Happy Birthday Mae!

Special friends.           Special times.

Mae, a sweet, sweet friend we met through Aunt Christine had her 3 year old birthday. They decided to celebrate at a play center in town that is truly a special environment for toddlers. We were so happy to get to be part of her big day.

Malynn and Jack could have stayed there for hours making discoveries at the interesting stations they had set up for the kids.

Malynn couldn't resist a little 1:1 time with baby Evan helping him learn about the curved blocks. She was so sweet: handing him his ball when it rolled away, showing him different ways to position the blocks, telling him "no-no" kindly when he tried to put things in his mouth.

Jack found cars and places to drive them -what more could a toddler boy ask for!

I'm sad that I didn't get more pictures of this memorable birthday. I only had my phone with me and was enjoying adult conversation with parents since so much independent play was going on. Mostly I wish I had a picture of the birthday girl who was a graceful star of the day. She greeted us as we arrived, played joyfully with all her friends, and thanked us all as we left. Thank you Mae! We look forward to meeting up at the park again this spring!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

It's Dr. Seuss's birthday! And, we wouldn't miss the chance to celebrate it, sooooo....

Last night we started getting ready by reading Green Eggs and Ham and The Cat in the Hat at bedtime. (Malynn was mesmerized -I think she loves to soak up the rhythm and rhyme of those authentic Dr. Seuss books!)

I thought we'd do green eggs and ham for lunch, but the kids woke up ready to make it right away. They were right, it was a perfect breakfast!

 

A little food coloring in honey mustard and we were in business with our own green ham.

 Then a little food coloring in the deviled egg mix, and we had our green eggs!

I think Dr. Seuss would be so proud!

The cooked ham with honey mustard was a big hit.

 The deviled eggs took a little more bravery, but thanks to Dr. Seuss we knew:

"You do not like them.

So you say.

Try them! Try them!

And you may.

Try them and you may, I say."

After lunch it was time to make our Cat in the Hat special treats!

I have to give props to Pinterest -I often find the perfect little ideas there by merely scanning their images! That's where I got the idea for making Cat in the Hat hats with marshmallows and a little red food coloring.

 

As Jack started making his, it was awesome enough to coax Malynn into finishing her cucumber slices. :)

 

Super easy and cute, but even better...super yummy!

 Even with a little help, I'm really impressed with how careful and precise Jack and Malynn were with their painting!

Ah, the sweet reward at last!

Few years have gone by (since I started my career back in 2000) without some sort of nod to Dr. Seuss on March 2nd. I always celebrated Read Across America Day (which occurs on Dr. Seuss b-day in his honor) with my students. My second grade team would sign up to host the teacher breakfast near his b-day so we could do a breakfast themed in his honor. And now I have the joy of honoring Dr. Seuss with my own children. Dr. Seuss is one of those authors who has authored so much rich literature for children and much of it has changed lives. Older generations have "first reading" memories with Dick and Jane. Generations around my own have "first reading" memories of Hop on Pop  and One Fish, Two Fish. The prosodic flow of the books truly authored by Dr. Seuss (so many others are published under his name) and the messages tucked into the elegant combinations of his simple words make his books a timeless treasure. Thank you for your gift, Dr. Seuss!

We'll finish the day off with a few coloring pages from Seussville.com and be looking forward to next year!

Aunt Christine's Birthday

Aunt Christine and Kurt Daddy allowed us to impose a little family-style birthday dinner for Christine, turning a normal quiet night at their house into a joyfully noisy one. I missed Christine's birthday while we were away for the weekend and recruited Kurt's help to pull off a special evening in her honor on Monday night. Malynn said we needed balloons and Jack said we needed candles, so I made sure we had both! There was playing, pizza, gift opening, salad, Happy Birthday singing, banana muffins, more playing, and...

...S'mores!! (Great idea Kurt!)

 

The kids waited patiently while Kurt got the fire going and whittled skewers!

Everyone was proud to show their special treat to the camera.

 

 

(Silly Daddy!)

I almost got all three standing together...

 ...but gooey marshmallow is a priority!

