Happy Birthday Hunter!

My baby turned 3 years old on Monday, June 14th (Flag Day)!!  He is growing up so fast!

We spent the entire weekend celebrating!  Hunter has never had a birthday party before, so I decided it was time!  He LOVED it!  Jacob DID NOT!  Well, Jacob had fun, but he was sure jealous of all the attention and presents Hunter was getting.  He said he wished it was his birthday so he would get all the presents and Hunter wouldn't.  Poor Jacob!  Hunter is always his willing side-kick. It's hard for Jacob to step aside and let someone else enjoy the spotlight for a moment!

We had a water party on Saturday, June 12th.  I wanted to have a small party..I wasn't feeling up to a big bash, so we just invited cousins that he is close to.  I was worried the kids were going to be toasty being outside for the whole party but we had unseasonably nice weather and it was perfect!  Well, the kids got a little chilly while running through the sprinklers so that didn't last very long!

The Birthday Gang!  Hunter doesn't look very happy but he was!

Too cold for sprinklers!

The kids' favorite games were all the ones involving water balloons!  I might buy a few packages next time..although it took Trevor quite a while to fill up the 101 we had!  The kids had a water balloon toss.  That didn't last very long.  Turns out they weren't very good at catching!

Then we had target practice.  The target drawn by chalk on the sidewalk was invisible after a few tosses!

We had a relay race with the water balloons. The kids had to run to a chair and sit on it to pop it, then run back so their next teammate could go.  It was pretty cute to see these little kids hopping up and down on the balloons, trying to pop them!  Some of the balloons were pretty tough to pop!

This picture made me laugh.  In the previous picture, Zachary is messing around with his water balloon.  A second later it fell to the ground and splattered. Hunter acted all annoyed and said in his irritated tone, "you got my feet all wet Zachary!"  I was laughing!

Relay Race, sitting on balloons to pop them.

The games ended very quickly, I guess I should have planned more.  Each game only lasted a few minutes! The kids really just wanted to play with the water balloons so we let them take the leftovers and have target practice with the chairs.  That game went REALLY quick!

The kids are lining up to watch Hunter open his presents.  Jacob is so photogenic!

Hunter was being shy as we sang Happy Birthday to him.

When it was time to open presents, he asked, "Are those for me, Mom??"  It was really cute.

The party finally ended and I realized there was one more game we forgot to play. The kids had these balloons tied to their feet and they tried to pop everyone else's.  A few of the kids just wanted to pop their own balloons.

On Sunday, June 13th, we had my parents and Tyler over for dinner and dessert.  Hunter requested a Strawberry cake.  I just made him a white cake with strawberry frosting.  He was content with it.

Jacob was sure to "help" Hunter open his presents and micro-manage who was going to play with each toy.

This is the Birthday Boy on his actual birthday!  Trevor and I left that afternoon for his business trip. I was lucky enough to tag along thanks to our wonderful and generous mothers!  It was nice to get away.

Hunter had a great birthday!  Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes and gifts!

Unfortunately for Hunter, his 3rd birthday meant the farewell of his binky (does it seem like we are saying farewell to lots of things over here?)  I did let him keep it until we returned from our trip..I didn't want Trevor's mom to have to suffer!  The night we got back, I told him it was time for binky to go bye bye.  He ran and got it for me and acted like it was no big deal to hand it over forever.  I hid it in the kitchen (one of them was still roaming around the house but luckily I found it the next day before he did).  He asked where binky went and I told him it went bye bye since he was too big for it.  I thought he was taking it pretty well..until that night as we were getting ready for bed.  He was laying on the floor, bawling for it.  He calmed down to read stories and fell asleep during them.  I was relieved.  He has been doing great ever since.  He has asked me a few times where it is, but I keep telling him the same thing.  He still carries his blankie all around the house, but we are ok with that.  I held onto them for about a day, then I thought, 'why am I keeping these?  I won't give them back to him, no matter what.' So they ended up in the garbage.  So long binky!!

A few 3 year old things about Hunter:

*He still loves cars, trucks & trains

*He and Jacob are best friends.  Even though they fight every now and then, they are usually happy and playing together. In the morning, if Jacob is up before Hunter, he will ask me when Hunter is going to get up.  If Jacob is not home, Hunter is very bored and gets quite obnoxious!

*He is the sweetest boy.  He & Jacob are always telling me I'm beautiful and pretty.  Plus, he LOVES to bring me flowers.  He will hide them behind his back and say, "Mommy, I have a sprise for you!" with this big grin on his face.

*Up until a few days ago, he carried his binky & blankie everywhere he went in the house.  Now it's just blankie that gets dragged around since binky's departure.

*He is REALLY loud and has been this way since he was a baby!  When he was a few days old and we had just brought him home, he kept letting out these LOUD screeches, for no reason at all!  I was so shocked that a tiny baby could make that much noise.  Even in his regular voice, he bellows.  I have to remind him to use his quiet voice when he gets out of control.

*He loves to tease and call people the wrong names.  He gets the biggest kick out of it.

*His favorite movies used to be Baby Einstein, but now he loves to watch Thomas the Tank Engine, Tom & Jerry & Diego.

*Trevor says he's just like me in the mornings..crabby!  It takes us a while to shake off the sleepiness & be happy!

*He LOVES to eat!  His favorite cereal is Cap'n Crunch and his favorite foods are chicken nuggets and french fries.  He also likes spaghetti and candy of course!

*He LOVES to swim!  Who knew after those first tragic weeks of swimming lessons that he would be begging to swim to me in the pool??!!

