Seven

Yikes!  Getting behind again!  I think I skipped right over Aidan's birthday and straight into the school year.  Poor kid.  He'll be scarred forever because his mother forgot to blog about his seventh birthday.

Or what will be known in our house as "The Best Birthday Ever". 

Aidan had been very indecisive these past couple of months over how he wanted to celebrate his momentous seventh birthday.  One day he wanted to go golfing with his friends.  Or disc golfing with dad and buddies.  Or have 10 friends over for a football game party at the house.  Or maybe go to Chuck E Cheese.  Or Main Event.  Or have a water slide in the backyard.  Back and forth, until it was 2 weeks before his birthday, and he still couldn't decide. 

So Brandon uttered this brilliant sentance: "Hey Aidan, instead of a birthday party, do you just want us to give you $100 that you can spend on whatever you want?"

I don't think I have ever loved my husband more.

Aidan was OVER THE MOON excited about the prospect of getting to spend that amount of money on whatever his little heart desired, and I was OVER THE MOON excited about the lack of invitations/planning/pre cleaning/post cleaning/slide rentals/deposits/teenagers in giant mouse costumes that were involved in this brilliant plan.  Aidan also got to pick a special lunch place (Chic-Fil-A), and decided that he wanted frozen yogurt instead of a birthday cake.

Did I mention that this was the best birthday ever?

The day started as all birthdays should, with a special breakfast.  Green chocolate chip pancakes coming right up for this boy!

After breakfast the whole family loaded up and headed to the Lego store, where Aidan spent over half of his budget on a Lego chess set (Mom!  Look how many guys it has!) and some sort of Ninjago sword. 

And the Lego store is the happiest place on earth.  Did you know they now make, as Emerson calls them, "Girl Legos"?  They're little lego sets with girl characters and things like a petshop and hair salon.  They're cute, pink and purple, and Emerson has told me multiple times that she wants them for her birthday.  I think Brandon has started a good tradition here...

We played at the playground at the mall for a few minutes, and then stopped at Toys R Us for Pokemon cards before having Aidan's special birthday Chic-Fil-A lunch.  After lunch, Aidan and I stopped off at Kohls because I had about $20 in special offers to spend, and he picked out a new hooded sweatshirt for the fall that had a "super soft hooded part".  My boys refuse to wear jackets, and most days here they don't need them anyway, but they will wear a hooded sweatshirt with a super soft hooded part.  And in Aidan's case, he will wear it every day for a week at the end of August, becuase it's new and he got it on his birthday.  Love that kid.
The six of us completed Aidan's Best Birthday Ever Birthday Celebration with frozen yogurt and lots of toppings.

And silly faces for mom.

I love you so much, Aidan Cooper!  I think SEVEN is going to be the best year ever for you!

Advice from Aidan

Like we did with Dane, we asked Aidan to "fill in the blank" on a few classic sayings. Here's what the A-man came up with:


Don't change horses...pet them. (Does anyone know how this quote is supposed to end? I've never heard it. But I like Aidan's version.)
Strike while the...dog barks. (And hide your dogs, because apparently Aidan wants to strike them.)
It's always darkest before...the sunlight (And Aidan would know, he's usually awake before the sunlight.)
Never underestimate the power of...God. (indeed)
Don't bite the hand that...is strong. (because that one will probably choke you for biting it.)
No news is...not fun. (wha...)
A miss is as good as a...guy (as in Miss, Mister... I love this kid)
You can't teach an old dog...to poop outside (but you can teach little boys to pee outside)
If you lie down with dogs, you'll...get bitten. (Why are so many of these d0g-themed?)
Love all, trust...God. (smart boy)
The pen is mightier than the...pencil. (b0th Dane and Aidan answered this one the same)
An idle mind is...crazy! (!!)
Happy is the bride who...kisses. (I'm so glad he stopped at "kisses")
A penny saved...has George Washington on it? (no, Lincoln actually)
Two's company, three's...a party. (good to know, I'll remember this for his birthday bash this year. Smaller guest list.)
Don't put off till tomorrow what...is cool. (great advice)
Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and...they cry. (possibly...)
There are none so blind as...an old man. (I actually giggled on this one)
If at first you don't succeed...play video games. (Brandon laughed at this one.)
A bird in the hand...was scared. (that would be pretty scary for the bird.)
and my favorite...
When the blind lead the blind...they all die. (especially if they're leading them over a cliff)


