Our Little Angry Bird

Nana, Grandpa V and Dude's birthday hooplah have all come and gone.  It's been quite the week round here.  The good life continues.  Vegas beckons us tomorrow morning, although the 8 inches of pending snow that just started blanketing our yard is threatening our much anticipated family vaca.  We're hoping to visit G-pa V and G-ma Di and introduce the kids to Sin City (perhaps a more tamed down version).

Dude's 6th birthday bash was Angry Bird themed and awesome.  Through the grapevine, I learned that one of our local Home Depots does FREE (did you read that?  Free.) birthday parties for up to 25 kiddos.  They let us use their spacious break room, set out goggles, hammers, glue and screwdrivers and allowed the kids to pick out one of 8 construction projects to build.  It was loud, to say the least, but the kids loved their hammer time.  We ate an amazingly crafted Angry Bird cake (courtesy of Miss Micah) and hot dogs from the Home Depot hot dog vendor.  Dude had a permanent smile on his little face throughout his party, which brought a permanent smile to mine.  Hard to believe my baby boy is six years old.

 We didn't even want to eat this masterpiece.  But we did.  And it was delish.  

 I found these balloon print-outs on Pinterest.  They were the highlight of Dude's entire birthday experience.  I will admit - they were pretty spankin' cute.

 Mama determination.  

 Who's that show horse in the middle of the kids?  Oh yeah.  That's our Dude.  

More Nana and Grandpa highlights to come.  Viva Las Vegas baby.

 

More Than One Hand

In 2.5 hours, my little man will need two hands to show how old he is.  He's not such a little man anymore.  Well, he's still a little guy in stature, but six doesn't seem so little to me.  As he would explain, his "muscles are getting huger and his brain is growing and growing bigger and bigger."  I agree wholeheartedly with the brain growth.  He's one smart little cookie.  Sometimes smarter than his dear ole Mom.  And we let him believe that the beginnings of a six pack are evident.  We all know the truth on that one.  Shhhh.  

What has the past year brought for our precious Dude?  Lots and lots of awesome change.  He's a full blown Kindergartner, in his second school and thriving in whatever environment we put him in.  He's reading and writing paragraphs that are legible to the average human.  He's in his second year of his music academy where he truly shines.  He can pluck out tunes by ear without flinching.  Dad can no longer take him to class as Dude's knowledge far surpasses his father's scope of understanding.  He has become an "Artist of the World" and shocks us with what he comes up with when he puts pencil to paper.  Dude has proven his capabilities as an inventor, which I've explained in previous posts is both wonderful and exhausting to his parentals.  He's a little speed demon on his 2 wheel bike now and has mastered hills and getting started on his own, which is a blessing for family walks.  Our little man is much more daring in general - hanging upside-down with no hands, attempting rock climbing, much better with balancing, sliding down poles and ropes....it just took him time to reach his Evil Knievel inner self.  He continues to love Jesus with all his little heart and tells us often how much his "heart is overflowing with love for us."  And he continues to make us laugh.  Oh how he makes us laugh.  (Example, tonight he whispered to me that he wanted me to pray to Jesus that he would have a dream about his cardiovascular and skeletal system.)

 If you know our Dude, you know this face is still a typical Dude face.

We could not love a not-super-little 6 year old Dude more than we do our Ryguy.  He adds spunk and laughter and love and warmth and light to our family.  We thank God for him and for the beautiful woman who gave him life and gifted him to us.  Happy Birthday dude.  You are the bestest son any Mama could ask for.             

From My Phone to the Blog

My apologies for the 2 week hiatus from blogging.  I've been a lackadaisical camera mom lately.  However, my phone camera has been busy.  What does this Mama take pictures of via her cellular?  Randomness.  A lot of cute randomness.  I thought I'd give ya'll a glimpse of Mile High Vogel life through my Cricket.  

A while back, Dude had to make a snowman creation using 3 paper plates.  This is what he came up with.  On his own mind you.  I helped him glue everything on, but the ideas, cutting and painting were all him.  My little creative genius.  We're slightly into Angry Birds these days.  This weekend's birthday party will be much of the same.

