Micah's "Birthday"

Because Micah has a summer birthday, he gets to celebrate his birthday at the end of the school year so that he doesn't feel left out on having a special day.  This is Micah and his classmate Maddie, who were born on the exact same day in the exact same hospital.  His mom and I were right down the hall from each other and had no idea!

Their "birthday" was also beach day for the class. 

The birthday kids enjoying their cupcake and ice cream cup.

Micah showing the class his beach supplies.  Except he got to do it with his birthday hat on!

Believe it or not, he had two parties like this last week. One was for his M-W-F class and one was for his T-Th class.  Mommy handled the party for the T-Th class, and Daddy took the M-W-F class.  Maddie's mom took a great picture of my guys at the party!

By the way, Micah mentioned to me at the end of the day that it was his special day and he had to share it.  I think he was looking for sympathy.  You're barking up the wrong tree there, son! :)

Watermelon on Wordless Wednesday

What you need to know about Liam at age 2

There are so many things that you need to know about two-year-old Liam.

He knows how to get his way.  He can already duck his head and make eyes at you to get what he wants.  Later in life we call this "manipulation", but when you're two, it's called "charming".

The bouncy house has ruined Liam's ability to run.  Now he runs everywhere like he's in a bouncy house.  He's got a lot of athletic tendencies, so we're hoping the basic skill of running returns.

Liam is a snuggler.  Micah was independent from day one, so having a child who actually loves to put his head on our shoulders and snuggle up is a wonderful feeling.

Bubbles bring him more joy than you could even imagine. He loves to yell the word "bubbles" and chase after them.

Liam is a boy who knows what he wants.  Seriously.  He will definitively say, "yes" when you get it right or "go away" when you get it wrong.

The kid has rhythm.  And he loves to clap, sing, dance, spin, or just plain move.

He wants to do everything his brother does.  I had always heard that younger siblings idolized their older same-sex siblings, but this is the first time I've seen it in action, and I know understand the phrase, "monkey see, monkey do."

Liam loves Micah.

They love to laugh together, play together, annoy one another, and feed off one another.  But they just like each other, which is great fun to watch.

Finally, Liam has a zest for life that is already unmistakable, even at the ripe old age of two.  And if we can see it now, how much more will we be able to see it in the years ahead?

We love you, Liam.  For all that you are, all that you are becoming, and all that you were created to be.  It is a privilege to be your parents.  Here's to another beautiful year of your life.

Liam turns 2

Two years ago, this was Liam.

Time flies and look at him now!!

Today was not only Liam's birthday, but it was also our church's 50th birthday, so we had a big celebration to go to this evening.  So instead of waiting to have a special dinner, Liam had a special breakfast.  We're also going to celebrate his birthday with a cake when we're on vacation with my family so today we did cookies.  Here is part of Liam's breakfast - a happy birthday cookie!

He was clearly way more excited about the cookie than he was about the french toast.

Micah picked the "L" cookie to eat.

Liam, taking a stance now that he's two, refused to wear a bib.  Curious George took the brunt of the icing.

One of his presents was a monster pickup to rival the hip-hop car Micah had received from Mum-Mum and Pop-Pop two years ago in honor of his brother's birth.  It seemed like a full-circle moment.

Most little kids love bubbles, and Liam is no exception.  Also like most kids, he can't quite figure out just how much air to blow in order to get make bubbles from the soap and wand.  So we got him a bubble gun - you dip the end in soap, push a button that activates a fan and voila - bubbles!

His final gift was a freebie from Huggies - a caterpillar tunnel to crawl through, or send trucks through, or race his brother through.  It was free because I always save up the points you get from buying diapers and I finally saved up enough to purchase something cool!

Then we hit the playground.  Liam and Micah love the playground.  Liam's hair gave it two (hundred) strands up.

The ticklebugs found Micah in the park!

Slip-slidin' away.

Daddy finally got the bubble gun to work at the second park we went to, and it was a hit - not just with Liam, but with about twenty other kids who eventually gathered around.

Liam got it to work too, and out came some pretty big bubbles.

Sometime in the next day or two, I will post all the fun things you need to know about a two year old Liam.  For now, happy birthday, sweet boy!

Mother's Day - a week late

We have a new router - but it turns out the problem was just a plug.  A very expensive plug.  But we're back up and running now.
Mother's Day was a nice celebration for me and our family.  It started the Friday before with a Mother's Day Tea at Micah's preschool.  Lovely decorations,

yummy food,

and real china with iced tea accompanied a beautiful new multi-color tealight holder that Micah made for me.

He also helped to make a placemat for me that has his handprint on top of mine.  Other than the fact that I inexplicably don't have a thumb, it is beautiful and I will treasure it.

Micah next to his friend Lincoln singing a Mother's Day song. 

Here's video of the song.  The lyrics, since you won't be able to understand it through the kids yelling them, are,
"We love mothers, we love mothers,
Yes we do, Yes we do,
Mothers are for hugging,
Mothers are for kissing,
We love you. We love you."
(sung to "Where is Thumbkin")

Me and my guy.

My beautiful flower.

 

Oh, and on the back of the placemat was a paper called, "All About My Mom."  I alluded to it in my last post.  The teacher asked Micah about me and this is what Micah had to say. His answers are in bold.

My mom is 24 years old.

Her favorite color is purple.

Her favorite food is raspberries.

How do I show my mom I love her? I hug her!

My favorite thing to do with my mom is: go to Mickey's house (Disney World)

If she had extra time, she likes to:  go to the pool with me.

When my mom grow up, she wants to be a fire truck.

 My mom laughs when: I make something for her.

What my mom loves most is: garbage trucks.

Bet you didn't know those things about me, did you? :)

Fried router = no blog posts

I have been itching to write about Mother's Day, but an intentional Mother's Day non-gift was a fried router due to our power going off and on several times the previous night. Hopefully our new one will arrive soon and I can get back to blogging. I'll leave you with a tidbit. Did you know that Micah thinks I'm 24? That's what he told his teacher. Considering that another child thought her mother was 5 and still another thought hers was 5, I'd say that's pretty good!

Wordless Wednesday

Corn Connoisseurs

Yes, I spelled that right.
Our boys love them some corn on the cob.  While Daddy was away, I didn't snap too many pictures, but I did manage to catch them chowing down an entire ear of corn (Liam) and an ear and a half (Micah).

We're grateful for yummy early-season corn!