So what did we learn from Aidan? Hide the dogs. If you're blind, don't follow other blind people. It may not work out for you. And don't EVER put off till tomorrow what is cool.

They're Reaching for the Stars

A few days before school started, the talk in my house turned to what kindergarten was going to be like. I had a very excited, yet a little anxious, soon-to-be kindergartener, and a verteran elementary schooler doling out hard-earned advice about kindergarten and even college:

Dane: "You're going to like kindergarten. The people are real...friendly."

(After being kicked in the crotch by his brother) "Aidan, when you go to college, the girls will not like you if you kick other people in the crotch."
"College is...hard. Like, it makes you think so hard that your brains fall out."

And according to Aidan: "You have to go to college to find a girl to marry. After I go to college I want to sell cars to people. I will sell a lot of cars, and get one hundred dollars so I can buy my own car."

A couple of weeks later, Aidan had to fill out an "About Me" paper for school, and one of the questions addressed "What do you want to be when you grow up". I though this would be an easy question for my Aidan. Needless to say, he had some opinions on the matter.

Aidan, what do you want to be when you grow up?

I don't know, ask me when I'm 18.

I can't put that on this paper. I thought you wanted to be a guy that sells cars.

Dad says that's the worst job ever.

What about a youth minister like Daddy?

No, that's too hard. You have to work too much to do that.

What about a policeman like Uncle Izzy? Sometimes they get to have a dog with them at work!

No, that's too hard.

Do you want to take pictures like Uncle John?

That does not sound fun.

What about a dentist like Uncle Jeremy?

No, that job is too...toothy.

Do you want to be an architect like Uncle Andy?

What's an architect?

They decide what houses and buildings are going to look like, then they draw pictures of them and help build them.

Yeah! That sounds really easy, I wouldn't have to work too much to do that.

Apparently kindergarten these last couple of weeks have taken quite the toll on Aidan's work ethic. And he has somehow gotten into his head that architects have the easiest job ever. I asked Dane the same question a few days ago, and got a somewhat different, yet all too practical answer from my biggest:

Dane, what kind of job do you want to have when you are older?

"Whatever kind is hiring."

Reach for the stars, my boys. Reach for the stars.

Six

Dear Aidan,

Happy sixth birthday to my sweet A-man! I think back every birthday on the day you were born, the very first time I met my tall, skinny, red-faced screaming baby. Little did I know then that you would always be my passionate, spirited child.

There's a lot about you right now that I just want to bottle up and never forget. Your pappy always says that you'll never be a poker player. Every emotion you have shows from your head to your toes. We never have to wonder how you are feeling, or what kind of day you are having.

Your most favorite toys in the world right now are still your stuffed animals. You sleep with about 30 little animals every night, and after we put you and Dane to bed, we peek in to see you acting out all sorts of adventures with your animals. Your favorite is a little bear you have named "Andre Johnson", and then later clarified that "this bear is Andre Johnson. Even though the real Andre Johnson is black and my bear is brown." Just in case we were confused on the matter. You are very matter-of-fact about quite a few things, and a few months ago pointed out that Emerson has the same color of skin as your cousin, Joel Valdez. Who, as you guessed it, is not Chinese.

You are learning a real appreciation for all of the different and beautiful people that God created.

