Rockin' the Dean's List

 We're quite proud of our college freshman.  It was posted on the university website that Connor had made the Dean's List for his first semester.   He received a congratulatory letter also from university president.

Way to go, kiddo!!!  

Nana V says he gets his smarts from her.  Ya... probably!!!  *wink* 
   

Happy 7th Birthday Ramsey!

Happy Birthday to our SPUNKY, ENERGETIC, SMART, LOVING, and amazing little boy, with an enormous heart and zest for life (and spelling!).    He's now 7 years old.  Crazy!

In one year, so much has changed.  A few major ones come to mind first; his crazy growth spurt and his love of reading by himself before bedtime.   With each day brings new challenges, joys, and realizations.  Our little guy is growing up.  It is bittersweet. 

Stats:

    Height: 3' 10"

    Weight: 49.4 lbs

    # of Teeth Lost: 2 (both lower front - and they're coming in a little janky!)

Favorites:

    Colors: Red, blue, teal, and gold

    Food: Gingersnap cookies, pancakes, pizza

    Games/Activities: "Hide & Seek" with "The Girls" (Raelyn and Ashton, neighbor friends), Minecraft, Pick Crafter

    Toys: Kindle, ball, pogo stick, Legos

    Music/Song: "...so many I can't say them all!"   The piece "Duel of the Fates" was mentioned though.

    School Subject: Home-schooling science

    Bedtime Story: "What Should Danny Do: School Day"

    Restaurant:    McDonald's

    Ice Cream Flavor: Oreo (still)

    Outdoor activity:  swimming in the lake.  Ramsey noted, "I wish I had a tree house!"

    TV Show:  Star Wars - Clone Wars

    Movie:   Star Wars - The Rise of Skywalker 

    Animal: Dog - a yellow lab, like Riggsy

    Best friends: Raelyn, Ashton, Bridger

    Girlfriend: Raelyn    

    Favorite Thing to Do With Connor:  Light saber duels

    Favorite Thing to Do With Daddy:  Sit on his lap and play

    Favorite Thing to Do With Mommy:  "Snuggle with you.  I love you!"

Ramsey's 7th Birthday - COVID-Style

 I remember my 7th birthday party, almost as if it were yesterday.  My Mom invited a TON of friends and family and we had a swimming party at the Holiday Inn.  Lots of fun memories and a few funny stories.

Ramsey turned 7 this year, but his birthday was a bit different than mine, as there was no additional family with us and just a handful of really good friends (our neighbors from two doors down - Derek, Krista and Ramsey's two buddies - Ashton and Raelyn).  Though it wasn't a huge bash by any means, we did have a great time, chatting, laughing, and the kids playing.

The night before his birthday, I picked up a few dozen cookies from a local home-based bakery that my friend Robin has.  She makes the most amazing cakes and cookies!   She made the cookies.  I couldn't give up making the cake, though it wasn't nearly as nice as one of hers would have been.

Ramsey was quite surprised when he saw them.  One of his favorite Kindle games is Bloons TD6 (monkeys shooting balloons with darts and various other weapons), so Robin whipped up some TD6-inspired frosted sugar cookies.  He had asked for TD6 as his birthday theme weeks ago.

A few days prior to me baking his cake, I asked him what kind of a cake he wanted (wondering if he wanted chocolate, vanilla, lemon, etc).  He said "I want a Star Wars cake!".    Uhhhh... Ok.  Star Wars cake (he later expounded that he wanted a straight-up chocolate cake) and Bloons TD6 cookies... I had to laugh - what a combination!   Oh well, whatever makes him happy!  Aaaaaand, I got to use the personalized Darth Vader vs. Luke Skywalker cut cake topper that had arrived one day too late to use for his cake LAST year!

After we pigged out on pulled pork sandwiches, chips, pasta salad, and the usual grab & go meal, we sang the birthday song and chowed on cake.

Then, present time! 

Ramsey was much more interested in sitting with Derek and Krista than he was with us!  ha!  (He loves them to pieces.)

Ramsey received so many wonderful gifts; Nerf guns, aquarium stuff, books, games, etc.  Lucky kid!!

I can't believe my baby is 7 already.  He's growing up SO quickly.  Before I know it, he'll be off to college like Connor!!

Love you, my sweet little Doodlebug.  Happy Birthday, honey.

Ramsey's First [Pet] Fish

 Ramsey got his first pet fish!  We'd talked about it in the past, but because his birthday was coming up, we decided to go for it.

Since there isn't a pet store in town anymore, we went to the home of a young man in town named Caleb (he's 14 and has his own pet business, selling fresh water and salt water fish, turtles, bearded dragons, iguanas, etc!).   Eric used to work with his Mom, so we had an inside track.  Ramsey had such fun going to his house and looking at all of the cold-blooded animals he has.

Ramsey picked out a plump orange goldfish that he "cleverly" named "Goldie".  When we brought him home, we placed him in the goldfish bowl.  Ramsey kept hugging the bowl and was excited!

After a few days, the fish seemed rather forlorn, so we decided to get out "the big tank" and fill it full of fun decorations.   The idea was to then get a few more fish so Goldie could have some friends.

We haven't gotten Goldie any buddies YET because we're treating the water (we suspect it has "ICH FISH").  Once we know that's under control, we'll go for it.  In the meantime, Goldie is an odd fish, always clinging to the water heater - sometimes swimming around to find food.  ...odd little dude, he is.

Great Day for Sledding

 We haven't had a TON of snow yet (knock wood!) but we got a few inches - the perfect amount to sled down our awesome front hill!

Ramsey isn't exactly a dare devil, so it took a lot of prodding to get him to go down the hill with Connor.  When he did agree to go, he tried to bail (more than once).  I was laughing the whole time (am I a terrible mother for laughing at my child's fright?!?!?).    I went down the hill too and it is a little scary, but it is soooo much fun!

Connor, who IS a dare devil went down a ton of times, spinning sometimes as he went down... and other times, starting in a backwards position and going down the hill without knowing where the heck he was going!  Every time he did that, it made me queasy.  On the videos, you can hear my "ews" and "ughs"!  It literally made my stomach churn!  When you're young, none of that is an issue!

With the front hill being a little too spooky for Ramsey, we tried him on the side hill.  A few years back, Eric and I had good luck (one up top to push him and one of us below to "catch" him).  He was a little more apprehensive than I thought he would be this year.

We had to throw a few snowballs and make snow angels too.

And eat some snow.   Why not?!?

Then, back to more sledding.

Connor had a novel idea of sliding down our side hill (north/south), with a built-up ramp (made from snow), and then into the neighbor's yard.  It was impressive, but the snow ramp didn't launch him quite as he'd hoped.

I was just happy he didn't run into a tree!!!