Happy Happenings

Several weeks back when asked what he wanted to do for his birthday, Isaac responded that he wanted a hat party. I wasn't exactly sure what he expected, but figured it would be easy enough to have everyone wear a hat, play some "hat" games, make a hat cake. It turns out my brain is even more incapable of making decisions now than it was before. I'm not sure whether to blame the pregnancy, the heat, or the fact that I'm apparently getting old and tired. It took us until just days before to firm up a time and menu. Since the kids were sick leading up to the day, we decided not to have his buddies come, but the family had fun together.

Jordan made Isaac this awesome birthday card that had him grinning all day.

Preparing for the party left Jordan and I wishing the day were over two hours before the party began. We were, however, able to put that aside as Isaac's guests began to arrive. After dinner, we played musical hats and a little relay game. The boys loved both, Aaron clapping and cheering regardless of "winning." He's at a great age for that. Isaac opened some gifts and then we trooped back into the dining area for cake.

My attempt to make black frosting didn't work out (i.e. I got bored adding the food coloring) so the cake ended up a little more dart-esque than I would have liked.

My flash decided to be finicky during the process of blowing out candles, so I asked Isaac to pose with the cake for a moment. His silly face is because he was licking his lips for the picture.

I'm not much of a party planner (or goer, for that matter), but I decided a while back that my kids needed to feel special on their birthdays regardless of my enthusiasm for celebrations. Overall, I'd say this one turned out to Isaac's satisfaction. Isaac enjoyed seeing his hat party come to life and had a fun time. That's really what counts.

And since I'm an awesome "middle-child" mother . . . here's some of the cuteness I've been meaning to post since Aaron's cowboy birthday in January. (Yes, I'm really that lame.)





(Firefox users may have trouble viewing the video.  If so, try with another browser.)

We went to Lagoon with Jordan's family again this year. The weather forecast was quite grim, but we once again lucked out and had great temperatures and short lines. Isaac was game for just about everything we offered to take him on. After the first big ride, Aaron said "I done now" and was game to follow his cousin on the more subdued attractions.

In other news, we've been doing a lot of projects around the house.  And by we, I really mean Jordan.  We're the type of people that pay way too much in taxes every year so that we can have a nice chunk of change to do things with in the Spring.  All those things that we wouldn't ever get around to saving the money for if we weren't getting it back as a refund.

This year, we got twin beds for the boys.  I had this great idea of building them, or rather, having Jordan build them from this plan I took a liking to.  But normal folks, like us, can't buy any wood other than pine without selling a vital organ.  I didn't want to use pine because it is so easily dinged and wanted something a bit more kid friendly.   I fell in love with the look of alder.  Cue the organ selling, again.  Then, I happened upon a furniture shop on Etsy.  We described what we were looking for and had two custom, solid alder beds the next week.  They are huge.  In fact, Aaron still calls it "mine hooge, hooge bed."  Here they are in the lovely sheets of my college days.  We have since purchased much less girly colored sheets and a kid oriented blanket for each.

We also purchased a load of gravel that has been put to use . . .

filling our new window wells,

creating paths in our garden,

and lining a french drain.

We created our own "flex-spending account" and bought an infant car seat and newborn diapers in preparation for the (fast-approaching) arrival of our newest bundle of joy.  This, in turn, motivated me to sell off the diapers I bought last year and haven't used which then gave me a little funding to tuck away for when we need to replace worn out covers down the road.  All in all, a prosperous venture.

Now, Jordan is busy finishing up my pet project of painting our bedroom.  The wall that was red when we moved in is now purple.  It makes me smile.  I'll post those pictures when the painting is done.

That more or less sums up our spring.  We're looking forward to some summer fun in the next few weeks which will lead us right up to welcoming baby sister into our family.  Crazy!