"Snips and snails and puppy dog tails, that's what little boys are made of!"
Surrounded by my sweet boys (hubby Eric, sons Connor and Ramsey, and our dog, Jango), I thought this a rather befitting name for my crew's blog. To our cherished friends and family, happy viewing! We love you!
With Ramsey's true birthday being on a Thursday, we had his family party on Saturday. The weather wanted to be a stinker, but it held tight and didn't get nasty until Sunday. Whew!
Ramsey couldn't WAIT for his family to arrive. He'd been talking it about it for weeks. He'd say, "I wish today was my birthday party!!" I heard that no fewer than 2 dozen times!
After Uncle Troy, Auntie Sarah, Sadie, and Isaac had arrived and got comfortable, the kids sat down and played a game of Star Wars Monopoly.
And after Nana and Bumpa showed up, we finally got to meet "Bailey Love", their new puppy!
For such a young puppy, Bailey sure was calm and oh-so-sweet. I'm pretty sure Ramsey would have kept her if that was offered.
Ramsey was lucky to receive all sorts of wonderful presents!
He had to show us all that he was Darth Nihilus in his new sith robe.
After opening presents, poor Auntie Sarah and Uncle Troy got piled on by all the kids! And yes, you can see some purple llama socks underneath also. That was Sadie, though you'd never know she was there by the looks of the pic!
Ramsey requested a "Revenge of the Sith" Star Wars cake. So.... I searched through Pinterest to see how other imaginative Moms and Dads created a cake depicting the final fight scene between Anakin Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi on the volcanic planet Mustafar.
It wasn't my proudest baker moment, but it tasted good, so.... ;-)~
After we added Anakin and Obi Wan to the top of the cake, Ramsey thought we also needed to add Grand Master Yoda and Jedi Master Mace Windu.
Cousin Isaac stepped right in and lit the candles.
After chowing down on cake, the kids went outside to go sledding.
After it posed to be too cold for Ramsey (and maybe a little scary for the first time sledding down the huge hill), he came inside to play with his toys. The older kids came in soon thereafter. I think my grand notion of letting Riggsy go outside to play with them confirmed they would come in also (in his excited glory, he'd plowed through the kids' sled tracks, wreaking havoc and making the trail unusable). Whoops.
Ramsey got to be "the leader" at school on his birthday. The kids alternate who is leader and typically they are the leader once or twice per month.
Being the leader means all kinds of things.... you get to be the person who leads the group, brings the treats, and is the teacher's biggest helper. Because of his birthday, he requested I make "red Oreo cupcakes". Um. Ok. He knew that if I did that, he had to help. :-)
Here, he's helping me mix up the ingredients for the Oreo buttercream frosting. The kid snuck "bites" of [straight] butter from a stick! (bleh!)
I didn't post pics of him helping me with the red cake. He had spilled some of the red-dyed cake mix onto his pants, so we had to strip him down! Red stuff everywhere!!!
In the end, we ended up with a few dozen bright red vanilla cupcakes, with an Oreo baked into the bottom, topped with the (severely addictive) Oreo buttercream, topped with Paw Patrol coins. Also mandatory for his party at school: a gallon of milk to wash it all down!
Happy 5th Birthday, Doodlebug! How has time gone so fast? "Just yesterday" you were a tiny baby smiling and cooing. Now you're a spunky little dude who is reading, writing, doing math... and the biggest Star Wars fan ever! :-)
RAMSEY'S STATS: Birth date: January 24th Height: 3' 4" Weight: 38 lbs (on a full belly)
FAVORITES: Color: Red Food: Christmas cookies, pepperoni pizza (thin crust) Games/Activities: Minecraft, playing Star Wars guys Toys: Star Wars figures, light sabers Music/Song: "Heathens" by 21 Guns TV Show: Lego Star Wars Movie: Star Wars - Revenge of the Sith Bedtime Story: "Look Out for Jabba the Hut" (early reader book that he reads to me) Restaurant: Burger King Flavor of Ice Cream: Oreo Outdoor Activity: Play in the snow and on the play set Animal: Puppies! Favorite Thing to Do With Connor: Play light sabers! Best Friends: Shaye, Ellie, TJ, Corbin, Keegan Girlfriend: MacKenzie (this changes daily!)
We've had an unopened game on our game shelf.... waiting for when Ramsey was old enough to "get it"; Star Wars Monopoly. Ramsey's seen the miniature guys inside and just wanted to play with them, but we wouldn't open it, knowing the guys would just be lost.
He got the game out again and we complied. It was time. With Connor at his Mom's place, Eric, Ramsey and I sat down to play.
And it was fun! Ramsey did a really good job! He's learning to count money, take turns, and it is great for his reading. Star Wars Monopoly will be a new staple in the house!
Finally... the light switch has finally flipped and Ramsey no longer completely loses his mind during haircuts. The last few times for me, he sat quite well. Getting to play Kindle and getting an ice cream cone helps I guess.
It gave me hope that he'd sit nice again for Auntie Shana (like he USED to... when he was teeny tiny!) And he did.
