Four Months and a Four Year Old!

Today Caleb turns four months old. Happy milestone honey! I am amazed at the verbalization's, the smiles, the many giggles and mini routine that you are in. Thank you every day for all of those small wonderful joys. Ty is four years old these days and giving Byron and I the time of our lives. The conversations we have are intriguing, funny and honest. We absolutely love it!

I often ask myself, "when will I find the time?" There are so many things I want to do for the house decor, cute ideas for Ty his school and teachers, projects to do with the kids etc. I have stumbled upon Pinterest the keeper of my ideas now. Through Pinterst I have found many new blogs that seem to make things possible or at least I think that and then find out that many of the blog authors are stay at home moms with time on their hands during "naptime". None the less I read their blogs and continue to ask the question, "When will I find the time?" I am busy these days with full time employment, two kiddos at home, supporting Ty's schooling, volunteering, taking continuing education classes (required to continue my educators administrators license) and doing fun things, seeing friends etc. Wow that is a lot. I also am taking on other fun things such as baby shower planning. I am super excited about that. There are so many things I am interested in.. cupcake making, photography, design etc. I admire my sister and friend who are dedicated to trying 12 new things a year (one a month). I just don't have that flexibility to be able to be dedicated to that. I also then remind myself that my journey in life is much different. So I CAN do things differently. I can list out those "wants and desires" and do my best to fit them in, in some way into a crazy working mom's life! I am blessed with great friends, family and a loving husband and two wonderful boys! What more could I ask for? Oh yeah and Happy Leap Year. I figure today is an extra day that I can begin to reinvent myself in some way. I am starting with this blog posting.

LOVE FAITH HOPE

Valentine's Day has become a Hallmark Holiday for Byron and I. We choose not to celebrate it really other than to say "Happy Valentine's Day" in addition to the words we say daily and sometimes multiple times during a day "I LOVE YOU!" Whenever we are asked how we will celebrate Valentine's day and we provide our response... we don't have anything planned, or don't do anything for each other there is a stare of disbelief pointed right at us. But it is true we really haven't and don't put lots of efforts into celebrating this particular holiday. However this year because we have kids and I want them to enjoy the holiday and learn about giving we have embarked upon a few homemade crafts that will decorate our home.

I have been wanting to get back to being creative or crafty. I chose to make for my own decoration this felt styrofoam heart wreath pictured above. I being a pinterest addict have had the creative juices flowing because of all the wonderful ideas I have found there or repined. This was one such project! Though I have deviated from the directions found on the link to the original project I have enjoyed taking the time for myself and enjoyed working at this project for a few days when I find time. It really helps me to unwind. It won't be up for Valentine's day (today) because it is not completed. But the project will be finished soon enough and I will be proud of my handy work. Ty and I spent some time this past weekend working on a project of our own for Byron. The idea of course stolen from pinterest pins. But I love it. Ty and I painted his hands, thumbs and feet with gold glitter acrylic paint and pressed them onto the piece of poster board I purchased. I then wrote the words ACT, LOVE and WALK and finally wrote the words justly, mercifully, and humbly. We framed it and will give it to Byron tonight when he arrives home. Take a look!

Let us not forget our little guy Caleb! We have a few things to complete on his work of art! I had painted his feet and stamped them onto a piece of card stock paper. I will embroider around the feet making a heart shape and write his name at the bottom of the piece. Finally I will frame it. Since we don't have the finished project yet I will post that picture at a later date! So much fun we had creating these projects to give to each other. So much fun I had documenting the time and growth of my children in a creative way. I did get a bug in my bonnet to show Byron that I do love him on a daily basis. So I bought a frame and put the sticker words I love you because:...... on the glass. This morning I filled in the blank with a red water based pen. I am going to find a place to hang this probably in our bathroom or somewhere in our bedroom. Each day we can write to each other another reason we love each other. What a great reminder, surprise and way to share our love for each other. Well with that and all the mushy stuff... Happy Valentine's Day Ya'll! May you find simple pleasures and ways to share your love not only today but everyday!

Pack it all in!

That's what I say pack in everything you can and don't waste a minute.. But be prepared for melt downs and or exhausted children running on empty. We reap what we sow right? Right! Last weekend I did just this. I packed in a Super Hero 4 year old Birthday party.

Our family dressed up as Superman, Wonder Woman, Ty's rendition of Batman, and Baby Caleb's Super Baby onsie. This was super fun. We had blue velvet super hero cupcakes made from scratch! We decorated the house with red, yellow and blue balloons, Batman and Spiderman streamers and hanging decorations, as well as the appropriate super hero confetti. Activities included large coloring sheets, stick the Batman sticker on Batman's chest, and tattoo station. Party favors were in abundance. Each kiddo left with a homemade personalized super hero cape and a Batman bucket full of party items. Kids had a blast.

As you can tell I love going over board for my son's birthday parties. Each year it takes me at least a month in advance to get the right invitation, theme and pull everything together. Ty and his friends absolutely loved the party. There were many adults in attendance what was neat about that is that almost every adult dressed up as well. Wearing t-shirts with superhero's on them or creating their own superhero costume fun was had by all. Whew that was one tremendous party! Happy Fourth Birthday to my oldest son Ty! May this year bring you lots of fun exciting things to learn, to do and may your growth continue to be a blessing in our lives!

Preparation, Excitment, Event, Relaxation

Wow I have packed a variety of things into my weekend on top of working a full week! My son Ty is turning 4 on the 31st of this month which means we are having his birthday party this weekend. We are excited to have little friends of his over to the house and celebrate his birthday. He has requested a Super Hero themed party. I have been planning this party for a month now. I have completed the Super Hero capes and accessories, the goody buckets, and have three activities for the party. Decorations are next and the cupcake making and decorating will be completed by the weekend. Oh the preparation has taken a tremendous amount of time. It has generated excitement in our house as the topic of conversation continues to be around these fun activities, who is coming and the visuals of things around the house as they are produced. What a fabulous theme I might add. It is interesting to me that many of my friends who have hosted 4 year old birthdays all have had a Super Hero type theme. Must be developmentally a choice that kiddos make. Not only are we having a birthday party to celebrate 4 years of life we are also having our son Caleb's baptism, to celebrate his new life in the Catholic church. This is exciting for us. We have been very impressed with the increased knowledge of his faith now that our 4 year old has now that he is attending Catholic preschool. We look forward to raising Caleb with the same faith and are looking forward to watching his growth. Both Byron and I are becomming more and more involved with the happenings of Ty's school and our church. Caleb's baptism will be such a joy for us to witness! There has indeed been preparation for this event as well and it has generated excitement as well. We are looking forward to friends and play dates on Friday evening as well. It is amazing how busy we all get with the every day things life offers, work, school, actviites , making dinner, and finding time to be together. We are blessed to have friends to hang out with that our kids enjoy being together and we enjoy hanging out with. Details are all worked out and we are ready to have some fun. I am also looking forward to all of this being over. Funny but it is exhausting to plan, create, prepare, enjoy and ensure enjoyment for others that I will look forward to relaxation.