One Tough Seven-year-old

This week was my birthday. I did not have a good birthday. I had both a terrible and a wonderful birthday. Don’t you think so many things can be both bad and good at the same time? That was my birthday this year.

It was bad because I was so sleep deprived that I could barely function.

It was also amazing. One boy worked on my birthday present all week. He made me four different Super Mom comic books. Then he set up a scavenger hunt for me to find them all. Wow. The other boys also drew me sweet pictures, and Daniel worked so hard to write his name for me.

Daniel noticed how much praise everyone received for their cards and pictures, so he spent the next hour cranking out about 20 more pictures.

And Alan made me a cake!

Sorry, I forgot to take a picture until after I cut it. Whoops.

2 humorous stories from this week, and then I’d better let JD out of his room and feed him. He’s fine. He woke up from his nap, and now he’s playing just fine in his room.

The bunk bed story:

I told Dan that Nonna and DaddyO are coming to visit, so he will be sleeping in the guest room so they can have the big bed in his room. He was none too excited about this plan.

I suggested that we set up the bunk beds in Daniel’s room and transfer the double bed to the guest room. That way no one will be displaced when we have company.

Daniel got so excited at the mention of bunk beds, that he quickly ran to tell Caleb. Caleb said, “Let’s go build the bunk bed then.”

“Sure, go ahead,” I joked.

Twenty minutes later, I went upstairs. Work was well underway. Caleb had rearranged some of the furniture in his room, pulled the extra twin mattress out from under Joshua’s bed, torn off the clear plastic cover (to protect it during the cross-country move), stood it up on end, and moved it down the hall into Daniel’s room!

When I arrived upstairs, Caleb was under Daniel’s bed, “cleaning it out and figuring out how it works.”

That boy. That is one tough 7-year-old.

I put their work on pause until Dad could get home to help them. Perhaps I shouldn’t have. Maybe I should have seen just how much Caleb could do.

Other things Caleb accomplished this week:

1. My home school mom friends mentioned that they let their kids quiz each other on their school work. WHY had this idea never occurred to me? I’ve been doing ALL the quizzing around here. No more. Now I am trying to remember to let them help each other a little more.

2. We learned about Pearl Harbor last week. I got online and found old film footage of the bombing. All you can see is lots of black smoke, really.  Then we saw interviews where this Japanese lady was recalling that day. She had been a school child, and they had announced that Japan declared war on Great Britain and the United States and she talked about how they had all cheered for joy.

Caleb looked very serious, and he said, “They did this on purpose!!?” and he scrunched his eyebrows, narrowed his eyes, and hit his fist into his palm, looking quite ready to join the WWII war efforts.

Perhaps we should go back and make sure that he knows that particular war is over, and the Japanese are our friends now…

Chaotic photos from my birthday week:

JD has been working so hard on learning how to talk, that it can give one a headache. He talked my ear off this week, and I understood almost none of it. I did get, “cookie,” “no more milk,” and lots of “Mama,” “Daddy,” “Jawa,” and “Caleb,” oh! and “dog.” He loves dogs. All of the boys loved dogs until Joshua taught them otherwise. Joshua loved them until about age 3.

Caleb just marched into the living room, holding the stack of blend ladders, and said, “I’m going to teach Daniel these.”

After an exhausting birthday, my friend bringing me this surprise cupcake was such a special gift.

Hope you all have a great week!