7 = 5

I am still behind...so, I am just now posting Seven's 5th birthday...On April 11, 2012, Seven turned 5 years old. Here's a picture of my adorable 5 year old at his birthday party!

Seven decided he wanted a Spider-Man birthday party. So, I decided we would go on a bug hunt. No worries, not a REAL bug hunt. I hid close to 50 plastic bugs in Granny's backyard and put a star with Spider-Man's picture on it near the bugs. Not too close, but near. You can see the ladybug on the fence and the green star with Spider-Man on it nearby.

On a log, I put a spider and a scorpion. I was proud of this hide :) They almost looked real!

There is an ant and a green star with Spider-Man nearby.

A purple star with Spider-Man and a grasshopper peeking out of the brick.

Once all the bugs were hidden, it was time for Seven and his friends to look for them.

Piper was collecting the bugs AND the stars...

I don't know of Piper and Finn were using teamwork to find bugs or competing against each other to be the first to find the bugs.

Granny printed off pictures of each of the bugs. On each bug paper, there was a splat. The splats were how many of that particular bug that was hidden in her backyard. When the kids found the bugs, they would put them on the splat and then they could see how many there were left to find. We found all the bugs, but one. Not too bad.

Here are Seven's Spider-Man cupcakes made by my wonderful husband Jeremy!

And Seven getting ready to be sung to so he can make a wish and blow out the candle.

I just had to include this picture of Rilian. If you have ever been around him when he eats dessert, you know that he SAVORS his dessert! There is no other word for how he eats it. He takes his good ol' time and REALLY enjoys it. I love the expression on his face...it's like he is thinking, "What's the big deal? I'm just enjoying my cupcake."

Happy Birthday Seven! I have enjoyed your first 5 years of life. You never cease to amaze me! You are very intelligent, quite entertaining, and a humorous little boy. I could not imagine life without you! 

Cutie

Jeremy was in our alley one morning and found a Texas Blind Snake. Thanks to Wikipedia, I got an education on Texas Blind Snakes. However, it says they eat termites and ant larvae. I do not want those little creatures in my house. Especially since I am allergic to ants. So, I bought Cutie, (that's what Seven decided to name him) some mealworms and crickets to eat. Here is a video of Cutie's introduction to Seven and Rilian. Piper and Finn were at school.

We didn't have a cage for Cutie, so we went to Petsmart and got everything we needed for Cutie to live happily ever after as Seven's pet. Seven picked out the rock for him to hide in and the water and food bowl.

You can enjoy watching this video of me asking Seven questions about Cutie...Seven is so proud of Cutie!

This is funny because Seven was so serious, while he LIED about the snake! He WAS NOT with Jeremy when Jeremy found it. I didn't think he was. I had to ask Seven after I was done recording and he smiled real big and told me he wasn't. We honestly don't know if Cutie is a boy or a girl, so I let Seven decide. After all, it is his snake :)


Here is another picture of Seven showing off Cutie. Cutie actually looks bigger than he is in the picture.

 After we had Cutie for a couple of weeks, I just happened to look in his cage one day and see that he shed his skin. Piper took it for show and tell at school that week.

We still have Cutie. He is still alive. Jeremy says they don't live very long. However, we have had him for about a month and a half now. Unfortunately, he is not a good snake to hold because their defense mechanism is to pee...you can connect the dots there...
Another bad thing is that Cutie is nocturnal. That means he usually comes out of his hiding place in his cage after the kids have gone to bed. So, they don't get to see him very much. And that my friends, is the new addition to our family.

Easter

As a mother of four energetic kids, I stay pretty busy. So, I am just now finding time to post about our Easter. I know there are a few of you who have been having alot of restless nights, waiting and waiting for this post. I am sorry. Now you can sleep soundly again and not jump out of bed and rush to your computer before you eat your breakfast, because my Easter post has finally been made public!

My brother and his family came into town to celebrate Easter with us. All the cousins enjoyed spending time together. Saturday morning we dyed Easter eggs. 

Kaden was just a little bit too young to join in on the dying fun, so he and my brother sat up in the tree house and watched. 

 Piper finished dying her eggs.

 My neice, Allie, finished dying her eggs.

Seven was done dying his eggs and frankly did not want to pose with his eggs. I at least got him to stand with them, but he would not look at me. 

 Rilian showing off his dyed eggs.

My niece, Mabrie, and Finn were taking their sweet time making their eggs pretty. Everyone else was done, but them. I think it is neat how much they look alike. They could pass as brother and sister, instead of cousins. 

 Finn wanted me to take a picture of the egg that he made two different colors.

 Mabrie finally finished her eggs.

 And last, but not least, Finn finished dying his eggs.

I had gotten glitter for the girls to put on their Easter eggs and animal face stickers for the boys to put on their Easter eggs. You couldn't see the glitter in the pictures, but they were pretty. Rilian was the only boy who wanted to use the animal face stickers to decorate his eggs, but he didn't really want me to take his picture with them. 

With six cousins and LOTS of cups of dye, there was quite a mess afterwards. Allie decided she would clean it up for us. She went to work and wiped up the table and all six chairs. Thanks, Allie!

 Easter morning...I had found this outfit for Seven about nine months before Easter. I bought it and was so excited for him to wear it, I almost couldn't wait! I knew how studly he would look! Check him out...

It was overcast Easter morning, but JUST IN CASE (I don't know what), I took a picture of my beautiful children BEFORE we left for church. You never know what could happen before you pick them up from class and get another chance to take a picture of them.

 The boys wanted me to take their picture beside one of the trees in our front yard. I love how Rilian looks like he is saying "cheese" in the picture.

Every year when the bluebonnets come out, I always say that I want to get my children's pictures taken in them. I did it when Piper was almost a year old. Well, she will be 8 years old soon, and I FINALLY found a good bluebonnet field that wasn't by a busy road. We were on our way to my mom's house after church for Easter lunch and I saw alot of cars pulled over to the side of the road. I wondered why there were so many. Then I saw it...a HUGE field of bluebonnets! People were stopping to take their pictures. So, after 7 years of saying I wanted to do it, I FINALLY did!

The kids mostly saw it as a huge field to run in, that was filled with tons of flowers that they weren't supposed to pick.

It was hard to get good "still" pictures of them because they just wanted to run.

But we did manage to capture a few still shots...

Rilian with his "cheese" face. Looks like he found some flowers that he could pick :)

And more running...they had "contained" their energy long enough...

All the cousins. I didn't realize Finn wasn't wearing shoes until I posted this picture. And Seven looks so pitiful because he did NOT want his picture taken anymore! He had had enough! I think it's cute how Rilian has his arm around Seven's. Little Kaden has his tongue out :) They each have their own personalities.

My brother and his beautiful family!

Kaden with his Easter basket and the eggs he found. 

Mabrie and Piper hunting for Easter eggs. Piper cracked me up. She didn't think her Easter basket was big enough, so she had a Walmart sack too (just in case she needed more room for her eggs).

Finn finding an Easter egg in the tree. That silly Easter Bunny!

Rilian also found one in a tree.

All the cousins with their full Easter Baskets.