Saturday, February 27, 2016

3 Year Old on the Loose

We invited a few friends to help us celebrate Sam's birthday Friday night. Sam wanted a Rescue Bot cake, so I searched Pinterest hoping there would be something within my limited ability to deliver. Thankfully other moms had come up with a pretty simple way to create the cake. I had a sweet helper that loved to climb up behind me during the process. I started just squirting chocolate out on another piece of parchment paper trying to keep him from climbing all over me. It worked pretty well.

Sam's friends who came to his party were Cruz Hunnicutt, Mattie Jenkins, and of course Ella who he says is his best friend. They brought along their brothers and sisters which made for a fun and loud house! Patrick and I had a good time visiting, too.

Sam had been waiting for his birthday since Jack's birthday in September. He was always sad it wasn't his turn yet. So when the time came to sing to him and blow out his candles he was more than ready! We sang, "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you," and he blew out his candles, haha. He was definitely the messiest eater of the cake. I don't think another kid had it all over them (or the floor) like he did.  He really enjoyed every bite. He'd been wanting a piece since I had frosted it the day before and asked for cake at each meal time.












Samuel Owen Big Boy (you like to be addressed this way),

You are our all boy boy. You love all things boy. Will and Jack were never into super heroes or wrestling until they were a lot older than 3. You have grown up watching them and loving all the things they love and thinking you are just as big as them. You have been a super chill, go-with-the-flow kid. You have probably been my easiest so far and take disappointments really well. You are so super sweet and most of the time have the best manners. You don't love sharing too much, but I'm betting you'll grow out of that. We love you so so much and are so happy we are a family.

Love,
Mom

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Proud Momma

An email I received from Will's teacher today:



Proud of that little booger. <3 nbsp="">

Friday, February 19, 2016

8 year-old Wisdom

Talking with Will the other day about the baby

      "You're about to have 4 kids...that's a lot of responsibility."

 So so true, oh wise one.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Sam's Club

Do you want to go to Sam's club with me?

Yeah, at my club they have pizza. 


Spoiled? Just a tad. Those days are numbered, though. Might as well make the most of it while we can! I'm gonna miss our one-on-one time.

Friday, February 5, 2016

Will's Baptism Day

Will had been waiting patiently for his baptism day. We had postponed it from November when my Grandma Miller had started to really decline. He had been looking forward to this day, and we had spent a lot of time at home talking about baptism and the covenants we make with our Heavenly Father. Will had some very special people come to his baptism, and some of them traveled pretty far just to be there. His Great Grandma Mary Hitchcock, Two of his Great Aunts, Terry and his cousin Mariah, and Great Aunt Marsha and Uncle Mike. His Aunt Julee and Uncle Dan drove all the way from VA to be there, and they brought two of his favorite cousin friends Ceseley and Natalie.

 A couple weeks before his special day, Will decided who he would like to speak and what music he would like to sing. I made a program in photoshop (I had never done that before, big learning curve for me!) and he approved it. :) He also asked me to make a few of his favorite cookies to share with everyone for after the baptism, devils food cookies, lemon chunk, and chocolate chip. 

It was a simple and beautiful service. Will's feet popped up and he had to be immersed twice--something he had said he hoped wouldn't happen. His Nonna spoke on why it's important to be baptized and that when are we are promising to do our best to be like Jesus and help others. And his Pa talked about how it feels when the Holy Ghost talks to us and how we can recognize those good feelings and warnings and know who those promptings are coming from. When the Primary President gave Will a chocolate bar with a red pencil scripture marking pencil. She asked if he knew why we marked our scriptures. Jack raised his hand and he said, "So you know which ones you've read, and you never read them again."  It was pretty cute and funny. 

 We are so proud of him and the good young boy that he is. I know the Lord is proud of him too. Will is very caring and wants everyone to be happy and safe. He is almost always smiling and he really does try very hard to do his best and make good choices. Love him to pieces!



 Love these two best of friends


Brothers
This one just makes me smile. I love how Will is holding Sam's face to look at the camera.









Let's Go Predators!

The boys got Predators tickets for Christmas. I would have never thought they'd be as excited about that as they were. I figured it would be too far away from Christmas for them to get too excited. But I was wrong.

Last night we went to the game. I was dreading it a little bit, because it's been a busy and stressful week, and I'm tired. waa. I wondered a few times what I was thinking back in December when I got them and thought I'd have plenty of energy. Ha. I convinced Patrick to pay for parking. We usually park at Nissan football stadium and walk over the pedestrian bridge. It's not very far, and I usually enjoy the walk. Last night though I knew it would be so late and cold(low 30's) and my back had been killing me all day. So we parked about a block away at the Country Music Hall of Fame. *Side note* I have got to go there! Also Sam was already cheering before we got out of the car. He loves him so Predators! "Woo!"

We got to our seats just before the game started. The boys had been asking earlier  if we could get drinks and snacks and stuff. I'm super cheap and so is Patrick so purchasing refreshments at sporting events don't go hand in hand for us. But I know that is part of the fun. We told the kids they could each spend some of their own money if they wanted snacks. They thought that was a great idea! I told them how much drinks and snacks cost. They said, "Oh, that's not expensive!" Spoken like freeloaders.  I tried to explain that actually it is. But they were confident they were right. I mentioned how they needed to be wise with how they spent their money or they wouldn't have any to spend and Jack assuredly said," I am. I don't want to starve at the game, so that's using it wisely!" 😂😂😂 That cracked me up! 

They gave us free bakery cookies which were delicious when we arrived. Sam and I waisted no time eating ours...Gotta feed the babies! And since it was so important to them and they used their money I feel I need to document what they bought;
Will and Jack bought Pepsi to drink,  Jack bought a popcorn, and Will bought Sour Patch Kids. 

The kids loved the game and watching the Jumbotron. Sam would snuggle up close anytime the crowd cheered really loudly. I loved watching my guys faces as they took in all the atmosphere. That has to be one of the best parts about being a mom, seeing genuine excitement through a child's eyes. Towards the end, a clip from Star Wars came on the Jumbotron. Sam and Jack both got really excited! Sam watched in awe Yoda and Luke Skywalker. And when the music started, oh dear! Sam held up his pretend lightsaber and started moving it around. It was ADORABLE!! Patrick and I were cracking up. The music quickly ended and Sam turned to me, nearly in tears and frowning and said, "I really like that song." It was so pitifully sweet! That alone was worth the ticket.  

We left the game a little after 9. Jack was getting waaaaay tired, we were losing, and we wanted to beat the traffic. Will wanted to stay, no surprise there, he's the energizer bunny. Sam was pretty pooped too. Jack led the way back to the car and I think the cold weather helped give him a little booster to get to the van as fast as he could. He usually whines and wants to be carried, but tonight he was so mature about it. Proud of him!

So happy we could do this fun thing together before baby arrives. One of our last outings as a family of 5.

 I had to include this one too. We had all gotten on the escalator, or so I thought, when Will standing at the top and smiling sweetly as we were descending says, "I'm a little nervous about getting on." Patrick walked back up the steps and helped him. That made me smile, and think back to how when I was little, I loved riding escalators but the getting on and off part always made me a little nervous, too.  I thought it was sweet and grabbed a not great picture of it. Glad I did, because I'd already forgotten about it by this morning.