Laney Lou is 7!!!

So the family came over and we sang and had cake and ice cream, and, of course, presents! Thus, the last birthday of the
TEAM ADAMS birthday season! I feel like we have been partying since September. So now, my children are 10, 9, 7, 5, and 2. And I am 34. We are all getting older, but still trying to enjoy every special moment together. Even though they are each getting more and more independent, I am finding they need me in other ways. And they each need me in their own special way. This week, when I asked Delaney what she wanted me to make for her treat to take to school, she said, "Store-bought cupcakes". I told her I would make her cupcakes if thats what she wanted, but she insisted that they be "store-bought" because she is always the only kid who's mom makes stuff and she wants stuff from the store like everyone else! Oh well, sign of the times I guess. We compromised and I made her birthday cake and cookies for her drama class. She was also embarrassed because I took her to two skating parties this week and I was the only mom who skated. Poor kid--only 7 and she's already had it so rough! :)
My Mini-me! Today as Delaney and I were out for her birthday lunch, a person I work with stopped us and said, "Oh my! She looks just like you! I just laughed and said, "yes she does!" I asked her later if it bothered her that people always say she looks like me...she said, "no mommy-you're pretty". It made my day!

Another birthday party

We had Dax and Delaney's joint birthday party at Gym X-treme today! The kids had a great time and --even Mom and Dad got in on the action by jumping into the ballpit. OK--Daddy came up behind Mommy and picked her up and then jumped into the ballpit, but it still counts right? The kdis thought it was great, but Mommy tried to take a bath in hand sanitizer afterwards! Look at the picture! Does that thing look like it has ever been cleaned? Not to mention the work it took to climb out of that thing! Even the Grandma's jumped in. Grammy Michelle swears there is no bottom on the pit!

So, whew--done with our birthday party season again until next September!!!

We also had our first snow day on Friday. I wasn't surprised! I mean the four older children all put on their pajamas inside out, flushed ice cubes down every toilet and slept with spoons under their pillows. So, of course, when they woke up on Friday morning earlier than they would have to on a normal school day and the reason they gave when asked why thery were up was, "We want to see if we get to sleep in today!", I wasn't at all surprised that they got a snow day. They enjoyed just playing games and staying in their inside out pj's. And, of course, I was reminded of one of the great benefits of being a teacher--snow days. Sometimes, I think us teachers look forward to them more than the kids.

The only sad part of the day was when Daddy had to leave for work. Drake put on his shoes, grabbed his play cell phone, and went over to the boys and said, "bye, boys!" He was devastated when Daddy told him he had to stay and couldn't go to work with him :(

Little Man Dax turns 5!

I CANNOT believe he is5!!! Drew just turned 5 yesterday, when I was pregnant for Dax, didn't he? So hard to believe...

Dax and I did our traditional "5 years old today" fun day with just him and mommy! We started out at Starbucks for breakfast (OK, so technically this was for Mommy-but we are talking about Dax here, so I knew I was going to need the caffiene to keep up with this one!!!), then we went to see The Muppets at the theaters at Easton. I realize why the Muppets were big in the 70's---everyone was doing the drugs I needed to make it through this movie!!!!! Seriously--even Dax leaned over and asked when we could leave. Even Jack Black could not save this one. Once that was over, we experienced the torture that is Build-a-bear on a sunday! It was worth it, though. Dax made a bear for me and recorded himself saying, "Hi Mom, It's Dax, I'm 5 and I love you!" Now I will always have his little five year old voice for those days when he is 15 and "I love you Mommy" isn't exactly on the tip of his tongue anymore. He then made a bear with my voice. I said, "Hi Dax. It's Mom. I love you-you will always be my little man Dax". However, as you can see by the above picture, by the time he was done with his bear, I should have pulled out by best James Earl Jones impression and just said, "Dax- I am your mother!" So now, Darth Vader bear will forever have my voice. Please don't let me die any time soon--I would hate for that to be the thing he carries around to hear my voice and tell other people that it reminds him of his mommy! After this we visited Gamestop, Lego Store, and finished at the arcade. Yep--I happily spent $50, two hours, and got a leg cramp from trying to press the pedal on Mario Cart because he couldn't reach, but is too big to sit on my lap, and had to hold the lunge for the full two minutes of his race, to get three plastic swords, a bag of sour patch kids, and ....wait for it, wait for it....a tootsie roll! Yes-- this would have come to a grand total of $3.50 at the dollar store, but really--you can't work your triceps with twenty games of skeeball so you can use up the rest of the credits you paid for because the five year old suddenly decides he is done and wants to go home to play video games at the dollar store! If I wasn't turning 34 tomorrow, it might actually be funny that I'm sore today from the games!!

So, five years ago today, I was in the hospital with my perfect little family of two boys and two girls. Everyone had a brother and a sister, and Shawn and I were perfectly happy. Funny how sometimes, you don't realize what your missing until you get it! And boy did we get it with number 5! Yesterday, Aunt Cassie took Drake to sunday school with her since I was with Dax. Apparantly, he fell out of a chair and yelled out, "I suck!" in front of all of the preschoolers. Awesome--guess we're not getting "Catholic Family of the Year" again this year!!!!

Happy 2012!!!

We started 2012 like we do every year--with a bang! We covered the living room floor with bubble wrap and the kids jumped, rolled, stomped, crawled, and every other possible movement in order to pop the bubbles. It didn't really help Mommy's headache since I started the year by getting strep throat yet again!!!! But, it did make me smile :)

Can you say "Awkward Family Photos"? As you can see, four of our children are bright and happy and ready to face the New Year, one child is sick, tired, and did not want her picture taken. Did you ever notice that most statistics are 1 out of 5??? 1 out of 5 children end up in jail, 1 out of 5 children will drop out of school, 1 out of 5 children (insert any horrible fear of parent here)....Shawn and I have some running bets on which kid will fall into which category, but we usually keep that between us.

This one definitely falls into one of those previous categories, that ornery, sweet smile speaks for itself!!!

We wish every one of our family and friends a wonderful 2012 and many happy memories! Thanks for spending another year being an important part of Team Adams!