Drew's 4th Birthday

Well, big kid Drew turned four on the 8th of May. (Took me a while to pull this post together, I know...). Since his birthday fell midweek this year, the day of his actual birthday was fairly mellow. He asked to go out to breakfast and then the rest of the day was spent doing whatever the birthday boy requested....we played in the water, played some baseball in the backyard, and he and Collin spent a fair amount of time digging up the dirt in the backyard (surprise, surprise). All in all, heaven for a recently turned four year old boy.

Birthday breakfast. Can we just pause for a moment and look at the size of that pancake? I know I mentioned how big these pancakes were when I wrote about my birthday, but this was the kids' pancake! He of course, got a kick out of that ginormous pancake and actually put a pretty good dent in it. 

Collin spent Drew's birthday being a very willing sidekick in all birthday adventures. Mud...

...water buckets...

...Wrigley lovin'....

And then finally, that evening we had a mini birthday party. I had told Drew that I'd make him whatever he wanted for dinner and what did that boy request?? Boxed macaroni. Really? I offer to make whatever he wants to eat and he wanted boxed macaroni?? I had to laugh, but of course made it for him. Easiest birthday dinner I've made in a while. :) Since we were doing birthday cake for his actual party, we simply did cupcakes on his birthday. Jenn and Burke came over and we let Drew open his gifts from us and the Oregon crew. The rest we left for Saturday.

Yay for cupcakes!

The birthday party we threw the following Saturday after his birthday. I have always asked Drew what type of party he'd like to have. This year, he came up with a Ninja themed party. Although I'm up for being creative to make my kids happy, this one was a tough one for me. I had very few ideas on how to actually pull it off, but Drew was insistent that a Ninja themed party was exactly what he wanted. Out of ideas of my own, I ended up searching Ninja themed parties on Pinterest (love Pinterest!) and one of the things that came up was Ninjagos, a ninja themed line of Lego's. Well once Drew saw a few pictures of a Lego themed party, our Ninja party quickly morphed into a Lego party. Phew! I could actually get on board with the Lego party idea! We kept his party fairly simple this year. A fun cake, some decorations, and since the forecast ended up being in the mid 90's, a lot of water time for Drew and all of his pals.

The cake. Again, I used Pinterest for ideas on this one. I sat down with Drew, let him look through a few ideas and this was the one he chose. Super simple, but I made the mistake of using fondant. Again. Remember the last time I used fondant and the great cake disaster on Collin's birthday last year? Yeah, well I apparently forgot. So can I just say, once and for all, that I hate working with fondant? I am terrible at it and swore after last year that I would never (ever!) use it again. Well, like I said, somehow I forgot all of this, so when the hair-brained idea to use fondant for Drew's cake popped into my little noggin, I went right along with the idea that all of the drama with fondant the first time around wasn't as bad as I had remembered. I could easily use it again. Especially for a cake as simple as this one. Right? Wrong. So wrong. I may be talented in other areas of my life, but  rest assured, fondant is not one of them. So, with that said, this time may it be for good.... never again! In the end though, Drew was super excited about his cake and really, that's all that mattered to me.

Snackies. My sister Jenn was a huge help with all of the Lego guys that we decorated with. Thanks Auntie Jenn Jenn!!

Like I said, it was hot the day of Drew's party. Since we had already planned to host it outdoors, we decided to scratch all of the planned games in lieu of water, water, and more water. We filled up a kiddie pool, bought a few squirt guns, turned on the sprinklers and let the kids play. And wouldn't you know it, something so simple was a huge hit. Even the big kids managed to get in on the fun. Not to shabby considering I had been worried we might all just melt away...

The girls did manage to eventually get the pool to themselves. Don't be deceived though, they were by no means hesitant to join in all the fun with the boys when they were there too!

And finally, just because I loved this picture! ...Uncle Dana and Auntie Kimmie. Love you guys! :)

Mud

Soooo, we've had a little issue with mud in our backyard...

For a few months now, we have had a perpetual hole that the boys dug out near their sandbox by the back patio. Because of the dirt it constantly causes to cover the patio, we fill the hole in, the boys dig it out. Over and over and over again. Well, recently they realized that they could fill the hole with water from the hose and make mud, glorious mud! The first time this happened, the boys were playing outside (hole present, no mud.), I went into the house for literally three minutes to return a phone call to my sister in law, talked to her for point two seconds and came back to two grinning boys covered in mud. I am telling you, these boys move at lightening speed! It's their super power or something...

Since then, the mud hole dries out, or we fill it in, or  better yet, finally remove the hose that was making all of this mud in the first place, etc. And what do those oh so clever boys do?? Why they dig out the hole and fill it with water from the dog's water bowl of course! You can't knock them for lack of creativity. 

Do you see now why we fill in the hole?? That splattered mud pie is on the patio, directly in line for little feet to walk through it before heading into the house.

And since getting mud on the patio wasn't enough, they decided to smear it around and finger paint on the sliding glass door while they were at it?? ...Never a dull moment! :)

It's A.....

BOY!!!!

Yep, baby #3 is another boy. Bring on the madness! Love my boys and can't wait to add another!

