Life of a Seven Year Old

Now that Caden is SEVEN!  he weighs 58lbs and has grown to be 51.25 inches!

Some Caden Trivia:

Much to my dismay, Caden does not enjoy being photographed unless he asks me.

Caden loves school!  He has 0 absences and 0 tardies!

Caden loves his friends.

Caden has become quite the reader this year!  He enjoys reading to us at night, and is so proud when he reads signs, or information off of boxes.

He is an excellent speller and also does great in Math.

Caden loves sports! ... and sports clothes, give him a pair of sports shorts or wind pants and a t-shirt and he is good to go.

I love his big toothy grin! 

Beyblades, Pokemon cards, Legos, Star Wars.. and lately Skylanders.. all he needs to be happy with life.

While he plays well with his brother most of the time, Caden holds a special place in his heart for his sister.. he even has a special voice that he uses with her when he is trying to tell her something.

He is such a fun boy to be around when he isn't being moody!  With the excitement of 1st grade he gets tired.. and cranky, a lot like his younger years!

Caden is curious and loves to learn about anything he can.

He is still shy and leery of new things, but once he is comfortable he is right in the center of things.

Caden is a worker, he actually enjoys doing yard work with us!  Bonus!

Even though his Dad is by far his favorite, he always has a hug for me at night.

Hard to believe Caden is SEVEN!

Caden's Birthday started the weekend before with an Edible Arrangement sent from Dundore and Poobah!  The kids always look forward to this fruit bouquet on their birthdays and is usually polished off in one sitting, minus of course the honeydew... I'm not sure why that fruit is so unpopular, I don't mind it.

Caden woke up the morning of his birthday bright and early wanting to open presents!  Even though the kids all had the opportunity to sleep in because I took the day off to make Caden and Cora's birthday cakes for their party.  Rob had to go to work though, but we let him open a couple to start the day off on a cheery note.  It definitely is more fun (for me!) to have the kids birthdays fall on a weekend.  Although Caden loved getting all the birthday rituals at school.

Last present before getting ready for school...

Yay!  he's not all grown up yet!  Cole saw the box under the paper and shouted out what it was, Caden was mad because Cole "told him" (announced for him) what the present was before Caden could say it... gotta love brothers!

Inspecting...

Big smile from the birthday boy!

A new bey stadium (it is actually cast off in the background because it is smaller and Cole kept ripping a "stadium out".  It is amazing how much the kids love these crazy tops.

Back from school! and ready to keep opening his gifts!  I kind of like that as they get older their presents get smaller!  Some day our house might not look like a giant daycare center.

 

Caden chose spaghetti and meatballs for his birthday dinner, one of his all-time favorite meals... although he decided not to have sauce.

Caden loves his Dad!  I am definitely not his favorite :(

Cole even approved of Caden's dinner choice.

Made this cheesy garlic bread from pinterest... it was amazing.

I gave Caden reign over my Dessert board on Pinterest and this was the cake he chose, a peanut butter cup brownie torte.. it was pretty tasty.. especially after the ganache was drizzled on!

Rob lights birthday candles in our house with the creme brulee torch (we've never actually even made creme brulee!)

Here he is! Proud as a peacock (Still haven't ditched that filter!)

Mmmm delectable!

The other kids wanted to be in the birthday boys picture.. I couldn't argue.

Happy Birthday to our Oldest Baby Boy!

WInter. Where have you been... and where did you go?

At last!  Winter has arrived!  After being a bust for the past 3 months.  We've been busy, and we've been having fun.. but I must have the non-winter blues because I have hardly taken any pictures!  What happened to the snow right?  The sledding.. the snowshoeing?  Cora got snowshoes for Christmas and I wasn't sure we were going to get to try them out.  We have a lot to fit in before this snow melts!

But prior to this nearly foreign natural white stuff.. we found ways to enjoy winter without it... well with the fake kind :)

Finally for Caden's last ski lesson I was able to leave work during the day-light to see Caden ski!  He really enjoyed skiing this year, and if all goes as planned we're even going to a big mountain in a couple of weeks!!

I love the ski-trains they make coming down the mountain during their lessons.  I remember those days.. but I didn't start until 4th grade, not when I was three!

Caden can now ride the lift unassisted by an adult!  Bonus!

The most important winter activity we missed out on is sledding.. but at least we had bought a Groupon for tubing at Amesbury Sports Park with more man-made snow.. however quick tip, it is worth the money to go when there aren't 1,000 other Groupon users there since there is no other snow for 50 miles around.. the place was packed!! But only at the top of the hill.  We were there for 2 hours and only went down 3 times.  Three incredibly fun and thrilling times.. but we got tired (and cold) of waiting at the top for 45 minutes to get down the hill.  Next time we'll pick the time we go much more carefully!

"Snow" surrounded by astro-turf.. such a sad, sad winter!

 Cole absolutely loved the snow!  He was rolling around it for just about the entire time we were there.. this was his snow angel!

Last day of basketball!    He sure does love collecting his medals and trophies!

Caden also participated in winter baseball camp run by the High School Boys Varsity team.  He really enjoyed this camp, and I think he got a lot out of it.  One week he was "camper of the week" for his age group, and the last day of camp they had some drill competitions and he won the "Cy Young" t-shirt for his age group by throwing to hit a target.

Caden definitely got a lot Rob's sports ability in that he's got the skills and drills, but a bit of me is shining through as well in that he shies away from contact and getting into the thick of things.. so baseball might be his top sport. But who knows!! He's only 6 and his personality is constantly morphing with every season.  He certainly has grown up from the little boy who clung to Rob's leg at soccer his first year!

From what I hear his favorite thing that he practiced was running while catching.. or I guess pop-flys? I really need to learn some lingo :)

Caden shows off his baseball prize t-shirt and his basketball participation medal!

I guess the kids got tired of waiting for winter to arrive.. they were begging to start seeds.. unfortunately it is a bit too early.  So we planted some basil (which you can never have too much of!) and some flowers for a hanging basket.  I love that they enjoy gardening.. I hope they have green thumbs!

Waiting for the dirt pods to absorb the water...  apparently very entertaining to kids!