Party Time

On Friday we had our middle man's party at the water park with a few of our friends.
Callie girl, Paige, and H2

When he opened this Spongebob hippity hop ball, he made the funniest sound (b/c he was super excited about it)! He has been hopping all over the house ever since we got home. :)

H1, Blake, and Garrett

And of course, what's a party without some yummy (cup)cake? The tiny man LOVES cake in any form.

Five years ago today, at 10:04 pm, our middle man was born.

Out of the three, he was our biggest, at 8 lbs. 5 oz.
His was also my longest labor

(15 hours...not horrible, but much longer than the other two)

I remember thinking that he was never coming out, but oh, when he did...

I was head-over-heels in love, completely awestruck that God would entrust us with this beautiful, special little guy.

And now, today, my feelings are exactly the same.
How very loved he is.


In usual tradition, we had birthday pancakes this morning.

He opened presents, singing, "...and I'm so happy, so very happy..." as he opened each one. Sweet boy.

FIVE.

Happy, happy birthday buddy....we love you so much.

Guitar Hero(es)

First off, Happy Father's Day to B....I love watching him be a Daddy to our boys. I'm crazy about him, and clearly the boys are too!

Father's Day ALWAYS falls right around my Dad's birthday too, so we get to celebrate both! Kind of a bummer for him, because he should get two separate days to celebrate, but we try our best to make sure he feels doubley (is that a word?) special each year.

Since we had my side of the family together, and H2's b-day was just a few days away, we celebrated that on Sunday too! Whew. Lots to celebrate! This is him with his gift from Aunt Reagan and Uncle Jon....a Transformer Bumblebee helmet that talks and does all kinds of cool things, and he loves it!

My mom made this super cute fish cake for him, and as always it was yummo!

Here is one of his other gifts, a sweet little pig that oinks and moves for him to take care of. From Mimi and Papa...a gift very fitting a our sweet little guy.

He got lots of great stuff and was super excited!

After all the celebrating they brought out Uncle Jon's Rock Band and jammed all afternoon.

B sang a little Livin' on a Prayer, while H3 jammed on the bass. :)

H2 LOVES the drums!

H3 loves to sing and play guitar. It's pretty entertaining...for us, anyway. :)

My dad saw how much we all loved playing that, and ended up surprising us with our set! Fun, fun at our house while we "blow the roof off," to quote our H2. Rock 'n roll.

I know this video is dark, but it's pretty funny.

Super Dad Class Project

Last Thursday night I taught a group of kiddos (including two of mine) and their moms how to make this Super Dad book for a Father's Day gift. It was during our regular Create Joy Workshop night, and we had a great time! The boys worked hard together to make this for their Daddy, and they did a great job!

Little Fish

That's what these kiddos are, anyway. They are happy to swim every single day, so we are spending as much time as we can at our neighborhood pool, or our local waterpark, which is where we spent our day today.
The water park put in this new beach area this year, and I'm pretty sure it's our new favorite place to hang out. We love the sand, the pool is shallow enough for the two little ones, but has deep enough areas for my biggest H to swim too.

Doesn't the water look amazing...makes me wish we were still there. H2 loves it too...can you tell? :)

And my tiniest H is content to play with this water tower thing.

Isn't it GREAT?!? :)

This tiny girl is my friend Tomi's baby, Little Miss S. She is some kind of yummy, don't ya think?

My mom goes with us just about every time we go. It's so great having an extra set of hands (three is a lot to keep up with by myself). The boys are a big fan of their Mimi, and so is their Mama! I'm always so thankful for her company, and spending the day with her always makes it even more fun. :)

Goats, Cows, a Pig, and a Bunny...

...oh, and a donkey and a turkey too. I took the boys to a petting zoo that was at our library last week, and it was unexpected fun. The animals were great...extremely patient. :) I've been trying to come up with different things we can do since H1 broke his arm, and this was definitely different. And fun. The pics aren't great, but here they are...

H2 was having a conversation with the turkey,

and I think he made it mad, because WOW it got loud.
Cutie pie, sling and all.

All three of them loved brushing the goats and the sheep.

