Coming of age

All day we were peppered with questions as Keeli tried to make sense of the birthday event. What time is my birthday? Where is my birthday? Who is making my birthday? How many minutes until my birthday?

Keeli turned 5 today. Over the years, we have attempted to make birthdays about a celebration of time with family and building memories together rather than the expectation of gifts. Hopefully someday, she has many happy memories of today.

Tatum and Keeli created a sidewalk chalk mural celebrating Keeli's momentus occassions and announcing the big event to the entire neighborhood.
A large portion of the afternoon was devoted to cake baking and decorating. Everyone had a hand in stacking layers, frosting and sprinkling. Some even volunteered to eat the left over frosting. We left the combustible stuff to dad and the fire suppression to the birthday girl. We opened two presents, including a birthday card packed with cash and tiny sea shells from Nana Linda, who is currently in the Bahamas. Amazingly two of the shells survived the USPS.

And, in case you forgot, it was Keeli's 5th birthday today. 5.

And, so it begins...

Bikes, helmets, backpacks, lunches and we were off! The kids are excited about returning to school. I spent my bike-ride to school today reminiscing about my 5th grade teacher Mr. Baerlocher and my 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Farnam. They are mostly good memories - although there are a few funny stories that could never happen in a modern classroom without loss of job or criminal charges. My fondest memory of Mr. Baerlocher was his naming a "student of the week" and treating the students to dinner and activities (many of us chose a trip to the skating rink). Mrs. Farnam is known to generations of children for her vice like loving hugs and her preference for straight pins over staples.

Tatum is now in 5th grade. She knows several of her classmates and is pleased with the teacher she was assigned. There was a bit of a fashion dilemma this morning over which tennis shoes to wear with her jeans.

Of course our day wouldn't have been complete without another dash of drama! The nylon zipper on her lunchbox broke. There are a few broken zipper teeth and the pull is completely removed from 1/2 the zipper. It was a struggle (literally), but we managed to get the zipper to work for today.

Getting to Rikard's classroom was a challenge. First we had to stop and see his 2nd grade teacher and give her a big hug. He missed her all summer. Then it was back to roaming the halls and searching for his new classroom. We eventually found it.

Rikard is so excited to have a male teacher for 3rd grade. He claims his new teacher is the best teacher because he wears kids clothes, go to recess and eats peanut butter sandwiches. Hopefully he has some mad teaching skills (and a lot of patience) hiding under that kid-friendly facade!

Pale Rider

It was pony rides for all at daycare. Keeli and her mount Smokey got along just fine.Keeli was telling us all week that she was going to take her pony around the block and see how fast it could run. She was a little disappointed that they just kept going around and around in a circle. She did keep him to a nice walking speed (lol). A couple of the kids were too afraid to ride and I don't blame them, they've never seen livestock up close and personal.Rikard helped with the photography for the first time. He captured a great expression on Keeli's face as the ponies started their walk, but notice his big fingers in the photo?

After the rain

Puzzling Times

And, so the summer goes. This is the second puzzle Rick and Tatum have tackled in a week. The first was sea shells and star fish. This one is an American flag decorated with presidential campaign buttons. Not as easy to put together as you may think.It was educational for Tatum. She learned a lot about various modern politicians (from the 1960s-present) from both major parties. Rick learned to embrace his obsessive personality that continually strives for everything to be perfectly in its place.