Swimming with CLAY!

Aren't uncles the best?

 

  They do all the fun things that dads don't do and Uncle Clay ranks pretty high up there among all of the amazing uncles we all share.  After nap time/quiet time we all met up at the swimming pool!

 These kids are all amazing and watching the 3 littles all together was hilarious.

 

  It was a game of monkey see, monkey do and all 3 boys were willing participants!

 

We keep the celebration alive!

I have always been a lover of all things birthday and my kids are lucky in that way! I get so distracted sometimes I forget to even buy them a present, but we sure do have a lot of fun (It's been at least 2 years since I forgot to buy a kid a present FYI).  I think it comes from my mom's side of the family, but every birthday morning we make birthday pancakes! It is a skill I am getting better at, for James birthday he even got pancake balloons.  I have learned that I have to write out the name on a piece of paper first and then backwards so I know what I am doing when I start with the pancake batter.

 I don't know why it was such a shock to me when Carson came home and told me his teacher told him he was turning 4...I had been planning his party for weeks, but to hear him say it made me do a double take!

 

It was so great to have Mama there visiting for Carson's birthday/James Baptism.  We had to bribe James to go to Texas Roadhouse afterwards and since we all needed naps and the ice cream had slipped his mind we waited until it was a little more convenient to bring it up for the adults! Carson's birthday was the perfect excuse to double up the ice cream bribe! Menchie's has this great side room that had enough space to let the little's run around crazy while Mama, my little sis and I had some adult time before we opened the presents, so it was sanity time too.  While Mama was done in April we found this fabric and I had mentioned that Carson needed another blanket for daycare now that we were back to full time.  I had donated all of the one's I made for him thinking we were done with the daycare thing, oops!

 

 It was a perfect gift for him.  He has been carrying it around with him and it is great to have a little piece of Mama at daycare too.

 

  After Menchie's we went swimming at our complex and then during nap time/quite time I made some candy cane ice cream for Carson's Birthday. It was a long full day/weekend with Aunts, Uncles, cousins, a Baptism, daddy, Mama and we were all exhausted.  None as much as Carson.  After dinner we attempted to wake him him to get him to blow out his candle, but that was easier said then done!

 He's just a new 4 year-old!

This is while we were singing to him...so happy to be awake!

James attempted to convince him to blow out the candles while Carson attempts to fall back to sleep.

 So sleepy he needed help blowing out his candle! Poor kid!

 After all was said and done it was a great way to end an exciting weekend. I am so grateful to be the Mommy to this handsome guy.

Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?

This morning we had Caron's Brown Bear Brown Bear What do you see? Birthday Party at the main street splash pad.  I have been planning and thinking about this party for the last 2 months.  For as long as I can remember it has been his favorite book and I find him reading it to himself now occasionally.  I found these great invitations and a matching party pack that I could personalize myself off Esty and thanks to my little sister it all came together at the last minute.

 This rainbow cake was so much easier then I thought it would be.  It was just a cup of batter per color @ 350 for 10 minutes, if your cooking 2 layers at a time.  Having it exposed made it even more simple and I kinda like the cake being exposed!

 I decided to make these cupcakes about an hour and a half before the party so they came in without frosting, which actually made transporting really easy.  We only frosted the 5 we needed to fit the plate and left the rest in the muffin tin to be frosted later. 

 Nancy brought in her water container which really helped keep all the kids hydrated.  We had lemonade, blueberries, purple grapes, layered Jello, chocolate teddy grahams, goldfish crackers, green gummy frogs, red swedish fish, rainbow licorice and coconut brownies on this table...Plenty to share with people walking past!

 Logan, Carson, Easton and Robert (friend from his Primary class).

 

 Carson is a little unsure...the wind was blowing so the candle had already blown out, but we sang anyway! I tried to make up for Carson attempting to sleep through his cake on his actual birthday.

 LOVE IT!

 Thank you Nancy for this great idea! I would have never thought to have Jello at a birthday party! I found this little cups at Wal-Mart that have lids...says you can wash and reuse, probably won't happen, but that's pretty neat!

 

Carson came home after the party and put all of these puzzles together, ALONE, 8 puzzles - 4 with 24 pieces and 4 with 48 pieces.  This kid is incredible! He asked me for help a few times, but I was cleaning up the sticky mess from the last few days.

Baptism Day!

 We were so lucky today to be witnesses to James baptism as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  To be surrounded by family and friends was prefect. I only wish everyone could have been there and that is what this post is for!Yesterday Clay, Stacie, Cora, Curtis and Mama (Grandma) came in to town for James big day! We have been talking about this day and planning for it for months and it was finally here! James and I had talked about how to plug his nose and not to kick up his legs when he goes under the water...the important stuff.  Yet in the car on the way to the Stake Center it is my 5 year old that asks quietly, "Mom, did you bring extra underwear for James for after is baptism?" Oh my goodness.  I am pretty sure that there is no amount of planning that could have prepared me for this day! I didn't bring dry underwear James went commando!

It was so moving seeing the 4 kids sitting in the front row dressed in white.  It made me grateful for the power of the priesthood here on earth and that men have been given such an amazing gift to bless the lives of others with.

 Several people asked if Clay was James father or my brother...interesting story! So grateful that Clay was willing to run back to the house when there was the mix up and get all his extra stuff! He really made our day.  During the ordinance Clay was especially emotional which made holding back what I felt inside a little harder.  As a parent I feel like I have a lot of moments that I wish I could repeat or pause and watching James be immersed into the water was definitely one of those moments.  Even so it felt a little surreal, like it was moving in slow motion for that moment, just long enough to really take in the gift of the spirit.

I wish we would have had time to take happy pictures afterwards and we probably should have just taken happy pictures of just the adults since we have all learned to fake it by now.  The kids at this point were done with this day and more than ready to move on do lunch! It was fun going to Texas Roadhouse with the Oliverson Family, Clay's Family, Mama and Daddy.  We were a loud bunch but it was worth the bribing to get us there.