Conor is 7!

Last night, we put our 6-year-old little boy to bed. This morning, he woke up as a 7-year-old!

When I stop to think about all that has occurred over the past 7 years, I find myself trying to figure out how so much time has flown by and how it is possible that Conor hasn't always been a part of our daily lives .... such an integral part of our family.

Seven years ago today, contractions woke me up just a bit after 3 AM. Soon after 4, I woke up Eric to let him know we'd need to get to the hospital fairly soon. At 4:30, we called our dear friend Dave (God bless you, dear man!) asking him to come over and stay with Annika (who was sound asleep through all of this) until my mom could drive up from Tacoma. We arrived at the hospital around 5 and welcomed our baby boy at 6:13 AM.

From that moment on, we know our family was made whole. This little boy has been a bundle of energy from the first moments. He is cuddily, frighteningly smart, witty, musical, and competitive to his core. Each day, he amazes us. He wears his feelings right on his sleeve and believes no day is complete until he's had a snuggle with either Eric or me. (And we wouldn't have it any other way.)

The past 7 years have been a wonderful adventure and we cannot wait to see how life unfolds for our little man. He has countless adventures ahead of him and we know he will take them head on with verve and busy feet.

We love you, Conor!! Yesterday, today, and always!

Conor's Music Class Pictionary Recap

Last night as we drove home from his music class, I asked Conor what they did during the lessons. He said that he did a lot of singing (which is impressive considering he has a cold!) and they played a few games, including music pictionary and rock band karaoke.

I asked what things they drew during music pictionary and he said, "rock bands and instruments."

I then asked which bands they drew, to which he replied, "Oh, ones like Squished Pumpkins."

(Insert mental image of me gripping the steering wheel to within an inch of its life here.)

My apologies to all members of the band Smashing Pumpkins for him not knowing your actual name. He's 6, so what do you expect?  :)

Sugar Bowls Experiment

One day last week, Eric headed out to trivia night with his buddy, so the kids and I had an evening to fill. As if by divine intervention, earlier in the day, my co-worker sent me a link to a tutorial that shows how to make bowls out of melted sugar. I told the kids that after they were done with their homework, we could do a fun project but it was a surprise until then. (They are so easy to manipulate!!)

They diligently worked on their homework and as soon as they were done, we got to work making our very own edible bowls. We melted the ingredients (sugar, Karo syrup, and water) and cooked them until they hit the right temperature. It was a nice opportunity to teach the kids about reading a non-digital thermometer ... learning never ends! Once the mixture was hot enough, we turned off the flame and added our colors -- Annika chose red and Conor chose blue, so we got a nice purple-ish stained glass effect. I carefully poured the mixture over the water-filled balloons and we set a 30-minute timer to let them cool. I quickly realized that I should have made 1.5x or 2x batch to cover all three of our balloons, so I whipped up another partial batch to ensure the bowls would have tall enough sides. Looking back, I probably should have just used smaller balloons because our bowls were huge!! (Note to self: make smaller balloons next time and prop them up on cross-sections of an empty paper towel tube instead of the ramekins.)

Eventually, the bowls were cool enough that I felt confident we could separate them from the balloons. While I held a bowl, the kids helped snip a small hole in the neck of the balloon so we could let out the water without getting the bowl wet. (Easier said than done!!) Fortunately, the balloons released without difficulty (only some random spray) and I was able to put some ice cream in the kids' bowls. They were in heaven... ice cream AND a bowl made out of sugar that they could nibble on. Kitchen fun win for all!

Our cooling sugar bowls

Pretty colors

"Mom, stop making us smile so we can eat these, please!!"

Conor's sugar bowl creation

Annika's sugar bowl masterpiece

My sugar bowl ... too sweet to eat, but fun to make!