B’s 4th Birthday

Apparently parenthood consists of lots of blinks…as it feels like it was just a few blinks ago that we met our precious B!

Those few blinks have somehow added up to four sweet years…oh, the memories!

When we asked B what type of party he wanted to have to celebrated his big day, he responded ‘I want the same party as last year’ in as matter of fact way that an almost 4 year old could respond.

So, we obliged (with a couple little tweaks) and celebrated truck-style once again. 

B’s actual birthday fell on a Saturday…meaning he got to enjoy his party on the day he actually turned 4!!! Pretty special in this little guy’s mind.

This year, Gigi and Papa joined in the celebration (more on their trip in the next post)…which meant this little guy got to have a sleep over in their room (this allowed C and I to put the finishing touches on B’s birthday gift). 

After waking up, our big 4 year old headed up stairs where he was surprised to find special construction cone sippy cups waiting to be broken in. 

Needless to say, he and Little A were impressed!

B requested french toast and goop for breakfast…to his surprise, the toast had sprinkles and candles on top!

While we ate, we interviewed B on some of his favorite things…

What is your favorite memory from being 3? Having a sleep over

What makes you happy? When Gigi and Papa come!

What makes you sad? When people don’t share with me

What is your favorite color? Green

What is your favorite fame to play? Pattern game with valentine hearts

What is your favorite toy? Bruder Trucks

What is your favorite place? Texas

What is your favorite book? Good night, good night construction site

What is your favorite animal? Elephant

What is your favorite food to eat? Banana Bread

What is your least favorite food to eat? Corn

What is your favorite snack? Bananas

What is your favorite drink? Chocolate Milk

What is your favorite thing to do with our family? Play bakery downstairs

How has God made you special? By making me, creating me

What do you want to be when you grow up? A truck driver; a green truck that has a flat bed that hauls things

What is your favorite Bible story? David and Goliath-with the soldiers

What is your favorite Bible verse? ‘Do not be afraid’

What do you think will be your favorite part of being 4? Having people come to my birthday party, having my cake

While we ate and asked questions…this nugget displayed some delightful patience!

After breakfast, C and I unveiled B’s gift that we had worked to finish the night before…a garage for his trucks.  We totally admit that we passed off some simple shelving for his birthday gift, and know this may be the last year we’ll be able to do something like this, but he really was and still is thrilled to have a parking spot for each of his trucks. Yes, each truck now has a particular place…if you ask, B will tell you where each one belongs!

He also opened his birthday B shirt…he had picked out the shirt and fabric as an anticipation builder the week before.

This year, we enjoyed an afternoon party with snacks as opposed to having a totally identical breakfast party like last year. 

Some of the treats included Stop n’ Go veggies & fruit…

A Pretzel Pitstop…

Crosswalk Krispies…

Spare Tires…

J Walk Jello…

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Dump Truck Dirt…

B was gracious to share his trucks as serving pieces again this year…one stipulation was that he help with the set up…which of course he did!!!

Gram made the cake…a traditional wacky cake (a cake that my grandmother has made for as long as I can remember)…she decorated it with candy rocks and other pieces of chocolate and trucks to make it look like a jobsite…

B’s apprehension about the birthday song seemed to diminish from years past we he was all smiles to see the chocolaty goodness in front of him!

Suffice it to say, he really enjoyed the cake…

So much he found a fork cumbersome and unnecessary!

Little A seemed to enjoy the cake too!

We’ve experienced a pretty chilly and snowy spring around our neck of the wood…so the piñata game planned for the backyard was moved into the garage. I can honestly say, I never thought we’d ever ‘entertain’ in our garage…C was gracious to clean it up a bit and it made for a great story and fun few minutes.

Gigi and Papa helped lay a roadway around the house the night before the party…B and his friends enjoyed finding any/every vehicle housed in our home to drive along the roadway.  The chaos that the party brought was great…but so much fun!

After everyone headed home, these two despite their utter exhaustion, enjoyed some more road way fun.

Both nuggets…well, to be honest, all of us…slept well after the ‘big’ day. 

It was so much fun to be surrounded by family and friends who love our little guy and quite a gift to see him in his element as he and his buddies played with trucks and consumed as much sugar as their little bodies could handle!

Be blessed.

___________

Sweet B,

You continue to bring such joy and delight to our hearts. You humble us in ways we couldn’t even count by keeping us on our toes and always reminding us the exact name of any and every type of heavy machinery. We are humbled even more by your growing love and understanding of Jesus. We love that reading your Bible is something we HAVE to do before tucking you into sleep…and we’re often amazed by how well you listen to and retain the stories we read when it seems like your too tired to even keep your eyes opened. Your heart is such a combination of tenderness and curiosity.  You tell us often how much you love us and are quick to kiss mommy’s tummy and tell the baby how much you love them, you can’t go to sleep at night without a hug and a kiss from your adoring sister (she so looks up to you).  Your questions keep us on our toes, we can’t hardly ever sneak anything or any explanation past you…oh, to get inside your head and watch those little wheels turn.  Yes, there are moments when your desire for independence gets the best of all of us…when we all need to pray for patience and take deep breaths…but you’re figuring out your little world and where exactly you fit and that brings smiles to our hearts. We can’t believe that we’ve known you for 4 years…we are so grateful for all the special memories we have had together and so look forward to this next year and all that God has in store for you and our family.

We love you B!

