Gus' Birthday - Part 1

Gus turned 5 this month and he knew exactly how he wanted to celebrate. First order of business was cake making. He wanted "Granny Crane's Cake" which is angel food cake with layers of vanilla ice cream and rainbow sherbet, covered in whipped cream. According to my mom, it's been in the family as long as she can remember and it was always a favorite of my grandma's. It's delicious and I'm so happy Gus wanted to make it. He requested that he make it with Ama, so my mom graciously gave up her Thursday morning to come to our house and work on the cake with him.

 

Gus decided this year he didn't want a "kid party", he just wanted his family and our friends Paul & Charity over for pizza, cake and a "Gus Quiz". He was so proud of that quiz! It included a list of 22 of his favorite things and some question about his baby years. It was so much fun.

Gus got a lot of really great gifts this year. I love how well his family knows him.

A poster for his "new" room (which is the same room he's had for the last 3 years, but he's no longer sharing it with Max)

A Mickey Mouse garbage can, also for his new room:

And a CD player too (since Max took theirs to his room). These were all from Mom-Mom and Grandad.

A jar ful of "just dog" Squinkies. What are Squinkies? you may be wondering. They are the newest fad in kid toys, tiny little rubber characters much like you would find in a vending machine, only a little higher quality. I never would have thought Gus would want these, but everytime he's visited my sister in the last 6 weeks, he's cornered her at some point to tell her he reeeeeally hopes she'll get him Squinkies for his birthday, but just dogs. Naturally, they don't make a pack of dogs-only Squinkies, so my sweet sister bought 6 separate packs and collected all the dogs out of them to give to Gus. He was thrilled!

A really fun new card game, Duck Duck Bruce, and some solar print paper from the Hickerson Family (who couldn't be a the festivities, but were there in spirit!) This card game has become the new favorite in our house already. It is so fun! I'm looking forward to using the solar paper this summer. I can't wait to see what Gus makes.

From us Gus got a cute doggie card:

Some music for his new CD player:

And a big alien Lego set:

Finally, Ama & Papa gave Gus a really cool set of cooking stuff that includes measuring cup and spoons, various utensils and mixing bowls and some delicious sounding recipes. He's so excited to put it to use!

What a blessed boy! Stay tuned for Part 2 and 3: a trip to the dog park with Paul & Charity and lunch at the Spaghetti Factory with his friend, Eva.

Play Ball!

Baseball season is once again upon us and this year we have 2 boys to cheer on. Max moved up to Coach Pitch and is on the Pilots, while Gus is making his T-Ball debut on the Marlins (Max's team for the last 2 years). Today was the RUG Jamboree and both boys played practice games. Thankfully it was absolutely gorgeous weather!

Max was up first and kicked off the season as Catcher. He's playing on a genuine ball field now, so you'll have to pardon the chain link fence in all the shots.

He looks like a natural, don't you think?


Jack was in the stands cheering him on:

Gus and Daddy watching the game:

Max walking back to the dugout after the first inning:

Another "fan" shot:

Sorry for the lack of shots of Max playing. I took some video instead and haven't uploaded it to the computer yet.

After the game we got hot dogs and had lunch at the field.

This boy loves baseball. He's so happy to be playing again!

Zack, Amanda, Kaiden (Max's teammate this year and last) and baby Liam had lunch with us too:

A few hours later we were back at the park and ready to cheer Gus on in his first game. He was so nervous! He wanted to participate so badly, but he couldn't quite get up the nerve. Mark went out on the field with him to help him feel more comfortable. You can see him doing his "ready position" just to Mark's right.

He wouldn't bat the 1st or 2nd inning, but he finally did it in the 3rd.
Here he is telling Mark to stay right next to him:

A quick look at mom, trying to decide if he's really going to do this:

He made contact on his first swing!

Run Gus!

 

A high-five for Dad who was waiting for him at 1st base:

He walked the bases the rest of the way. Here he is taking his own sweet time to get to home plate.

He tagged the bag and gave me a big grin. He did it!! We were so proud of him.

Here's the happy boy after the game:

We're looking forward to a fantastic season cheering on both boys!
Play Ball!!

Kitchen Disaster

This morning Gus and I were making "Feel Better Cookies" for a fundraiser at Max's school. Everything was going well until we added the flour to the wet ingredients. I helped Gus pour the flour mixture in and then turned my back to do something else. Gus turned the mixer on, but he accidently put it on full blast and flour went everywhere. The kitchen and Gus were covered in white. At first Gus was really upset about it, so naturally I grabbed my camera and snapped photos. I know, I know...I'm a terrible mother...but seriously, it was so funny and I couldn't resist capturing the moment. I wanted him to see that it was okay to laugh about it and to show him that I wasn't mad. I think his first thoughts were that he was going to get hurt by the flying powder and/or he was going to be in trouble. Once he realized that neither of those things were going to happen, he was able to laugh along with me.

Here he is right after it happened. I think he's in shock!



Close-up of his floury face:

You can see the mess it made on the counter as well:

Now he's happy after a towel wipe and a little taste of the dough:

Just a small bit of the mess on the floor. I'm still trying to get it all up. There are little flour footprints all over the house!

This is the first real mishap Gus has had in the kitchen and I'm proud of him for getting through it with a good attitude. There will be many more, certainly, if his passion for cooking continues. I hope I can be an encouragement to him in these situations so that as he grows, he'll know it's okay to make mistakes and that he just needs to clean himself up, learn from his mistake and have a good laugh.

(Apparently laughing at our mistakes is the theme of the day. See post below)

Celebrating Dr. Seuss (with poor spelling)

Today is Dr. Seuss' 108th birthday. In honor of the beloved children's author, I sent Max to school in a Star-Bellied Sneetch shirt. For those unfamiliar with Star-Bellied Sneetches, they are characters in his book 'The Sneetches and Other Stories", a Kaetzel family favorite. On the front of the shirt I stenciled a big star:

On the back, I stenciled 'Sneech', yep...Sneech, without the 'T'. Nothing like sending your kid to school in a shirt with a spelling error that is meant to honor a writer. I realized the error before Max left for school, but I let him wear it anyway. Apparently I have no shame.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! Thanks for reminding us that it's okay to laugh at our mistakes.

Baby Marin!

I've just returned home from a wonderful 5-day trip to Columbus, Ohio, to visit sweet baby Marin (and her parents too, of course) She is wonderful! So precious. Take a look below and prepare to fall in love!

Sleeping Beauty:

Proud Mama:

Look at those cheeks!!

Dad is in L-O-V-E!

She has the prettiest blue eyes that just sparkle like crazy:

The Marins!

Such a sweet, happy family:

And we can't forget Clementine and Lucy!