Presentation Day 2012

I am so, so, so far behind in writing posts.  This is one from back on April 21st.  

The kids' school hosts a Presentation Day every year.  The kids sing a few songs and the upper elementary has a play.  We also get to visit the kids' rooms and see what kinds of stuff they've been working on.

Sam chose to do this animal classification work for us.

Ben is still in the Toddler's room, so he didn't have any work to show us.  He did puzzles in Sam's room while we waiting for Sam's class' turn to go on stage.

Sam waiting for Ben to go on stage ... only he didn't ... go on stage ... Ben.  I sat off-stage with him the whole time.  I tried to push him on stage a few times, but he just jumped right back in my lap.  Maybe next year?

Ben waiting for Sam to go on stage.

Sam's class singing their songs.  Sam is front and center.

Sam's 6th Birthday

Sam turned 6 on May 18th.  He was sooo excited that it was his birthday.  He'd been counting down the days for weeks.

We started the party with his Celebration of Life at school.

It was a lot less formal than it had been the past few years.  No pictures to share or stories to tell.  He just walked the Earth around the Sun six times, blew out the "candle" and we sang Happy Birthday.  Apparently they'd had tons of these celebrations over the last few weeks with all of the May birthdays, plus summer birthdays for the kids who wouldn't be there for summer school.

The kids were all hamming it up and having a great time.

Later that night we had dinner, presents and cake with Lulu, Pops and Mimi.  This was the first birthday where Sam could read his own cards!

We had dinner pretty late, so Sam wanted presents before cake. He just couldn't wait any longer!

He LOVED everything he got and stayed up until midnight playing with everything.  

Benny got a few presents too.  He totally did not get the concept that it was not his birthday too.  He's asked me every day since then if today is his birthday or his party.  I hope he drops that soon or it's going to be a long 5 months!

Even though Sam got the coolest stuff ever, he wanted to play with Ben's stuff, too.

Mmmm ... Nothing Bundt Cake, red velvet chocolate chip

Sam's official birthday party was two days later at Chuck E. Cheese! It was so much fun.  Sam got tons of tickets with help from Pops, Mimi, and Mister.  He got a gum-ball machine with his tickets, and that has been very popular around our house since then.

Ticket booth!!!

Mimi and her boy!  How much longer until he's too big to hold?

Lost First Tooth

Sam lost his first tooth on Friday.  It's been barely hanging on for two days, but he just couldn't pull it.  It came out while he was brushing his teeth before bed.  He started running around the house screaming with excitement.  He can't wait to tell and show everybody.  He immediately wanted to write a note to the Tooth Fairy to ask her not take his tooth.  I told him she wouldn't take it if he didn't put it under his pillow.   He had so many questions ... how long until my new tooth comes in?  how long until my next tooth falls out.

Of course I have to admit I'm crazy on this particular topic.  First, he's been trying to knock them out since he was three.  Also, I had been dreading the day when he would lose his first tooth because he seems to be getting so big so fast lately.  It would be a daily reminder that he won't be my little man forever.  We had family portraits made in March so we could capture that last little bit of his baby face.  Now, I'm just so proud of him.

Sam also had his 6 year old well-visit on Friday.  He weighed 42.8 lbs (27%) and was 44" (35%) tall.

New Grill

After 13 years of use it was time for us to get a new gas grill.  Emily bought our grill shortly after we moved into our last house in 1999.  It was a Weber Genesis Silver grill.  At the time I thought it was expensive, but if I'd known we'd get 13 years out of it I wouldn't have thought anything of it.  I replaced various parts in the grill over the years and it was time to do it again.  As I went through and made an inventory of the parts we'd need, it became clear that we were better off buying a new grill.

Doesn't look too bad from here.

Ok, this thing has definitely seen some use.

The grates were worn through.

Shopping for a new grill was a bit of an eye opener.  Grills have really gone over the top.  You can buy a whole outdoor kitchen!  We certainly didn't need that, but we did need a good grill.  I cooked countless meals on my grill and I expect that'll continue and increase with two growing boys.  We settled on a Weber Summit S-470.

 This time around I went with natural gas.  The line was included in the construction of the house and it was time to take advantage of it.

 Roughly the same dimensions as the last grill.

 Quite a few more burners this time around.

 Although I rarely use it, a side burner is indispensable when you need it.

 Weber included a neat pop up rotisserie.  The motor is the same one they used on our old grill.  Nice to see a company leave something alone when it works.

Got a little more space this time around.  This grill has four burners, a sear burner (just another burner squeezed in the middle), a rotisserie burner (nice!), and a smoke box with burner.  The grates are solid stainless steel and very heavy.

The local stores didn't carry this particular model so we had to order it.  I'm glad we went through the trouble because I like having the rotisserie burner and the smoke box.  So far I like everything about the grill.  It's a lot hotter than our old grill and it can really sear meat.  It's more than I ever thought we'd spend on a grill, but if I can get another 13 years out of this grill it'll be worth it.

Sam's Piano Recital

Sam had his piano recital at school today.  He had practiced very hard over the last few weeks and was very proud of himself.  We are very proud of him too!  He might have been more excited about the cookies and juice they served in the end.  I was also kind of glad that he didn't sing his made up lyrics to the songs, though that would have been entertaining!

Sam played Beriozka (The Birch Tree) and Bingo.

Sam with his piano teacher, Ms. Melaney.