4 Years Old - Where Did The Time Go?

My sweet baby boy... I know. He tells me ALL the time "I not a baby! I'm a BIG boy!" It amazes me that he's already so grown up. I still steal all his kisses and hugs - even if it requires tackling and playing rough with him to sneak them in. (He's becoming more and more stingy with his kisses.) Daddy's boy for sure! (When he's not being Momma's boy that is!)
Chuck E Cheese can stay way over there and sing to me. No need to come any closer.
Ready for his cake.
Blowing those 4 candles. My sweet boy!
My baby girl loves chocolate!!! Even if it was the worst cake we've had yet. Convenience doesn't equal a good product. But everyone seemed to enjoy it.. my kids like a little debbie cake here and there soo... it at least matched that quality! haha
So much fun and he gave it all he had!
After opening his presents he laid in the wrapping paper. haha He was saying "Chuck E CHEESE" as he held his birthday medal.
Happy Birthday JB!! We love you tons and tons!
Now... JB's 4! Look out T-ball.... HERE HE COMES!!!!!

My Happy Birthday Festivities!

My day began with HC giving me my birthday present. She colored two pictures for me. One is of many houses and the other is of reindeer. Such a sweet gift. I've been waiting for these homemade special gifts to begin. We've finally arrived at this stage of gift giving with the kids. Things from THEIR hearts... not the store bought stuff but the stuff they want to give. So precious! She was so proud and so was I!!!!After having a lazy morning (which I was glad to enjoy).... Hubby and the kids took me out for dinner! Oh.. and I cannot forget the fact that Hubby sweetly hijacked my blog to give me birthday wishes! He's the BEST!! :) Here is a glimpse of us having dinner: Suddenly I was the one to sit with... I think the Ice Cream treat had something to do with my popularity! My sweet girl swiped the cherry on top before the guys could finish the Birthday song!
Then I decided that my birthday wish was to go look at Christmas lights together. So we blared the festive Christmas music and enjoyed the sights. Here is one of the first cool houses we spy-ed.
This is the rest of that same house.
I do love to see the over the top houses but this one seems to be the one that I love most of all! The simple wreaths, boughs and white lights. Something about this is just so perfect to me!
Great sign!
This was the yard of a family friend. :) We were enjoying the nativity scene here.
HC loved this one. It was trimmed in bright colored lights. Very festive!
Here are our 2 enjoying the sights!
And JB's favorite was this house with the airplane and the runway! Really cool! The blade spun around and everything!!!
The day was a HUGE win! A great time with my sweet family! Who could ask for anything more? Thank you all for the birthday wishes - it was the icing on the cake for me!! Hope you all have a super Christmas with your families!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!

Today we baked a cake for Daddy's birthday!! WOOHOO! OK.... It's not from scratch - big deal! :) We can make a cake from scratch but... my boxed mixes needed to be used!
They both cracked an egg for the cake - this was a BIG job!
Then we had to wait....
So why not eat some batter while we wait! :)
They really found their rhythm to batter eating!
They were pleased with the cake before....
Now it's time to make Daddy's B-day cards!
Ta-dah!
What artists?!
Then it was off to HC and Daddy's favorite restaurant.... WINGS!
There was a cool clown who made HC this butterfly and....
she made JB this blue dog. Hey... wait a minute! I thought it was DADDY'S special day! Oh well!
Daddy felt the love when it was time for cake!
It wasn't the prettiest cake but... it sure was good!

Happy Birthday DADDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you MeMe and PawPaw

On Friday HC received a card in the mail. She opened it with glee and was even more thrilled to find a sparkly card inside the envelope. And then there was the money... HC had visions of spending in her head. This 5 year old birthday celebration was the longest I've seen.
HC received 2 birthday cards from toy stores that I did not give her yet but when HC had money to spend I decided to hand the cards over. MeMe wanted HC to buy dresses and clothes but HC really is well supplied in that area. I decided to let HC have freedom to choose how she spent her money. She has been begging us for tennis shoes and we've either had a busy day and no time to go or I told her 'we will buy them next week'. I thought this was the perfect time for HC to buy her shoes. So that was our first stop. HC bought a $30 pair of shoes for $20!! WooHoo!! She saved $ and had more for her next stop... she received a birthday card with a coupon inside from Build A Bear. So... she indulged and bought an outfit and 2 pair of shoes for her bears. She felt so big to have her own money and to get her change and receipts.
Then it was off to Toys R Us for the birthday treat of balloon/hat and announcement of HC shopping in the store. She had a blast - they too sent her birthday card with a coupon.
HC happily toted this bag into the van with hopes that she could open it NOW.....
The bear on her left (under her arm with the phone) has on the new outfit and both bears have new shoes. She bought her first polly pocket item and of course her new tennis shoes. She even has $ to put in the bank. (She could have spent more but... we felt she should also save a little).

I believe HC's 5th birthday is officially over now. Thank you so much MeMe and PawPaw! I only wish you could have seen her shopping. She had the best time feeling like a birthday girl all over again! We miss you!

Oh... one last detail. When HC opened her card and found the money she said "Mom. I think JB has been great to not get to spend any money. I think I should buy him a prize for being such a good friend to me." She bought him an Elmo book about Baseball and it plays the melody of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". JB was so excited. I was proud of HC for thinking of JB.. I've been telling her how great JB's been with hopes that she will have the same attitude when it is JB's turn to celebrate. :)

HC's Big Girl Day

Wednesday was HC's official birthday and we took her to get her ears pierced. She has been watching Jon and Kate plus 8 with me in the afternoons and recently we watched as Mady's ears were pierced. Since then, HC has been talking about how she wanted her ears pierced too. We wanted to get this done on Saturday but we didn't want to exhaust HC nor did we want to end her birthday party with tears. :) So we chose to have her ears done on Wednesday.

HC was fully aware that it would sting and she may cry but she knew that after a short time she would be happy again (because that is what happened to Mady). Here is HC before the big moment: Here she is getting her ears prepped for piercing:
And here is her less than cheerful smile after it was all done. She did cry a bit more after this but once we had lunch she was fully recovered.
After lunch JB asked if we could ride the carousel and I had to say yes. (See HC is happy now!)
Here is my JB. Can I just say that my 3.5 year old little guy was a super hero during HC's birthday party on Saturday AND on Wednesday when we took HC to get her ears pierced. He stood quietly - I really didn't know he was there (except as his Mommy of course I KNEW he was there). He was so quiet and stayed close withOUT complaining or asking for anything. He was VERY concerned when HC was crying. "What's wrong with stister Momma? Is she OK? What did the lady do to her?" He was an angel!!!!! I was SOOOO proud of him!

When we checked the mail HC had a card and....
gift card waiting for her from Nana and PopPop. She had been telling them about this VeggieTale item she really wanted and so they sent her a card so she could buy it.
Here is HC making her purchase! She was so proud to have her very own money card!!!
And then later on JB fell asleep while we were on the road. With all the extras - like waiting on HC to be pampered on Saturday and waiting on her ears to be pierced on Wednesday and waiting on HC to purchase her gift - HE NEVER ASKED FOR A SINGLE THING NOR DID HE SAY "WHAT ABOUT ME?" OR "WHERE'S MY TOY?"!!!!! HE WAS SO BIG! He was glad to see HC enjoy her day! I pray HC can return the favor in February!! I hope she has it in her! We will see. At the end of it all he quietly fell asleep while running the roads.
That is the end of HC's big 5 year old adventures!!!!!!!!! No question that 5 was our biggest celebration yet - as it should be! Turning 5 is a big milestone; one that is worthy of remembering. Now back to the routine of life, but now it is with a 5 year old! :)