This past year has been a big year for you, you have learned so much in your final year of preschool, and you kicked off Kindergarten this past week with a bang and are loving every minute of it. You came home from your first day of school with this picture:

Your Daddy and I stared at this picture for a good minute or two, until you explained that, clearly, this was a picture of you next to a giant, blue cafeteria table. OF COURSE it is a giant blue cafeteria table. That is exactly what it looks like. (And we're going to work with you on spelling your name correctly.)

You CANNOT wait to learn how to read, so that you will be able to read stories at bedtime while Dane is reading. You are still learning how to "control your anger" every now and then, and have fewer and fewer tantrums and fits the older you get.

You have gotten so tall this past year, and are still skinny as a little rail. You're just a couple of inches shorter, and about six pounds lighter than your favorite brother in the whole wild world. You pick out your clothes every day, and we frequently see you in patterned shorts and bright socks pulled up to your knees.

We celebrated your big birthday with you today by eating lunch with you at school.

Well, if you can call it lunch at 10:35am. I was just barely able to convince the good people at McDonalds to put together a couple of Happy Meals at 10:30 in the morning.

(I did not realize that Harper and I were making the same face in this picture.)

Now I know why you are starving when you get off the bus in the afternoons. You got to wear a birthday crown all day at school today, and later today you have requested Papa Johns pizza and frozen yogurt as a special birthday treat. You'll open a couple of presents tonight, but your birthday party is this weekend at Chuck E Cheese. We broke our tradition of the waterslide party over Labor Day weekend, and took the easy route instead. You attended a party at CEC a couple of months ago, and talked about it nonstop for weeks. So instead of making invitations, cleaning the house, renting the slide, shopping for food, drinks, goodies, cake, entertaining the children, fighting the heat, remembering to pick up the ice, drying the children, opening the presents, passing out goodies, and cleaning the house again, we are simply showing up with a cake. Thank you for that, Aidan. This is the best birthday gift you could have gotten me.

You have been loving church these days. At the beginning of the summer you made the leap from the preschool room to the K-3rd grade area, and you get to be with Dane for part of the morning now. Our wonderful church has a worship band just for your age group, and one of the band members shared with me the other night about how much you love to sing your worship songs. Actually what she said was "he sings so loud that I actually got distracted while I was singing and forgot my words." Bless your heart. You know the words, and the motions, and you sing at the top of your lungs with a determined intensity. I'm afraid you take after your mother with your desire to sit in the front of the room, and sing really loud and off-key. Only I sit on the front row so no one else can hear me :)

Aidan, we love you so, so much and are so proud of the big boy that you are becoming. I cannot wait to see what Six has in store for you!

Practically Twins

You may not know this, but Dane and Aidan's favorite show on TV right now is Dancing with the Stars. They love it, and they have watched it with us for the last several years. I'm not sure if it's the music, Tom Bergeron's witty quips, or the fancy costumes, but they love it. We let the boys stay up a little past bedtime last week on Monday to watch "the dancing show". Towards the end of the show, this guy danced.

Brandon asked Aidan (who tends to have the opinions about the flashy costumes) if he liked this guy's pants:

Sweet 5-year old Aidan responded with "I like his whole body". (Ummm, have we been letting our son watch a little too much of the dancing show?)

"What do you mean, Aidan?" (Please mean something different that what I'm thinking, please mean something different than what I'm thinking.)

"Well, he has spiky hair, and sometimes I have spiky hair. He's tall, and I'm tall. He likes to take his shirt off, and I like to take my shirt off. Sometimes he wears muscle shirts, and I wear muscle shirts. We look just the same."

Just the same. My five-year old blondie looks almost identical to the dark haired, bearded, Ukrainian professional dancer covered in (real and fake) tattoos. I almost couldn't tell them apart.

My five-year old blondie was particularly impressed when the Aidan-clone in question ripped his shirt off, straight through the middle of the front of his shirt. He's pretty convinced that he will be able to rip his own shirts off in the near future, and already has big plans to dress as a certain professional dancer for Halloween this year.