First Saturday of the month = Home Depot family fun.  Dude has 4 pins to document his constructing abilities.
 

This is what Dude does in his down time.  I couldn't draw that.  Not even on a good day.  This one was gifted to his teacher.  Peg leg and all.

Colorado winter walks.  Gotta love that we get balmy days like this to get the clan outta the house.  It does wonders for every one's sanity.

Meet Cathy.  She's the flower/balloon lady at our local grocery store.  The children adore her and come home with free balloons every time we shop.  We happened to run into Cathy at Uncle Brad's high school basketball game last week (he coaches).  Oh the excitement and confusion that Cathy does not indeed live at King Soopers.

 Different day, same outfit for Dude.  Can you tell what his favorite short sleeved shirt is?  He's holding his latest Home Depot creation.  As Tim will tell you, I was in charge of helping with this one, so the wheels are off kilter.  Whatever.  It drives.  

Dude's writing skills are amazing (his wonderful teacher says).  He can sound out any word you give his little brain and write legible paragraphs.  We're pretty proud of the little man.
  

Mom and Dude had a special date day at my work last week.  There was no school and no day care, so there ya go.  As you can see, this was hardly a hardship for the kid.  To say he's doted on at Food Bank would be an understatement.

Come on.  Look at those fountain pig tails.  And that face.  We rejoined our Lifetime Fitness (for the 3rd time) and let the kids play in the big tires.  Granted, you're supposed to move them as a fitness exercise, but it's way more fun to sit in them.

This was my Squirt's reaction (this morning) to being told that, due to her hacking cough, she did not get to go to April's house.  She asked every 20 minutes for the rest of the day....just in case I changed my mind about exposing all the other children to her nastiness.  I didn't.  

Thus concludes phone camera sharing time.  I'll try to be more attentive to my blog stalkers in the coming weeks.  A 6th birthday is coming, as is a visit from Nana, so you're bound to be blog bombarded.    

A Bunch of Cute Kids & A Boat Load of Snow

Squirt and I have been lucky enough to have Landon as a Friday guest for a couple Fridays.  The two of them are scrumptious together.  They played with this monster truck for about 40 minutes, uninterrupted.  One of them would push the button, causing noise and movement and they'd both sit on the steps and squeal.  

 Crazy that they're not twins eh?  Only 2 weeks apart.

Then there's these two.  Riley is like a big sister around here.  They crave each other's presence and bicker all in the same breathe.  And Squirt rather adores her too, causing Dude to be quite annoyed at his competition.  On Saturday (before our 12 inch storm arrived) they created a ginormous snow man head.  Dude has been waiting ALL winter to make a snow man family, so this was his day.  He seemed okay with a giant ball rather than the 4 person family he had dreamed of, so we left it at that.
  

Enter the blizzard of the month.  It snowed for about 24 hours straight and with the snow came hurricane force winds.  Well, that might be an exaggeration  but you get the idea. The neighborhood was buzzing with people, which is a lovely reminder of what summer is like around here.  We all frolicked for a couple hours and shoveled until our backs couldn't take it anymore.    

 This was awesome.  

 This was not awesome.  She refused to put her face into the blowing snow and kept her crabby pants in the garage.  I guess I couldn't blame her.  Ski goggles were a necessity.

 My darlings.  How hot am I here?  Come on.  

That night we had the Syers over to celebrate Wessum's bday.  Fajita syle.  Twas a rather lovely weekend all around.

Happenins at our Hood

What's been happenin' in our hood this month?  Let's see.  Dude is flourishing at his new school, which is a sigh of relief for all of us.  He's fitting in already, catching on to the new routine and lovin his daily bus rides.  We too are catching on to our new routine and are so happy with our decision.  Life is "calm" again, which is a welcomed change.    