*He loves to sing (which is really loud yelling).  This is how he sings the ABC's: a-b-c-d-e-f-g-h-i-k-k-nah-nah-nah-nah-b-q-r-s-q-r-b-nah-nah-nah-nah-noo-q-r-s..now I know my abc's next time whey whey nah-nah-nah-nah-b!

*He loves his big brother.  He follows him wherever he goes!

*He and Jacob LOVE to wear the same clothes, pajamas and underwear.  They get SO excited!

*We are so lucky to have him in our family!

We love you Hunter!

Farewell Turtles!!

We bid our turtles farewell last Saturday.  They were getting too big for their cage and they were stinking up the place like you wouldn't believe (Becca can confirm).  We decided they needed to find a nice pond to enjoy the rest of their days.  I was looking around for one to drop them in, until Trevor told me he heard it's illegal to do so.  So I contacted an outdoor wildlife preserve that had ponds with turtles. They said they would be able to take them in for us.  I was really excited because I knew this would be the best place for them.  I thought about giving them away to another home, but I really wanted them to not be stuck in a small tank anymore.

This is how they looked when they came into our home, September 2008. I can't believe they were ever that tiny!!  They have obviously been well-fed!

Jacob had the honors of placing them by the pond.  Lightning plopped right in.  Thunder went a little wayward into the bushes.  Jacob had to collect him and redirect him to the water.

One of the turtles popped up to say goodbye. I'm pretty sure it was Lightning. Thunder tolerated us but we didn't really have a special place in his heart!  Jacob was pretty sad as we walked back to our car.  I felt pretty bad, even though I knew if I had let the turtles go without his knowledge, he wouldn't have noticed for months that they were missing.

Krispy Kremes seemed to do the trick of cheering up this sad little boy.

Hunter seemed fine with letting the turtles go.  He was just happy to finally get his doughnut that I had been promising him all day!

We will miss watching our turtles grow, but we know they are in a MUCH happier place!  I promised Jacob we could go visit them when it starts getting a little cooler outside.

Dog-Sitting

We dog-sat Gigi this last week while Ken & Linda were out of town. The boys were so happy for the reunion. This dog is not fond of water at all. We had a goal to get her to go swimming with us.  Trevor put her in the water a few times and she swam right to the step and got out.  She avoided us for a bit each time, but her constant need for attention didn't keep her away for long.  I was floating on this chair by the side and she just hopped right on.  She is a pretty cute dog!

Oblivious

I wonder when helping your dad with yardwork stops being fun and starts being a chore!

Our Summer..so far

We have been enjoying our summer very much!  It's nice to not have school in the mornings. Things just feel much more relaxed and we are enjoying every second!  Jacob has been taking a swimming class at Stapley. He learned how to swim last summer but this helps him build skill and I thought it would be fun for him to have something to do. Plus the price was right!  I tried to get Hunter to take a class at the same time Jacob does, but he said he just wants to watch Jacob. 

We have also been spending our Thursdays at the movies!  We enjoyed the Harkins Summer Movie program so much last year that it was a must for this summer..especially since Hunter is older and will actually sit for most of the movie!  Jacob had a scheduling conflict with his swimming class and the movies so I let him pick. He chose the movies!  Sabrina bought tickets too so we have been going together and I've even recruited my mom to come with us. It's a great time!!

We don't really have any other plans for the summer. It's nice to just have a few months to relax and enjoy some down time!

Memorial Weekend

We spent Memorial Weekend in the mountains.  It was a nice relaxing weekend and it was great to be away.  My boys LOVE to be outside and sleep in our new trailer so they were pretty happy!  I was just happy to have my own toilet available and it was nice to bathe my filthy kids each night.

Doug & Rachelle's girls adopted Hunter for the weekend and took care of him.  It was so sweet!

It was sure nice to have a jr. babysitter for him!  I spent most of the weekend reading magazines in a chair!

This is one of the few pictures of have of Jacob from the campsite.  He was off in the woods playing with Gavin every second of the day that I barely even saw him.  He didn't even take time out to eat, he was too busy playing!

This kid was worn out. They were going to bed later than usual and getting up at disgustingly early times.  I finally forced him to lay down and take a nap. He was out in less than 5 minutes.  After 2 1/2 hours, I decided to wake him so he wouldn't have any trouble falling asleep that night. It took forever to get him awake.  He still went to bed that night and fell asleep without any difficulty.

Trevor spent the ENTIRE weekend tinkering with our trailer.  I felt bad that he didn't really get a chance to relax, but he said that's what he likes to do. 

On Monday, Memorial Day, we went to a park and ate lunch (Trevor stayed behind for some quiet time).  The kids played for a bit and I was actually able to get some pictures of Jacob.

Hunter is pretty brave for a 2 year old.  He has watched Jacob his whole life and assumes he can do whatever Jacob can.

Hunter actually climbed up this wall to the top.  I was pretty amazed.

After the park, we stopped for ice cream. Jacob got bubblegum ice cream.  After he finished his ice cream, he stuffed as many gumballs into his mouth as would fit. He could only fit about half of them in there!

We shot at some old water bottles and soda cans with some bebe guns.  I was surprised that I actually enjoyed myself.  It was probably because I was actually hitting the targets.

The boys enjoyed the true meaning of camping..unlimited junk food.

Both boys passed out on the way home. I was even able to carry them both to their beds when we got home where they continued to sleep for hours.  Jacob NEVER takes naps and will wake up immediately when we try and remove him from the car when he's sleeping.  He was obviously worn out!