Sometimes I just have to write these things down so I don't forget about them later.

And I'm secretly hoping Aidan develops a fascination with Spiderman or the Incredible Hulk sometime in the next few months, otherwise we will have quite a bit to to explain to our neighbors on Halloween night when they see my boy dressed in leather pants, sunglasses, and fake tattoos.

The Middles

This past Sunday morning found me losing the never-ending wardrobe battle with Aidan...

...and while I was snapping his picture, the perfectly coordinated Emerson impatiently waited for her turn in front of the camera, telling me "Emerson picture, Emerson picture!"

This is a girl who is clearly not lacking for self confidence,

wearing an outfit that she specifically picked out "for church" the night before and laid on her bed,

who immediately requested "two bows" during beauty-parlor time on this morning.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't middle children supposed to be laid back? Low maintenance? "Go-with-the-flow"?

What, in any of these pictures, suggests that these two are "go-with-the-flow"?

The Good Samaritan, Revisited

A couple of years ago, I blogged about young Dane's interpretation of the Good Samaritan story that he had learned in church.

Here was the conversation with Aidan in the car after church today:

Me: Aidan, what did you learn at church today?

Aidan: Mom, I just can't remember! It's too hard for my brain to remember!!

Me: Maybe we'll just go back to church for a couple more hours until your brain can remember. ("My brain just can't remember" is a common Aidan Cop Out Answer.)

Aidan: Oh, yeah. We learned about the guy who got the boo-boos and got karate-chopped! Then the burglurs stole all his stuff. He was just laying there and the preacher walked by, and didn't help him. Then the wise man walked by, and didn't help him. Then the neighbor walked by and helped him out. And there was this 9-year old girl who said she knew a secret about Justin Beave-o. (I'm assuming this is seperate from the Good Samaratin story. I'm pretty sure they didn't teach about Bieber at church today.) She said she knew a secret about Justin Beave-o and I wasn't suppposed to hear it until I was 9. But I heard the secret. He's the worst singer in the world!

Me: (Um, how did this conversartion switch from the good samaritan to J. Biebs?) What was the secret about Justin Bieber?

Aidan: That he poops. All the time. Like, a lot. (insert uncontrollable little-boy giggles from the backseat of the van HERE).

Nine year old girls everywhere will be devastated, I'm sure.

Until Next Fall...

Well our soccer and football seasons are coming to an end pretty soon, and I finally pulled out the camera on Saturday and snapped a few pictures of some of my favorite athletes and their fans.

Dane had a great football season, scoring a couple of touchdowns and proving himself to be quite the little aggressive linebacker on defense.

We're very fortunate to have had such a good experience with the boys in sports this fall. The coaches have been wonderful, encouraging, and have focused more on sportsmanship and teamwork than the score. They still keep score and have refs, but everyone has been very positive. We have yet to be involved in the "crazy parent" leagues, and I hope we can skip that all together. And we L-O-V-E not having weeknight practices.

This past week Aidan got his long-awaited sportsmanship award. The coach awards one or two awards every week throughout the season, and every kid gets one by the last game.

And Aidan? Aidan is a kid who loves him some awards.

Someone else got his sportsmanship award, too...

And I would also like to thank the fans for making this such a great season:

I briefly considered editing out the pieces of banana and grass stuck to Harper's face, but decided to leave them in. And her underbite makes me cringe.

The boys both have a "playoff game" next week, then we'll take a break from the sports for a few months. Dane, Aidan and I finished up Saturday (yes, I'm still catching up on my blogging) by celebrating their friend's birthday party at a gymnastics gym. We had a great time catching up with old friends, and it was a great way to kick off a family week together!

My Aidan

Sweet Aidan Cooper,

We have so loved watching you be a big brother yet again, Aidan. These past few weeks you have been so sweet with Emerson, playing with her in the backyard, holding her hand at the park, and letting her play legos with you sometimes.

