Sunshine, Soap and Suds

First carwash of the season!  Bring on Summer!!

(okay, so I know we will most likely have another few months of cold rain and clouds but I just couldn't help it!!)

Happy Birthday J!!

It always amazes me when our boys have birthdays.  How is it that another year has gone by??  Didn't we just celebrate a short time ago?  Well, this birthday was no different.  My heart somehow couldn't believe that our youngest son was turning 3!  He was so excited!!

We started out the day with our traditional birthday-breakfast festivities; a sugar cereal and fun drink!

Later in the day we had family and friends come over for the party!  J currently loves all things that have wheels.  I had been planning on making some sort of car-themed cake.  While browsing online, I asked J to show me cakes he liked.  I happened to come across these cupcakes and he loved them!  Because they weren't car-themed I thought he would forget them, but he continued asking for them.  So cute!!

This is what J saw and loved!

And this is what I was able to produce...

in large numbers!

 

Did you catch that there was an adult cake in there too?  Couldn't help but make one of our favorite vanilla caramel bundt cakes too.  :)

After a yummy dinner, it was time for cake!  A little cajoling brought out the beginning of a smile.  :)

Then time to blow out the candles.

 

After everyone had their fill of cake it was time to start with presents!

This was the first year that J understood what to do with those nicely wrapped packages and bags! 

 

As a "thank you", J gave hugs.  They were quick, so I didn't catch them all, but I tried!  So cute!

Hugging G. 

 

Hugging D! 

Having fun with Daddy as he read Grammie Lowe's card outloud.  Where are pictures of the hugs Grammie received??  Thank you Grammie Lowe!! 

 

Hugging cousins Amanda and Ethan and...

Ivy! 

 

Listening to a card that played a fun song about fish from Grammy and Grandpa HB. 

Hugs to Grammy HB 

and Grandpa.  Uncle Jonathan was visiting from AZ and we loved having him there too!! 

More fun with toys!  Obviously the photographer didn't do a great job getting lots of shots because we don't have any pictures of Sue and Gary here either!  Sorry!  We just documented the present they gave that has been a HUGE hit! 

Last toy and a happy boy! 

We had a wonderful day.  We love our new 3-year-old.  We're so grateful we are blessed to have J in our family!  Love you sweetheart!

Potty training...maybe.

It's crazy to think that J will be turning 3 in less than a month.  These kids really do grow up.  Sometimes that makes me so happy, and then there are other times that it makes me a bit melancholy.  Okay, and then there are other times that I realize the amount of work that the next while will take, and I wonder if I can push it off a bit.

That's how I'm feeling about potty training child #3.

He's showing all the signs.  Asking me to change diapers that are wet or stinky.  He's becoming more consistent about when he asks me to help him too.  The big kicker this time around so far has been his HUGE fear of a regular toilet.

It doesn't necessarily look intimidating.  It's just a toilet, right?

But I'm afraid that this is more what my little guy thinks about the toilet.

Sorry, I couldn't help it.  This picture just cracked me up.  But really, each of our other boys have just used the regular toilet when they were ready.  We did have a little potty, but it was only ever used as a place to hide HotWheels, nothing more.

I have never tried to push potty training on the boys.  I'm a big fan of waiting until they are ready and then doing it in just a few days.  It's worked with the first two, shouldn't it work this time too?

HA!  Not so much.  Something I've learned in the years I've been practicing being a parent is that there are no guarantees when it comes to children following in their older siblings steps--especially if it is something you'd like them to do!

Well, I couldn't just ignore potty training completely.  So I'm thinking about making an effort.  In fact, we bought a new little potty--it's our Froggy Potty!  J thinks it's the coolest thing ever!!  Now if he would just go potty in it instead of just sitting on it.  (He is darn cute doing that though!!)

Until next time...

J is eating Sushi!!

It's official!!

All our family likes Sushi!!  Well, kind of.  :)

Both G and D will eat different rolls, and enjoy them too, but J has been pretty wary of the seafood and rice combination.  We did find something he likes though.  Tempura!  He loves shrimp with the thin and crunchy fried batter.  Success!!  In fact, he was so happy with his little shrimp that he wanted to be like the rest of the family and use chopsticks!  You've got to love the kid-friendly version of chopsticks!!  :) 

(did you notice the Hotwheels?)

We never leave home without them.  :)

J's calm haircut

There are those out there that might not appreciate the serenity of this photo.  In our house, we appreciate it!

J made it through his haircut without sitting on The Big Guy Lowe's lap, without crying and screaming and without making the poor lady cutting his hair cry.  Oh it was a good day!!!

(Please notice the lolipop stick showing in the mirror's reflection.)

Such a handsome little man!

Big D's preschool at the pumpkin patch

What a beautiful day! 

It's hard to believe that Big D is in preschool already!  I remember coming to the pumpkin patch when G was in preschool...

these boys really do grow up!

This year we had a beautiful day as well!  Because of the nice weather, J was able to come too, and that made things just that much more fun!! 

We started out in the hay bale maze. 

Then headed over to the turkeys and goats!

The boys loved feeding the goats.

Next was time for the hay pyramid and class pictures.

Such a cutie up there! 

 

Finally we headed out to the pumpkins!!  Yahoo!!

We could only choose pumpkins that the boys could carry themselves.  That rule was kind of a bummer, but the boys weren't deterred!

 

Success!!

We ended things up with a visit to the tractor and some yummy popcorn balls!

 

 Another good day to the pumpkin patch!