And now it's official!

Nate "officially" turned eight on Monday, May 20.

His brothers were excited to help watch him open presents.  

Pay no attention to the child in his underwear...

Present 1 (note Nile has entered the frame)

A DNA Science Kit!

His favorite gift from the family by far had to be this new DC Comics visual encyclopedia.   He has a Marvel one which he has been reading every night before bed for the last few months.  I dare anyone to ask him a question about a Marvel character...soon he'll be a DC expert as well.

The next three pictures cover about 1 minute of present opening time.  Good thing this was the last gift he opened.

Just opened it!

Looking for the Joker page...

Nose buried in the book and everyone has left...

Tricks or Treats

This year for Halloween, the boys got to enjoy multiple celebrations. And multiple celebrations means the candy multiplied too. Exponentially.

First, Nile got to wear his costume to preschool on Thursday. Nate didn't have a party at school, but I don't think he missed out any. Nile came home with a small bag of goodies - not too bad.

Then we had a neighborhood party on Saturday evening. It was a lot of fun for all the kids to get together and play games. There was cupcake and cookie decorating (involving lots of frosting and candy), a "duck pond" game with lots of candy and small toy prizes, and a craft table. After the games, the boys ran around in circles while the girls played a toilet paper mummy game. (The boys eventually came back and played too.) Afterwards there was a hot dog cookout - neither of my boys ate much of their hot dogs or fruit. Want to guess why? I'm betting it was the cupcakes and cookies...

At the end of the party the kids went on a "spooky trail" - I wasn't able to go because I had Novak in the stroller. I'll admit I was a bit nervous about them going - I thought Nile might get scared and freak out. But he really wanted to go, so I let them, and I headed home to wait. About 10 minutes later, the doorbell rings. It's Nate.

"Mom, that was the awesomest spooky trail walk EVER! I was a little nervous but it was okay, it wasn't scary really!"

Nile, following closely behind, didn't say a word. So I asked him how the hike went.

"It was great."

Okay, then! Both boys had a great time at the party.

Of course, the next day was Halloween! I think the two boys were literally bouncing off the walls all day with anticipation. Finally, at 3:30 we let them get their costumes on. Nate was a superhero skeleton, and Nile was a baseball player. Below are a few pictures from our neighborhood. After we made the rounds here, we headed to Colona to Papa and Grandma's house, then to Hampton to trick or treat at Gramma's house.

Now, I have a dining room table covered in candy. I think we will be purging some of the candy soon. I've got a theory how I can make the boys do it...we'll see if it works!

Isn't this cape awesome! It looked so cool in the sunshine.

Nate, showing off his loot.

It wouldn't be a true family Halloween post without at least one picture of Novak.

Halloween preparations

This week I got to finally spend a little time working on Nate's Halloween costume.

I now have a skeleton sweatsuit. All I need now is a bright blue shiny cape. Yes, you read right. Nate wants to be a superhero skeleton.

Superheroes

Nate had a Superhero birthday party on Saturday. One of our friends captured these two videos of the superheroes playing outside. This is Spider Girl, Wonder Woman, and Nate the superhero (he had so many different superhero names, I honestly can't remember one). Oh, and Nile.

First they race down the hill...perhaps for battle? If you look closely you can see Nile coming down behind the three.


Then they return up the hill. I'm not sure why Nile needed the baseball bat.


Thanks to James for capturing this on his iPhone.

Nate turns 5!

On Thursday, Nate turned 5. My little boy will be heading to Kindergarten in the fall. It's a cliche, I know, but it's amazing how fast time flies. Since we were planning a birthday party for his friends on Saturday, on his actual birthday we just had a family dinner and gifts at home.

Thanks to Gramma Elaine for sending home a giant brownie so we had something to put candles in! :)




Yeah, it was that good.


With Autobot Ironhide.


Looking at a new space book from Gramma.

I mentioned the party on Saturday. We only got one good picture that day - I did get some videos but haven't uploaded them yet.

For Nate's party, he had a Superheroes theme. He invited six friends, two of whom were unable to make it. So we had Spider Girl Emma, Wonder Woman Rachael, Batman Nathan (our neighbor), Andrew, Nile, and of course the birthday boy, who made up so many superhero names I don't know who he was.

The kids had tons of fun playing outside (see here for proof) and then we had pizza and cake. It was a perfect party - low key and laid back. No planned games and just enough guests. (It doesn't hurt when the parents stay too!) Nate had a blast and is already playing with his gifts. Now, the challenge will be to get him to write thank you cards.

And see, we did have a real cake for him!