Our little man's imagination is at full throttle, which is charming and also a bit exasperating.  Why would I make such a non-supportive parental statement?  Well, on any given Saturday, the dude wakes up with a GREAT idea and concocts projects/inventions that typically require tools, wood, paint, assembly lines, yarn, googly eyes and perhaps a parachute or too.  He knows EXACTLY how all of this is to come together and we just need to smile, put on our ultra patient hats and go along with his instructions.  Don't want to squash a young mind right?  Well, sometimes we have to, but for the most part we oblige his totally unrealistic demands.  Below is a project he and I completed on Friday.  Luckily, this one only called for paper, crayons, scissors and stickers.  I got off easy. The video is a first hand account of "The Greatest Show of the World."  Nana and Papa happened to be on Facetime to enjoy the performance as well.        

And Squirt?  She's Squirt.  Hands in the dirt, eyes darting off to the nearest sign of trouble, cheeks ridiculously squeezable and laugh more and more contagious as the days go by.  

 

Dad?  He completed our new play house, courtesy of Dad and Diane for Christmas.  Isn't it darling?  The kids think they're hot stuff in this thing.  We found Squirt out there this morning at 7:45am when we thought she was in the kitchen getting a baby doll.  Like I said, always lookin' for trouble.  Around every single corner.
 

Dude's New Journey

The past month has been a bit of a mental blur.  We made the difficult decision to take Duder out of his school and enroll him at our local public school.  Loooooong story behind that one, involving more meetings, discussions, prayers, tours etc. etc. than I can recount.  We're really excited about the opportunities and sense of community we're getting through our new school and Dude is over the moon about this exciting new journey.  We're blessed to live in an amazing school district and in a community that is chock full of kiddos that join Dude in his learning environment. 

Long story short, we're on day two of our new school, Dude has a self proclaimed "gleam in his eye" and Mom and Dad's shoulders are finally back where they should be, as is my heart rate.  All is well and God has definitely walked with us, hand in hand, as we navigated this ultra difficult journey.

Dude took the BUS today, which has been a lifelong aspiration of his.  Squirt and I put him on the big yellow monster, introduced him to the bus driver, saw the gleam in his eye grow brighter and the smile grow bigger and bigger.  I teared up a bit as Miss Carol took my baby away, his little head barely able to see out the window.  But don't worry, I naturally drove my Honda Pilot to the school and was there to greet him when he got off the bus.  Which proved pointless as he was surrounded by 4 classmates, eager to hang out with him and show him the ropes.  He waved at me, blew me a kiss and took off for playground time.  So I went home.

Thus concludes the new happs at our house.         

Punky Time and Some Winter Cycling

Just a little lovin' from our punky.

 

 

 This is Squirt's very own big girl chair, birthday gift courtesy of Grandma V & Grandpa Marc. You can imagine what transpires when big brother tries sitting on it.   

 We can't keep this coveted blanky away from the girl.  There is always a creative ways to retrieve it.  She finds a ridiculous amount of comfort in that thing.  More so than even Mom and Dad can offer.  I guess blanky doesn't put her in time out.

 

At least the first minute.  You'll be greeted with a darling red faced surprise. 

 

Last weekend we took the kids to our local middle school track for some biking refresher time.  We live on a rather significant hill, so teaching on our street isn't an easy task.  Dude just can't make it back up, causing much frustration for all involved.  So, we need to make a conscious effort to take him out biking.  We allowed Squirt to take her baby stroller, complete with 2 babies and her trusty cell phone.  Never know when she's gonna need to call Papa.  He's always the chosen cell phone call recipient.    

 How darling is that stroller?  Well, the baby girl too. 

After a few minutes of wobbly legs and encouragement, he was off.  Like a speeding bullet.  We bribed him with a special treat from the grocery store and a magazine of his choice if he could make it around the track 2 times without stopping.  Of course the little bugger did it the first time.  He then asked if he could please have a new magic button, a leaf and a piece of the track as his next rewards.  I kicked myself for offering up rewards that required money at that point.  The kid is rather easy to please.

We'll end with Papa's future track star.  Look at that form - belly sticking out, hands properly at her sides, pony tail bobbing in the wind, Nike's giving her proper traction....some day she'll follow in her Mama's shoes.  Meaning she'll try running track Freshman year under her father's coaching, be told her knees awkwardly smash into each other when she runs, be put in the high jump pit as a last resort and quit the next year to work as a telemarketer at Tru Green Chem Lawn.  A dang good telemarketer I might add. See what you have to live up to darling?