Happy Birthday!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Little Fashionista!

This little nugget has become quite the little ‘fashionista’…she knows what she wants to wear and there doesn’t seem to be much of a rhyme or reason!

Be blessed.

Bampa’s Work Truck

We recently got the invitation to visit a truck at Bampa’s work…not being ones to turn down anything transportation related, we obliged and had a blast!

B’s eyes lit up when he walked through the garage door and saw the truck!

B cautiously, but excitedly, climbed inside to try his hand at ‘driving’ (he looked so little compared to the size of the truck’s cab).

The smile captures his emotions as he really enjoyed himself!

Our typically fearless Little A wasn’t quite as enamored by the big rig…

But settled in once she saw all the buttons and gadgets that B was content to touch and explore.

It’s not everyday that you get to ‘drive’ a big rig and get to visit Bampa at work!

In B’s opinion, Bampa’s work is the best because all Bampa does is sit in truck cabs all day long (oh, the simplicity of a little one’s heart!).

Thank you Bampa & Gram for a fun field trip!

Be blessed.

Snow Walking

If we’re honest, I think we’d all admit that we have spring fever. But in effort to embrace our recent (and very beautiful) March snow falls we’ve (the nuggets and C) tried to get outside to enjoy.

The nuggets have enjoyed ‘Snow walking’ (in B’s words) in the backyard (Ella has as well!)…

And our kitchen has become quite the closet for lots and lots of wet clothes and the floor a home for many miniature puddles created by melting snow.

Before we know it, the windows will be opened, the lawn will need mowing and we’ll be swatting at little mosquito friends…until then, we’ll try to embrace everything that is winter up north!.

Be blessed.

Passed!!!

These days, I constantly feel like I am being tested…mostly patience-wise as the rubber of parenting has most definitely met the road in our neck of the wood.

With that said, I don’t often get to see the fruit of the testing as that isn’t how parenting seems to work…though I pray that C and I see fruit as these nuggets grow up.

The ‘dorky teacher’ in me craves evidence/fruit from tests so since that isn’t possible with the majority of my ‘current’ tests…I am really celebrating that I passed my glucose test!!!!

Seriously…silly, I know. But it really did make me giddy!

Cheers to the ‘delightfully’ sugary orange Glucola drink and to the little things!

Be blessed.

Kansas City or…

Bust!

Well, unfortunately…bust!

A couple weeks ago, we had planned to head south to cheer the Horned Frogs on as they took on the Jayhawks…and more importantly to see my cousin and her family. Our plans coincided almost perfectly with the HUGE blizzard that dumped record amounts of snow on the middle portion of the country and a sick little nugget…leaving us stuck at home.

Determined not to let the wind out of our sails, we hunkered down and spent the weekend cleaning out the two ‘depositories’ in our house…our computer room and guest bedroom. All in effort to prepare for our littlest nugget’s arrival in May.

When I say ‘depository’…I mean every aspect of the word…both rooms had become the catch all place for every/anything needing a home or a place to be ‘out of sight’.

Just to provide a glimpse of the work that needed to be tackled…

I humbly admit that sorting through the ‘stuff’ took the majority of our three day weekend, but come Sunday…progress was evident as the computer room was empty and ready to become a nursery and the guest room had been unearthed and more representative of the place that Gigi and Papa like to stay when they come visit!

The nursery is still a work in progress, but just to capture the progress that’s been made I snapped a photo of it empty!!! The floor was in need of refinishing and C has been very gracious to take on that task…stay tuned for more progress photos.

All the cleaning left these nuggets chomping at the bit to get out of the house!!! So much so that one evening, after countless ‘lovely’ meltdowns throughout the day, we dropped what we were doing, got in the car and headed out for a family date. No, it wasn’t a trip south or attending a fun basketball game in a legendary arena…but it was a night out together complete with frozen yogurt and endless toppings of which these two (and C and I as well) were very grateful for!

Sweet A family…we will get down to your neck of the wood as some point…and hopefully for another basketball game!

But if we’re honest, I guess the progress made was a nice consolation prize.

Be blessed.

Winter Trip Up North

A couple weekends ago, we headed to the Cabin Home to enjoy some R&R in the snow!

C and I enjoyed a little quality time together as we donned snowshoes for the first time and took Ella for a walk on the frozen lake. It was crazy to walk across areas we typically boat and tube around giving us a who new perspective of the lake itself. As we walked we noticed a little golf course with fairways that had been created in the snow, snow blown ice rinks, ice houses and the like.  Our destination was an island across the lake, where Ella got to explore a bit and where we saw an Eagles Nest nestled atop a tall pine tree. Once I got over my fear of walking on the ice and all the huffing and puffing of my 7 month pregnant self…I found myself delighted by the adventure, truly a totally different world in the wintertime!

One morning, Gram, ‘Bampa’ (as his name has recently changed due to Sweet A’s growing vocabulary) A, and B made a surprise breakfast. B told us we couldn’t look…

And to our delight, this is what we discovered upon bellying up to the table.

Later, my Dad’s brother and son made the trek north to enjoy a little bit of winter at the lake. B enjoyed hearing stories from Uncle D!

The weekend itself was pretty lazy, but such a treat…it’s always nice to step away from the perpetual tasks of our neck of the wood to come up for air and enjoy the rest and relaxation (as much as is possible with two nuggets in tow and one on the way!)

Be blessed.