You are five years old now, and still get reminded of that fact on a fairly regular basis when you start to throw a fit or have a meltdown. Thankfully, this is happening less and less lately. Five has been a pretty big year for you so far. You had a big birthday party, then Mommy and Daddy went to China and brought you home another little sister. You have big plans for Mommy and Daddy to bring you home a little brother someday, but I don't see that ever happening, A-man.

You also started going to pre-k twice a week, and have had the best school year so far. Your teacher is wonderful and patient and laid back, and she has seen you in other classes there for the past several years and has figured out just what makes you tick. You are learning so much, and getting better and better about writing your letters, and you come home from school so excited and ready to tell me all about your day. You respond very well to positive reinforcement, and have been excited to show me several of your "goodies" that you have gotten from class. You and Daddy usually stop for an Icee on your way home from school, and I suspect it's one of your favorite things ever, that special one-on-one time with Daddy.

You are going to be Indiana Jones for Halloween this year, and we have been slowly but surely piecing together a costume for you, complete with a brown leather jacket that mommy scored from the resale shop for a mere $8. You also have an Indy hat, whip, and some sort of belt with a weapon on it that Daddy has convinced

Mommy is absolutely necessary for authenticity.

We have come to realize that you are at your best when you are posing for school pictures. Remember this gem from last year?

Your "I Dream of Hawaii in Autumn While Holding a Tiny Pumpkin" picture?

This year the school sent home a reminder note about pictures with instructions to "please be properly groomed and dressed for pictures, shoes will show." You were so good about picking out a shirt with buttons on it, like you know Mommy likes, then took the liberty of pairing it with a pair of camo shorts. You were so proud of yourself for voluntarily putting on a shirt with buttons, that I just didn't have the heart to make you change out of the camo shorts. Daddy completed the ensemble by spiking your mohawk up to the sky, and sent you off to pose for your fall preschool pictures.

Oy vey.

The "I Gaze in Delighted Wonderment at My Future Just Above My Eye Line Whilst Sitting Among the Apples On The Farm and Wearing My Silly Bands and Camo Shorts" picture.

The mohawk only adds a little edginess to the whole shot, I think.

I'm afraid these won't be on the photographer's brochure anytime soon.

I love you so, so much A-man. You are truly the most unique person I know, and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Turn Out the Lights, The Party's Over

When you're birthday is August 24, your party options are somewhat limited to one of two things: 1. Something indoors or 2. Something with water.

For the third year running, we had a big water party for Aidan's birthday, inviting all of his friends over to play in the yard and celebrate his birthday. We usually have his party the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, but because Brandon and I will be in China over Labor Day, we thought it best to reschedule the party. Frankly, I just don't trust the kids to throw a suitable party.

And honestly, I didn't have anything else I needed to be doing mere days before leaving for China for 2 and a half weeks. The calender was wide open.

My Aidan got to pick the menu for the party, which included crucial elements such as four types of Cheetos, Sour Patch Kids, and strawberries.

And a cake with a tank on it. I love my Aidan, so so much. He is like no one else.

I somehow managed to rent the biggest water slide in Houston for the party, a slide that took up my entire backyard, from the back fence almost to the house. And needless to say, it was a hit.

The kids played on the slide until the slide-guys came and took it away later that evening.

Aidan LOVED all the presents he got, and I was reminded how fortunate we are to have friends who love us and who know my boy perfectly. There were nerf guns, several lego sets, Hot Wheels, remote control cars, sidewalk chalk, and a green gerbil who apparently is "like a zhu-zhu pet but manlier", according to one of his friends.

The kids played on the slide until the slide-guys came to take it away later that evening,

Aidan blew out all the candles on his cake with a tank with just a few tries, while his cousin Joel and all of his friends from church looked on.

Happy birthday, Aidan Cooper! I think 5 is going to be a great year for you.

And now I better start packing, since we leave for China TOMORROW MORNING!