Busy Earth Day

Cameron was outside constantly on this Earth Day -- exactly what you would hope for. We enjoyed Earth Day as best we could after I lost Randy for an hour (long story short - I stink). The kids enjoyed popsicles and some of the events including this picture -- a very large Earth that kids can jump onto. Cam loved it.

He had a successful t-ball practice with Randy. I didn't go this time around since Jordan was napping. Next week I'll be there for sure.

Cam also got to play with some of the neighborhood kids just before bed... It was kind of cool. They all gathered in our backyard and ran around for a while. I even got to chat with the parents. Adult conversation! How cool is that? (Sorry Randy, I know I talk to you... but you know what I mean) Hopefully it's a sign of more neighborhood playtime as we get into summer mode.

Scrapbook of Cam's birthday

Getting back

We're back in town after a long trip for work... So Cam and Jordan got to play with their grandparents.

So the first day I get to send Cam off to school, he snuck his iPod into his classroom. Bad move.

His teacher was kind enough to just take it from him for safe keeping. I let her know that he shouldn't get it back without her handing it to me -- So Cam had to go a day without it. She never chastised him - but when I picked him up from school, he was very sorry for sneaking it in. He says he learned a lesson.

I know I did. I'll search his bag much better every morning - just in case.

By the way - I missed him a ton and it's so cool to be home again. He's taken to trying to parent his sister -- He was doing it before we left town, but it seems like he's taken it to a higher level. What's scary is the tone he uses with his sister is exactly my Mommy-in-charge tone.

I sound really strict.

Flickr has video!!

I had to try out Flickr's new video service. Here's a little interview I had with Cameron the morning of his birthday.

Let the T-ball season begin!

Cam's team had its first practice today... I got a chance to meet a bunch of new parents while Randy and a few other dads got to work with the kids. A lot of our team goes to Cam's school so he's very excited about that. Who know if Cam will take to the sport this year, we have high hopes.

Cameron tells me that he can't wait for the next little league season - when the grown ups pitch and there's an actual score. He really doesn't like the whole "everyone is a winner" thing.

Birthday fun

Cam had his big birthday party today - We had a TON of fun. The theme was a Wii bowling party. The kids had a chance to play bowling on two different TVs - one in the "man cave/basement" and the other in my reading room/living room. I borrowed a second Wii from a student.

By the way -- We had 15 kids total at the house. 15. That's a lot of kids. Well, there was a little baby. If we include her we had 16. Some parents dropped the kids off, others hung out and enjoyed the fun. We are friends with really cool parents... Or my kid is friends with kids who have really cool parents. Either way, it was fun.

In the end, most kids ended up playing in the backyard - which was my main goal. I just wanted a chance to let the kids run around and have fun. The only crying: two of the kids just didn't want to go home. Other than that, there was a lot of laughing, running and dodge ball/bubble chasing.

I make a point to not accept gifts at Cam's parties - He already has SO many toys. It feels good to have a lot of fun and not require parents to bring stuff. What's really cool is how many kids brought handmade cards and drawings. I got video of Cam going through all of this cards after everyone went home. He thanked each and every kid as if it was as special as a toy. I think friendships are more important than the toy. And if you visited my house, you'd see how Cam already has everything a kid ever wanted.

Speaking of everything a kid ever wanted: Cam got an iPod Nano for his birthday. It's one that I won in a video contest. I bought a REALLY great skin to keep it from breaking from the brute force of a six year old. Check out iFrogz. I was really impressed with what we got. I also got a cool one called Audiowrapz for Jordan. I highly recommend it!

We had a really great birthday week for Mr. Cam. On his birthday, we had special birthday doughnuts and I even surprised him at school at lunchtime. He's been begging me to eat with him, so he was really excited. We took him out to dinner and he loved all of the really cool things he got from his family. Along with the iPod, he got some awesome outdoors gear to help with all of our hikes and explorations. He's feeling very special and I'm so glad to see him excited and happy.

Big party

Wow. I've always invited a few more kids to Cam's birthday party than I should -- since we rarely have every person accept the invitation. But this year -- ummm. It's going to be a packed house. We have 10 kids - including some siblings. That means I will have 12 or so kids running around the house. PLEASE PLEASE be sunny outside! Add the the parents and this is going to be a zoo.

I like zoo parties to be honest. I hope we just have fun running around. That's my favorite kind of party. But I'm starting to think that I need a second Wii so no one gets upset because they can't play.

I also have some outside bowling games. And I'm thinking of buying inexpensive balls for each kid again this year because we had SO much fun playing grown up vs. kid dodge ball.

I think this year is going to be a blast!