Joshua's Birthday Party

On Sunday, we had Joshua's birthday party in the backyard.  It was Super Mario Bros./Mario Kart themed.  Here is our racetrack version of Red Light Green Light.  The flags are from Joseph's 6th birthday NASCAR party (as is the game idea).

Next the kids decorated their own painter's caps.

Then it was on to Mario Bingo...

and cake.  The cake is intended to be Toad, a mushroom-type Mario character.

Last but not least, it was present-opening time.

I tried to be careful not to show faces of other peoples' children, since I didn't have their permission and all.  The hats turned out to be very helpful in that regard!  There was an obstacle course back at the beginning of the party, but it was difficult to photograph without faces.  It was near 90 degrees outside, so by the end of the party we were all exhausted.  It was worth it, though!

Joshua's 6th Birthday

Our bus stop has an unofficial "grandpa" who is out to greet the bus every day.  His wife bakes cookies for all the kids every Christmas and the last day of school.  On birthdays, he brings out the birthday bell and all the bus stop kids gather around to sing to the birthday child.  Here is Joshua, wearing his birthday crown from school, receiving the birthday bell so he can ring it while we sing. 

After a birthday dinner at McDonald's (Joshua's choice, of course), we had cupcakes

and opened presents.

Whitener Pilgrimage

My dad can trace his ancestors back to one of the first (or the first, depending on what you're reading) European settlers of Catawba County, North Carolina.  Since we live less than 2 hours from there, we headed that way when Mom and Dad visited a couple weeks ago. 

Most of the Whiteners in the U.S. are concentrated around Newton/Hickory, North Carolina and Fredericktown, Missouri.  One of the original American Whitener sons left North Carolina and moved to Missouri.  Before he did, he lived in this rock house in North Carolina, which is listed on the N.C. Historic Register.

The Catawba County History Museum in Newton had the original tombstones (inscribed in German) of the ancestors on display.

There was a map of the area from 1886 that listed all the households.

This is one of several close-ups I took.  There's a good chance that the Jarrett family on the map is related to the NASCAR Jarrett family (Ned and Dale).  They are from this area.

Newton happened to be having a MayFest the day we were there, which helped keep things interesting for the kids.

Jamie McMurray race car (Jamie is from Missouri, too!)

Petting zoo

Nearby in Hickory is the Catawba Science Center.  It had lots of great exhibits, but Joshua's favorite was the touch tank.  There were sharks and rays to touch.

I'm not sure if Jeremiah actually touched an animal, but he enjoyed splashing in the water.

If you ignore Joshua getting carsick on the way home, it was a wonderful day!

Piano Recital

Joseph had his piano recital at the end of last month.  He did a great job.  When he found himself on the wrong keys near the end of the song, he just followed the chord progression in the new location and it still sounded right (to anyone who hadn't already heard the song 238 times).  I wish I could play that way!

A Little More Baseball

Just a few more baseball pictures.  Joseph's Angels were the regular season champions, but got eliminated in the 3rd round of the championship tournament.  Joseph's batting average for the season was .667 (he and Daddy tracked it on the computer).

Check out that batting stance.

I'm guessing Tony is shouting, "Run!" there in the background.  He didn't coach Joseph's team, but was the scorekeeper if Joshua didn't have a game at the same time.

I'm not sure what Joseph is looking at here--the first base coach?  A foul ball?  The shadow on the right was because I was shooting through a chain link fence.

It was a fun season, but I for one am glad it is finally over.

Sunglasses

I'm not sure why Jeremiah is wearing sunglasses indoors, especially since it looks like it might be raining outside.

Are you looking at me?

Joseph's Mother's Day Program

The second graders at Joseph's school put on a Mother's Day performance a couple of weeks ago. 

There were some songs performed by all the classes, plus each class had its own poem or song.  Joseph's class did a poem called "My Love for You Grows"--that is why they are wearing flower headbands. 

(Are silly bandz popular in other parts of the country?  That's what Joseph has on his wrist.)

I feel the need to say that I do not have a double chin.  It was an unfortunate by-product of the way I was holding my head.  I will never lower my chin in a picture again!

Each child had also made his mom a special Mother's Day book with poems (original and borrowed), drawings, and other thoughts.  One of my favorite pages was "Mom's Daily Schedule" as guessed by the child.  Here is what Joseph said my schedule is:

6:30  wakes up and reads

7:00  wakes me up and drives me to school

8:00 rests

9:00 plays with Jeremiah

10:00 plays Wii

11:00 plays more Wii

12:00 eats lunch and feeds Jeremiah

1:00 watches TV

2:00 goes on Google

3:00 goes to the bus stop

4:00 races me

I'm not sure when he thinks the cooking/cleaning/laundry fairy shows up, because clearly I would at least have to stop playing Wii to go to the door and let her in!

Another page that made me laugh:  "The most special gift I could give to my mom would be a trip to Hawaii.  She wants to get out of the house."

Because clearly I'm working too hard.