Lincoln's 7th Birthday: How To Train Your Dragon

Well, Jenn and I are now the parents of a 7 year old. Funny, 'cause all of the other parents of 7 year olds seem much older than we feel. What's up with that?

In addition to the amazing cake (Chocolate Velvet w/ Cream Cheese Buttercream on the top, Banana Split cake w/ all the layers you could dream of on the bottom to go with Banana Icecream from Handel's), we also decorated shields, whacked a piñata & tossed sheep in the back yard.

It's not that birthday parties weren't fun before, but now that the kids are old enough to really engage in fun party games, this was a lot of fun for Jenn and me to host. As usual, the food was amazing, too. And Grandma Paulette helped out with some really neat decorations. If there wasn't such a thing as copyright, we could market a nice little Dragon Training Party Kit. But this ought to get some use again, because Lydia informed us that she wants an Astrid party next year after her Frozen party this year. No surprise, she's got an agenda.

Another birthday down... it was a great party for a great kid. Jenn and I are very, very proud of Lincoln.

Playset & Hike

• Jenn and I are formulating a potential trip to Western Veterinary Conference in February of 2015.
  
• Lincoln is wrapping up Kindergarten.
  
• Gotcha Day #2 was celebrated with our traditional pizza & gnocchi. Two years since that first day. Yikes.
  
• The kids are enjoying hikes and walks, getting in Disney shape.
  
• Clearly the playset is getting a lot of use.
  
• Jenn's cake experimentation is getting really, really good.
  
• Lincoln is reading, tying his shoes, working hard with Grandpa at the cabin, and showing a bit more responsibility around the house.
  
• Henry started using the swings!!!
  
• I got an iPhone and can text now. [gasp!!!]
  
• The humidity is up and that makes the running a bit harder.

The weather here has not been pleasant. I've kept a good attitude about winter for most of the winter, avoiding anger and unpleasantness. But when last Thursday was nice, getting into the upper 50s, I believe, and then the weekend got nasty again, I got irritated. We're all ready for spring.

Speaking of last Thursday when it was nice, much of the snow was melting and the water was running across the sidewalks. So on my run, at around 8:45pm, I hit a patch of black ice around 2.95 miles of my planned 4 mile run. My left foot shot out in front of me and slightly to the right, and my face/head went down at the speed of gravity. I literally saw the sidewalk approach and make contact with my cheek. It happened in front of our neighbor's house, and while I didn't feel anything concussion-like, I didn't want to get another half-mile away from the house and realize I shouldn't have gone any further, so I cut the run short at 3 miles. A pretty nasty abrasion and a bruised eyelid were the marks, and while therapy laser has helped speed up the healing, there's enough of that ugly yellow bruise appearance under my left eye to make it look a little ugly. I can't say my irritation with the weather is entirely due to this incident, but I'd really like to have outdoor places to run that aren't frozen over.

Jenn has been able to get the kids out of the house to play during the brief few warm spots. During the cold spells, I've resorted to taking the kids to Chick-Fil-A and the little play set at Summit Mall.Things are clicking with Lincoln's reading. He's been able to handle his sight words and simple words for some time now, but there hasn't been much initiative on his part to go further until recently. It's neat to see him motivated.

Also in the reading department, I've been reading some longer stories to the three kids before bed time. They're pushing the limits for the two little ones, but I've been impressed with how they've stuck with them. Most of the material has come from the old Disney books from the Mullen side of the family: Dumbo, Mary Poppins, The Sword In The Stone, Lady And The Tramp, etc. Part of the plan is to train the kids to listen to longer stories, another part of the plan is to introduce them to more Disney stories and characters before we go to Disney World in October.

We enjoyed a visit from Auntie Haley and Grandma Laura on the front end of "Spring" Break. The ladies got all of their spring shopping in at the Grove City outlets (wait until you see Lydia's rain boots and the boys' Easter jackets and ties!).

Playset Enthusiasts

There was a time at the end of last summer/fall and the beginning of this summer where the kids weren't into playing on the playset. It was disheartening to Jenn and me, and we thought, "Wow. I'm glad Grandpa Dave & Grandma Laura helped us put in this nice set. /sarc"

But as I touched on in my last post, there has been a renewed interest in the playset, and they're almost ravenous about it. Lydia can't get enough of the swing, Lincoln splits his time between the swing, the trapeze and the tire swing, and Henry spends his time on the ladders, the skybox and the slide. (Noooooo swings for Henry, according to him.) It's nice that they each have their own areas that they enjoy, and when a swing is available, you can often find Jenn or me on it.
And if Lincoln's hair caught your attention, Miss Dawn gave him a faux hawk with blue gel!

Kindergarden starts next Tuesday!!!

Grandma Gates' Birthday

Yesterday we celebrated Grandma Gates' 92nd Birthday! She's one amazing lady, and she'd have to be to carry on the mature conversations that one would have with a good friend like Hope as well as the crazy kid conversations that she has (er, tolerates) with Lincoln, Henry and especially Lydia. (Lydia is in a phase now where any word with an "ooooo" sound in it is hilarious, particularly "dude" and "poop.")

Jenn made the birthday cake, and it was her best yet. A chocolate cake with raspberry buttercream filling and a fondant covering with some beautiful flowers.
Last weekend we visited Grandma Laura & Grandpa Dave and went to the Columbus Children's Theater for a production of The Little Mermaid, Jr. The cast was made up of High School and Middle School students, and we had front row, on-the-floor seats. The kids were way into it, and it brought back all kinds of memories for Jenn of singing the entire soundtrack when she was a girl.
Prior to Sunday's trip to the theater, I had the kids all day on Saturday and we had a lot of fun playing on the playset.