Vanessa's 3rd Birthday

This is the first year we have been home to celebrate Vanessa's birthday.  When she turned 1, we had a celebration at Mama Row's place in Albia.  When she turned 2, Dave and I were off in Omaha waiting for Eli to be born.  As her mom and having gone through such a tough birth with Vanessa, I am glad to be 3 years past the event.  A lot of moms like to look back to their child's day of birth and reflect on the beauty of their child's actual birth, but I can't really do that with any of my kids.  So I celebrate the child and how much they've grown to help me heal.

This year Vanessa really understood the fact that it was her birthday and she was going to be 3.  Violet and Calvin really enjoyed getting her party ready too.  They helped me shop for gifts and we got her some sunglasses, markers, a Dora coloring book, some M&Ms, and a bright pink cake.  When she saw me making her birthday cake on Saturday, she thought THE CAKE was her birthday.  She said, "Can I eat my birthday now!!?"

Sunday morning she had changed into pink sweatpants and a green shirt all by herself.  She wasn't too happy I made her change clothes into a pretty dress - but she got over it and called it her "birthday dress".


During Sunday School opening for the kids, Vanessa was the only birthday that week and was too nervous to walk up front herself, so Violet held her hand and went with her.  She picked out a bag of peanut M&Ms and stuck the bag in her mouth while everybody sang to her. 

We planned a birthday lunch at 1:00 pm to celebrate on Sunday, June 2nd.  Mama Row brought along mashed potatoes, veggies and iced tea.  My mom and dad also came to help celebrate and brought a delicious mix of fresh fruit and berries, and Dave grilled the BBQ chicken.

Vanessa really enjoyed everybody singing happy birthday to her.  She knew exactly after singing that she had to blow out the candles on the cake.  She got the first pink piece and cut it in half with her fork.

Vanessa is not a ham for the camera.  She avoids it and runs away.  So capturing her looking at me when I took pictures was a challenge!  She opened her presents after the cake.  Mom and dad got her a magnetic gear puzzle creator and Mama Row contributed to her college fund.  She put on the sunglasses and grabbed her Dora phone immediately - and Violet helped her work on some pages

We played some yard games outside - mom and dad brought their croquet set.  Mama Row, Violet, Dave, dad and I played the first game.  Violet enjoyed playing the most.  Calvin just climbed on the sandbox.  Vanessa wore her sunglasses and ran around.  Eli tried taking his first step in the grass, but preferred to just sit in the fluffy soft grass instead and hold onto a croquet ball.

Violet helped me frost the cake

Vanessa wanted to "eat her birthday" - thinking the cake was her birthday

silly sisters

3 yr old birthday girl!

Violet helped Vanessa stand up front during Sunday School when all the kids sang happy birthday to her.

peanut M&Ms was her treat of choice.  She bit the bag the whole time.

love Vanessa's expression...

not so thrilled to be sitting where she was

but the cake! the cake! was so distracting. 8-)

love those crazy curls

Calvin got bored with croquet

Eli was tuckered out from all the festivities.

Visit to Josh and Carrie's for Memorial Day Weekend 2013

Josh and Carrie invited us to spend Memorial Day weekend with them a couple weeks ago.  We decided to go, and the weekend turned out fabulous! 

Even though the weather did not cooperate so we could go swimming, we still found fun things to do.  Most of the day Saturday was spent at the Brookfield Zoo.  Josh and Carrie have an annual pass and can invite friends to come for free, so we didn't have to pay to get in.

The kids enjoyed everything there - we saw lions, cheetahs, dolphins, monkeys, a huge anteater, gorillas, rats, and a large "Dinosaurs Alive" exhibit.  They also got to feed stingrays.  That part was too smelly for me. :P  Carrie and I happily sipped hot coffee on the sortof-chilly day and waited with Eli.  Martha was able to come along with us too, which was great.  On the way home we stopped at the grave where Joseph and Florence Butler are buried.

Sunday we went to their church with them, Harvest Bible Chapel.  The sermon was delivered by Matt Chandler on Romans 8 - which is Dave's favorite chapter in the Bible.  Really good ministry!  The kids enjoyed going to the SS classes with their cousins too.

Carrie and I went out for a 3 mile run Monday morning to get some exercise.  She discovered on the way back towards her house while driving past Austin's school that his bike was left there locked up.  She figured they would just pick it up later.  Josh and Dave went out on the bikes to get Austin's bike and ended up crashing their bikes somehow.  They were fine, but they laughed about it quite a bit.

A Memorial Day feast was prepared - we had burgers, grilled chicken, orange/marshmallow salad, potato salad, watermelon, and cake.

The whole crew off to the zoo!

 

Austin and Calvin 

Renee and Violet

Oohing and Aahing over the dolphins that swam right by their faces

Carrie and Wesley

picnic lunch - while chasing off geese

the "dinosaur's alive" exhibit was up and running - really neat to see!  Calvin loved it! Vanessa was terrified.

digging for dinosaur bones

Hmm...yeah. adults can be silly too right?  Pic courtesy of Violet

Vanessa with Carrie

Calvin fell asleep on the couch for about an hour when we got home.

I brought along Dots and Toothpicks - the older 4 kids created quite a structure!

Calvin's preschool graduation

Calvin finished up his last preschool year at OHCP on May 24, 2013.  He went Mon, Wed and Fri mornings from 9:00-11:30.  He was very particular about getting out of his car seat and zipping up his coat before his teacher came to the door to walk him in.  He usually insisted on giving me a kiss/hug before jumping out of the van.

His favorite days were the days he was the leader and got to provide the snack for everyone.  On these special days he also got to bring an item from home for "show and tell".  He would always grab some random thing he saw and take it with him.  His last day bringing treats was at the beginning May.  He always said he wanted to bring grapes, apple juice, crackers and cheese sticks.  It was always some form of these things that he got to take along for snacks.  Mrs. Knapp and Mrs. Kimball were his teachers this year, a GREAT pair.  Mrs. Knapp also taught Violet when she was in her last year of preschool as well.  She is such an amazing teacher and person, well invested in the lives of the kids she teaches at preschool, and truly loves each kid. She was always excited to see Violet when there were times she didn't have school and Calvin did.

Calvin learned all sorts of things - lots of numbers and counting, writing uppercase and lowercase letters, how to write his full name, his address, phone number, cutting, drawing, coloring, learning to stand in line, take turns, be a leader, be a follower, do kind things for others, weather elements, calendars, and I am sure tons of other things I don't even know.  His handwriting has improved a lot.

Mama Row came along with us to see the end-of-the-year celebration program.  All the kids from the preschool classes got on stage and sang some songs before hanging them their certificates.  Of course the time concluded with lots of sweets!  Calvin thought of Violet and wanted me to wrap up a couple of cookies in a napkin and take them home for her.  What a sweetie!

 Calvin wanted to sit by his buddy Jagger

 Mrs. Kimball

 Mrs. Knapp

First Day of preschool (4-5 yr olds) - Aug 2012

Last Day of preschool - May 24, 2013