J-man

At six:
 - Loves to have books read to him... recent favorites include Mr. Popper's Penguins and The Boxcar Children series.  He told me after we finished several books in the Boxcar series that he would like to be a boxcar child when they lived in the boxcar.  I can totally relate.  I used to think that kind of thing sounded awesome, and I admit, I still kind of do.
 - Likes to have his clothes fit tightly.  I mention this because it drives both of us a little crazy.  He is not a large child so having clothes that are tight enough to fit his fancy means buying skinny jeans and cinching those things up to the max.  And, he is wearing the same couple of shirts repeatedly because they suit his fitting fancy.  I'm trying to be chill about it, but it does present laundry challenges.
 - Play legos for hours.  Mostly making his own crazy creations.
 - Loves, loves, loves dogs.  He is most understanding when I tell him why we aren't getting one right now, but I can think of nothing (except a sister) the sweet boy would love more than a furry friend.  His best friend is Grayson, the neighborhood golden retriever.
 - Fights with and loves dearly his brother.  They play amazingly well and they fight amazingly well.  They are both strong and feisty so it isn't a wonder that they seem to swing from fighting to playing and back with such ease.
 - Prefers to not have babysitters come.  He has informed me that he only wants to go to Aunt Carla's when we have something going on.  Too bad she has things going on, too, buddy.
 - Is growing in his compassion for his schoolmates... this is a delight to see and hear.
 - Loves to eat and his favorites are: flank steak, melon, pizza, chicken noodle soup, my green beans, Lauren M.'s banana bread, and toast at Aunt Carla's house.

This year has been a year of transitions for us with Jonathan starting school, but it has also been a start to a sweet season.  This gem of a child is the one who first called me "momma" and being the first means we always walk into the next phase of parenting with him.  Can't wait to see what the next year holds, my first little man!

Celebrating #6!

We celebrated J-man's sixth birthday last Saturday and Sunday.  Saturday was his party, Sunday we celebrated with just some fun traditions we enjoy.  For his party, we made an obstacle course for the boys to enjoy, and they all had a great time racing through it.  We also made a pinata that provided some good time for whacking on something.  Jamie, aka cake maker, whipped out a lego creation that delighted the birthday boy.  Every year he tells us that his cake was his favorite part of his birthday.

                                     

                                     

 Bruce and Stacey brought their new pup, Georgia, and Jonathan was delighted to have a chance to walk her.

 Good friends, the Engers, stopped by to wish him a happy day!

 My children are SO photogenic.  My sister's kids say "cheese" and smile when seeing the camera.  My children do weird things like this.

 Caleb had great fun picking out the extra long snapper/grabber for Jonathan as a gift from him.

 Birthday morning donut cake

Happy Birthday, J-man!  Such fun celebrating a delightful boy!

Six.

He is six.  The first little man of the Guild household is six.  I look at him and am in awe... even more this year than ever before.  He asks crazy questions: "how do the golf ball pickers know when there is a ball to pick up?  Is there a sensor in the bottom kind of like a door has a sensor and knows when to open?"  To which this momma answers, "I have no idea, but it would be fun to find out."  I use that answer often.

We celebrated my boy on Saturday and Sunday... more on that to come.  And a little bit about him at six.

Apple picking

I mentioned that I might be wanting to buy an apple orchard... this was precipitated by our lovely visit to this orchard.  It is a short drive from our house, and we had a grand time picking and eating lots of apples.  And, if we had an orchard, we could have a nifty tractor and trailer like this: the boys would think they were in heaven.  Jake and Josh and my two boys climbed trees and picked apples and were sufficiently worn out by the time we left.

Gem of a Place

I'm not much of a deal finder, but I bought a two for one deal for this pumpkin patch a while back.  The man of the house took the afternoon off of work and we all ventured to this lovely place.  It was awesome!  Hardly anyone there, tons of fun things to play on, tons and tons of pumpkins in the patch and ready to be picked.

I possibly want to buy a pumpkin farm/apple orchard and be a farmer.  We would also plant sunflowers and lots of green beans.  Oh yes, and berries and pears.  For now, I'm a city gal, but one can dream.

Summer Creations

It is clearly fall, however, I just downloaded several photos from the summer.  They were too fun to not post... We made cars to race.  With wood, dowels, washers, pipe cleaners and a GLUE GUN.  I still remember when my dear Aunt Kathy bought me my first glue gun.  It is a magnificent gadget and my boys absolutely agreed.  I am not crafty but I do like to play and a glue gun is a great tool for playing.

 The cars weren't extremely fast, but they did maneuver down the driveway and it was great fun to fiddle and try to make them faster.

The next project was prompted by the book, Food for Thought.  We made creations out of food.  My only guideline was that we had to eat the food when we were done playing with it.

 Watermelon ship

 Zucchini cars with a mushroom man and a cucumber man driving

My dad always laughed that I played a lot.  Even when most children are done "playing".  I still play (as a mid-thirties gal), now it just seems a bit more legitimate because I have these two gems with whom to play.  I hear people lamenting that they wish they could just enjoy the moment a bit more with their kiddos and not worry about getting things done.  I seem to have the opposite problem.  It would be good if sometimes I stopped smelling the roses so much and really focused on the laundry or the dusting.  However, playing with food and glue guns will probably always be more of a draw for me than Pledge or Tide.