 

Happy Birthday my friend!

Who knew back in 2000 when we first realized we were kindred spirits that we would end up here -sharing birthday dinner evenings and watching our kids play together. Here's to the next 13 years of friendship and beyond!

(BTW, I LOVE this picture! Sweetness is simply beaming from Evan's face as he sits in the arms of one of the very best mommas I know!)

Happy Birthday Daddy!

These days birthdays are mostly special thanks to the ways we celebrate with Malynn and Jack. When we started talking about how Daddy's birthday was coming up, the kids started practicing singing, "Happy birthday to Daddy. Happy birthday to Daddy. Happy birthday to Daddy. Happy birthday to you." This would be prompted by mention of Daddy's birthday, but also heard as impromptu singing over the monitor when the kids were falling asleep or waking up. (Singing is a particularly favorite activity that Jack and Malynn share when they wake up and are waiting for Mommy or Daddy to come get them. Jack usually initiates. Sometimes they get their singing synched up, which is maybe one of the sweetest things my little ol' ears have ever heard. Other times, someone really wants a solo and we'll hear, "No! You no singing. I singing.") For the actual birthday day, Grand was here. She treated us to a surf and turf dinner (all paleo), of which Jack ate most of the shrimp! Then the morning of she treated us again to a feast of eggs and bacon (more paleo), of which Jack ate most of the eggs -as usual! The kids kept saying that Daddy needed a present and cupcakes, so I made sure they got to follow through on at least one of those things. Now, thinking of a gift for Mike is not my strong suit. Not that I can't think of ideas, but along with those ideas I can always think of the reason he would feel like it wasn't something he really needed/wanted. Plus, we don't have a tradition of giving each other gifts. (No gifts IS our gift to each other.) So I was so pleased when I thought of something that I knew he'd love and wouldn't object to because it ultimately is for the kids...Legos! We got two new sets: a fire engine and a flatbed tow truck to freshen up our collection. Jack and Malynn LOVED giving them to Daddy, but maybe not as much as Daddy LOVED putting them together with Malynn and Jack.

Happy Birthday my husband. You make me proud to be your wife every day, and more kids out there should get a father like you. We love you so much!

Open House at the Firehouse

It was a chilly, rainy weekend...the kind that kicks you into "I better have something planned" mode when you have a couple toddlers. We were at Samma & Papa's house so that we could see Daddy while he had a 3-day appointment with a business near by, and we got to do a joint birthday celebration for Papa & Mommy. Luckily, Samma had heard that the local firehouse was doing an open house event. The rain held off just enough, we showed up and did a little bit of everything they had to offer!

 

 All sorts of trucks were out and we got an up close look at each one.

I was so impressed with the cousins all going through the first truck on their own! Malynn and Jack can be pretty hesitant sometimes, but not today. There must have been the right combination of high-interest and genuine trust in the air. :)

 They even wanted to shake hands with Sparky!

So adorable in our fire hats.

Wow, they have some serious tools.

Time to try on the Jr. Firefighter suits.

Um, does it get more adorable?!?

And this guy got his suit on and started walking off! I guess he was ready to go get some fire fighting done.

Everywhere you looked there was something cool to see...even up!

We checked out the bomb squad station.

Got to see a firefighter relay race.

And picked up some treats for Ember, too.

Next, the fire truck was open! No one was shy about climbing inside.

Especially this guy, who took off over the seats!

Somebody's feeling special!

"You grown-ups go do what you want...we'll be right here."

Then Teigen spotted the "Come spray a fire hose" activity!

And I simply watched in awe when Jack went right up for a turn all on his own! He didn't even ask if it was okay. He just walked over, waited for the fireman to notice him, and then listened closely as the fireman explained how to hold and aim the hose.

Way to go, big guy!

Birthday's weren't the only celebration...Nate and Missy hit 6 years today!

Happy Anniversary you guys!

Once Malynn got her popcorn and the front seat of the stroller she was set!

 

It wouldn't be an event without balloons!

We headed out, one big bunch of satisfied customers!