Birthday Circus

For Marvin’s birthday this year I of course made his favorite meal, tacos like my grandma used to make and peanut butter pie like his grandmother makes.  But to show what a great dad Marvin is he took Calvin and Micah to the circus on his birthday.  What a trooper and apparently it was entertaining, the boys loved it.

It was held just right down the block so it made it easy to walk to.

There was a bear and monkey

A clown, which Micah told me was "berry punny"  (very funny)

and a mime and a magician (which blew Calvin away)

Fun memories for an amazing dad, and a great husband.  I am thankful I get to make fun things for this man to make his day a little more special.

Judah Bug Turns One

So this little guy had a birthday.  We were busy unpacking before his big day.  I think we had a week before his birthday so I wanted to have everything sort of unpacked before we had guests.  I had some late nights but it we got the important things unpacked.

If we had internet I would have sent out this invite but instead it sat on my computer.  It’s a good thing our friends came regardless.

So since we call our little guy Judah Bug I decided a bug party would be fitting.  For dinner we had snails (BBQ chicken pinwheels and Peanut Butter and Banana pinwheels for the kids), grape caterpillars, and butterfly pasta salad.  My camera battery was dead so I didn’t get any pictures of the décor or food.  But there wasn’t much to take pictures of, but I was thankful for Calvin and Micah’s help making a few bugs for the decorations.

I came down with some hideous sinus infection a few days before his birthday so I didn’t do so great baking, I burned the cupcakes and cake and dumped a ton of salt into the frosting.  It was the first time I had baked in our oven, so didn’t quite know all its quirks and that it tends to bake very hot.  I was feeling miserable, still unpacking and slightly absentminded about where things were, and not having baked in multiple months all worked together for a very bad baking combination.  Oh well, there are worse things that could happen.

I tried to make a mason jar cake with lightening bugs inside.  However if I were a better cake decorator it would have looked more like it, but at least the cupcakes looked decent.

Judah wasn’t so sure about cake, and he will have nothing to do with a spoon I try to feed him, so at first he refused it then he tasted his finger and a smile appeared.  He was pretty tired at this point so he was pretty somber through the cake eating part.

Before we knew we were moving I had started gathering supplies for a craft activity, so I went ahead and did it with the kids.  We made lightening bugs using plastic bottles and glow sticks and then played a couple games.   

Judah opened a few presents and we called it a great celebration.

I know it was silly wanting to plan a little party right after we moved (a week later), but it was so great to actually get to have a first birthday party with the birthday boy present.  What a gift this little guy has been in our lives and we are so thankful we were able to celebrate this milestone regardless of the burnt cake.

Happy Birthday Judah bug!

Brothers and their boys

Over Christmas we took a picture with two of his brothers and their youngest sons with Marvin and Judah (there are a lot of boys in his family).   

So it was fun to take another one this summer while we were back.  It's amazing how quickly little ones grow. 

July 2014

How fun will this be to watch these boys grow up. I can’t wait to see how these three interact in a few years.  They currently are very cautious around each other.  I sure wish we were closer for these boys to get to grow up together but our times together will just be even more precious.

The First Bell

The first day of school here is a really neat holiday and I have always loved how they begin the school year.    

The tradition is that the first graders lead the other classes into the building and a first grader rings the bell to symbolize the beginning of the year.  

At the end of the year the graduating class leads the school out and a graduating senior gets to ring the bell.

Of course there all sort of entertainment, poems, speeches, etc, because this country is so good at entertaining and they tell their children young how to do so.  It was so fun that Calvin got to be a part of such a great tradition.  It blows America's first day of school out of the water.

The parents got to follow the kids into their class for their first mini lesson, so I was able to snap a few pictures of the lesson too, what a treat.