Jack and Reese

We are so lucky that we have friends that will happily take our kids and we will happily take theirs when we are in a pinch (or even if we aren't!).  A few weeks ago we had the Paskin kiddos over for a couple of nights while their parents went out of town. They made it super easy, TOO easy actually, we really only watched them at night.  They both had preschool during the day and went home for naps with a sitter. 

 

 

Only an hour in and Thatcher was already giving his "mad face" over getting his picture taken. 

 

Samantha had TK the next morning which means she had homework to turn in.  Reese was very interested in doing the homework too so we made a copy for her.

 

 

Reese is looking like an A+ student to me :)

 

 

The next morning I carpooled these four around town.  I dropped Samantha off at TK, Reese and Jack off at preschool and poor Thatcher, he got stuck with me!  One more week Thatcher, ONE MORE WEEK and it will be your turn for school ;)

 

These next two pictures are my kids AFTER they napped waiting for Reese and Jack to return for night two. So basically they took a nap after their nap.  I think the kids stayed up a little later than we thought the night before.

 

And yes, Thatcher is asleep on the floor in the dog's bed.....

 

All ready for Taffy's Pizza!

 

I love that Jack brought a snack from home.  While the kids were playing video games, he gladly sat with me at the table and had an appetizer of popcorn.   

 

 

Noodles arrived and there was a lot of slurping going on....

 

 

After dinner, we played more video games and then off to get dessert.

 

 

Samantha and Reese wanted Christmas cookies and Jack and Thatcher wanted something Spider-Man.

 

Fruit snacks plus cookies plus ice cream looks like a recipe for a late night ;)

 

They all deserved the treats. The Paskin kids are very polite and all four get along so well.  We love having them.

 

 

Almost bedtime....

 

 

More "mad face" from Thatcher. 

 

 

And then the next morning things changed......  Thatcher was driving Jack crazy.  Jack was driving Thatcher crazy. 

 

Thatcher has no concept of personal space....

 

Jack wanted space....

 

Todd ended up taking all four to the park to work off some energy which put them all back in a good mood ;)

 

 

We've been having sleepovers with the Paskin kids for a long time.  I think this was one of the first when the girls were just a year and a half!

 

Can't wait to do it again (and really, I mean that!)

5-Year Check-Up

 

At Sam's 5-year check-up she measured in at 44 1/2 inches tall (90%) and 37.5 pounds (25%). 

 

After the nurse left the room, things got a little silly while waiting for Dr. Abbott.

 

Back to being serious....Samantha checked out healthy and then Dr. Abbott left the room which meant the nurse came back in to do the dirty work.

FOUR shots and a finger prick.  That is a fake smile ;)

 

 

And as luck would have it, about five hours later we were back at the doctor's office because this little guy was complaining that his eye hurt.  It wasn't the oh you are the second child, here is a dose of Tylenol, you will be fine in the morning crying, it was the mom I can't see, it is dark, I can't open my eye, help me cry.  I know my Thatcher, he was begging to have Dr. Abbott see him!  So back to the doctor we went. 

 

And look what I brought home?  A PIRATE!

 

Upon Dr. Abbott putting dye in his eye, you could see a neon scratch from one side of his cornea to the other.  I actually could see it without the dye and tried to remove what I thought was an eyelash.....ouch!

 

The good news is that after some antibiotic drops and some rest, it healed within a day and I would go so far to say he would probably take that pain all over again to be given a pirate eye patch so that he could go around shouting ARRRRRR and SHIVER ME TIMBERS to everyone again!

Princess Belle

SURPRISE!

 



Princess Belle came to the party (aka I hired her from a company that does this kind of stuff.)  ;)

 

Samantha's reaction was priceless and worth every penny that darn princess cost us ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

She told stories.

 

And as you can see,

 

every single little eyeball was fixated and listening attentively to her.  All of us parents were thinking it would be awesome to have her come put the kids to bed at night.

 



 

And then.....she sang!  She sang an opera-like version of Beauty and the Beast.  Pretty brave Princess I would say ;)

 

They played Princess games.

 

 

Which won them princess prizes.

 

 

They even played the game Telephone which 5 year-olds don't quite know how to play yet.

 

 

But it was cute seeing them all whisper in each other's ears.

 

Instead of Duck, Duck, Goose, they played Belle, Belle, Beast

 

 

And all sorts of other games.

 

 

Cake time!

 

Belle cut the cake.

 

And then it was time for her to say good-bye and take off in her carriage

 

Which looked like the Walk of Shame on the West Side - sorry Belle, the exit could have been more graceful ;)

 

Presents happily distracted from the abrupt exit of Belle.

 

.

 

This is how she reacted to EVERY SINGLE GIFT.  Five is such a fun (and dramatic) age ;)

 

 

Happy 5th Birthday Samantha! 

 

P.S. The photo above is Sam with her Knight (T.J.) who claimed to be her Knight in "Shiny" Armour ;)