Boy's Birthday

...all three of them.

Last year, around this time, I told the boys (Jacob and Joe) that the baby was due the day before their birthday, so there was a good chance that the baby would be born right on their birthday. "Wouldn't that be neat?"

"You mean," Jacob said, "that I might have to share my birthday?"

Um. (As my girls would say) "der da dur!"

Well, as it all turned out, Joshua was born nine days before. Still close enough to "share" a party. But he has changed his mind since then. As long as there's cake and presents...
And speaking of cake- there is a reason the picture of the cake is dark so you can't get a good look. I decided to be creative and make a lego cake. How hard can that be. Oh, they will be so excited when they see it! They watched me putting it together. "What is it? ...Oh, I know, it's a boat... Oh, it's a beach and that's the water... no... hey, it's a..."

"No, guys, it's a Lego."

They stood in silence, heads cocked, lip curled, trying to make it out. "Oh." is what I finally got and they turned and walked away completely unimpressed.

Next year, I'm just making cupcakes.

"Smile, Josh!"

Learning to be a boy

Spring is on it's way -oh, wait, it's here already, isn't it? Well, you wouldn't have know it today. We've been warm, cold, warm, cold...

Oh, I can't complain. It's only March, and we have had plenty of nice, crisp, refreshing days. Joshua went out to play in the snow this winter, um, once. So he is not yet much of an outdoors man. But he will get there. He went out with his brothers and it didn't take him long to figure out how to eat a little dirt, smash the bugs, and hit the ground with the shovel. We didn't actually pick up any dirt with the shovel, but like I said, he's still learning.

Naturally Sweet

March twenty-second..

Is my boy's birthday. Can I say "baby" anymore? Well, sure. As long as he's the youngest, he's still my baby.
He thoroughly enjoyed his birthday. He took a nice long nap, he played all day, and he was excused from all his schoolwork and chores. ;)
I had to work in the evening, but they made him a cake and dug into it after dinner. Tony sat a good sized piece in front of him, but he was a little confused because everyone was standing around him staring at him. When they began to sing Happy Birthday, he got a little bit excited...

(Photo by Tony- he can take a pretty good picture, too. Just don't tell him I said that)

It was also time for a haircut. All those curls were so cute, but he was getting to be a little scruffy looking. I took a lot off and it's still long. Don't worry, Grandma, I wont give him a buzz cut. At least not until summer.

Our day out...

We finally got over to Julia's for a visit. And what a gorgeous day for a get together. I can't begin to tell you just how perfect the afternoon turned out to be. The big girls, as usual, enjoyed each other's company, and playing a little catch in her big back yard.

The highlight of my day, of course, is when they brought out the ice cream.

I'm not sure what the name of this game was. Or even how it was played. But it looks like fun.

We were not lacking cute babies. Isn't he just the cutest thing you ever saw? ;)

Speaking of cute babies...

How is it possible that someone forgot to eat their ice cream?

Caleb looking for it's owner.

Now we're going to play a game. Let's see how observant you all are. Just look at the next photo and see if you can answer the following question...

Which baby is the Italian?

Actually, they were eating snow. As warm as it was, she still had a good deal of that yucky stuff on her deck. But it gave the little ones something to play with.

We followed Amy home (because I'm not so good at reading map quest directions backwards) then ended up stopping at her house for few more hours of fun.

Lunch anyone?

We're having peanut butter and jelly...

and a few Gracie germs on the side.

A few great things

...about being a mama.

When you come across creations such as these-

I could be irritated by the constant messes. And often, I am. Some surprises are not so endearing. Like my scrapbook pages strewn across the boy's bedroom floor, or a clean load of laundry dumped out to make room for the puppet's "bath". 

But mostly, I find myself chuckling several times a day... a (seriously misspelled) note, a beheaded -and re-headed- Yoda with a drill bit light saber, a baby doll sitting at the table with it's lunch in front of it...

What else is so great about being Mama? Watching my babies grow. (Shh, don't tell her she's a baby)

Watching the little kids follow their sibling's lead. Grace sits with the boys almost the whole time they are doing their schoolwork. She's on a new kick now. She saw Jacob jump up from the table to sharpen his pencil and immediately pushed her chair up to the counter to do the same. Back and forth, she went, 20 times  or more. Now all she needs to do is figure out that you have to hold the pencil to actually accomplish anything, not just let it spin round and round. Maybe that's why she had to sharpen it so many times.

"Mommy, Im need to sharkin mine pencil."

And yet another great thing...

Being so needed and so loved!

Some pictures speak for themselves

What a week, oh, what a week.

These last few weeks while my father in law was in the hospital, we have had a few more visitors. A two year old can only handle just so many days in a hospital room, so Livy came over to play a couple of times. Grace loved having her over.

And on Wednesday, Amy dropped off seven of the kids to play while she picked up the meat trays for the funeral.

-Lunch for fourteen-

I asked Courtney to keep the "middle" kids busy with an art lesson. She did a great job. She will be a wonderful teacher someday. She got more than just the middle kids, though. Soon, Gracie and Beka and Matthew came running to the table. Well, they're big kids, too.

(I love to watch Grace get involved with every activity that her older siblings are into. She has no idea that she is two.)

Thursday was my father in law's funeral. It was a beautiful tribute. So, so very many people were there to show their respect. Faces that I haven't seen in years, faces I have never seen before. It was wonderful to meet and meet again. Robin (Tony's sister) delivered a touching eulogy. Bro. Cialini sang "Finally Home" (didn't think I was going to make it through that one) and Amy and Elisabeth played "Amazing Grace."

I regretted not throwing my camera into the car when I saw all the family together. Tony's grandma met a few of her great-grandchildren for the first time. But my sils were on the ball and captured many memories, so you will have to check in with their blogs.

Thank you for your prayers for the family.

Saying Goodbye

Papa and Joshua- August 2009

Does anybody have any...

brown eyeshadow I can borrow?

I seem to be all out.

Flute lessons

 

She has so much patience.

This is why every time Grace is being scolded, she cries "Paaaaige!" And when the boys steal part of her snack, she knows Paige will give her the rest of hers. If I catch her chomping on a peice of sim zim (slim jim), I know where she got it from. Come to think of it, that sounds more like spoiling.

Grace knew that all she has to do is ask her "Paige, I'm blow it yours fute, peese?"

And, of course, she let her.

Lunch time or nap time?