Celebrating Mom's Birthday

Saturday was Mom's birthday, so we had a full weekend of eating out in celebration of a wonderful mother, woman and friend. First thing Saturday morning, we headed to the coffee shop, where Mom had to work all day. We stopped to pick out flowers, and Josiah took charge. He found a bouquet of yellow roses, and when I suggested another bouquet that had red tips on the roses and babys breath, he nearly had a meltdown, insisting on his pick. He held on tight to the flowers, wanting to be the one to hand them to Grandma, and Benjamin got relegated to card deliverer.

Saturday night we headed to China by the Sea with Mom and our friend Sharon. Mom collects little dachshound things, and I had found a small dachshound jewelry box back in January. Josiah has nearly given this gift to Grandma on many occasions. Whenever she's at our house, Josiah loudly whispers to me, "Can I give the dachshound to Grandma yet?" and he even handed the box to her once, before I snatched it away. I couldn't get Josiah to pose correctly for this shot, so you can't really see the gift:
Sunday morning, the boys helped me bake and frost Grandma's cake before we went to church. The boys have helped me with a lot of birthday cakes over the past year, as we've celebrated Bible Study friends' birthdays. They definitely see their assistance as an indispensable aspect of birthday cake making. :)

After church, we headed to Moody's Diner with Uncle Jim, Aunt Linda, Margo and Rusty, and Pam. We haven't seen Pam for months, so it was a treat to reunite with a dear friend! And of course, who can out do Moody's in the dessert department??? Delish!

Josiah has been very cuddly with Grandma since Papa's been away. He also asked Uncle Jim yesterday if he could have a sleep over with him sometime!

I'm always trying to get a good picture of these two, but it's hard with a face like Bad Uncle Jim's. :)

Benjamin was complaining to me that Grandma took his ketchup away. Grandma is smirking in the background. :)

Two handsome boys!

Benjamin pushed Josiah out of this seat so he could cozy up to Pam!

Sunday night, it was finally time for the birthday cake! Marilyn also had a March birthday, and Josiah wanted to share his cold with everyone, so it took three to blow out all these candles. :)

Pictures say it all

A new tradition: Family Game Night. Lately we've been playing Bingo or Dominoes.

Papa left for Uganda last week, leaving behind two little admirers who miss him madly!

We've had more fun at the playground:

And the boys have been busy doing lots of artwork. Here are a few examples of their early masterpieces:

Josiah draws a lot of people with large smiles.

Benjamin drew this rocket ship this morning. Not bad for a two year old!

This is a train by Josiah. The man in the middle is the coal man with a shovel. There are some elaborate details for the engine, etc.

We're proud of our little artists! :)

Sunshine On My Shoulders Makes Me Happy

February was uncharacteristically snow-free, and March has been splendidly warm! Here are some pictures of the boys enjoying the sun: At the Southport beach.
Making a new friend.

At Clifford's Park:

So much fun!

And one more from yesterday, when I let the boys make their own PB&J sandwiches:

No surprise, he hadn't put any peanut butter on his bread! :)

Celebrating Josiah!

Josiah's 4th birthday party was Saturday at the coffee shop. We'd had a cake last Monday on his actual birthday, so he had to wait and anticipate his party for five days before the actual event! Saturday morning, he had climbed in bed with us in the night, so first thing he said when his head lifted off the pillow in the morning was, "Is it tomorrow today?" Thus began a day of nervous energy. He was so excited! We had 27 friends and family come to celebrate this momentous birthday. Here are the pics:

Blowing out his candles Monday evening. Josiah and Benjamin decorated this cake all by themselves, dousing it in sprinkles and colored sugars. :)

Yummy candle stick!

Party time! The kids all made a dinosaur necklace/nametag.

Then we played "Pin-the-tail-on-the-alligatorsaurus."

Josiah and his buddy Kole.

Uncle Danny brought Firemen costumes for Josiah and Benji! They had a blast running around spraying their water bottles at everyone!

Josiah helped me frost this Triceratops cake.

The birthday boy in his new booster seat! All grown up!!!