Come fly with me

Back at Christmastime my parents gave both Nathan and my brother-in-law Burke a gift certificate for a flight lesson. I think it was a huge surprise for both of them and something that I know they have been itching to do for a while now. The lesson included a night class on a Friday and then a Saturday lesson. It had to be scheduled out of course, and the first date that worked for everyone involved was at the end of April. This was a looooong four months to wait not only for Nathan and Burke who were like two little kids looking forward to a trip to Disneyland, but a looooong four months for Jenn and I who had to hear about all the fun they would soon be having. Since my parents obviously couldn't be here for the lesson itself, this post is mostly for them so that they could see all of the pictures and hear about the Pandora's box their gift so easily opened....

So yes, the big day finally came. I was in San Francisco for a girls’ day with Kathleen and Kimmie, so I wasn’t able to go watch, but I heard all about it. Nathan was practically buzzing with excitement when I got home. Heck, for that matter, since the little boys had gone to watch, they were buzzing too.

The class Friday night was a lot of logistics on how planes work and fly. Fun stuff, but not the good stuff. The good stuff came on Saturday. Since students were taken up two at a time, naturally, Burke and Nathan decided to go up together. Each of them got to take off, fly a pattern, and land twice. On the last landing, they switched with each other and did it all over again.(I was surprised they were able to do so much for a first lesson). They of course, were giddy about it. Seriously, giddy. It was just ridiculous. :)

Anyway, Nathan had thought since the actual flight lesson was only an hour long, that Drew and Collin might have some fun going to the airport to watch. Auntie Jenn was a trooper because since I was gone for the day, she was on duty for going along in my place. (I’d like to think she had a bit of fun too though…after all, she got to watch the man of her dreams fly a plane. And what girl wouldn't like that, really?). Well it turned out that since Nathan and Burke’s lesson was the last of the day, when it was all said and done, the littles were not only able to come and watch Daddy fly, they also got a first hand look at the plane (and a few others around the airport)! Do you see now why all of my boys were buzzing when I got home from San Francisco?? It seems unnecessary to say that this lesson was a major highlight for the guys.

...And thank you so much Mom and Dad, because like I mentioned earlier, this has certainly opened Pandora's box! Nathan came back and promptly looked into just how much it would take to continue flying and also very clearly informed me that his flight instructor also teaches helicopter lessons. He’s oh, so subtle with his hints. ;)

 This is what happens when I send the guys with the camera and tell them to take pictures. I was hoping for a picture of them in front of the plane, or turning around with ear to ear grins from the cockpit, but nope. This was my one and only picture of Nathan actually flying. (That is Nathan on the left if you couldn't tell. His flight instructor is on the right). Apparently the act of flying took precedence over taking pictures. Shocking, I know.

The private planes are kept at a much smaller airport than Fresno's main airport, so the little boys were able to watch the guys take off practically from the runway itself.

Uncle Burkie's turn! Check out how tiny this plane was...look how close their shoulders were!

Fresno....

...Oh beautiful Fresno

Hope these pictures do justice (at least in portion) for the fun day the guys had. Dad, since we're already hearing about the "next time", you and Ty Ty should come down and join the guys for a weekend. Maybe for those helicopter lessons?? :)

Three Things

Three things (and a bonus!) about...

DREW:

1. Just turned FOUR!

2. Is obsessed with getting bigger. He'll measure himself not only on our growth chart and tell us how much he's grown, but will also stand next to Collin, a chair, table, bed, etc. and compare himself with what he was yesterday, last week, or an hour ago height-wise to that same item and exclaim how big he is getting. He has typically grown a few inches within a matter of hours.
3. Only wants another little brother. I still think this new baby is a girl (really, what are the chances of having three boys??), so he may be in for a shock. We'll see on the 24th of this month...
4. Requests a band aid for every scrape, bruise, cut, freckle, on his body. Just picture him covered in multi-colored, mutli-character band aids from head to toe and you've pretty much got it.

COLLIN:

1. Has figured out how to climb out of his crib (!!). Bright and early one morning a few weeks ago, he showed up at the side of our bed giggling and grinning ear to ear. He was so proud that he had let himself out of his room all on his own. This was something we never dealt with with Drew. Right after Drew's second birthday we switched him to a big kid bed before he ever learned to escape the crib. Collin won't be two until the end of July and has already figured this out. Really it shouldn't surprise me, he has always been my climber. Big kid bed here we come!
2.  Since he now escapes the crib, we have also had to periodically gate his doorway at bedtime when he won't stay in bed and go to sleep. Funny, he will willingly climb over his crib railing, but the smaller doorway gate will keep him in. It's resulted in him falling asleep on the floor quite a few times....
3. Asks "Whathat?", aka "What's that?" to everything. When you give him an answer (and it doesn't matter if the answer is a valid one or not), he responds with "OOOOooooh." This is asked often right now....driving in the car, looking out a window, in response to a sound he hears, something Drew has done, you get the idea.
4. Loves to give "squeezes". He readily gives the best full on bear hugs right now. Usually followed by a sloppy kiss where his lips are smashed into your cheek. So sweet, and something I can't get enough of.