A Little Backtrack

I just couldn't move on without describing Greyson's wonderful party and then my wonderful Mother's Day.

Friday we started the day with Science Class. The topic was light and the kids learned about refraction and made three different projects to demonstrate the properties of light. First they took a cd and put a sticker with this black and white pattern of dashes on it which was meant to break up and bend light. They taped a marble in the middle and then used that to spin the cd. The spinning black lines, amazingly, turned colors. Next they made spectrometers (real spectrometers!) from a cardboard tube, a small plastic lens, and some dark tape. Tiny holes poked in the tape let light in, which the lens then refracted into the light's telltale spectral lines. The kids really just saw "rainbows" but if you take the time to appreciate it, you can see how the light from the window is different from the light from the fluorescent bulb which is different again from candlelight. Very cool project. The final project was bracelets made from UV detecting beads: colorless in the shade and brightly colored in the sun!

After that we rushed over to the park for Greyson's birthday party. The kids have never so happily left their friends at Science Class. It was a small, simple party but I can tell you that it was a highlight in Grey's short life. The food was everything he loves: mostly sandwich rolls and cut fruit. He gorged himself. And he gorged himself some more. And then we had cake. My Thomas cake actually came out better than expected and he loved it.




He cheered when he saw it. He grinned and clapped his hands when we sang to him. He had three pieces and made sure that everyone else had plenty too. Everyone really loved the cake and was surprised that is was not only entirely dairy free (including the "buttercream" frosting) but that it was made with mayo. In fact, the kids loved that little oddity and kept telling everyone about it, lol.

Next we all went on a trip to the bathroom (it's a bit of a hike from the playground) that turned into a big hike. The big kids decided to take a different trail than usual and went off exploring in the wild (ratio of about 5 adults to 10 kids, way better than a school field trip, lol) but Greyson was in an exploratory mood of his own. He had to pick up every rock and look in every nook and since it was his birthday party, well, why the heck not. So we quickly got separated from the group and had our own little explore. I think he really enjoyed the one on one time and the freedom to just do what he wanted. We were discussing later how great it is for kids to have that opportunity and how important it is to give them that time once in a while. Unfortunately, the more kids you have the harder it is to give them that - but I do think they appreciate it all the more.

So eventually everyone made it back to the playground and then Greyson opened his presents. I told everyone no toys - since we have about 300 too many - and thankfully people listened. :) Well, except me. We've managed to go all this time without ever getting one of those wooden train sets so I decided to go ahead and get him one. He loves it. He also got a super cool ball, several books, and a whole bunch of really wonderful cards. One had him portrayed as a Police Baby riding in a patrol car and chasing a robber in a black and white striped shirt, lol. Gotta love that kind of stuff. So that was a fabulous day and honestly one of the best birthday parties we've ever had: no stress, good friends, and heartfelt sentiment. He and I both felt very loved. :) My kind of party.

Saturday was a baseball game. Cam's team played great. They always do though. Actually, it was kind of funny because they were really low key the first couple innings and the coach gave them a "pep talk" (What the heck is going on?? Are we playing baseball or are we sleeping??) and after that they played great. Next we came home and the kids all disappeared with DH into the schoolroom/computer room to "fix computers." Hmmm, he's never needed their help fixing computers before. Suspicious, no? An hour or two later they came out and instructed me that I either needed to go run errands for a couple hours or glue myself to the tv without ever looking outside. I opted for the latter and caught up on my Days watching (oh and wasn't Tuesday's episode great with all those flashbacks of Sami and John, lol). And that was about it for the day. All that tv pretty much sapped all the energy out of me and all that "computer fixing" took a lot out of everyone else too.

Sunday Greyson decided that we needed to get up at 6:30. I tried to convince him differently for about an hour but finally gave in and splurged on a Mother's Day cup of coffee (ok, several of them) instead. DH went for a run and I made everyone a big breakfast. After breakfast and my shower, I was greeted by several guilty looking faces who then yelled "SURPRISE! Happy Mother's Day!" and handed me a piece of paper with several geocaching coordinates on it. I was then sent out in the back yard with a GPS unit to hunt down my presents, lol. First was a painting made by Cassia and Grey.



Next was a painting by Cameron (sketched by DH, painted by Cameron, helped by Cassia and Grey). In case you can't tell, the baby penguin is Greyson and I am the Mommy standing over him. Cassia is the one with the pink eye markings peeking out from the iceberg and Cameron is the proud and beautiful one in front. :) Happy family to be sure.



They have a tradition of giving me Mother's Day Paintings. I did not get one in 2006 (they thought a baby was a good enough present!) and I still give them a hard time about it to this day. Maybe that's why I got two this year. ;) Here's a slide show of all of my wonderful artwork.

So then if that weren't enough, there was another box that mysteriously showed up from Amazon last week amidst much whispering. It contained a brand new pressure cooker!! Wasn't I just saying a little while ago that I wanted one? I had only mentioned it once and he went out and got me one. Gotta love that kind of attention. That also proves that he just pretends not to hear me the rest of the time. ;)

After presents we went out for a big geocaching/hiking adventure at a local park. It was a good day for geocaching and we found five of five! The best part though is that the kids were fabulous hikers and even Cassia made it the whole way without being carried - almost three miles and a decent incline at points too.

We finished off the day exhausted with a lovely pressure-cooked dinner. :) Baby artichokes (overcooked in only five minutes, no less), Swiss-Style pork chops, and farm fresh salad in less than half an hour - including the time to trim the artichokes. After a few train books on the couch, we all fell into bed for a very, very sound sleep. It was a fabulous day. It was a fabulous weekend.

And I think that officially makes this blog entry "long enough." I will save today for tomorrow, I think. I hope everyone had as nice a Mother's Day as I did.