H3 was mooing at the cow...but the cow didn't seem amused. :)

He just thinks he's getting too big for a nap...

that late night VBS schedule is a killer. ;)

For the record~ I did not put him down for a nap on the ottoman...he fell asleep there all by himself, after spending over an hour resisting naptime in his bed. What's a mom to do?

Cover him with a blanket, and go on with my business,

while keeping a watchful eye that he stays on the ottoman. :)

Awards and Accidents

SO...yesterday was the last day of school, and the day before was the awards assembly.

Apparently I was embarrassing him by trying to take his pic here, but I love that happy, laughing look on his face. :)

Yesterday I went to pick him up from school, and later in the afternoon he was playing baseball in the backyard and fell and broke his arm. ON THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER...really? Geez. In his usual, "the glass is half full" form, he handled it like a champ, and all the way home we played the "Glad Game" (if you have seen the Disney movie, Pollyanna, you'll know what that means. If you haven't seen it, then shame on you~ it's a classic). We decided we were glad that at least school was out (he broke his right arm, and is right-handed) and relieved that baseball season is over, that he will only be in a cast for 3-4 weeks, and that they make awesome waterproof ones now, so his summer will still be full of fun. And to quote my oldest, "Mom, these things happen when you're an athlete." Yes they do, baby, but I'm still hoping this is last of the broken bones for a long while. :)

One year ago today our Momo left this earthly home for her heavenly one.

It's hard to believe it's been a year...sometimes it seems like it just happened yesterday, but most days it seems like it's been an eternity. I just miss her too much.

I think about how much she would be enjoying the boys right now, how much fun we could be having getting to shop together, all the amazing heart-to-heart talks we could be having, and just what an all-around amazing grandma I had.

I would do just about anything to have gotten more time with her...but God had other plans. She was pretty fabulous so I can understand why He would want her there. :)

And I think it's pretty fantastic (amazing, comforting, mind-blowing, etc.) that one day I will see her again, that I know exactly where she is right now, even as I type this...and it makes me very thankful that this earthly place we call home is just temporary. Because even though my life here is pretty amazing, it so completely pales in comparison to how life will be there that I can't even really imagine. Our life there will be beyond our wildest dreams. And that helps when I'm missing her and Dandy more than I can stand, or when I wonder what Brian's dad was like. Someday I won't have to worry about either of those things. So for now, even though I want them here so badly it hurts, I will choose to honor their memories here, and carry on their legacies of faith and love with my family.

We love you Momo, and miss you more than we can describe.

Star Scholar Repeater

Tonight, after B's yummy birthday dinner at Joe's, we headed to

H1's school for a special awards ceremony.

This year he (again) earned the Star Scholar award for getting straight A's

and an E or S in conduct all year.

That's quite a feat, I think...but it seems to come easily for this little smarty. :)

He was one of only 2 boys in the 2nd grade to receive this award,

and was feeling a little outnumbered. He sure does look cute up there. :)

You would think by looking at this pic that H3 was downright angelic throughout the entire hour-long ceremony. Do not be deceived...his Daddy took him and the middle H out as soon as H1 got his award. No biggie...he is only 2, after all. It was hard for me to sit still too.

My Boys

How very much I love 'em. Sigh... :)

Happy Birthday, B!

33 years ago today, my sweet hubby was born, and I couldn't be more thankful.

How very much I love this man...happy, happy birthday honey!

Fun with Aunt Stacey

Sunday night B and I went to a party at my sister and brother-in-law's house (it was SO FUN) and B's sister, Stacey and nephew Austin came over to take care of the boys for us. Thank you, thank you, thank you! She took these pics with her phone, and they are fun, so I had to share.
H3 eating something...not sure what. Pineapple, maybe?

And this one of H2 cracks me up. :)

Stacey took this one (and many more) at H1's game on Sunday...isn't this one cute?

Champs

This past weekend was a big weekend in the world of Astros Little Leage baseball.

Our17-1 record Astros won the championship tournament on Sunday, and you would have thought it was the World Series. In our little world, it was. :)
They are so cute, and played SO WELL...I was back and forth between tears and goosebumps at all three games they played. It's been incredible seeing this team work and play together, and to really get what it means to be a team. They have been a blast to watch, and now we're not quite sure what to do with ourselves now that it's over. Astros rock! :)