Happy 5th Birthday Lucas

Two weeks ago Lucas celebrated his 5th Birthday! We started the festivities by having a family birthday party at Grandma & Papa's house where Lucas ate his favorite dinner - macaroni & cheese with hot dogs (the rest of us had yummy Mastacolli) followed by an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. On the day of his actual birthday Lucas woke up early to open presents from mom, dad & Landon. He was so excited about the new G.I. Joe guys from his brother!

After breakfast Lucas was off to school where he would be celebrating his special day with all his classmates and his teachers. Again this year he chose to take the famous pink frosting cookies for his treat because they are his favorite.After school I picked up Lucas and then the two of us picked up big Gracie from her babysitters so that she could join us for a fun filled day at Classic Fun Center. Lucas was so excited to see his long time friend and proceeded to talk a mile a minute - mostly about superheros of course. Lucas was also excited to have so many other friends gathered around to help him celebrate. The first half hour the kids got to run around and ride their scooters before sitting down for pizza and soft drinks.

Off to play some video games.....

One of his favorite games at Classic is the motorcycle racing. I told him to enjoy the ride there because as long as he is under my roof he will never own a real one. Luckily for now the game is sufficient and even at this age he managed to get a cute girl to ride along with him. ;)

Not to be outdone by his brother.....Landon as well got a cute girl to ride with him.

Luckily little Gracie was too busy to notice that big Gracie was getting attention from the McCormack boys.
Back to the party for cake, ice cream and presents.

After dropping Gracie off Lucas could not wait to get home to play with all his new toys. He did manage to take a little break to talk to all the family members and friends who called to wish him well and to go out for dinner with mom, dad and Landon. Needless to say I don't remember him having a hard time falling asleep that night.

Playing Together

As I was looking at these pictures I was trying to decide on a title for this post. What did all of these pictures have in common - other than the obvious fact that they are of the boys? Well they are pictures of Lucas and Landon playing together and having fun at the same time - something I was beginning to think would never happen.......

Lucas was using his dogs water bowl to catch the milk - yes he was milking his horse as Landon took a ride. ;)

Snack Time - no moms allowed!!

Since going to the Monster Truck Show the boys have been playing with their monster trucks a lot. I like to sit back and listen to the different scenarios that Lucas will come up...... how many cars will his monster trucks jump and how many wrecks will there be? Lucas has been begging us to take his trucks outside so he can play in the mud but mom had to put her foot down. He has his outside toys and he has inside toys. Really, I am trying to loosen up......

We all love spending time at grandma Judy's house and just hanging out.
The boys love that Uncle Chris is tall enough to place them on top of the t.v. stand and grandma love that at least part of that stand is getting dusted. :)

Monsters & Trucks

We have been getting outside and enjoying some of the spring-like weather as often as possible. Along with the warm and wet weather comes the mud. What used to be just a small patch of dirt where the grass was no longer growing has now become a big mud pit. At first I really struggled with the boys going out and getting so dirty but then thought back to when I was a little kid and how much I myself loved to serve up a delicious mud pie. Lucas spent day after day mixing his "soup" and would go to the garage (where he stored it at night) each day to check on it. It was a delicious mixture of snow, leaves, rocks and dirt. At first he was disappointed that the snow melted but then realized the water made for better "soup". One day he went to the garage and came back in so angry because dad had moved his "soup" to get to the ladder. He went downstairs where Steve was working and demanded to know where his stuff was. Luckily dad knew better than to dump the "soup". Landon enjoyed the mud long enough to paint the garage door and the patio and then decided he wanted "keen" hands. I am not sure if I will have the heart to try to take over their little corner and try to grow grass yet again this summer..... For Lucas and Landon's birthdays Aunt Erin took the boys to the Monster Truck show a couple of weeks ago. Steve went along to help out with the boys as well as papa Joe. Everyone seemed to have a really good time - including mom who got to stay at home and have a movie day. :)
Luckily Papa had thought well enough to bring ear plugs for the adults and ear protectors for the boys because I guess it was pretty loud. I was surprised to hear that Lucas and Landon did so well at keeping them on but then again they both seem to be sort of sensitive to loud noises (even when their mommy tries to sing to them they cover their ears.)

Lucas really liked the truck Grave Digger because of the scary skull on the side.

They also got to see some guys on Motor Cross which they really liked. I just hope they can continue to enjoy watching these crazy guys and not get a strong desire to do these things themselves.....

At the very end of the show Grave Digger took quit a spill. Luckily the driver was not hurt. The boys got to see a big crane come in and help turn the truck upright.

Landon, Papa Joe, Aunt Erin and Lucas McCormack at the end of the show.Steve, Lucas and Landon at the end of the truck show.

Thanks to Aunt Erin for taking the boys to the Monster Truck Show. They had such a fun time and will always remember these special days.

Boys Will Be Boys

One night before going to sleep Lucas requested that his dad get his large puppy pillow and his large puppy sleeping bag down from the shelf in his closet so they could sleep on the floor next to him. At the end of the night when I went to bed I looked in on Lucas and the puppies were no longer on the floor.....

Landon & Lucas occasionally enjoy eating at their own little table but for the most part the four of us sit at the big table every night around 6:00 for dinner. Lucas has asked more than once if we could get a t.v. in the kitchen but my answer will always be a big fat NO. The first part of the meal is spent talking about our days which would not happen if our attention were on the t.v. Unfortunately the second part of the meal is spent trying to get the kids to just eat!

The boys enjoy playing outside no matter what the weather is like. Luckily Steve is much better about taking them outside to play when the ground is covered in snow. To me it seems like so much work for all of us to get bundled up in our snow gear to go out for 1/2 hour and then turn around and come back inside to strip down, out of our wet clothes and try to get warm. I really need to try and get better at this because we all enjoy being outside.

I think Lucas shoveled our entire back yard this day - not that it is very big - but still great practice for when he starts shoveling the driveway and sidewalks out front. What's that, like next winter or something?? ;)

Lucas was sad to see his friend Sean relocate to a new preschool. After Sean's last day at Adventure Preschool, Sarah and I took the kids to lunch at Sweet Tomatoes Buffet where we all had more than enough to eat and then followed that up with ice cream. We are so happy for Sarah, Matt, Sean and Gracie to have a new house but we sure do miss seeing them as often as we used to.
You've gotta love the breakfast attire! I was not about to make him take off his hat while sitting at the table. ;)

One of my favorite places to go shopping is at Gardner Village here in the valley. I love to walk along the brick pathways and enjoy the unique shops. We usually go with Grandma Judy and eat sandwiches for lunch at the bakery followed by yummy cookies for dessert. A couple of weeks ago we ventured out there and while walking around Lucas plopped down and said "Mom take a picture of me sitting on this bench."

Of course I took a picture and of course Landon ran over and sat by his brother. I sure do love these boys....look at how cute they are!!!

Anyways............

...........nothing like a beautiful February day washing the truck and getting lots of help. ;)

Again with the help...........only this time we're making brownies.

And just for the record - Lucas picked out his own clothes this day. I told him he looked like ketchup and mustard.