Cell Phone Addicts

Look what is happening to us . . .

Yes, all of us (I just happen to be the one taking the pictures, but I'm just as bad as the rest).

Henry's Dino Party

Henry has been poring over the Oriental Trading catalogue for the past 11 months, trying to decide on a theme for his seventh birthday.  The winning theme: Dinosaurs!  I thought Henry had passed his dino phase a few years ago, but apparently, he still loves them!  It was a fun party to plan together.

Ellis and I had fun making these volcano cakes today!

Favor bags and games ready to go . . .

The lineup of activities (which didn't take up quite as much time as we were hoping -- thank goodness for Dinosaur Train episodes on Netflix!)

Sticker scenes from Oriental Trading (actually got them with Amazon Prime - yay!)

Junie stayed with Jonah and didn't mind being the only girl :)

In the middle of the dino party, Henry couldn't help but zone out completely do a little work on his "Army of Penguins" sketchbook.  I'm telling you, this kid has an agenda.

Ice Age Dino Excavation

They used knives as chisels, and medicine syringes full of warm water to get them out.  It turned out to be a really fun activity, although I will say that I was on the floor half the time wiping up spilled water.

The reward: a little dinosaur to add to their favor bags!

Ben hosted a "dino dig" treasure hunt.  He had very scientifically-based clues for where to find the dino skeletons throughout our house.  The dino-expert kids only corrected him on three of the facts.

The prize: a skeleton to take home!

Oviraptor Relay.  The oviraptors had to steal the eggs from the T-Rex's nest before T-Rex protected them.  Jonah reminded us that oviraptors ("egg thieves" by definition) have been proven to NOT actually be egg thieves.

Cake time!

Seven candles for the birthday boy (still can't believe it!)

At the end of the day, after a fun party with all of his friends, Henry mentioned that the very BEST part of the day was . . . LOSING A TOOTH AT SCHOOL!!!  What could be better than that?  I'm sure he was the most popular kid in the class today.  

And I'm also pretty sure that the second best part of his day was his birthday party.  At least I hope so!

Lucky Number Seven

Are you kidding me?  I could hardly believe it when Henry opened this birthday card, and a big fat number seven was staring me in the face.  Doesn't seven sound old?  How could I have a 7-year-old?  

It's hard to believe, but I must admit that I'm really enjoying some of the different aspects of parenthood that come as your kids get older.  I enjoy my friendship with Henry so much.  He is a delightful little person (who is not so little anymore).  I LOVE walking with him to school and back on most days.  I love that when I gave into the temptation to let Henry ride with the neighbor for three days in a row, Henry told me that he much prefers walking with me.  "Because I like the exercise," he said, "and because I just like talking to you, Mom."  How can one resist such a comment?  I really love to be with Henry too!  He has so many fun, creative ideas, and he is so energetic and positive.

I asked Henry how he wanted to spend his after-school time today, for his birthday.  He opted out of a playdate or an outing.  He wanted to stay home and work on the "Army of Penguins" 3D craft he has been dreaming up.  I don't think our one penguin quite reached his hopes and dreams of creating the whole army, but it was still pretty fun.  It reminded me of the good old days when (at 4 and 5), Henry would ask, "Mom, what's going to be our Craft of the Day?"  It has been a while since we have been able to pull off even a Craft of the Month.

It turns out that the number one reason why Henry and I don't do many crafts anymore is that two little brothers don't like it when Mom gives one-on-one attention to Henry.  Henry is SO patient with these brothers, and with his mom as she tries to figure out how to balance time between them all.  I'm afraid Henry gets neglected a little too often, but he never complains.  He rolls with the punches.

Henry's choice for dinner: McDonald's cheeseburgers.  In other words, Dad was in charge of dinner tonight, which I can't complain about!

Seven candles for this patient, charming, kind, generous, creative, energetic, silly, handsome boy of mine.  I love you, Henry!

October 2012 via Instagram

Time Out for Women ended up being pretty inspiring, in spite of Michael Maclean.  The best part: hanging out with my girls!

This is the face that greeted me from the window upon returning from girls weekend.  Someone was excited to see his mom!  It kind of feels good to be loved.

Sam + our horrible white kitchen tile floor just managed to destroy a plate!  This boy is out of control.

Ellis finally found something worth spending his allowance on.

Building my super mom skills with five kids at school pick-up today.  Mostly, I'm practicing how I handle the "compliments" I get from people when they see I have five kids!

Iverson family rule #3 (created before we were married): All decisions about houses should be made in the fall.

Ben's big job market presentation (new suit!)

Presentation went well!  We celebrated by enjoying a perfect fall evening at Wayside Inn in Sudbury.

Got to sleep in until 8:00.  Sam is still sleeping, and Henry and Ellis independently built a fort out of blankets while Ben and I snoozed.  We have arrived.

My favorite thing about my boys is that they haven't yet discovered possession when it comes to Halloween candy.  Everything goes in the pantry buckets for the whole family to enjoy!

Just what we needed: another diversion to help Henry forget to eat lunch. Thanks for the Rubick's Cube, Ben!

Should we be nervous?

When Henry found out that school was cancelled (and Ellis' Joy School was cancelled) due to the hurricane, he said "Yes!  Ellis!  That means we can play together!"  I'm so glad they are finally having many happy moments playing together.  And I'm really glad Ellis can play War with Henry so I don't have to.  :)

No hurricane can stop a 5-year tradition of making Halloween donuts with Eliza!  We made pumpkin spice and regular.  Yum!

Looks like we'll be taking the obstacle course home today.  #doublestroller #hurricanedamage

One way to get free parking downtown: have your car break down and get it towed away instead!  #happyhalloween 

Ben's on his way home with the tow truck.  Thankfully, we got a ride home with Rachel and Jamie.  Now I'm locked out of the house, so we're trick-or-treating the night away!

A Day in the Life of a Monster

Every morning, Ellis eats half of his cereal and then leaves the unfinished bowl on the table.

Every morning, we leave to take Henry to school and leave remnants of breakfast on the table.

And every morning, without fail, Sam-o swoops in when Mom isn't looking, with his wave of mass destruction.

First item of business: he dumps out the bowl, in less than one second.

Then, as quickly as possible, he sweeps the crumbs off the table, using his hands.  If time permits, he eats a few bites.

Then, he climbs up onto the table and starts throwing everything onto the tile floor.  If it is a glass bowl, he shatters it.  If it is Mom's scriptures, he rips out a page or two.

Then on to the exciting adventures in the bathroom!  The plunger and toilet brush always generate a good reaction from Mom and Dad, so he grabs them quickly and makes a mad, giggling dash throughout the house, before someone catches him.

And does this ever get old?  Not when you're well on your way to breaking the world record for fastest-unrolled Giant roll of Charmin.  This week he took out a full roll AND a full box of tissues before Mom even wondered where he was.

And when the jobs of the morning are done, Sam spends the rest of the day trying to reach greater heights.  He climbs as high as he can, then realizes he can't get down safely. So he calls out, "Ma!"

Rarely do 5 minutes go by without a call from Sam-o, the poor little boy who is stuck and can't get down.

And every time I rescue him (or rescue the house FROM him), I can't resist stealing a few kisses from this sweet little monster.