He's Home!

Collin's home! The boys and I are excited that Daddy is home after 9 days in South America.  For the most part he was in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but he also got to visit Uruguay this trip.

Nice to have you home, honey!

Better Late than Never - Ronan's Family Birthday Party

We had a family birthday party for Ronan the Sunday following his actual birthday.  As usual, it was lunch followed by cupcakes and gift opening.

The cupcakes - half the fun for the birthday boy is selecting the cake mix and icing at the grocery store.

Baby Finnian

By far, Finnian's favorite part of the celebration was the balloons.  He carried them around all day, and heaven help you if you tried to take them away from him!

Partygoers: Auntie Delta, Cousin Lauryn, Aunt Teresa...

...Nana & Grandpa (not picutured)...

...and Grandpa McLoughlin (Papa)!

A staged photo op

Any child's favorite part of a birthday celebration - the presents!

Latham was right in there helping Ronan unwrap his gifts.

Daddy's services were required to get the new toys out of their packaging.

A good time was had by all!

Better Late than Never - Ronan's 6th Birthday!

Ronan's celebrated his 6th birthday on June 14th.  His kindergarten class had a field trip that day to the park, and I attended (along with Latham and Finnian) as a parent helper.  When the class got back to school, I brought cupcakes in for his birthday.

Ronan got to wear the special birthday hat.

Classmates and the birthday boy enjoying the special treats.

The children were wearing their matching class t-shirts.

Latham and Finnian got in on the cupcake action too.

Ronan and his teacher, Ms. Rosenberg.

Happy 6th Birthday, Ronan!

Bird Catching

The boys have a new hobby...bird catching.  They set up a trap and wait, and wait and wait some more.  So far they haven't been successful, and I seriously doubt that they ever will be, but it keeps them occupied and out of my hair for an hour or two.

The patient bird catchers waiting to spring the trap - notice the string in Ronan's hands.

The other end of the string is attached to the stick which is propping up the box...classic Wiley Coyote-style.  There are breadcrumbs in a line leading to big pile under the box.

The boys wait on the patio which they think is far enough away for the birds to feel "safe".  You can see the trap in the distance on the right.

Refreshments during the wait.

After an hour of waiting and re-setting the trap a hundred times because the wind has knocked the box down, they give up and start playing another game.  They sure come up with imaginative ways to play!

Ronan

Ronan and I were discussing his Leapster and the possibility of him getting a few more cartridges for it.  He told me, "Sometimes when you buy me stuff I love you even more than I am supposed too.  Isn't that nice of me?"

Seriously, Ronan?!?  SERIOUSLY?!?

Mothers' Day 2012

For Mothers' Day this year we went to Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo. Collin was flying into SeaTac airport from Japan and was flying out the same day to Phoenix, Arizona to fulfill the on-campus requirement for Arizona State University's Master Black Black - Six Sigma program. The boys and I made the 2-hour drive each way to spend Daddy's lay over with him at the zoo. The boys were so excited to see Daddy again, and everyone had a great time at the zoo!

After the zoo we drove Daddy back at the airport. Ronan asked, "Why do we have to drop Daddy off at the airport, why can't we bring him home?" That broke my heart! After a week in Arizona, he is now home again...until the next Japan trip anyways!

Major Oops!

All three boys needed a trim - they were all looking fairly scruffy around the ears and the neck.  I got out the (new) clippers and decided Finnian was first since it was almost his bedtime.  I looked at the various size attachments and saw the big number "1", so I figured it was the 1-inch attachment (the largest in the bunch).  I snapped it in to the end of the clippers and my first cut was smack down the middle of Finnian's head.  It was then I realized that it wasn't the 1-inch attachment, it was the 1/8-inch attachment!!! (I still don't know why it had a big "1" on it)  Horrified, I had to continue to cut the rest of his hair off with it, apologizing the entire time.  This is the result:

He doesn't seem to mind, but I sure do!  Big brothers Ronan and Latham sure had a lot to say too:

Ronan: Whoa, Mom, that is short!

Me: (I keep cutting because I have to finish it all the same length)

Ronan: Don't you think you should stop?!?

Latham: Don't worry Mommy, that's how babies should look.  Don't worry.  (Pointing to his own hair) See, this is how boys should look.  But I don't want to be that short, I want to be different short.

Okay, I get it, I screwed up.  At least it'll grow back.  And look on the bright side, he won't be needing another haircut for a LONG time!