Sweet things

Stephen has been on a high since his birthday... Building salt-powered robots and magnetic vehicles, lego creations galore. 

Stephen poses with his "ultra-sonic raider" -- which probably took him 8 hours to build in two sittings. After he finished, just before bedtime, he declared "See! That didn't take very long!" Joe and I did not help him build this absurdly complicated Lego model that required TWO fat instruction books and SIX separate bags of Legos. 

Oh, so on to sweet things. 

 Sweet thing No. 1: Rocky has been praying at bedtime lately. He used to always demand that I pray over him, but now he'll do it on his own. His pray begins traditionally enough with "Thank-You God for my family..." then quickly becomes Rockam's retelling of all the things he may or may not have done or experienced or thought about that day. "for Nockam and Seeven and Aah-ver. For Mama and Dada aaaaand Fish-swim For Joshua's house and eating dinner and Wegos and Wego Star Wars and Wego Ninjagos.... and dolphins and fa-mingoes and octopuses."

There's always an assortment of wild animals thrown into this stream of consciousness. Anyway. I love the way he prays. I might have to make a "Thank You God" book for Rocky.

Sweet think No. 2: Stephen is still resistant to the idea of praying aloud at bedtime. But we do usually have a little chat before bed to discuss his high and low point. I've been knocked out with a horrible sinus headache for 5 days (feeling a little better today, as evidenced by the fact I'm finally blogging again) and so I didn't put the boys to bed for a while. After our "high point/low point" discussion, we had this conversation:

Stephen says to me, "Mom? Are you still sick?" 

Me: "I'm getting better."

Stephen: I wish I could catch all your germs.

Me: "Why would you want to do that?!" (thinking he wanted to stay home from school and play with aforementioned toys)

Stephen: "Cuz if I could catch all your germs then maybe you would feel better and not be sick anymore."

Me: (fighting back tears) Awww, bud, that's the nicest thing. But even if I gave you my germs, it doesn't mean I wouldn't be sick anymore. And I want you to be healthy."

Stephen: "Oh, OK."

Sweet thing No. 3: Oliver has finally decided drinking out of a sippy cup is indeed awesome.

Stephen turns 6!

We celebrated Stephen's 6-year mark with a Lego Star Wars party yesterday. 

Stephen helped me make wookie cookies the night before. 

His best buddies, Harrison and Evan came to celebrate with him. Party games included light saber (pool noodles & duct tape) duels and Yoda Says.

 Stephen contemplates his wish before blowing out the candles. Some little onlookers can't hold still in anticipation of the cake.

Lunchtime without Steve

Ultra healthy meals going on here...

Stephen's first day of school

Stephen stands outside his new school, Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary. In this shot, he was unhappy about the heaviness of his backpack.

Backpack off the shoulders, the frowny-face is back to happy again.

We met Stephen's teacher, Mrs. Angie Puckett, last night at the school's open house. She estimated that there would be about 20 children in her class. As the boys and I walked to Stephen's classroom, Stephen was hopping on the colored tiles the entire time. He showed no fear as he walked into the room and sat on the rug with all the other children. I guess he's as unsentimental as his mama :)

Three drummers