Hunter is 6!

This may be the last year I can get away with buying silly birthday party glasses for my boy, but so be it. My 6-year-old Elton John was happy to wear these special specs on his birthday, which we celebrated in high style with our most special peeps.

All the kids were happy to spend some time with Nana and Papa, who flew in for the occasion.

Due to the snow, we had to postpone the SpongeBob cake I had ordered from Harris Teeter. But Miss Allie and Jackie came to the rescue and whipped up this magnificent Snowman cake so Hunter could have a birthday cake, reminding us that friends like this don't grow on trees As always, it was a challenge keeping little hands off the cake until party time. Special kisses for the Birthday Boy...As anyone who attended the event can attest to, Mr. Chad was chomping at the bit to get the pinata ready for the party. It was all I could do to convince him to wait until after dinner to stuff this big yellow guy with the gobs of candy I had bought at Wal-Mart for the grand event. Leigh went pretty light on SpongeBob...

...while Cameron prepared for his turn with a tribal dance he learned from watching the National Geographic channel.

H-Diddy, outfitted in his Gangsta gear, took some respectable licks...

...but it was Jackie who delivered the fatal blow, resulting in an impressive outpouring of Smarties and DumDums from SpongeBob's bungholio.

Even Miss Karen and Mr. Dave joined in the fun.

Later that night, Leigh and Papa stole a few kisses from each other.

And despite our futile attemps to keep the clock from moving too quickly, Hunter turned 6 before the day was done.

A Prayer and a Sleepover

Today, we started off Hunter's Birthday Weekend with a celebration at school. This consisted of serving ice cream to 12 kids at 9:30 am, and gathering in a circle while Mrs. Pothoven said a special prayer for the birthday boy. Little did she know how much we needed a blessing boost, given that we had a sleepover for the guys at our house starting just hours later.

The Sleepover began with dinner at the Kanki, at Hunter's request. I loaded up Hunter, Max, Seb, and Christian in my car, for what was possibly the loudest 15 minutes of my life to date. Once at our table, all I'm saying is that it's a good thing the noise level in that restaurant is very high at baseline.

As usual, the Onion Volcano trick was a huge hit.

Here, Daddy-O cuddles with Leigh and fakes a smile, which I'm certain was a grimace on the inside.

After the festive Japanese version of Happy Birthday, we headed home for presents. The biggest hit was the Vulcan EBF-25 Blaster, the largest and arguably most disturbing of the Nerf N-Strike series.

It took Daddy and Hunter a little while to get this fine automatic weapon set up for battle.

In the meantime, Leigh joined in the fun, and even managed to score a present for herself.As we all know, it's not a party until someone has trouble breathing...so Leigh, in tutu and birthday suit, took it upon herself to entertain Christian while his airways cleared.
Meanwhile, Mr. Chad made this rockin' fort for the guys to bed down during the night. It was just a matter of minutes before it turned into a nightmare of human methane.

The next morning, Mr. Chad flaunted his Bagel Bosoms trick for Nana and Papa. The Sleepover obviously affected him adversely.

And while they were sleeping, it was snowing ferociously outside...and this was the scene when the birthday crew went packing back to their respective homes.

Wii, Wii, Wii, All the Way Home

Having outgrown Wii and moved on to X-Box, Michael generously bequeathed his Wii console to Hunter this weekend. After taking out a second mortgage at GameStop to buy a few remotes, nunchucks, and games, we headed back to Nanny's basement for the set-up and introductory lesson from the Gamer Extraordinaire himself.

Within minutes, Wii Swordfighting was fired up, and it was Love At First Swing.

Here Mommy's character--sporting some happening shades--prepares for another strike at the virtual bowling alley.

Prior to the passing of the Wii, we had decided that it would stay at Nanny's house. Afterall, Wii surely isn't the healthiest pasttime for a near-6-year-old. It didn't take long, however, for me to fall prey to the lure of the TechnoFun, and I found myself strategizing with Hunter about how to change Daddy's mind about taking the Wii home.

As it turned out, Daddy Rabbit was as enamored as we were, and it was a pretty easy sell.

So, as I sit writing this at Nanny's tonight, the Wii, the motion sensor, the remotes, the nunchucks, and the games are neatly packed in a gym bag ready to travel back to the Messick GameStop tomorrow. And we are all pscyhed about it.

The Pantry Crasher

On any given day, a climb up the pantry shelves to grab some Oatmeal Squares is standard fare for Camo, arguably the most agile and athletic 3-year-old on the planet. Unfortunately, however, a casual climb this week turned into a wrist-breaking experience for our neighborhood Tarzan--seen here sporting his spiffy new blue cast.

Party for Miss Peggy

We had a surprise baby shower for our newest neighbors--Miss Peggy and Mr. Stewart--this afternoon. We all showed up early to set up for the surprise, and the girls had a big time watching for the Guest of Honor to appear. Meanwhile, Stewart was having a hard time hurrying Peggy out of Target, so the Girl Watch went on for quite some time.

Miss Karen wondered when the party would begin...

...while Leigh and Jackie made sure the waiting guests were contained in the kitchen.

Miss Peggy was unable to contain her surprise when she finally showed up, and the party was then underway--complete with lunch, guess-the-candy bar-in-the-diaper game, and presents for Mommy & Baby McNaull.

Miss Peggy had plenty of help from the neighborhood girlies, who were thrilled to get first peek at the shower gifts.