Birthday Boy

HAPPY THIRTEENTH BIRTHDAY NICK!

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MAY YOUR DAY BE JAM PACKED WITH FUN AND YOUR YEAR BE FILLED WITH HAPPY TIMES, FULFILLED DREAMS, AND ENDLESS SMILES.

What a difference a day makes...

Super excited about seeing far off family in Sunny Arizona. Check.

Arranged pet care for hairy dog, two calico kitties, and one lonely but fearsome beta fish. Check.

Called upon close friends to kindly take our family to and from airport. Check.

Notified the schools of upcoming vacation. Check.

Bought adorable new top and jeans to wear on said vacation. Check.

Arranged for a rental car upon landing in destination. Check.

Let the milk man know he can go ahead and skip our house next week. Check.

Thought about my dad's famous margaritas & how soon I'd get to chug one. Check.

Went to bed last night super stoked about our trip to sunny skies and family the following morning. Check.

Woke up this morning to Nolan climbing into my bed with flu-like symptoms. Check.

Had numerous conversations with hubby trying to figure out the right thing to do. Check.

Agreed that staying home was the responsible thing to do as to not spread swine flu. Check.

Cried on the phone to mom and dad. Check.

Give my sick son extra love and attention and to let him know it's not his fault our trip has been cancelled. Check.

Wipe away his tears. Check.

Try and make the best of a crummy situation. Still working on this one... but I know I'll be able to check this one off soon....

Copper Top that Never Stops

As of late, I have noticed that my blog has been a little one-sided. There have been many a mention of Nolan and less so of Nick. This just isn't right. I have two boys equally capable of providing me with blog worthy posts!

Nolan's antics have just put him near the top of the silliness meter...which in turn makes me want to record his craziness on this here blog. But that does not mean that Nick isn't silly or crazy. 'Cause he is. But he does his crazies in a much less audible form. When he was a toddler he cornered the market on crazy. He was a non-stop ball of energetic boy that bounced from one side of the house to the other in .2 seconds flat. That is where the title to this post comes from... We frequently called Nick "The copper top that never stops"! Thankfully, he has toned down quite a bit.

In the last few days, I've been thinking alot about how Nick is nearing a turning point in his life. He is only a mere week and a half from entering teenage-dom. YIKES! He has always been such a love-bug. Never embarrassed to be with his parents or younger brother. He gives me hugs everyday after school right in front of his buddies. He's always depended on us for everything and slowly that dependence will wane until he's on his own. The process of becoming less dependent can be a tough tug-of-war between teen and parent. I'm hoping the coming years will go smoothly. If it's anything like his life up until now, I think we can count on smooth sailing. I have no doubt the transition between kid and teenager will come complete with lots of great stories to share. I'm settling in for this new phase with anticipation and a happy heart! Nick has been nothing but a complete joy in my life and I'm a better person because of him. Can't wait to see what's around the corner! I love you Nick.

Sometimes I wish I were ten again...

The other day, we took the boys to a really fun toy shop in a neighboring town.

It was packed to the rafters with the most amazing games, gadgets, and well...toys.

They had things you just don't see everyday. One of those things caught Nolan's eye. And he was completely stuck. He wanted this item more than any other fantastic toy in the fantastic store. He was desperately trying to remember how much money he had in his piggy bank at home so he could finagle a way to purchase this delightful gizmo. He knew he was three dollars short and would have to bargain with "Madre" to see if I would swing a purchase.

We agreed that washing the dog would bring him up to what he needed to complete the deal at the register.

So....

He grabbed the box off the shelf looking just about as gleeful as a kid in a toy store could. Seriously.

This is what he could not leave without...

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The Supreme Moo Mixer

Chocolate Milk Mixer

It even touts a trigger button that creates a whirling vortex of power!

How could he NOT want this thing?

He will never have to stir another pesky glass of chocolate milk with a spoon.

Oh the JOY!

When I mentioned to him that the box states "Requires a large appetite for fun!"

He responded by saying "That'd be me!"

Now if this isn't funny enough... I have to tell you what happened not 10 minutes later.

We stopped off at the fish hatchery to check out the salmon ladder. When Nolan got out of the car I laid his "Moo Mixer" on the front seat... He said "shouldn't we hide it away, so no one will break in to steal it?"

Oh, how I love that boy.

Spooktacular

Here's just a little taste of what Halloween was like at our house this year...

We were a little slow to decorate...but everything made it out of the rafters by 2 pm October, 31st.
Here's my son the hobo. We went online to get ideas from Yahoo images. When we searched for hobo we got all kinds of good ideas...When we searched for bum, well...we got some interesting images! (We laughed so hard when we realized bum has more than one definition.)

Looks like he's ready to high tail it to the train tracks...Yup, those are his toes sticking up out of his shoes.

(He did not ride his skateboard, he just happened to be playing when I called him over for pictures....)

Pumpkin #1- Nolan's crazy mustached gourd.

Pumpkin #2-My big toothed pumpkin.

Pumpkin #3- Nick's Medusa haired pumpkin.

(Connor doesn't do pumpkins...)


Nicholas spent the evening with his best pal, Nick. They spent part of the night half-heartedly trick-or-treating and the other part of the night scaring kids that came to our doorstep to get candy. Their favorite victims were pre-teen girls...they screamed the best.

It was a lovely evening for all the cute trick-or-treaters.... Clear skies and almost a full moon.

Hope you all had a fun Halloween too!