at the dining room table with Charlie. Charlie accidentally knocked over a drink which spilled all over my light colored table cloth.

“Oh, NO . . . I better go hide!”

 Spoken like a four year old who’s been in his fair share of mischief.

Back in November I posted about my friend Koz working to participate in The Overnight in June. It’s a 20 mile walk through NYC from 8 p.m. till 5 a.m. If you missed that post check it out here. There are still great items for sale in their Etsy shop but everything is on SALE. Who doesn’t love a good deal? Besides getting a great deal on some beautiful handmade items donated by loving family and friends, your purchase will support great people and a great cause.

I am the proud owner of several items from their shop and it’s very unique stuff. If you’re a parent, you must check out the Tooth Fairy Helpers! We have a couple of sets of the STIPSTERS (stippled coasters) and they have many designs to chose from. So go check it out.

And last but not least. Today is her 29th Birthday. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KOZ!!!

Aren’t these flowers beautiful? They were a nice surprise from Chuck, wishing me a Happy Anniversary and Birthday. Very unexpected since it’s a few days early. THANK YOU!!! xoxo

Charlie was busy dying Easter Eggs tonight.

He decorated some for himself with CARS stickers on them . . .

. . . and some for Katelyn with PRINCESS stickers, of course!